kimmie the marathoner

kimmie is no longer just a runner, she is a marathoner!!

the team palmer crew was cheering her on early three miles!! she accomplished her goal of finishing the nashville rock-n-roll marathon under 6 hours in 80 degree heat!!

team palmer is so proud of you kimmie kims!!

you are such an inspiration to me in everything that you do and accomplish in your beautiful life!!

LOVE YOU TO THE MAXX!!

packing for the pro's

yikes, y'all!! my last post was a couple of days ago!! packing has consumed my life and all my time!!

yes, the hubbs and I have started packing. yes, we. have. started. packing. totally cray-cray to think we are only 13 days out from our move date!! needless to say, we wanted to get a head start with our packing so our last precious couple of days in chicago are worry free with no responsibilities!!

my new obsession with this move are my space saver bags. they are a-maz-ing!! i bought one box of 14 space savers at costco. one box is only $23.95 and worth every penny. plus, it is extremely addicting. I thought I was only going to space save our linens, but then i realized why not our winter coats and jackets and vests and scarves!! which is why the hubbs and i made the trek to costco for round two to go back for another box of 14 bags!!

{here is the pre-space saver bag picture of our linens (not jackets, etc)..}

{here is the post-space saver bag picture..}

now y'all tell me, why not space save?! as y'all can tell I have gone a tad bit crazy with the packing and space saving. if you look at the first picture then take a peek at the second picture, you can tell we have seriously started packing EVERYTHING, including the curtains. they are now apart of the awesomeness within the space savers!!

happy birthday, kk!!

today calls for a sweet happy happy birthday to my dearest kk!!

girl-fran, i sure do not know what i would do without you!! you make my sweet home chicago so much sweeter!!

you better be lookin' forward to your special birthday treat tonight at barn&company for your birthday dinner!!

reality check

our big move is quickly becoming reality. our apartment in chicago will soon be rented, our moving arrangements are set in stone and our temporary home is ready for us in little rock!! amazing how life happens when you put your faith in God's working hands and your patience is steadfast.

but that is not why this post is titled reality check.. i have so many emotions towards my departure from this windy city. i love chicago for so many reasons. it was my goal to move to a big city and be independent. check. i invested my time and love into so many dear friendships. check. my perspective on the way to live my life changed by living in a different culture, but still staying true to my values. check. i grew to appreciate where i came from and my family and friends back south. check. most importantly, i fell in love and married the man of my dreams and best friend. done and done. this lovely city holds such a special place in my heart. except for one thing.. the weather..

yes, the weather and i have a love-hate relationship. i love it in the heat of the summer, but i despise it because of the bone-chilling wind and unpredictable weather the other 9 months out of the year. it is one of those things in life that if you truly love a place, you will stay. well, i do truly love chicago, but y'all i sure cannot wait to pack my bags and holler at you later, old man weather!!

my reality check for today was my walk to the grocery store. when all others expect sweet spring weather in late april, i was faced with this crummy weather today..

do y'all see that?! 45, windy and rainy!! gross. then look at the 5-day outlook. high of 58 and low of unbearable 39. seriously?! yes, this is my life, but not for much longer!!

believe me when I say it y'all, I will NEVER miss this fickle side of chicago.. No Sir!!

the morris' are movin'!!

it's official, y'all!! the hubbs and I will be moving may 9 from our sweet home chicago and making our way down to little rock, arkansas!!

just this morning, we sent out our email to all, and I mean all, of our family and friends. the response has been overwhelming supportive. just feeling the excitement in everyone's emails truly makes our hearts happy. I still remember the feeling when I moved to this lovely city back in june 2008. I definitely was excited, but that excitement was only shared with me and me alone. now, trey and I have oodles of happy feelings coming our way and it means the world to us.

Chicago and the friendships we have made will always hold a special place in our hearts. no other city would have allowed us to grow in our personal and professional lives. of course, no other city would have allowed us to meet and fall in love. we will always remember the weekends filled with family and friends visiting our amazing city. we will never forget our wedding weekend where lots of love and laughter was shared among us all. trey and I are beyond blessed to have called chicago home for the past four years. we are thankful each and everyday that we both made the decision to travel outside our comfort zones and move to a place that was totally foreign but provided us with many opportunities. this experience will leave an everlasting imprint on our life and our hearts.

we thank each and everyone one of y'all from the bottom of our hearts. please keep in touch and stay up-to-date with our life by following and checking in with our blog, sweet home south!!

who doesn't like a steal deal

as any southern girl knows, cute dresses and blouses and shoes are a must!! with this season's gorgeous fashion trends of sheer blouses, bright chevron patterns and funky jewelry, how can you resist shopping?!

thanks to my lovely sis-in-law and my pinterest, I am now officially addicted to the cuuutest on-line boutique, tobi!! after spending quite some time on tobi, it is now my guilty pleasure!! not because if I buy one item, I rack up over $100 in my shopping cart, but because everything on tobi is average $30!! earrings and scarves start at $8 and tops and dresses start at $20. that y'all can be quite dangerous!!

here is a collection of my first purchase from tobi.. and I am pretty sure it will not be my last!!

now, how many of yall are chompin' at the bit to get lookin' on tobi?!

{right now tobi is offering free shipping for orders over $150}

spring brings new happenings

no matter where you live, the spring season always brings new happenings. whether that be flowers or babies, spring is the season for new growth and new life.

for those that know me, know I get oh so giddy when springtime falls upon chicago because of the TULIPS!! their beauty and color just hollers "it's spring y"all!!" my must-take picture from this past weekend, besides my sweet roxy girl, were the tulips on state street. oh y'all, aren't they just lovely?!

and on this windy day full of sunshine, this little man was brought into this great big world!! my sweet baker family added this BEAUTIFUL baby boy to their adorable family. his big sisters love him, his parents are oh so proud of him, and he is my little buddy chunky monkey!!

i hope on this april spring monday something has bloomed to make your heart happy and your smile stretch from ear to ear!!

bittersweet good-bye

yesterday was a monumental day in the morris house. after many back and forth talks with the hubbs, we decided the need for a car was no longer, to help save money with no insurance payments, street parking stress and $80 gas fill-ups at costco. with the decision made, which is always the hardest part, we took roxy the murano to carmax.

after checking her out and seeing how she rides, roxy the murano was bought on the spot. It was kind of crazy how easy and simple it was to sell my long-lasting companion of 8 years. even with her 102,241 miles, she still wowed everyone at what great condition and driving shape she had on those city-ridin' wheels.

it is kind of crazy how attached you get to a car over time. no lie, I did get a bit emotional. i thought back to how i worked so hard for a new car by making all a's throughout school. then going with clarkie and sherbear to pick out my prized possession. memories, memories!! oh so many memories!! there was the day i packed basically my life into the back of roxy girl and moved to chicago. then the road trips with friends, just driving to drive lakeshore with my mr. morris, the all-consuming commute to mickey d's, carrying little ones to school, and the list goes on. there was the brief year where Kimmie and I traded cars and I got good old fretta the jetta. I always longed for roxy's bells and whistles, except to fill up that dang gas tank!!

so of course before i turned over the keys, i asked to take a couple of last pictures with my sweet roxy girl..

when the hubbs and I got back to the city, we had a beer to cheers to roxy the murano and did a lot of city walking, which is what you do when you are sans car and live the city life!!

thank you roxy girl for every drive, every memory and even every hassle. you taught me a lot and were worth every penny spent!!

summer shape :: week 1

as I said yesterday, today is my first day of p90x..whew..that's all I have to say about that..haha!!

today was chest & back. even though it was just chest & back, I feel it EVERYWHERE..abs, legs, arms..needless to say it was a good workout to kick-off my new routine!!

here are a few quotes I am leaning on while I get my booty into summer-shape..

have a wonderful Wednesday y'all!!

 

catching up with crafts

happy Tuesday y'all!!

as I take on my new adventure of busy little housewife-pinterest goddess-paperly extraordinaire, I now have some new found time. along with making my paperly into my full-time job and starting the most intense workout regime, p90x, tomorrow, that allows me with a little time here and a little time there to catch up with all of the too cute and so simple crafts I am constantly pinning on my pinterest.

first craft today was my sock bun!! even though I did this to myself..haha..I still consider this a craft because it took scissors and my crafty little fingers and a spritz of hairspray. I used my plain, tan socks from h&m that I have never worn because they are B-O-R-I-N-G {fyi ~ I only like the argyle, striped and polka dot socks}!! all you do is cut the toe off the sock, about 1in from the seam. put your lovely locks into a "high pony" and scrunch up the sock at the base of your pony tail. from there you need to checkout my pinned sock bun to see a picture of how-to because it is way to hard to explain..and viola, here is my sock bun!! shout-out to my sister-in-law for the inspiration!!

now onto my other two crafts. I have made two adorable tiered jewelry stands and in the process of making the cheese grater earring holder. I still want to paint a chevron pattern and polka dots, add ball stands for the base and of course hook on a lovely pair of earrings!!

what do y'all think?!

to warm your heart on this lovely, chilly chicago Tuesday, is my daily devotion for today, April 10..and dang ain't that the truth..

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homemade monday

good afternoon y'all!! i hope everyone had a happy easter and were able to rejoice in the day the Lord has made!! the hubbs and i attended a lovely church service at st. james lutheran. unlike every Sunday where we get our usual seat on our usual row, we took up the last two seats on the side pews. yes mam, it was a packed house!! then we feasted with friends on pork loin, deviled eggs, jalapeño cheese grits, hashbrown casserole, sausage & egg casserole, and of course lots of yummy treats... bird's nests, cupcakes, skinny turtles and bowls of easter candies. needless to say way. too. much.

so now it's Monday. I am not hungry-hungry but i had a bit of a sweet tooth, like ice cream sweet tooth. well instead of stuffing my face with ben&jerry's cherry Garcia, I turned to my pinterest page and snagged this fast, easy and simple healthy snack, frozen yogurt drops.

as I type this I am snacking on my yummy little homemade treat!! they are unbelievably easy and fix that gimme-some-sugar fix. I used two 8oz low-fat strawberry yogurt cups and had some yogurt leftover.

get to snacking healthy this spring season y'all!!

season of giving...season for paperly

the spring season brings about many gift-giving holidays!! easter, birthdays, mother's day, baby presents, house-warming gifts and of course, that occasional happy for that special friend. the big question is who do you turn to for these gifts?! my answer is PAPERLY!!

here is our current 10-day promotion. it is for one of our most popular products, the self-inking stamp. the perfect gift for every friend and family member. whether it be for their return address or business info, the self-inking stamp adds that special touch to anything it is stamped on!! really y'all, what southerner doesn't LOVE personalization and monogramming?!

REMEMBER, to send your order request by APRIL 15 to liz_morris@paperly.com !!

it's easter, y'all!!

down south so many things remind me of easter!! like the blooming azaleas and dogwoods, church crosses adorned with purple and white sashes and the oodles of delicious dishes!! my favs are definitely deviled eggs and grilled pork loin. that is what the hubbs and i will be serving at our Easter brunch this Sunday after church with our family of friends here in chi. oh and i must not forget the mimosas!!

as a fun little happy, i grabbed this cute little idea off pinterest and made these bunny bait treat bags for our friends, too!!

remember to share this glorious holiday with the ones you love and praising god's grace and love for each one of us!!