This week’s Friday Five is more of Beth’s random questions. It’s Beth’s birthday so be sure to go wish her happy birthday!

1.If you could be on a show (talk show, game show…) which one would you pick?

For a talk show, I would choose Oprah! I have no idea what I would go on her show for, but who wouldn’t love the opportunity to sit on that stage and chat with her! She’s awesome!

For a game show, I would choose Deal or No Deal. I looooooove Deal or No Deal! I would totally lose all of the money, because I probably wouldn’t ever take the deal, but I think it would be really fun!

2. What was your first job?

I did some babysitting during high school, but I didn’t have a regular, real job until I started college. I worked as a substitute at the preschool at my church. There was always someone gone, so I worked nearly every day. It was fantastic! Makes me sad because some of my first kids are now in 4th grade!

3. What’s one of your guilty pleasures?

I did a list of five of them here, but I’ll highlight one of them now! One of my guilty pleasures is soap operas! I love ‘em! I’ve been watching The Young and The Restless since I was born, thanks to my Momma! It doesn’t get much better than watching Victor Newman destroy one of his enemies! My other favorite was cancelled ten years ago *sniff sniff*, Sunset Beach. I absolutely loved it! I still miss it! I also watch The Bold and The Beautiful on my lunch breaks, and Days of our Lives when I can. Good stuff!

4. Would you ever vacation alone?

I don’t think I could EVER vacation alone. I hate just going on day trips for work alone, so there’s no way I could actually take a vacation on my own. Plus, I’m so directionally challenged that I would get lost and be stuck in the middle of nowhere.

5. Democrat, Republican, or Independent..or maybe even Green Party (whatever that is)?

I am a Republican. Without getting too political, I will say that there are good and bad things about all parties, but I choose to vote based on the issues that I am most passionate about, and the Republican stance on those issues are the closest to my stance.

Head over to Beth’s blog to play along!

Happy Birthday Beth!

Also, if you haven’t entered my giveaway, it’s not too late! Click here to see pictures of what is in the giveaway and click here to see my video blog and get entered! Giveaway closes at midnight July 31st and the winner will be announced on Tuesday evening, August 3rd!

Friday Fives this weeks is ways to relieve stress. My job can be super stressful, so here are few ways I relieve my stress!

1. PRAY!

It works, yall! Just turning things over to God helps a lot. Telling Him how I’m feeling, and then trusting that He will take care of me makes me feel better. I need to do better with this!

2. Music!

Music ALWAYS helps me relax! I have music playing pretty much every moment of my life (Chris Young is playing while I write this), but I really find myself needing it when I’m stressing out.

3. Shopping

There are times that I get so stressed and overworked that I just have to take a nap! Even lunchtime naps give me a boost to get me through the day!

What do you do to relieve your stress? Link up at Beth’s blog!

Today’s Friday Five is Favorite Blogs. This one was super, super hard to narrow down! I wish that I could list all of the awesome blogs I follow! I passed on blog awards last night, so check out that post for more blogs I love!

First of all, a favorite blog post wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Beth! When I started blogging, hers quickly became one of my favorites! She’s great!

Here are my top five!

1. Kelly’s Korner

Oh my goodness, I just can’t even tell you how much I love this blog! She has such wonderful inspirational things to say, and she has managed to stay so positive throughout difficult times in her life. She is absolutelly my favorite “blog celebrity”! I just love her!

2. Bring the Rain

I have spent many hours crying while reading this blog. Angie beautifully documented their journey through baby Audrey’s terminal diagnosis during the pregnancy, losing Audrey, and life after. It is very inspiring how she clung to God and her faith in him throughout her difficult time.

3. Lauren’s blog

Lauren’s blog is one of the first blogs I discovered when I first started reading blogs. Her blog goes through her pregnancy with quadruplets and then losing them at 17 and 22 weeks. Her story is absolutely heartbreaking, but she, too, has mananged to stay strong through an extremely difficult time.

4. Pioneer Woman

Love this girl! She not only makes the most amazing food and takes fantastic pictures, but her stories of life on a ranch are just hilarious! I would love to go spend a few days at her lodge!

5. That’s Why Her Hair is So Big

Oh, I just love Tara! Her blog is also one of the first ones I started reading, and I love it! Her Target Tuesdays and Trainwreck Thursdays are awesome! Love her blog, and love being Twitter buddies too!

Also, she’s doing an awesome giveaway on her blog, but please don’t go enter because I really want to win! :)

Ok, so I can’t do just five! Only one more, I promise!

6. A Girl in Pearls & A Boy with Toys

Jen has got to be the busiest blogger I’ve ever seen! From Tool Tuesdays to Favorite Fridays to Wedding Wednesdays on the Wedding Stories blog to blogging about life, she’s always got something great going on her blog!

If you don’t read any of these awesome ladies’ blogs, you should definitely check them out! Also, link up at Beth’s blog to show us your favorites!

Today’s Favorite Friday and Friday Five are both about 4th of July activities, so I decided to combine them into one post!

I have 4th of July traditions that I have done every year for…ever! My holiday weekend plans are brought to you by the letter ‘F’!

Family

Friends

Last year’s 4th of July picture
Jessica’s church has a big firework
display, and we go together every
year!

Food

Jessica’s mom and Gran make homemade ice cream!

Fireworks

At my grandparents house

Jessica’s church

And this year’s addition…

Fangs

We will also be celebrating this little cutie’s birthday this weekend!

What are your 4th of July plans? Head on over to Jen and Beth’s blogs for more!

1. If given the choice to skip work for a day, how would you spend the entire day?

I would start by sleeping late and waking up just in time to catch up on my favorite soap opera…
..
Then, I would go get a pedicure…

Then, I would call Teddie to come over, and we would spend the afternoon by the pool!

I am definitely in need of a day like this!

2. If you could start fresh, what profession would you choose?

I talked about this a week or two ago, but I would choose news reporter.

3. What is your favorite candy or candy bar?

Love these!

4. Have you ever ordered anything from an infomercial or bought an “As Seen on TV” item?

I have not bought anything myself, but I did get a magic bullet for my college graduation, and I absolutely love it! I make smoothies and milkshakes with it in the summer, and it’s great! If you don’t have one, you need one!

5. What movie do you always cry at?

No matter how many times I watch them, I always cry!

Head on over to Beth’s blog to play along!

This week’s Friday Five topic is favorite songs. When it comes to music, I have trouble sticking to a number restriction. So, here are my top six!

1. “The Dance”-Garth Brooks

Garth is my absolute favorite, and I love the message of this song! All of his songs are great, but I have loved this one for so long!

2. “Just Missed the Train”-Kelly Clarkson

Kelly is so awesome, and I’ve loved this song from the first time I heard it!

3. “I Hope You Dance”-Lee Ann Womack

This song has such a great message! I have the lyrics hanging above my bed!

4. “So Small”

This song got me through a difficult time my senior year of college. I had it as my ringtone for awhile, and I also have the lyrics hanging above my bed. Very inspirational song!

5. “In Christ Alone”-Avalon

I have loved this song since the very first time I heard it in church. I searched iTunes and found Avalon’s version, and I love it!

6. “God Must Have Spent a Little More Time On You”-*NSYNC

Y’all know my list wouldn’t be complete without an *NSYNC song! :)

What songs do you love? Visit Beth’s blog to link up and find more music!

1. Are you a Mac or a PC? I am absolutely, totally a PC! I had to use a Mac in a class in school, and I’ve used friends’ Macs, and I just can’t handle it. I also don’t like change at all, so I’m sticking to a PC!

2. If you could go anywhere on vacation this summer where would you go? Right now, I’d be up for going pretty much anywhere! These last two weeks at work have been the most stressful of my life, and I’m ready to get away. Any suggestions about where would be a good place to go?

3. What is your most cherished childhood memory? I don’t know that I could pick just one. My childhood was great! I was on a nationally-ranked jump rope team in elementary school, and we won regional competition and competed at nationals at Disneyworld. It was pretty amazing! Also, just being a kid was fun! Hanging out with friends and themed birthday parties (50′s for me, Hawaii for Jessica) were great too!

4. What were you doing the last time you had a good laugh? Yesterday, while I was at work, my Momma was going through my dresser drawers in my bedroom at home. She was cleaning it out so they could bring it to me today. She found all kinds of random stuff, and texted me pictures of the stuff she found, and a few of her wearing stuff. Look for a post on that in the next few days!

5. What is your favorite book or magazine? Karen Kingsbury and Nicholas Sparks are my favorite authors, so any books by them are great! Favorite magazines are People and Glamour. Love ‘em!

Check out Beth’s blog for more!

1. Drink more water

I know without at doubt that I don’t drink enough water. I’m not crazy about water, so I choose other things like juice, milk, Dr. Pepper, or something else. The few times I have tried to drink more, I felt so much better, but I just can’t seem to make myself stick with it.

2. Eat more veggies

I am not crazy about veggies either. I like corn, broccoli, lettuce, green peas, and asparagus, but that’s about it. I loathe green beans, can’t stand carrots, and peppers are disgusting, along with quite a few others. I occasionally try to eat one of the nasty things, but just can’t make myself like them.

3. Drink less Dr. Pepper

I try and try and try, but I just can’t seem to let go of this stuff! I know it’s bad for me, but I can’t cut it out of my life!

4. Exercise more

I DEFINITELY need to get more exercise! I am not nearly as active as I should be. I used to walk in college with a roommate and another friend, and I felt really good! Then…I graduated, moved in with another friend, and the other friend got married. So…no more exercise.

For Christmas, I got Julianne Hough’s dance DVD. I did it for about two days. You can read my post about that disaster here.

4. Eat less Mexican food

Ok, I know it’s not healthy for me to eat it, but let’s be honest. I know I shouldn’t have it, but I’m gonna eat it anyway so…whatever.

What things would you like to change about your life? Check out Beth’s blog to link up!

Ok, now for Friday Five! This week’s topic is favorite pictures. When I first saw this topic, I panicked! How do I choose only five? I couldn’t do it, so here are my Friday 15!

First, a few family and friend pictures…

Me & Jess-my favorite picture of us!

Me & the parents at my college graduation

Me & my adoptive family from church
B was 13 and the twins were 9!
Now, the twins are 13 and B is 17 and graduating Saturday! I feel so old!

My Grandaddy and cousin-Sweet, sweet picture

Jessica’s wedding-Love this pic!

Me and a few buddies getting ready for the OKC Bombing Memorial Marathon two years ago.
We did the 5K, and it was raining and freezing!

Now, gotta do a few funny pictures!

Me, April, & EA at Thanksgiving this year

Another Thanksgiving picture from a few years ago. Don’t ask…no idea what I was thinking.

Again, got no idea what I was thinking

Cousins

My kitty Jack doesn’t like when my attention isn’t on him. In this picture, I was working on my display board for senior symposium. He’s laying in my trash pile.

Christmas two years ago, part of the family couldn’t come to visit while I was home for break, so they had the big family Christmas later in the week. Since I couldn’t be there, they inserted my picture in the family picture between Momma and Colby!

Momma and Me

Me and Colby with our grandparents. As this picture was being taken, my Mom-mom pinched my Grandaddy on the bottom! She is laughing and he is giving her the death stare! Love it!

Momma inserting herself into one of the cousin family pictures at Thanksgiving. Love the expression on her face and love the look Jack is giving her, like “What is she doing?”

Check out Beth’s blog for more pictures! Link up and play along!

1. Dark chocolate M&Ms

Looooooove dark chocolate! I was so excited when M&Ms came out with dark chocolate ones! They are the best! Isn’t dark chocolate supposed to be healthy? :)

2. Grapes

I love grapes in the summertime! I usually keep a bowl of them in my fridge, and pop a few everytime I open it! I also take them to work to snack on during the day. Good stuff!

3. 100 calorie packs

I think 100 calorie packs were an awesome invention! I love that each pack has the perfect amount, and it keeps me from being tempted to eat more than I should. I keep a variety of different kinds, and also take them to work.

4. Vanilla Dr. Pepper

A drink can be considered a snack, right? I have a Dr. Pepper nearly every day. Sometimes it’s just plain, sometimes with cherry vanilla, but mostly just vanilla. I think I have inherited a Dr. Pepper addiction from my Momma, but I love ‘em!

5. Popcorn and cheese

Ok, I get that this one may be a little weird. In middle school, me and my friends started eating popcorn and dipping it in nacho cheese. It is AMAZING! We’re 24 years old and still occasionally pull out the popcorn and cheese when we’re together. If you haven’t tried it, you should, at least once! Yum-o!

What snacks do you like? Click on over to Beth’s blog and see what other people enjoy!