Review of 2013 – Happy 2014!

2013 Recap…

2013 was just full of surprises for our little family. Opportunities we thought were coming our way crumbled right before our eyes, but God opened other doors and brought blessings that were better than we ever dreamed.

From January through May I posted lots of different looks and styles here on RubysNPurls. I had fun with them but once June hit and I returned to college part-time, I found that I simply didn’t have enough time for everthing and blogging too. I was also really unhappy with my weight & to be honest was tired of posting photos of myself in outfits that weren’t that great. I knew once I started walking to school my weight would improve and it did somewhat over the summer, however it wasn’t until Caveman and I started the Paleo Diet in early September (4th to be exact!) that I really saw an improvement in my weight, my mental health and my energy levels.

As I’ve lost the weight, now down 30 lbs, my style has evolved as well. I am turning to more classic/taliored looks and surprisingly to me, wearing more black. I’ve always liked black but as Caveman told me recently, “Honey, black is your color!” LOL!

I also highlighted a few home improvements that we tackled in our backyard, along with the bounty from our garden and a quick little DIY. It was a good year, but as we look out over the coming 2014 we’re seeing lots of big changes in our future.

2014 Goals

I saw a quote similar to the one above on Pinterest the other day only it said “Amazing, Loving, Strong, Happy, Selfless and Grateful”. I think these are the qualities I will be striving for, as a person, as well as a Mom this year!

I saw this one too and (I’m not sure of the source for either of these, so if you know it could you please pass it along?) I really liked it…

“2014 is your year to ..Begin, have NO regrets, Hone your personal style, Love, Simplify, Go on an Adventure, Change your outlook, Love WHAT you do, BE YOU!”

Most of these were already my goals for 2014, this just put them into words beautifully!

As far as social media, you’ll find me on Pinterest & Instagram because I enjoy both so much. But here on this little space, my time will be limited. My focus has shifted away from style/fashion posts to spending quality time with my family, being real and in the moment. I think that’s one reason I really like Instagram because it’s a snapshot of a moment, not some longwinded explanation of what’s been happening with me, blah, blah, blah. That’s not to say that I don’t love dropping in with a post every so often, so for now I’m keeping an open mind and keeping the blog open. I’ll re-evaluate as the year progresses!

I hope all of you have a truly blessed and wonderful 2014.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

I promised to be back with our Christmas Cards this year and I aim to deliver, even if it is a couple days after Christmas!

I’ve been using Shutterfly for about 4 years now. I like the quality of their photos, photo books and photo cards, as well as their prompt delivery of said products.

After Caveboy was born I was very insistent on having a family photo each year and would force my guys to comply and the photos always looked like they had been forced, but over the past couple of years I stopped trying to force the photo shoot horror on them and have attempted to just get a few decent photos of Caveboy.

Front – Christmas Card 2013

This year, with my crazy school schedule, work and just normal life stuff, Caveman gave me the best Christmas gift a few months eary – a family photo shoot. Oddly enough even though my guys were cooperating, Caveboy looked like he could cry or was completely bored in most of the photos or they just turned out too blurry or dark.

This cover photo is the very first photo we took and it is completely us right now! Caveman has never been that relaxed in front of the camera so he looks to be more at attention, Caveboy currently sings/rhymes/talks all.the.time. these days and I’m smiling praying everyone else is too! This is what happens when you use the self timer to get family photos, but again this photo is completely us at this stage in our lives.

Back – Christmas Card 2013

I decided to use our Halloween costume photo on the back because it was really cute and turned out remarkably well for an inpromptu family photo. If you’ll recall I wasn’t able to make the dress I had planned for the day of Halloween but the weekend after Halloween I quickly finished it in time for the postponed party at our church where we were able to attend as one of the Duck Dynasty families!! The pink & olive green camo pattern mini dress was a hit along with Caveboy’s fleece beard and Caveman’s attire. It was a great memory and a great photo to include in our Christmas greeting this year!

The individual photos of Caveboy were included because everyone loves to see how much he’s grown. On the cover that photo was taken after we had returned home, in our front yard. The photo on the back was taken during the photo shoot earlier in the day. It was the least dark and actually in focus of the bunch. So I guess you could say this Christmas card is filled with planned and unplanned photos and that makes it all the more special to me.

Shutterfly makes creating cards easy, just upload your digital photo and place in the card. Shutterfly makes picking out a card extremely hard because there are just too many great card templates to choose from!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and has a very blessed and Happy New Year! See you in 2014!

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Shutterfly. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. I did not receive anything from Shutterfly to endorse them, I just like passing along info on a good company when I can.

Amazing Amazon.com Christmas Deals!

Yes, it would seem I’m breaking my radio silence to bring you some amazing deals from Amazon just in time for Christmas!

This year I told Caveman I really wanted a bracelete for Christmas. So I found a few great examples on Pinterest, showed them to him and asked if he would visit a local jewelry shop to purchase them. He decided he didn’t want to make any purchases without my approval so we visited the jewelry shop together this weekend, with a sicker-than-we-thought Caveboy intow. At the shop the prices were REALLY high and Caveboy was definitely sicker-than-we-thought! So….when we got home and I looked up some braceletes on Amazon and found this beauty.

This year has been really hard picking out the special something for Caveboy! He went around telling everyone he was getting an iPad until I finally got him to understand that iPad’s are just a little too much for a 4-year old! He loves dinosaurs but lately he’s also been getting interested in matchbox cars. I decided to search for matchbox racetracks at Amazon.com and what do you think I came across? This amazing (doesn’t require batteries, got great reviews from other customers, & doesn’t make any additional sounds) dino-matchbox-racetrack! He’s gonna love it! I threw in some other dinosaur related books, stamps and temporary dino tatoos for fun and I’m calling it done!

Caveman asked specifically for one of these babies, way back in the summer so how could I refuse?!

We’ve gotten free shipping on most all the orders and some amazing deals are going on right now. If you are still needing a last minute gift but can’t get out to the stores, head on over to Amazon.com now. Here’s the ordering cutoffs as of 12/16!

I’ll be back later this week with a few reveiws and our Christmas Card this year!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliated links. All opinions are my own!

Happy Halloween 2013!

1st up we have my Caveman as a Cowboy! 2nd up, Caveboy as a lumberjack/Duck Dynasty cast member!

Please forgive the quality of these photos, but it was the end of the day and we were attempting to beat the rain that was threatening in order to get a few photos. Also I thought it would be beautiful to take our photos in front of this burning bush, but my poor cell phone camera couldn’t quite handle the vibrant reds.

I used this tutorial to make Caveboy’s beard! I love Ashley‘s blog, she has the best tutorials and check out her kids Halloween costumes! They are amazing. This little beard took me about 30 minutes to make the other night, with Caveboy jumping up and down, crying to wear his beard the whole time!! LOL Patience, he has yet to master!

My Halloween outfit and Caveboy and I

Fall has exploded with some beautiful colors this week and hotter than normal temps!

If you follow me over on Instagram you will see a few other fall photos I’ve taken on my daily walk to school. Not much has been happening other than work, school, family – repeat! I’ve survived 3 exams thus far this semester. Just wanted to drop in quickly today with a little update! I’m looking forward to the holidays just to I can slow down some!

Hope everyone had a great Halloween and Fall so far!!

Happy Birthday to Me & a Mid-Summer Update!

I do apologize for the silence over here, but what better day to update you than on my birthday!!

Happy Birthday to me!

Yep, I’m a year older today and this one started off kinda rough, but Caveman is an amazing husband & friend. He loves me through my rough patches and the good times too. I love that man of mine!!

Giving the double braided messy bun a try today!

So how’s our summer so far? Its been filled with lots of this…

Summer Squash from our Garden!

We have a lovely garden this year and every night Caveboy insists on staying outside until almost dark.

Evening bike rides!

We ride bikes, hunt worms, play Frisbee, catch lightening bugs and attempt not to melt in the 80%+ humidity!

And Frozen Yogurt Bars!

Our 4th of July was rained out completely, but the sun is shining today!! Yippee!

I attempted to get a decent outfit photo the other day but this is all I managed. I refashioned a tee that was an XL and swallowed me whole, into something that I could actually wear – you know, in public!

Refashioned Tee – free from conference, White Capri’s – Target, Sandals – gift from Mom last year, Purse – SAK (Thrifted)

I used my Anchor tee as a guide as I like the cut of the top. So I cut down the sides, cut off the sleeves and then cut them down too. I completely cut off the neck band and bottom hem too. I sewed up the sides, set in the sleeves again and just turned down the neckline once and then ran a straight stitch around it. I’ve never hemmed the bottom and don’t think I’m going to either but I would like to add elastic to the bottom 3 or 4 inches of the side seams so that there will be some runching and gather up some of the excess material. Refashioning this tee took about 30 minutes all told, but it was spread out over a few days. 😉

Hope you all are having a wonderful summer so far!! I can’t believe it’s half over already!!

Sundays: What I Wore Sunday linkup / Sunday Style

Mondays: Funday Mondays! / Monday-Mingle / Visible Monday / My Style Monday / My Style Your Style / Color Blind- Thrifters Anonymous / Lowercase Letters- Miscellany Mondays / Covered in Grace- Monday Meet Up /Claire Justine oxox- Creative Mondays /Southern Sunflowers and Coffee Beans- Monday Mingle /Join the Gossip- Monday Morning Gossip / DC in Style /

Tuesdays: Real Girl Glam Link Up / Anything & Everything / Style Statement Tuesday / Style Sessions Contributor

Wednesdays: WIWW @ Transaltantic Blonde /Whatever Whenever Wednesday / Get Your Pretty On / Wardrobe Wednesday / Dress For the Day / My Whims Wednesday / Diaries of a Bargainista / Whatever Works Wednesday / What We Wore, Read & Made Wednesdays / Trending Pretty Wednesday / Random Wednesday /

Thursdays: Think Tank Thursday / Three-fer Thursday /Look What I Got! / #ThrifterThrusday / All Things Pretty Thursday!

Fridays: Casual Friday Link Up / Fridays Five / Fashion Friday @ All Things Chic / Favorite Frock Friday / Fridays Fancies / Fashion Informant Link Up / Style Me Friday / The Best of Friday Style Link-Up! / White Tee Challenge

Saturdays: Watch Out For The Woestmans / Weekend Recap /  Sami’s Shenanigans- Weekend Update /