Fall is Back in Town!

September 25, 2014

I’m so glad it’s finally fall you guys. And I’m secretly hoping they do an early release of the Starbucks Christmas drinks this year like they did for the Pumpkin Spice Latte. I want my Eggnog Latte in an Uncle Eddie Moose Mug….Yeah baby!

I’m wearing a scarf today for the first time in ages. It feels weird….but good. I miss that extra layer that flows down and hides my muffin top. I feel like my life is getting crazier and crazier. I’ve got a couple of wedding booked (I’m so excited!) and my fall photo sessions are almost fully booked! I love taking photos and can’t wait to make special memories for these families.

All my fall TV show favorites are back on! Holla! I got my weekly dose of The Goldbergs and The Blacklist. If you aren’t watching these two…get on that honey. Also, we watched a new show called Scorpion last night that was really good too!

The Goldbergs

JEFF GARLIN, WENDI MCLENDON-COVEY, GEORGE SEGAL, TROY GENTILE, HAYLEY ORRANTIA, SEAN GIAMBRONE

Terence and I were playing with some of the iPad updates and this picture booth was one of them. Connor was laughing so hard watching his face morph into distorted photos.

Here is me and Ter-Bear

We also got to meet baby Carlisle last weekend. She’s my “future daughter in law” in case you didn’t know 😉 Adam and Christa are some of our best friends and it’s been a joy watching them get engaged, married, and now with a new baby! They are going to rock this parenting thing!

She’s so beautiful!

I’ve been putting out fall décor here and there….I don’t do a whole lot of fall, but this is what I have so far. (Oh yeah….we found a scorpion in our BED and the bug man is at our house right now going through every nook and cranny so I don’t have the heeby jeebies every time I go to sleep at night)

Connor drawing pumpkins. His sort of looks like Shrek! ha ha! These Crayola Twistable Crayons are “da bomb”. I highly recommend!

So how’s your fall going so far???

Photo Fun + Finish This

September 17, 2014

Last week I ordered some files from Caravan Shoppe and I am just in LOVE with them! I took the files to Office Depot and had them printed on 36 x 48 paper and they work great for photo backdrops. Someday my dream of having a professional photo setup will come true! Until then I think these are great for taking festive photos. The holidays are right around the corner and I’m excited to use these for some photo shoots.

Connor begged for a skeleton shirt (This one glows in the dark) and this Batman bucket. They are both from Chasing Fireflies. I just love that magazine, most of the stuff is pretty pricey, but the bucket was only $8 & the shirt was on sale for $8 too!

I also got my Birchbox in this week. I really wish they would include more MAKEUP! I have about a bazillion perfume samples and nail polishes. I want makeup yo!

And don’t forget about our weekly Finish This Linkup with LISA (Coastlined), JEN (The Arizona Russums), BECKY (The Java Mama) and NICOLE (Three 31). The link up instructions are simple: answer the prompts in a post on your blog.

1. I am the type of person who: Wears my heart on my sleeve. I get attached to people easily and I am very open and honest about things. I care for people deeply and prayer and faith mean everything. Being genuine is a quality I look for in most everyone, along with honesty.

2. My favorite joke, riddle, or funny is: “That’s what she said” I dunno but everything Michael Scott cracks me up!

3. All that really matters is: Faith, Family, and Friends.

Friday Favorites

September 12, 2014

I’m linking up today with two of my favorite Friday link-ups Leslie & Lauren

1. I won a signed copy of Mindy Kaling’s book “Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?” Let me just profess my love for Mindy. She reminds me so much of the every day girl and I just love her attitude about life and her size and not fitting the mold of perfection that Hollywood is known for. She’s an amazing writer and actress and I can’t wait for season 2 of “The Mindy Project”. If you are looking for a good laugh watch that show! Mindy is so relatable and I’m so excited for her career and the way it’s taking off after The Office.

2. Kendra Scott was having a sale over Labor Day weekend and I visited when my sister was in town. I absolutely LOVE This ring! I got it on major sale and have literally worn it every day since because it goes with everything.

3. It’s 70-something degrees today. Can I get an Amen??? This is Texas after all. Enter my insertion of fall everything smell in my car. This Absolutely Autumn by Yankee is not overkill and smells amazeballs!

4. I posted on Instagram last week how I was looking for an under eye concealor. My friend Claire came to my rescue. She recommended Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer. Works like a charm. It’s got a bit of a pink undertone and works really well! She also recommended Jordana Best Lash Mascara. You can only find it at Walgreens, but for $3 I was surprised how well I liked it!

5. I ordered the CUTEST labels the other day. I’ve been using them on my stuff and all the things in Connor’s backpack: school supplies, folders, toys. These are from Kidecals and you can go and create any sort of label you can dream up! They are waterproof, thick, and very versatile. These labels come in sheets with all different sizes too!

Happy weekend Lovelies!!! Enjoy your family and friends!

Five Faves on Friday

I’m linking up with Leslie and Lauren today for some fun Friday link-ups and it’s also a great way to meet other bloggers 🙂

1. Do any of you have an Apple vs Windows computer that you work on photography with? If so, what are your thoughts? I have always loved the huge monitor on Apples…but I am so used to Windows programming.

2. This boy is getting so big! It seems like when we chopped his hair off he aged 5 years. I
want to grow it out for the fall though.

3. I got new blog cards thanks to Klout. I never know what to put on these things??? What do you put on the cards you hand out to friends and other bloggers?

4. I found a new phone cover and I LOVE it! It’s so hard to find cute phone covers for Droids. This one is a lot thinner. Has anyone with an S4 had trouble with their battery over-heating on their #Samsung phone? Because mine has been getting so hot and shutting down lately for NO REASON!!! Grrrrrr…..

5. If you aren’t using this then you should be. It’s great stuff. I have pretty thick brows anyway, but this just fills them in nicely and completes my makeup. I feel a lot more polished when my brows are in line 🙂 It’s called Benefit Cosmetics Brow Zings.

It’s FRIDAY!!!

Random Brain Dump…

Every now and then I like to do a major mind dump of stuff that goes on from day to day….

This one just happens to be Insta-style. Follow me on Instagram if you aren’t already peeps!

Connor and I are still doing our #selfieaday posts. I can’t wait until we get to the end of the year and I can do a flipagram of all our selfieaday posts 🙂

Someone asked if I would blog about my makeup routine and products…well color me 50 shades of red! Someone wants to know MY makeup routine…fo’shizzle.

My sister’s wedding hair was the bomb diggity y’all….seriously gorg.

When I went back home to Arkansas I stopped at Pineapple Whip and got my favorite summer treat. That week’s flavor was Mango/Pineapple. OMG. Soooooo good!

Why we don’t have this is Texas is beyond me. I just may start one!

Sister selfies. This ding dong got rear ended the day I got there….so guess who was her chauffeur during the wedding week??? ME. Uhm…..it’s okay we got to spend some good quality sister time together. Check out how beautiful her wedding was below. Connor also had to get a selfie in with the cousins 🙂

My Mom told me about the books series called “The Selection” you need to go get this….it’s SO good!!! If you liked Hunger Games with a lot more romance and fancy then you’ll love this.

We stayed at my friend Kristin’s house one night and her little boy had a batman mask and cape. Talk about epic melt down when Connor had to take this off. Seriously, I think he would wear this every day if he could. Obsessed!

Another thing I can’t get enough of these days is this smoked gouda pimento cheese dip. It’s SO good! I have it for lunch at least twice a week along with a cucumber and tomato salad. YUM.

And that’s about all the mind dumping I have for today! Thanks for reading and chillin with us for a bit! The thing about blogging is you can’t CARE about what others want….this is about my story and what I want. Own it. Live it. Love it! Muah!

Thrive: Would You Like a Sample?

I’m still running THIS contest if you’d like to enter. To become a customer is FREE and no obligation to buy 🙂

Anyway, I’ve had a lot of you ask questions about Thrive and want to try samples. I’m going to get as many as I can out. It is quite expensive. For $3 you can buy a sample for yourself as well. The first 10 people I’ll mail out for free and you can see how you like it!

I can only speak for myself as far as the results I’ve felt since I started the Thrive program. I’m tired a lot LESS. I have more energy to do things when I get home from work. I was just tired of being tired. I was skeptical at first, I’ve tried LOTS of different shakes and vitamins…probably more than I can count. I won’t mention on here though 😉

I even told the person who was trying to get me to try it NO. But once I tried it I understood why it was so great! So, it may be one of those things you just have to “try” to get it???

If you would like to receive a sample please email me at beckylbranch@gmail.com with your mailing address.

I’ll try to reach as many of you as I can. Also, I’d appreciate it if you’d go ahead and sign up HERE, just so I can have your information.

Go ahead and Google “Level Thrive” or look for it on Pinterest and see all the amazing results customers are getting!

Starbucks Giveaway+I’m On Vacay… #Contest #Giveaway

So I’m headed off to the big wedding tomorrow and I’m SO excited! Get ready for a super fab recap when we get back. I didn’t want to leave y’all without sharing something I’m super proud to be a part of.

Everyone that has been reading this blog knows I am a super duper coffee freaky deeky addict. Working a full-time job, being a wife, mom, and having OCD tendencies that turn me into a clean freak or screaming “NO WIRE HANGERS” at everyone…..is not good.

No…I’m not that bad??? Right?

Anyway, last week I joined a program called Thrive. I’ve only been using these amazing new products for a few days and have already seen a significant increase in my energy level and overall well-being

I have way more energy and I just feel better… And I just started using them. I was hesitant at first because I’ve tried SEVERAL shake type programs in the past. This one is actually really good and I don’t gag! I noticed a few months ago I just wasn’t feeling 100 percent and I was just tired of feeling tired all the time.

This is one of those things where you can hear me talk about it over and over, but it’s something you really need to experience for yourself. I told my friend who was trying to get me to try it no at first. Then she sent me some samples and I had placed an order by the end of the very first day because I was feeling so great!

I don’t usually do this kind of thing but this is too good not to share. I’m just starting my 8 week experience and I’m looking for a few people to join me! If I feel this good after a few days, I can’t wait to see how I feel in 8 weeks. I know there are a lot of products on the market right now but I just know these 3 simple products are different. Please let me know if you want to join me on this experience. I would love for us to do it together.

If you have any questions about the products or would like to try a sample, feel free to email me at beckylbranch@gmail.com

You can also visit my Thrive site HERE

Of course I still drink coffee….in moderation. It’s more about the taste for me. But now I also incorporate some more healthy options during my day. I can’t tell you what a difference it’s made in just a few days!

If you would like to sign up for FREE on my Thrive site (No obligation to buy) you can do so HERE.

For every person that signs up while I’m away on vacay- whether you buy the products or not will be entered to win a $25 Starbucks gift card!

So what do you have to lose??? It’s FREE and all you have to do is sign up (no obligations) HERE!

ENTER CONTEST BELOW:

+ Every person who enters will also be eligible to win a box of Activate ($46 value). Activate is a new beverage that helps with fitness, energy, clarity and performance.

Follow my progress + details on the wedding this week via Instagram!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Copywright The Java Mama/Becky Branch 2014