your daily quote

story of my life.

commenting

I've had some drama with my comments section so I thought I'd bring you up to speed.

At first, I had both word verification and I had to "modify" the comments, which means they are emailed to me and then I chose to publish them or not. 

Then folks with smartphones were having trouble commenting because of the word verification.  So I took it all away and people could comment all willy nilly.

Then the only comments I got were like 73028 spam comments and it really freaked me out.  So now we're at the no word verification but you have to wait for me to publish it.  So when your comment doesn't show up immediately it's because it is waiting in my inbox for me to publish it.  I'd like to keep all the spam about new Nike shoes and random Asian phrases off of my blog.  Just wanted to let y'all know, and with that said...please keep the comments coming!  That's how I know people are actually reading this mindless junk I'm writing.  Thanks!!!

so i cooked a rutabaga...

Yeah, we can go ahead and add that to the list of things that I never thought I'd say err...type.  How did this come about, you may be wondering?  Well we decided to join a CSA with our friends Matt and Anna.  Which basically means that you give a certain amount of money to a local farm and they in turn give you fresh produce each week (ours lasts from the beginning of June to November).  I've been wanting to do one of these for years and I'm thankful our friends gave us a little push.  It's really a great thing because the produce is 1) local 2)super fresh and 3) organic (our farm is, not all farms are).  And it's pretty economical.  So one of the fun/quirky parts of this deal is that you get whatever they are growing which brings us to last week...we got a rutabaga.  Never have I even held one nor did I know how to cook it.  So of course I went to my bestie, Google, for help.  And I decided to prepare it this way.  It was...interesting.  It was kind of a pain to peel.  The taste was good, they are similar to potatoes.  Except there were these weird stringy things because I don't think I completely peeled it?  Needless to say, it was interesting to cook and taste it but I think I'll stick to potatoes for that type of starch.  However, if we get another rutabaga thrown our way I'm not opposed to cooking it again.

Now we have some beets, do y'all eat them?  If so, how do you cook them?

your daily quote

(found here)

your daily quote

(found here)

my best friend's wedding part 2

some of the girls in the limo at the beginning of Ginny's WEDDING DAY!

me and the beautiful bride!

Katie, Mom, me and beautiful bride :)

Ginny and her sweet little niece (and flower girl), Lillie

me and John (he fell asleep at the reception)

Mary and me

the Rouses and the Kellys

sweet Momma and the bride (her 3rd daughter)

Mom and Katie

the bride and me!!

me (apparently about to attack someone), Ginny and John :)

We had a fantastic time!! Yay for Ginny and Riley!! We love y'all to Reeses pieces!!!

your daily quote

Amen.  My sweet cousin pinned this to me, thank you :)

one last reminder

I just wanted to remind everyone that I'll be walking in the Walk for Life tomorrow and all of the money goes to Women's Choice Network.  If you feel like donating please do (the fundraising page stays open 30 days after the walk)!  A big thank you to everyone that has already supported me, it means the world to me!! :)

Here's the steps to donate:
1. Go to the Walk for Life fundraising page
2. Click on "give"
3. Then a nifty little box will pop up with people's pictures (the walkers) and click on me, Jessi Kelly
4. Then click the big "give" button and follow their directions

Thank you!!

your daily quote

Bear with me...this one's a little wordy...

Religion is not meant to punish us: it is meant to set us free from guilt, anxiety and discord.  This is what we teach our children in the South.  We accommodate changing times through unchanging principles.  We embrace the future, without forgetting the past.  In the South, life is like a tree.  The branches shelter us from the tragedies and sorrows of life, but ultimately we have to grow.  Seeds are placed within us: the seeds of hope, love and forgiveness.

Hope never dies, always bringing back joy and keeping peace in our hearts.  Grits know that religion is life itself--that quiet escape from the daily grind that has the power to set you free.  It is the desire and wherewithal to change the world around you.  Your denomination doesn't matter.  Your faith doesn't matter.  It's the love in your heart that counts.

Deborah Ford, The GRITS Guide to Life

the night before the wedding

me and John at the dance after the rehearsal dinner

Katie annoying John :)

sister sister

John, me, Katie and Andre

family

family again :)

me and Dad shagging (I think I'm counting out the steps to him :)

happy girls! (Blakeley, Ginny, me and Dina)

And of course, me owning the dance floor...clearly :)

my best friend's wedding

Soooo Ginny got married this past weekend!!!  And what a whirlwind, wonderful wedding it was!!  Seriously, hands down, one of the best weddings I've ever been to.  And it went by in the blink of an eye.  Let me just say the bride was STUNNING!  I was so proud to call her my best friend!  Well, I'm proud to call her that when she's in gym shorts and a t-shirt but y'all, she looked amazing!  And right now I know you're like, "well show us the dang pictures already!" and to that I have to say: our camera broke Friday night, I took pics with my parents' camera (that remains in Goldsboro but they promised to upload the pics and send them to me, cough cough) and I'm hoping her photographer/someone on facebook will put up some pics real soon.  I'll be able to upload the ones from our camera but that means I have to dig it out of our luggage first and well, I'm still pretty exhausted from the weekend.  They're coming, they're coming, I promise!  It really was a fantastic weekend filled with love, support, family, friends, food, alcohol and just plain old fun!  I was sad to see it end although I'm glad sweet Ginny has a break and can enjoy herself on her honeymoon with her new husband, Riley!  Here are a few pics from my mom's iPhone to hold you over:

John stealing a dance with the bride (super blurry, they were moving too fast!)

Ashley and I (bridesmaids) pausing as we scarfed down shrimp and grits

blurry one of Mom and Dad partying hard :)

Ashley, Eva (my old roommate) and me

just 5 days left...

Until I do the Walk for Life.  Just a reminder :)  If you want to donate, here's how:

1. Go to the Walk for Life fundraising page
2. Click on "give"
3. Then a nifty little box will pop up with people's pictures (the walkers) and click on me, Jessi Kelly
4. Then click the big "give" button and follow their directions

Thank you!!!

the bungalow

This book was awesome!  Also a super quick read, I was able to read the majority of it to and from NC this past weekend (and that's only during the time when I wasn't driving).  It's definitely different than books I've read before.  I mean nothing completely shocking, just a different story line that I felt was refreshing and enjoyable, and very hard to put down.  This is a great read for the beach or just summer in general (for those of you looking for a summer book, tis the season!).  Here's the description on Goodreads.com:

In the summer of 1942, twenty-one-year-old Anne Calloway, newly engaged, sets off to serve in the Army Nurse Corps on the Pacific island of Bora-Bora. More exhilarated by the adventure of a lifetime than she ever was by her predictable fiancé, she is drawn to a mysterious soldier named Westry, and their friendship soon blossoms into hues as deep as the hibiscus flowers native to the island. Under the thatched roof of an abandoned beach bungalow, the two share a private world-until they witness a gruesome crime, Westry is suddenly redeployed, and the idyll vanishes into the winds of war.
A timeless story of enduring passion, The Bungalow chronicles Anne's determination to discover the truth about the twin losses-of life, and of love-that have haunted her for seventy years.

the fiddler (by beverly lewis)

The Fiddler is a great book. Never would I have imagined that I would enjoy Amish literature but Beverly Lewis seems to captivate me every time.

The book begins with Amelia Devries, a famous fiddler, randomly meeting Michael Hotstetler, an Amish man. Both are unsure of what to do with their futures. She contemplates which way to take her career as well as the seriousness of the relationship she has with her boyfriend while Michael struggles with choosing to be baptized into the Amish church or go "English" and leave the community in which he grew up.

Michael takes Amelia back to Amish country so that she can meet the people in his community as well as be a support to him as he decides to tell his father he doesn't intend to join the Amish church. Everything doesn't go as planned and the book begins to follow the two characters individually as well as showing glimpses of their lives intertwining.

The Fiddler is a quick and easy read. Very enjoyable. I like reading about the Amish, I just love getting a glimpse into their lifestyle and Beverly Lewis depicts it so well. I highly recommend this book, even if Amish literature doesn't sound appealing to you, you might be surprised :)

walk for life

Hey, remember that time that I asked you guys to help me out and donate to a great cause?  Well, I just wanted to remind you guys that you still can in case you reallllllly feel the need to :)  I'm walking not this weekend but the next (June 16).  I would looooooove it if you could donate, please :)  Thanks again everyone, you're all awesome! 

(Here's the steps again)
1. Go to the Walk for Life fundraising page
2. Click on "give"
3. Then a nifty little box will pop up with people's pictures (the walkers) and click on me, Jessi Kelly
4. Then click the big "give" button and follow their directions

ginny's bachelorette

bride to be y'all

about to open up all her gifts (candid, clearly)

waiting to be seated for dinner

more waiting

Ginny and her soon to be sister-in-laws

some of the girls

me and the bride :)

the whole dang group

gathered round the dinner table

a local band was playing so we decided to stop and dance in the rain

the group during the dance fest

It was a great weekend!!  I'm so glad that I was able to be there and celebrate sweet Ginny!  Clearly I didn't document the entire weekend, but this is the best that it's gonna get.  Hope you enjoyed :)

your daily quote

Tell her something true when all she’s known are lies. Tell her God loves her. Tell her about forgiveness, the possibility of freedom. Tell her she was made to dance in white dresses. All these things are true.

To Write Love on Her Arms

your daily quote

They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.

Tom Bodett

the messenger (book review)

My sweet sister-in-law told me about Bethany House Publishing and how you can sign up to be a book reviewer.  They send you free books and all you have to do is review (can be positive or negative) them on a blog or a book-clubbish website (I did mine on Goodreads).  Here's the link if you want to sign up.  So here goes my first review, it's for The Messenger by Siri Mitchell:

This book is set during the American Revolution and focuses on Hannah Sunderland, a Quaker girl whose rebel brother is in jail, and Jeremiah Jones, a tavern owner who has secret patriot loyalties. The two unlikely pair come together to help with a prison escape for the rebels. During the process Hannah begins to question her Quaker faith and Jeremiah begins to shed his bitterness and open up to his compassionate side.

Overall the book was well written, although sometimes I felt like the language didn't flow so well. That could mostly be due to the 18th century language and the use of "thee" instead of "you". It was clear that the author put a lot of research into the book which was appreciated.

I didn't love this book. It was not very captivating to me. I've read historical fiction, Christian fiction and Christian historical fiction, so none of those factors had a negative effect on my thoughts of the book. It was not until the last 70 pages that I found myself reading it because I genuinely wanted to know how it ended instead of just reading it to finish the book. The characters and storyline just didn't captivate me. It may be your cup of tea though...

lately

I know it's been forever since I've done a legit post but here's what has been going on lately:

• planning every little detail of my bestie Ginny's bachelorette weekend (I try to control my inner detail oriented monster most of the time but this time she had to be released)
• got a spray tan...and survived
• experiencing Ginny's bachelorette weekend (last weekend) and loving every second of it! (pictures will be posted soon--and YES, I did take pics!)
• spending some sweet (short) time with my fam while I was in NC
• attempting to catch up on rest that I didn't get last weekend
• going to a RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS concert and finding out we were going a mere 2 hours before the show started! (some pics of that too)
• finally relaxing with the hubs last night, eating ciabatta bread pizza and watching a movie, aaaah relaxation...

Here's the ciabatta bread pizza and the recipe:

 (photo and recipe cred to glamour magazine)

note to self: if you're using the broil setting on your oven for the first time, you might want to watch the bread, even if it's only in there for two minutes, ughhhh

your daily quote

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries or the way she combs her hair.

Audrey Hepburn