Reading... Made for You by Melissa Marr. I may be 21 years old, but I still absolutely love reading young adult novels of any genre. Right now I'm reading this thriller about a well-loved, popular girl who has a stalker who runs her down with his car. After waking up in the hospital, she discovers a new gift/curse: she can foresee people's deaths when they touch her. I'm only about a third into the book right now, but so far I like it! I find the premise of the story really interesting.

Wishlisting... these adorable tights from ModCloth. It's a dream come true: my obsession with cats as well as my love for knee-high socks -- combined! I may just have to buy these...

Loving... my new lovely backpack from Urban Outfitters. It's big, which is perfect to carry all of my books to class in. It's floral, which is perfect just in general. It's unique, I haven't seen anyone else with it walking around campus -- pretty much all I see are North Face book bags.

Appreciating... God's words. My favorite verse recently has been Romans 12:12, which says, "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." These three simple commands have been continuously flowing in my mind. I wrote the verse on a sticky note and put it on my bed's headboard so that I'll see it every morning I wake up and every night before I fall asleep.

Creating... wall art! Bare white walls bore me to death so I'm sprucing up my bedroom walls with some DIY projects. This pretty dream catcher is my latest craft and I'm really happy with how it turned out.

1 // On Sunday GPS (Go Passionately Serve -- a Christian college group that I'm a part of) went to Masonboro Island for a cook out! We had a big fire on the beach and huddled around cooking hotdogs on sticks and making smores. We had the entire island to ourselves which was awesome!

2 // This picture was also taken during the cook out at Masonboro Island. I can't get enough of God's marvelous sunsets! We also sang some worship songs around the fire and spent some time praying for one another. It was an all around fun and great night.

3 // I went home to Apex, NC for Friday/Saturday to see my family and best friends! We all are scattered throughout North Carolina since we all go to different colleges but it was awesome reuniting with my three closest friends at home for two days. We went to my church's pumpkin patch and spent Saturday night carving them up!

4 // Friday night was the best! We all went to the state fair in Raleigh. I haven't been in years so I forgot how crazy expensive everything is but it was still fun! I ate fried Oreo's for the first time, went on the stupidest haunted house ride, ate too much cotton candy, people watched, and rode the Ferris Wheel while fireworks were going off.

My friend Katelyn and I were "the fox and the hound" for Halloween! If you'd like to know more about how I made my costume, check it out here! We had such a fun night; I was asked by at least four different people, "What does the fox say?"

• White, black, and orange faux fur
• Headband
• Scissors
• Pen and paper
• Pliers
• Floral wire
• Hot glue gun

Step 1: Figure out the shape and size of the ears you want to make. It helps if you actually hold it up to your head to see how it looks (my first try made me look like I had bunny ears). Cut out 4 of these ears, all exactly the same.


Step 2: With 2 of the ears, trim them down for the white and black part of the ear. You can choose however big or small to make these, depending on what you like. Just make sure that the edges of the white and black pieces line up with each other.


Step 3: Cut out all of your fur pieces! If your fur is long and wispy (like my white) make sure that the direction of the fur hair is facing up. It also looks better if you use short snips with your scissors, careful to cut along the fabric and not the hair itself. You should have 2 large orange ears, with 2 smaller white and 2 smaller black pieces.


Step 4: Arrange your ears how you want them on your headband. With your floral wire, bend it into an ear shape - this is what will give support to your ears and keep them standing up. The picture below is just to demonstrate what the wire will look like before you glue it down to the orange fur.

Step 5: Hot glue the orange fur to the headband, and then the wire to the headband and orange fur. After that dries, hot glue the white and black fur on top of the wire so that it's hidden.


Your adorable fox ears are all done and ready to be worn!

• White and orange faux fur
• Scissors
• Pen and paper
• Safety pins
• Hot glue gun

Step 1: Cut out the shape of your tail, however big/small/short/long you prefer.

Step 2: Cut off the bottom point, which will be the white part of the tail.

Step 3: Using your pattern, cut out 2 orange tails and 2 white points. Make sure that the direction of the fur hair is pointing downwards. It also looks better if you use short snips with your scissors, careful to cut along the fabric and not the hair itself.


Step 4: Hot glue the orange and white fur together, and then combine the two tails into one by hot gluing all the way around the edges. Be sure to leave an opening at the top if you would like to stuff your tail! I just used leftover faux fur to stuff mine and then closed it up with the hot glue gun.

Your cute fox tail is done and ready to be worn! Use safety pins to attach it to your clothes.

• Orange shirt -- I didn't have any plain ones (which is ideal) so I used this YMCA shirt with a logo on the front. This is okay because it will be covered by the white fur. 
• White faux fur
• Scissors
• Hot glue gun (halfway through my "craft night" I had to run to AC Moore and buy a new hot glue gun which is why it's different than the one in the above pictures)

Step 1: Cut out a square of white fur the size of the fox's chest that you want. Make sure that it covers any logos on the front of the shirt. Line it up with the collar. Make sure that the direction of the fur hair is pointing downwards.

Step 2: Cut the fur along the collar and then make jagged cuts along the chest. It looks better if you use short snips with your scissors, careful to cut along the fabric and not the hair itself. Use the hot glue gun to set it all in place.


Simple! Your fox chest shirt is all done and ready to be worn.

I really love living in Wilmington. This beautiful place always holds fun adventures and pretty places to explore. There is so much to do and see here and I am incredibly blessed and happy to call this place my home away from home. I'm already almost halfway done with my junior year in college here - which makes me want to cry because I'm nowhere near ready to leave yet! I want to stay this age and at this point in my life for a long, long time. My heart is so full because I'm having the best semester in a place that I absolutely adore. I'm linking up with Emily at Ember Grey's "Grateful Heart Monday" link-up.

Next week is gonna be the last few days of October (what?!) yet it's still seventy degrees here in Wilmington! I am so desperate for the cool, autumn weather to hit already, but then again I am still loving these beautiful beach days. Maxi skirts are wonderful because they can be worn in both the summer and the fall. I threw on one of my favorite scarves (a birthday gift from my roommates last year) that has a cute owl print, and paired it with some combat boots. The sunset was super bright so I am featuring my new sunglasses from Urban Outfitters as well. They're a little big for my face but I still love them! What do you like to wear with maxi skirts?


Shirt: Old Navy // Skirt: Target // Boots: Francesca's // Sunglasses: Urban Outfitters // Scarf: gift

I am a lover of music. I'm passionate about my favorite bands, absolutely love going to concerts, enjoy discovering new albums to listen to, and like talking about & sharing music with others. I've been really into folk and indie rock for awhile. Here are some tunes that I'm listening to:

What kind of music are you a fan of? Know any similar bands to the ones above that you'd like to share? I'd love to hear about them!