Friend love

I just want to take the time to acknowledge how amazing my friends are. As I'm sure those of you are aware that read my post about grief, my husband and I have been going through a lot lately. Despite being completely socially absent and non-confrontational, my bestest of friends have made numerous attempts to show me how much they've been thinking about me.

This bouquet is from my lovely friend Taylor who simply sent me a text saying, "check your porch" and surprised my hubby and I with a bouquet of beautiful roses and a card acknowledging how much she loves us, supports us, and is thinking of us. This card, along with others that we received were really a representation of how meaningful our friends and family are in times of need. We also received this adorable little plaque from Mary:

So simple, but so absolutely perfect. Exactly what we needed: a subtle response to our sadness, but also acknowledgement to the support we have from our friends. It has found a spot on our lovely bookshelf in our living room. Perfect place for all to see :)

Thank you friends and family for all of your thoughts, and support. Its because of all of you that I've become strong enough to conquer these challenges.

Editor's pick

Many thanks to bloggers.com for featuring me today as Editor's pick. This blog began with 1 follower and I couldn't have dreamed to receive all of the support and recognition that I have for sharing my life with the world. Thank you so much!
Check me out here:
http://bloggers.com/

Gettin' r done

As I was going through my closet today, I found this lovely wall sticker word thingy that Luke and I got as a shower gift before our wedding.

We knew before the wedding that we were planning on moving in the near future so we were waiting to hang it up until we reached a permanent location. Now, I know I know. I said the headboard would be done by now, but I'm super nervous to attempt this on my own, and everytime I walk into Ikea I convince myself a little bit more to get this: . So after we moved the room around we had a complete lack of wall art and here is what we had to work with:

Now you win some and you lose some, and with this damn sticker- I lost. The word "Always" just wouldn't stick and when it did stick, it stuck to the paper. So this is what we ended up with:

My husband has assured me that we can snag up another "Always" next time we are at Target. But I kind of like the way it looks with the cross hung, and the soon-to-be headboard will sit perfectly under the words. The cross was a X-mas present from my mom to Luke and I when we first moved into an apartment of our own. One of the first things we hung up on our walls! Also hung up a mirror we got from Ikea for $9.99 over my dresser and it seems like the perfect place for a girl to get ready!

Couldn't get a good picture with our piece of crap camera :(

Spring Fever

The hubby and I have been struggling immensely with this dreary weather. I'm sure my fellow midwesterners can relate to the gray, snowy, sleety crap that we have been dealing with for the past who-knows-how-many-months. We are definitely wishing that we were back here:

This was taken in Jamaica on our honeymoon and I honestly can't remember the last lengthy period of time we have had with sunshine and decent weather. Not only does the lack of sun make completing daily tasks all the more difficult, but it makes me tired and just overall sad :( I got a little tease when I was in Ohio. It was 50 and sunny and it felt like mid July! So 2 nights ago as we were laying again we reminisced about past springs and went back and forth declaring what we are excited about the nice weather. Gardening, outdoor baseball, walks, outside runs, BBQs, and the farmers market are just a few of the activities that made our list. As surprising as it sounds, just talking about nice weather puts me in a good mood. Gives us something to look forward to. So be patient, my mean-weathered friends. The sun'll come out. . . Tomorrow. No not really tomorrow, I think its supposed to snow, but you catch my drift. Next time your getting spring fever, talk out all the fun events and make a list of things you'd like to accomplish this spring. It worked for us!

Photo wall part 2

After some wonderful help from my lovely and talented friend printing off some photos for us, the majority of our new frames are filled. With a few common household tools, I was able to get everything hung up.

Since we had the newspapers hung as a guide as to where to hang the pictures, all it took is

1) Some simple hammering:

(Action Shot)


2) Tearing down the newspaper:

3) And a little leveling out:

We are still lacking photos in a couple of the frames but we are absolutely ecstatic with the finished (well almost-finished) product. Here's a couple pictures of the wall thus far.

I also plan to mount and hang a couple photo strips and maybe something else 'fun' to fill in some of the bigger spaces, but I think we are definitely making good progress. I just love walking down the hall, and find myself stopping every time to look at all the different pictures and reminice about traveling to Fiji, Jamaica, going to New Orleans with 2 of my best friends, our wedding, our engagement, and our family. I know it sounds cheesy, but part of having a home is making it our own, and I feel like this wall is a perfect representation of who we are and what is important to us! Hope you guys all like it!

Photo wall expansion

Well. Project photo wall expansion began this weekend. After a record-breaking quick trip to Ikea, and 25 little dollars later, I scored my self an array of wonderful black picture frames.

We had a few extra picture frames laying around and decided to throw them up on the wall as well, but we will be adding about 10 additional pieces to the wall.

Here is what our lovely wall looked like before:

We then decided to cut out some newspapers into the approximate sizes of the picture frames we had remaining to hang and taped them up into their spots. Here's a couple picture of the aftermath.

We are so excited to get our frames filled and hung up, because I think its really going to look great. At my grandparents this weekend, we looked through old pictures and I expressed a lot of interest in this old picture of my grandparents, my dad, and my aunt in 1965 at Como Zoo. I immediately fell in love looking at how beautiful my grandma looks and handsome my grandpa looks. Not to mention my dad and aunt are absolutely adorable. Here's a little sneak peek of the picture in its new frame. Can't wait to get it up on the wall!

Pictures with progress will come soon :)

Re-arranging

Welp we finally did it. We re-arranged our bedroom (again!) We have always been bed pushed up against a wall kind of people but after we painted we kind of enjoyed the feeling of freedom on either side of our bed. We decided to change things a little bit because well, I was absolutely hating the fact that our bed was pushed up against a window and our pillows fell into the window, and our cats jumped on our head in attempts to lay in the window and. . . well bad combination. We still have a ways to go. Things on the wall are now most definitely not in the correct locations, but I think we are making progress. Here are some pictures but keep in mind, no organization has taken place. Its merely a change of furniture.

The view as your walking into the room. It feels much more spacious.

We like having some sort of 'end table- like' contraption on each side of the bed.

We still have gold curtains being made and a cloth headboard is still in the plans, now that we have a head board-appropriate configuration. And I'd like to hang some black shelves up. Guess that means I get to go to Ikea this weekend :)

This weekend, since there is little to nothing in our plans besides scoring some Twins tickets tomorrow, my hope is to also expand on our photo wall in our hallway into something a lot more um. . . aggressive as Luke referred to it. My inspiration comes from: More pictures to come.

Happy Friday everyone, Thanks for stopping in

My diary blog

So, as I'm sure my fellow followers are aware of, I have been lacking in the blogging department lately. I have been going through some personal 'things' that I have just felt a little apprehensive about sharing with the blogging world. I am curious to know if others use their blog as a sort of diary, in which they share all of their thoughts, feelings, and life experiences. So far, my blog has focused on my husband, our house, making our house a home, and a little bit of music in the mix. I wonder if people enjoy reading about other's life experiences. To spare all of the personal details, my husband and I have endured some true tests of our relationship, strength, and emotions. Through this, I've found that in love, loss, and just overall life experiences I have really been brought closer to my loved ones (family, friends, etc.). I'd like to take this blog to thank everyone out there who has been there for me, for a friend or a family member, or even for an acquaintance. We all grieve in different ways. Some of us cry our eyes out, some of us sit and deny the truth until our faces turn blue, some of us, like me, become so emotionally drained that our personalities transform into something not so pleasant. We turn away and shut down and allow ourselves to heal. It is at these times that I am most thankful that people can put up with me. We are all human, and because of that, we are imperfect. . . Me especially! Thank you all for accepting my faults and letting me disappear, while still remaining there for me when I come back to the real world.


Through this all, my wonderful husband has brought to me this very applicable quote by Jimmy Buffett:

"grief is like the wake behind a boat. It starts out as a huge wave that follows close behind you and is big enough to swamp and drown you if you suddenly stop moving forward. But if you do keep moving, the big wake will eventually dissipate. And after long enough time, the waters of your life get calm again. . "

Trunk hunt

Okay. . . . so, I am on the hunt for a few things for our bedroom right now. . I've been dying to find a new, fun light fixture to bring the room together. Remember this is what our bedroom looks like now:

I am hoping to find an old, antique-y chandelier to hang over our bed.

Something like this

Also thinking about a trunk for the end of our bed like this

Now to find some time for antiquing and thrifting :)

Blogger award :)

So today, much to my surprise I received a lovely e-mailing explaining that I have won my very own blogger award

from the lovely and wonderful Cece. Check out her blog here:


This award was kind of pivotal for me because all along I've felt like I've been sharing my experiences as a young woman, wife, friend, home owner and socialite, not necessarily thinking that anyone really cared. As I started seeking out other's blogs, I've found myself drawn to people 'like me,' things I can relate to and people who share similar experiences. Nothing is better than staying updated with peoples lives and getting inspired in what they do. I think that blogging and reading other peoples blogs has made me a little more well-rounded. I now take cooking risks, fashion risks, and decorating risks as I have seen my fellow bloggers succeeding in their endeavors.

Now here's 8 things you may not know about me:

1. I was pre-med in school, decided I didn't want to devote my life to work so veered off into administrative health care.

2. I love learning and would go to school for the rest of my life if it was possible.

3. My husband and I have this strange desire to open a little mom & pop's pizza shop and run it together.

4. I love baseball, mainly the Minnesota Twins

5. I am secretly obsessed with the band Queen.

6. I was a vegetarian for years, and slowly weaned myself back onto meat. I now love me a good steak.

7. I married my polar opposite.

8. I would love to eventually transform my blog into a do it yourself, home decorating blog.

So there it is. . . my little acceptance blog.

Thank you very much, Cece. I am honored :)

Kitties!

Okay so. . . Its official.
Luke and I trekked out to the Humane Society last weekend and fell in love with not one, but two adorable black kittens. Apparently the litter of 9 were left in a cardboard box on the side of the road, before they were taken in by the humane society. We played with a number of different cats, ranging from a few months to three years old. We were really hoping to get the deal "buy a cat under a year, get a cat over a year for free" I know- kind of a ridiculous deal, but there are so many animals needing a home, we thought it'd be a good idea. Well, when we took these two kitties in a room to play (at the time named Jill and Tynesha) it was love at first sight. They were the only two cats actually sharing a cage and they were cuddled together and so affectionate toward one another we knew we wouldn't be able to split them up. Now i had never been a cat person and would admit that I'm not really the prime example of a cat owner, but I love these two kitties!

We bought them home and I had named one Nora, who turned out to be the naughty one. Luke named the other Fiji, after my favorite place in the world :)

We decided that during the day, we keep them in the basement to avoid them being given an opportunity to scratch up our wonderful new leather couch. They have more than enough room to move and play around down there. Here is a picture of the first day we had them after Luke came home from work:

They were both huddled behind a picture frame-- ugh so adorable.

They eventually opened up and now act like they practically own the place. We couldn't be happier! Here's a few more pic of them just being ridiculously cute:

They make incredible snuggle buddies and are a ton of fun to watch 'explore' our house.