Scraplog

The Wedding

Life has been a whirlwind lately. We have been so crazy busy with all of this house stuff that we don’t have time for anything else. And that’s okay. It’s just a season and soon, things will be back to normal. I can’t wait for normal :)

We officially closed on our old house and are now back to owning only one house. That feels good. For a while I kept asking myself if I should feel sad that the house is no longer ours but actually I just feel relieved. Relieved that we only have one property to take care of. Relieved that that step is now behind us and we can move forward. We loved our old house. But we are on to the next!! Currently, we are still working on renovations in our new house and so we are staying at my parents house. They were out of town anyway so it worked out good. We are working hard to get everything done so we can move in and boy are we excited!! It’s all turning out so cute! I can’t wait to share it with you.

In the middle of all this moving and remodeling, we attended a wedding. My little brother’s wedding. In Oregon. It was hard to take a break from all the stuff here but it was also really good to get away. Plus, I was so thrilled to witness my brother get married! I’m so happy for them both.

I have a million blog posts piling up about our new and old house but I haven’t had a chance to write them yet or to even get my thoughts in order. So instead, I will fill you in on my little vacation to Oregon.

Not only did I get to be in Oregon for the wedding, I also got to go to Idaho for my grandparent’s 60 wedding anniversary celebration and my grandma’s 80th birthday party. Whew! This trip was all about celebrations and parties! After leaving Tennessee, I flew into Boise and spent a few days there before heading to Oregon. I didn’t Instagram in Idaho very much, I mostly used my camera for the anniversary party so maybe I will do a separate post for that. Anyway, from the top left… 1. We of course made several trips to Starbucks and it was the first time I have been in one that had their university colors painted on the walls. See those blue walls? Yep, Boise State. It was still cool though :) 2. On our drive from Boise to Albany. It’s about a 9 hour drive. I rode with my parents and we had a good time. Especially because we hadn’t seen each other in 3 weeks so we had a lot of catching up to do. 3 & 4. Once we got to Oregon, Brett and my Dad built and arbor for the wedding. I helped a bit but my job was mostly to hang out. I know weddings can be a busy time and I wanted to spend as much time as possible with my brother. The arbor turned out awesome and we started calling it amour arbor (you have to say it with a french accent to make it funny). Ya, we’re weird like that :)

My Dad and I also managed to sneak a run in there early one morning (it was still dark which is why we had lights). I love running with my Dad. He is the one that got me started. The only problem was it was freezing. Literally. I hadn’t planned very well and only brought shorts and tank top so I had to borrow a sweatshirt. I guess I was still on Tennessee weather :)

I have the cutest niece and nephews. This is Oliver and he is four. He is going to be Wyatt Earp for Halloween and wanted to show me his cowboy hat. I love the mismatched pajamas mixed with mismatched boots, hat and vest. That boy knows how to dress!

1. This is how my niece and nephew watch shows. All on the couch with the laptop propped on a chair. It’s the one time that the house is quiet and they are all occupied :) 2. Jason just came straight to Oregon and skipped the Idaho part. So picking him up from the airport was a real treat. 3. Jill’s calendar displayed in her bedroom. I thought it was so cute. 4. The two of us heading to the wedding.

1. Me and my new sister! 2. Isn’t she beautiful?! 3. My lovely Mother and me 4. Because I love self portraits… And a little side note, have I ever told you that I have a streak of white hair? You can see it in this photo (on the left side in the front) and I have had it since my early 20’s. I used to not like it but now I think it’s cool :)

1. Brett and Jill had a “first look”. If you don’t know what that is, it’s where the bride and groom see each other for the first time before the wedding and get to spend a bit of time together. Brett is waiting at the bottom of the path and Jill is preparing to go to him with her maid of honor, her sister, beside her. 2. Brett and Jill had their special moment while we all watched from above.These are all of the bridesmaids watching. 3. My little niece. She looked adorable. She wasn’t the flower girl for those of you wondering. 4. My parents. They looked awesome. And check out my Mom’s shoes!

1. My older brother (Josh) and my younger brother. Josh was one of the groomsmen. They looked so cute in their bow ties. 2. Josh and my Mom in mid conversation. I love this pic. 3. We got to see a bunch of old friends that we miss dearly. This is Jason with our friend Curt. 4. Me and my Lindsey. I miss her so much!

1. The actual event! They wanted to go a little less traditional so a tent structure was set up in the middle of the sanctuary with twinkle lights and then tables with the guests surrounded the tent. Then Jill entered through the stage and walked through the amour arbor. It was really cool. This photo is Brett and the pastor waiting for the attendants. 2. The family members and attendants were in chairs along the sides of the tent. My view is taken through the groomsmen. This is during the ceremony when the parents prayed with the bride and groom. 3. The bride and groom. 4. My little niece got a bit bored :)

1. Dancing. Almost everyone got into it. Even my brother and my niece. 2. The getaway. 3. More of the getaway with the bubbles in the air. 4. Another self portrait. I really can’t help myself. It’s a sickness :)

That pretty much sums up our trip. We had such a great time with our families and were so blessed to have gotten to be a part of it. We loved our vacation, but it feels good to be home too :)

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Tagged: Personal

Big News

It’s been a while since I sat down and wrote a blog post. And this time I have a good excuse. Jason and I have recently made a big decision and we are really excited about it. We have decided to sell our house! It’s been something that we have been thinking about for several months (at least I have!) and we finally took the first step and now have our house listed as of last week. There are a bunch of reasons and I hope to fill you in later but for now let’s just say that I am excited to move forward and see what the future holds for us.

When we bought our house we really thought we would live here for forever. We don’t enjoy the moving process and this house had everything we could ever need. We never thought we would move. But I guess you should never say never because here we are :)

For the last couple of week we were working non stop trying to get our house ready to list. We have finally finished all of those little and big outstanding projects that have been on our lists for years and got them all done in less than 2 weeks! Crazy how much you can get done when you just go for it. I have taken photos of all of our progress and I will show you some of the finishing touches we have done. Everything looks so nice now I’m afraid to mess it up!

And we’re off! On a new adventure. Pray for us if you want. We would appreciate it :)

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Tagged: Our House, Personal

Everyday Life: 06.22.12 – 07.05.12

I hope this week has gone well for everyone! We had record breaking heat last week and then a crazy wind storm yesterday with winds up to 65 miles an hour! It was kind of fun to watch last night especially since all is well here although I know there are lots of trees down elsewhere in town. Whew! We get insane weather here in the South! I never really thought about it before we moved here but it sure gives us great content for conversations :)

Since I was unable to post last week, I have a bit of catching up to do… again! It seems I am always in that spot.

I had a birthday a couple of weeks ago and one of my favorite things about having a bday is the free Starbucks. I finally got around to using it and it was delish! Thank you Starbucks. I love you.

I thought I was pretty cool with my glow bracelet on. These aren’t just for kids. It was fun for me too :)

Not the best photo but who cares right? I was taking this photo for my mother-in-law who gave me that shirt for my birthday. I love it and I was happy to show it off for her :)

Another Starbucks date with my sweetheart. Yeesh! You would think we live there. We don’t actually go that often but we happened to have another free one and we had to take advantage of it. And adding a cinnamon roll to the mix made our date even better!

I was at Target and I saw this new display. I was in love. So cute. The colors and packaging are perfect!

I had taken a break from the Photo A Day challenge but I started up again for July. July 1st was self portrait. This is my version with my blue toenails.

2. Busy. I had a hard time coming up with a photo for busy. Then I realized I was too busy finishing this book to be busy with anything else :) I enjoyed the book but it is very sad.

3. Best part of your day. For me it’s bedtime. Really, I love snuggling up and going to sleep. I love naps too. Anytime that involves sleeping is wonderful :)

4. Fun. I really enjoy puzzles and every once in a while I get one out and (duh!) put it together. Our library here in town has tons of puzzles that you can check out. It’s pretty sweet. Now I never buy them, I just check them out. Free puzzles are even funner.

Look at us on July 4th all red, white, and blue! We went to a friend’s house for the holiday at the lake and watched fireworks and ate yummy food including smores. I have been craving smores ever since :)

People are crazy for fireworks here. Another thing I didn’t know until I moved here :)

5. On the floor. What is on the floor? The cat. Always :) She likes to park herself on the carpet where you enter the living room. Or on the stairs so you have to walk around her. She’s a crazy one…

It’s not the best but here is a little shot from our wind storm yesterday. I captured it much better on video but I don’t know how to post a video :) You can see a little bit the blur of brown, that is all of the leaves as they blew uphill. It was insane. We had a bunch of sticks afterwards but there weren’t really any leaves left in our yard.

And that is all the news that’s fit to print around here. I have been making lots of stuff lately and having so much fun doing it. So, I guess I’d better get back to crafting :) Have a great weekend!!

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Tagged: Everyday Life, Personal, Photography

Everyday Life: 04.27.12 – 06.21.12

It’s been so long since I’ve posted Everyday Life that I’m just going to do a recap rather than post all of the photos. That would be a really long post if I did that :) Even with taking over half out, it’s still a long post :) Ready? Here goes nothing…

Jason and I love smoothies. We put lots of yummy stuff in them and this one was particularly colorful. Bananas, yogurt, strawberries, red bell pepper, spinach, carrots, pineapple, peaches, and blueberries. Then, after they are all blended, I pour mine into popsicle molds and have frozen smoothies. Super tasty! My go-to for summer.

Another summertime staple around here… a frappuccino. Seriously can’t get enough…

Outfit photo. Blue and yellow. I love this color combo. It feels very bright and cheerful, doesn’t it?!

Mmmm, coffee cake. Jason makes the yummiest coffee cake and it doesn’t last long here at our house :)

Our car had to get a new transmission last month and so we drove around my parent’s Mini. It was fun but we couldn’t haul much :) We had to buy a board for my garden and this is how we took it home with us.

We’ve had some beautiful sunsets around here lately. The other night the sun was bright red. A photo doesn’t do it justice.

We took a little road trip. Before every road trip we take a photo. Love this one.

In May my parents returned home from Brazil. Oh happy day!

Yes, our very favorite time of the year. Half-price frappuccinos. We didn’t get one every day of the promotion but we definitely got our fair share :)

Another outfit. I love to wear skirts.

I have really been enjoying my hydrangeas this season. They are so beautiful and I have cut many for our kitchen island.

See?! Don’t they look beautiful?!

A photo of a photo. This is my Mom and me when I was young and she was getting me dressed for bed. It’s one of my favorite photos I have of my childhood.

We all love sleeping in. Not very often in the summer, but occasionally, the cat sleeps with us.

Um, ya, you all know how much I love Fro Yo. We go regularly and here is my bowl compared to my friend’s bowl. I like the rich flavors and she likes the fruity flavors. Mmmm… I could go for some right now!

Yellow skirt again, this time paired with stripes.

Colorful food is my favorite!

Just a sneak peek at a project I’m working on. I should be done by now but I had to put it away when we had guests and I haven’t gotten it back out again. Oops :)

More colorful food. I really love it when fruit is in season. I suppose that is one thing I enjoy about summer. And my new favorite thing right now? Steak tacos. I have never been a steak fan but when it’s sliced thin and put on a corn tortilla… now you’re speaking my language!

I’ve enjoyed the sun a bit this year. Trying to get rid of my pasty white legs :) And see that bunny in the background? How cool is that?! We were sunbathing together!

Pretty clouds. Love.

More stripes, this time I’m all ready to go to the lake. But no, I didn’t take the cat with me :)

And here I am, at the lake. So pretty!

Another smoothie. This time, it’s already blended. This one was a simple one with just strawberries and bananas and it was the prettiest color of pink and so I had to take a shot.

A photo from last Sunday. I took my Dad out for breakfast for Father’s day before church. I love spending time with him :)

I also had a birthday on Monday and my dear, sweet friend brought me a cupcake. It was so yummy and I ate the whole thing by myself :) Peanut butter cream cheese frosting on chocolate cake. Who can resist that?!

I read a blog post somewhere several years ago that the blogger always gets a new birthday dress. So I adopted this tradition as well and it’s super fun. Then, for the rest of the year, the dress feels special. I love it :)

So there you go. A quick (haha) recap of what has been happening in my world. Lots has been happening and now that summer is in full swing I’m sure the busyness has just gotten started!

Enjoy your weekend!!

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Tagged: Everyday Life, Personal, Photography

Everyday Life: 04.21.12 – 04.26.12

Another week of photos! I love taking photos with my iPhone. It’s so easy and convenient. But I need to start venturing out again and take photos with my real camera. You know, for artistic reasons. And for practice. There is only so much practice you can do with an iPhone :) But for this week, once again, these were all taken with my phone. And the bottom line is, it still captures life. The ultimate goal for me anyway.

To start off, here is a photo of my new hair cut. I’m still getting used to it but I do like it. I actually have to do my hair now instead of just letting it dry. When it’s long, I do that a lot. But now, I have to either pull it back or use a straightener. I have really straight hair but the ends get all funky if I just let it air dry. So when I am staying close to home I just pull it back. When I’m going out, I straighten it :)

My outfit from last Saturday. I told you I would show my thrifted finds and this outfit definitely qualifies as that. The skirt was $2, the white button down shirt was 50 cents, and the shoes were $2 and they had never been worn. Score! So my whole outfit was only $4.50. Pretty good :)

21. Bottle. These are the bottles I spainted for Christmas a year and a half ago. Now they are in the dining room.I love it that you can see my hand in the mirror as I took this shot. I like to keep it real :)

22. The Last Thing You Bought. Our library sells their old magazines for 10 cents each. Sometimes when I am there I will pick up a couple. They have magazines from 10 years ago sometimes! But these were just last year so they weren’t too bad :)

23. Vegetable. The older I get, the more vegetables I like. Things I thought I hated, I now like (for example: beets. I love them now!). This is a photo of romaine lettuce and it made its way into my tummy via a wonderful salad full of beets (and other yummy stuff).

24. Something You’re Grateful For. I am so grateful for our house. Yes, there is the never ending maintenance and projects but I love it. I’m thankful to call it home.

25. Looking Down. Since I always do my outfit posts looking down, I figured this would be perfect for the day’s word. In this outfit the only thrifted item was the shirt ($2) which I picked up last summer.

A before and after side by side of my garden. Instead of planting my veggies in pots this year, I am planting them in the ground. So I cleared out a very sad overgrown flower bed in the backyard and we are building a raised bed in it’s place. I am super excited about it. We are even going to work on it this afternoon. Yay!

26. Black and White. There are a lot of places in my house that are black and white. Since my cat is gray, she kind of fits in most of the time. I snapped this photo from above of her looking down toward the family room. She’s funny :)

Okay, so this is my last post for the day! I promise!! Now I am all caught up and next will, hopefully, be back to normal!

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Tagged: Everyday Life, Personal, Photography