Happy Thanksgiving Eve

I have a lot to be thankful for these days. In honor of the holiday, here is my list of what I'm most grateful for this Thanksgiving.

1. Good health for my family.
2. Great friends who live close enough to travel to visit.
3. Jake's new job opportunity and all that he will learn while at his new facility.
4. For the ability to travel to my parents house for the holiday.
5. A warm place, to lay our heads at night.
6. A energetic and sweet puppy.
7. My siblings, both biological and in-lawed. They're the best.
8. My current job, although I only have three days left, but it has been a great opportunity.
9. Our upcoming move, new apartment and new adventure.
10. The ability to write, be creative and express my thoughts.
11. My marriage. It's the single greatest gift I could ask for.
12. My hard working husband who strives to provide for us each day.
13. Our parents who have given us life and taught us so much about it.
14. A hope that one day all will be right.
15. A faithful God who's love is far greater than my mind can understand.

My heart is so full this season. So many wonderful moments have come our way this year. There just aren't words expressive enough to show just how blessed and thankful I am. I hope you experience great joy and gratitude regardless of where you find yourself.

Blessings to you and your family this Thanksgiving holiday. May you enjoy one another with great joy and laughter over a delicious meal.

projects, paint & packing up

There has been a lot going on recently. Yet, I've managed to squeeze in a few fun projects. Since we don't have a lot of extra storage space in the townhouse, my jewelry has been hiding out in the closet. When I saw this idea on Pinterest I got inspired. We had some extra boards from our wedding signs that were just the perfect size.

 

So, I picked up a few half off antique looking drawer handles from my favorite, Hobby Lobby. Then my wonderful husband helped by fastening them to the board. He then hung it our bathroom where I can display all my necklaces.







I also love seeing it each morning because it always reminds me of our wedding. It makes me smile.

We also painted a wall in the living room which then required new pillows for the couch.  I found a beautiful paisley pattern, again at HL. I didn't have a pattern so I laid the material out over the pillows and measured the size. I pretty much prayed that they were the right size the whole time.

 

 

Although, I've sew many things I've never actually made pillow covers. It was pretty simple. They are an envelope closure in the back and I made them to fit over the 20" pillows we already had on the couch.

 

An hour and a half later, two pillows were done and they fit perfectly. I have some more material to finish the, not as pretty, gold pillows. I really like how they turned out.

We did all this hard work and fun projects over the past couple weeks making our home so cozy. And then Jake gets a promotion and so now we're moving.

Yep, we're packing up again and heading north. We will be moving to the South Bend area, which is new territory for both of us. Irish territory! It has all happened pretty quickly, so it's still very new to us. We're hoping to get packed up and moved around the first week of December, but details are still pending.

We're really excited for this new chapter to begin. New town, new jobs, new house. It'll be fun. I'm always up for a new adventure. I'll keep you updated as events unfold.

wedding picture gawking

I've spent a lot of time gawking at our wedding photos.  A huge shout out and thank you to our photographer, Kim Calabrese at Divine Photography. Kim is my childhood best friend and we have a lot of memories together. So it was extra special that she was the one to be there during all the in between moments of our wedding day. There are so many pictures that I haven't posted online. We have 707 to pick from! Talk about a lot of gawking. Here are some of the photos you haven't seen yet of the details and pre-ceremony shots.

 I just love them. Keep tuned, I'll share more of the post ceremony shots soon.

welcome november

Well, it's November 5th already. How did that happen? Too much goodness going on, I suppose. Between work, birthdays, spooky Halloween, and road trips, time can really get away from you. There has been a lot of fun wrapped up on the last week. I'll help you get caught up through my iPhone pictures.

 

This year for Halloween, I dressed up as Cat Woman, Winnie dressed up as Wonder Woman and Jake was Superman. We were action packed! We spent Halloween at the nursing home with Jake's residents. They sure do love our pup, especially when you put her in a cute little costume. She had her fill of tootsie pops and sugar cookies. Yep. They just loved to feed her cookies and she loved it too.

 

 

Mom and I had our annual birthday shopping trip. Always a success and its something that we both look forward to every year. We capped the day off with dinner in the kitchen at Buca Di Beppo. It was so fun to watch the inner workings of the kitchen as we enjoyed some delicious Italian food.

 

 

Speaking of shopping...here are my new birthday boots! Thank you to grandma, my brother & sister-in-law. And Jake who patiently waited for me to pick the perfect pair.

 





Winnie was trying to help me do some household dusting.

Ok. Not really. But she is cute.

To top it all off, we spent this past weekend in Milwaukee visiting some dear friends of ours. Alex was one of Jake's college roommates and still one of his best friends. We always have a great time when we visit with Alex and Corey, even though they're Packer fans. We also love Milwaukee. It's such a neat city. I would have never guessed, but every time we visit we always talk about how beautiful it is and how much fun stuff there is to do. Plus, the company is always great. It has been so fun for me to get to meet Jake's friends and their wives, to develop new friendships and to share in our current life experiences. It's something we truly enjoy. Now if only we could turn the heat up a bit in Wisconsin...

 

And every time we drive home, we always stop for some Portillo's. Always.

 

one year

So much can happen in 365 days. Just that many days ago, I made a decision that changed the rest of my days. I said yes to a question I'd waited my whole life to hear. I never could have imagined that it would have come from the mouth of the man it did, but I am so thankful that it was him. So much has happened in the last year that it's hard to imagine that it really was just that long ago. I have moved twice, got engaged, my brother got married, I got married, friends had babies, and that's just what first comes to mind. Its truly incredible how quickly time flies. I say this often, but I would have never imaged that my life would be where it is right now.

Not to mention the fact that I grew up a whole year. Since my birthday is on a Sunday, I am claiming both this week and next week as birthday weeks. So, it's my birthday week. Awesome and scary all combined into one. I will be 26 on Sunday. 2...6...I realize it's still young, but I was just getting used to being 25 and now all of a sudden I'm getting ready to turn 26. And to think, just 365 days ago, I was 24 and dating and on Sunday I will be 26 and married.

Whew.

As much as I get afraid of turning another year older, I do think it's true that each year has been better than the year before. 25 was good to me and I am going to be sad to see it go. However, I look forward to a great 26 and lots of new possibilities and adventures. I look forward to a year of traveling and visiting friends with my husband, learning what it means to be married, making a home and starting new traditions. I dare to say it will be the best year yet. So here is to another 365 days.

feels like home

Have I told you yet that we moved? Well, we moved before the wedding. The week before actually. Talk about chaos. But we're finally settled into our new home and loving it. To be honest, it's not the location that we thought we would be in but it still has been good to us. I finally feel like we have a home. It looks like a real home and I love being bombarded at the door by my puppy and husband when I walk through it. It's the best.

We have yet to really hang much on the walls. I am desperately looking forward to the day when I know we're going to be settled for awhile and I can paint and decorate. Pure white walls are not necessarily the most cozy. And of course, thanks to Pinterest,  you can constantly find new ways to decorate, organize and feel greatly insignificant in your ability to be like Martha Stewart. However, I still sit and gaze at ideas and love it. I'm always open for new ideas and tips so if you have any good secrets please do share.

We even have bedroom furniture! That's what made me feel like a grown up. I now have bedroom furniture. I have draws to put clothes in. Say good bye to those plastic drawers used in college. I love walking in it at night and climbing into it. It's probably the most comfortable bed I've ever slept it, which is probably why I have an even harder time getting out of it in the morning. Usually, its the Winnie kisses (more like slobbers) that get me moving. Winnie even has her own room where gets to sleep, still in a crate, but at least she's not in the mud room anymore. (I promise we're good pet parents)

I've even been trying hard to stay up on cleaning. I'm really good at keeping everything picked up and orderly, but actual cleaning and scrubbing is a different story. I don't mind vacuuming and dusting but it's those bathrooms. Ugg. I hate cleaning them but I also hate thinking about what might be living there. I do have some stellar cleaning products that my mom bought for me which make cleaning easier. As my mom always says, "Let your chemicals do the work for you." But I've been trying some homemade remedies, as well.

Anyway, life is pretty cozy in our new little townhouse. We're pretty content and my heart is full of thankfulness. I will soon bring you some more pictures of the whole house but for now here is a sneak peak.

sweaters & boots

Not sure what the weather is like where your at, but here in Indiana, it is definitely feeling like fall. The temperature has been a bit chilly the past week. It's time to put away the tank tops and shorts and pull out the sweaters, pants and, my personal favorite, BOOTS. (I may or may not have a minor obsession with boots). Just the other day I was wasting time in the best possible way I know how, shopping. Although, being the good budget minded wife that I am, I refrained from purchasing anything, which is so hard right now because they've just pulled out all their new fall lines and they're super cute. So instead of  buyings a new closet, I decided to pretend and create some new fall outfits on Polyvore.

Fall time clothes are some of my favorite because there is a lot of versatility. You can still pull off an off the shoulder sweater and not be freezing...most days. I really love a lot of the color combinations that you are see now. The beautiful jewel tones are right up my alley. Not that I didn't love all the neon that was out this summer (sarcasm). And I also hate to admits this but I do love leggings. There I said it. I admit it. They really are comfortable. Phew.

Another thing I'm loving is colored jeans. I have a pair of mint and really would love some olive green ones, too. And leaves. I love leaf necklaces.

See, you could even pull off colored pants at work. At least I would try. Maybe if I wish hard enough, this outfit will be in my closet when I get home.

This is what you will typically see me wearing. I like to think I represent a more classic look or at least thats my goal.

Happy Fall Shopping!