Summer 2013 (Part 2)

A glimpse of our summer part 2!

Seth has had numerous opportunities to play around the community. He has a lot of talented musicians rising up around him and it has really been fun watching them and seeing them work towards some big goals for this fall. More on that later!

I got my hair chopped! Took off around 6 inches thanks to pinterest and the cute bobs everyone was posting! I caved and got it cut, but good news is that it has been close to two months since I cut it and I still am glad I did it! That hardly ever happens!

Jen and I celebrating our guy's August birthdays with coffee cake and nestle crazy eye glass straws. It was so fun it almost beat the one summer we surprised them with John Mayer tickets.

Seth and I went to our first Columbus Crew Soccer game and LOVED it! We got front row tickets for his birthday and really enjoyed it. We plan on catching at least one more game before the season is over. Baseball games are overrated...soccer games are so exciting! 

Seth and I watching the crew game in our new shirts. 

I finally organized our garage! Who would have thought that hanging landscaping tools would be almost as fun as hanging a gallery wall!

We saw Hillsong Live at the State Fair.  My mom got to join us for it and we had such an awesome evening. I felt so blessed worshiping next to my two favorite people on this planet. So grateful for a faithful mother and for a Godly husband. So blessed

My mom brought this bookshelf with her and she helped me style the shelves. I was so happy to have a place to put my Dad's Law books, special pictures, heirlooms, and our photo books. I was also super excited to find a place to put my quilt that my mom had made for me with my dad's ties. So many things in this picture are special to me. 

Seth and I went to our town's hot air ballon festival. We were really impressed with their light show and  loved getting out in our community and experiencing traditions. 

This was just taken from our backyard on a beautiful evening. We are so thankful for this place and the opportunity to live here. Since spring two new houses have been built on our street and new neighbors have moved in. Our little road is officially finished and only one lot is available in the entire neighborhood. I can't wait for some trees to start popping up around here!

My mom gets the Mom of the Year award for the 26th year in a row! But she worked for it this year ;) 

Seth was gone for a week at camp and my mom came and held down the fort with me! We painted the house (more on that later), did lots of shopping, and she cleaned and organized much of our house. I loved spending that week with her. I think it is time for another week long visit :) Or you could just move in down the street....that works too!

Summer 2013 (Part 1)

this post is brought to you by the iphone 5

No not really, but thankfully it captured my summer for you.

Seth and I dabbled in landscaping for 4  days hours. I got home early one afternoon and Seth took me to a nursery and we purchased dirt, mulch, flowers and bushes. By nightfall we called it "a good start" and never have we touched it again.   Landscaping is harder than it looks, but hopefully we will get better at it. Or maybe my mom can just come help me :)

Lots of fun days. I really like doing life with this guy.

We spent some time loving on our brand new niece that came in April. We love her so much!

We checked out the Arts Festival on an absolutely beautiful weekend

And then went back the second day just to get more food

We also got to hang out with these two cuties. Our other niece and nephew. So sweet and at such fun ages!

Uncle Seth and Madilyn

Evan in Uncle Seth's hat

Tina got lucky and got to explore the outside a little. I panic every second she is outside and Seth laughs at me the whole time. Over all I'd say Tina got a solid 10 minutes outside in the backyard and most of it was spent eating grass and hiding under the steps.

I switched up some pillows (what an exciting accomplishment, huh!?)

Seth and I attended a VERY special wedding...

Matt and Lindsey, my brother and sister-in-law, decided to get Remarried on July 6th after being divorced for around 7 months. We are so proud of them and the ways God has used their story and that they were willing to fight for one another.  Please take the time to watch their video. It is 3:33 well worth it 

Life Stories - Matt & Lindsey from Covenant Church on Vimeo.

Jen and I got to spend a lot of weekends together! Jen and Ben are some of Seth and I's best friends and we love weekends where they camp out at our house and we hang out all weekend. Jen is not only fun to take shopping or help with crafts, but she is an awesome listener and an amazing Sister in Christ. Love you Jen! So thankful for you!

Dear Mom (Part 2)

Hi Mom!

Just wanted to say hello and I'm bacccckkk! I have a few posts planned for the month just to catch up on all the things that happened during the summer months. It was a wonderful summer but it went so quickly. We have been enjoying exploring our city, creating, and enjoying our home. I can't wait to share a few projects that we have been working on and that I have planned for this month. I really love the ever changing process of making a house a home and I really like documenting it as well.

So I'll give this area of the internet some attention.

Love you Momma! thanks for your help this summer :)

Dear Mom,

Thank you for reminding me I have a blog  :) It has been off my radar lately.

Fun stuff is going on all around me, I'm just not all the great writing about it. 

But for you mom, I will do my best :) 

Painted curtains: Adding Stripes

When we first got the keys to our home I noticed many of the windows had plain, white, pottery barn curtains hanging on them. I think my family thought I was nuts when I showed my excitement about the possibilities of dying them or painting them. But with the proof of a few successful Pinterest links I was able to convince my husband that painting two of the stack of curtains would do no harm. 

So for weeks I had "paint and hang curtains" on my To Do list.  It wasn't until the weekend rolled around when I had my friend Jen help me do it for me tackle this task. Believe it or not, the hardest part was hanging the curtain rods.

I love the way they turned out! They really complete the room and I knew that all it needed was some stripes :) Don't look too close or you will find my ridiculous errors (ridiculous because I have no idea how I managed to be so clumsy) or that these curtains are actually around 4 inches too short. Hey, this whole thing was absolutely free so free=happy!

Painting a Painting

Many weeks ago I shared that I had purchased a rather large painting that I had great plans for. I researched it first to ensure that I hadn't purchased a land mind and then thought about what words I wanted on it for weeks...I mean literally weeks!

Then I took some stencils and tediously painted this bible verse onto the painting. Easy peasy!

She is living in our front room right now and I love it!

Thoughts on decorating a meaningful home

Something that has always been important to me is making things meaningful. I love stories/memories tied with objects. In our first apartment, I filled it with all sorts of projects and thrifted finds but later felt that it lacked the depth that I desired and it felt rushed.

So with our home I have worked to be intentional about our decorations and tried to scatter some meaningful things around the home.

Here are some of my "meaningful" staples in my home today:

1. Photos
I love having photos up around the home. I follow the quality over quantity rule with my photos. I have found that a few really meaningful, special photos in a room stand out more than an entire room filled with photos. Don't get me wrong though....a gallery wall is still one of my favorite things, but I enjoy a mix of photos in with art and other fun objects. Do you have any rules with photos? I once read that some follow rules such as: no pictures in the family room, only wedding pictures in the bedroom, etc. I think that sounds strange to me.

2. Family Heirlooms
I have a very close family and I also have felt a great deal of loss in regards to some family members. Anything and everything that was my father's or my step-father's is incredibly special to me. I also love anything from my grandparents. Carpentry to embroidery, I love it all.

made for my dad 

A jade tree from my grandmother (this reminds me so much of her home)

A tiny bike that was my dads

Made by my step-father last Christmas

3. Souvenirs

Over the past few years I have had numerous travel opportunities and have brought back some pretty special pieces. I love finding one or two meaningful/useful items that I can put in my house instead of loading down my suitcase with shirts and shot glasses. Although I am known to have a rather large collection of t-shirts :)

From Cancun, Mexico

From Russia

4. Type Art
I am always encouraged by writing my favorite quotes and Bible verses on paper...why not make it pretty? One of my favorite things to search on Pinterest (Here is my board where I collect beautiful words) are quotes and bible verses paired with beautiful type or art.

5. Real Art
My house doesn't have much of this yet, but I really desire to start investing in the art that I have around the house. Making the switch from buying my artwork in Hobby Lobby or Pier 1 to buying straight from an artist would make a huge impact. Some of my favorite artists:

Michelle Armas

Yangyang Pan