Have you missed me?

Just a reminder that I’m now over at LovingHere.com, blogging away about life, love, and our new home. (That’s a love affair of an entirely different kind…the “remodeling-want-to-pull-your-hair-out-but-still-so-blessed-to-live-here” kind.

Anyway, please go check it out if you haven’t already, and make sure to sign up to follow that blog by email as well. It’s the best way to not miss any posts and sorry, even if you signed up here, you’ll still have to sign up there since it’s a totally new domain name and everything.

Can’t wait to see you guys over there.

(And make sure to check out this post to see if you were the winner of the giveaway! I had to draw new winners and it might be you!)

Here we go!

It’s finally time for the big announcement!

Are you ready?

Really ready?

Well, I am.

So here it goes:

Thank you guys so much for following along with our newlywed life on this blog. I’ve loved getting to know you and a little bit of your stories through your comments and suggestions and advice and all those other wonderful things. Now that we’re settling more into married life and focusing on making our new house our home, the new blog will be more focused on life at home rather than just life as a newlywed.

I’m sure I’ll still have stories and lessons to share about all that lovey stuff (and about Hubs’ snoring and sleep-talking), and there will be room for that, but I’m also excited to bring you guys DIY tutorials and lessons we’ve learned about home ownership and marriage… under construction.

So, please join me in this new journey where we not only get used to living in our new home, but also to loving there, at www.lovinghere.com.

Go ahead, click the new logo! Check it out!

 

 

4 days!

4 days.

Yup, in 4 days, I’ll be posting the link to the brand new blog!

Here’s a hint, there’ll be a giveaway!

Here’s another hint, there will be pictures of the house!

Who’s excited?

This girl is, for sure.

Please don’t think I’ve abandoned you…I’ve just been so busy getting the other ones all nice for you…I promise.

See you then!

First Annual Champagne Friday

Ok, I know Tuesday nights might be a little late for a weekend recap post, but that’s okay, right?

It’s still worth sharing, I think.

And here’s why. Hubs had a long work week last week. In fact, he had to work late Friday night. (Remember me asking for advice about that?)

Friday night, this happened.

I made homemade pizza for the first time ever and I’m not too modest to say it was awesome.

I even made the sauce and grated the cheese all myself…Not to mention “rolling” out the crust. I usually reserve dough tasks for Hubs because for some reason, he just seems to be better at it.

But…he had to work late on Friday and I was hungry and didn’t want to wait for him to get home to get started so I set off on my own. And it was awesome.

Then, since we were having such a grand Friday night, we dubbed it our first annual Champagne Friday.

We added frozen fruit to our champagne and it was LOVE-LY! Even Hubs said so, and he’s usually a dark craft beer kinda guy. Also, that’s the wooden Sudoku game I got for Hubs 2 years ago that we JUST played for the 1st time.

Think Champagne Friday is not a real holiday?

Well, you’re wrong.

It’s real and you should celebrate it, too.

I realize annual means once a year. I doubt this new holiday will only be celebrated once a year at our household…but…it just sounds better, so I’m sticking with it.

Anyway, so that’s how we spent our lovely Friday date night in.

On Saturday, Hubs made breakfast (I know, what a guy…who says romance stops after the wedding??) and then we cleaned out the garage.

It sounds awful but it was actually awesome. It was soo needed and now it looks a million billion times better in there.

Then we planted 36 tulip bulbs and I told them sweet things to encourage them to grow pretty and strong and not die over the winter and stuff.

And then we went shopping to buy our own nativity set with a 30% off coupon we got in the mail for Hallmark. That was a fun and still slightly too expensive shopping trip. I swear, I could be happy buying about 50% of everything inside a Hallmark store either for myself or as gifts for someone else. It’s the best. I did buy a small Christmas gift for one of our mothers, though, and I refrained from buying the new Peanuts Christmas movie. Yes, there’s a NEW ONE AGAIN THIS YEAR! I’m so excited! I also refrained from buying the Winnie-the-pooh nursery picture…being as that we don’t have a nursery or a baby yet…

Then we went out to dinner and had a fabulous time.

Sunday brought a new church to try (it was just okay) and then a walk in the glorious fall weather before watching the SKC game…which sadly, didn’t go as we’d hoped.

Still, all in all, it was a great weekend…and I’d like to attribute it to the great start we got on Friday with the champagne. Something about that fun, bubbly drink just says “Celebrate!” and that’s exactly what we did all weekend.

What were we celebrating?

Well, nothing really.

Or rather everything.

After all, we have each other. We have our families and friends. We have this home we love so much. And we’re young and in love and happy to celebrate on a random Friday night for no reason. And I hope we never lose that attitude. Even after the babies and the soccer leagues and the PTA meetings wear us down…even when we find we may not remember how young and carefree we once were…even when we’re old and tired…

I think that’s part of why being a newlywed is so special. It’s just that attitude of being free and willing to have champagne for no other reason than that simply having it with each other is reason enough.

What about you? What are you celebrating lately? What’s your favorite way to cheer up after a long work week and start your week off right?

 

Working Late – ADVICE FROM YOU!

I haven’t had one of these “Please help!” posts in a while. Maybe because we’re feeling more settled in our marriage and we don’t have as many moments that leave us thinking, “I wonder how other people figure this stuff out…” Or maybe because life has been so crazy focused on our house and work that we haven’t had a lot of time to really dig deep in these marriage issues that sometimes come up.

As I write this, Hubs is still not home from work on a Friday night. He’s worked long hours all week. And all last week. And the week before that.

We were gone all last week because he had to work out of town. I went with him hoping to spend some quality time together during the evenings and on the weekends, but even that time was mostly filled with him responding to emails, finishing projects on his laptop while I read, or him needing to go to bed early so he could get up early and do it all over again the next day.

I love that he loves his job. And I’m so thankful he can do something he enjoys (mostly!) to support our little family and help us have this beautiful home we love.

I even like that he sometimes has work to do at home. I don’t mind reading quietly or working on projects of my own for an hour or so of an evening if he has work to do. It’s nice to be able to sit quietly with our own projects and still just be there with each other.

But I’m at a loss as to what to do to help him relax when he comes home and has time to unplug from the day or week he’s had.

Don’t get me wrong, we still enjoy our evenings together, but lately, I can tell work’s been on his mind more than before. I know every job is a different situation and there are certain times when we need to be accessible by email and phone. But I’m just wondering how we decide what things are “work-free” zones and how to best really commit to being present in those moments when work is always in the back of our mind?

So, friends, tell me, what are your best tips for helping your honey relax when he can’t stop thinking about work? And how do you find the balance between work and play and time at home?

Thoughts from home

Last week, Hubs and I weren’t home.

It was the first time being away from our (“finished”) house, and I have to admit how much I simply missed being here!

Hubs was traveling for work and since I work from home and can technically work anywhere with an internet connections, I went with him and spent my time in the hotel and at Panera, just using up free wi-fi and eating cinnamon crunch bagels. Yum. We squeezed in a short couple of days on the weekends for a little mini vacation in the midst of all that work stuff.

But now that we’re back home, here are some things I noticed and have on my mind that I wanted to share with you all.

1. I love not living out of a suitcase. I did that during college a lot because I was living on campus during the week and driving back home to see Wyatt and my family and friends on the weekends. I hate wearing the same clothes over and over again because it’s easy and happens to be freshly washed so I don’t have to dig it out of my closet. I hate thinking of a shirt I want to wear, only to realize it’s back at home in my instead of packed in my suitcase. Plus, I’m great at packing to go on a trip, but I have the re-packing that has to occur every time we move locations or want to pick up the hotel room. I’m not so good at removing clothes from the suitcase without everything getting super messy in there.

2. I love our own bed. Enough said, right?

3. Those bagels, free breakfasts, and dinners out did a number on how well my jeans fit. Yikes. Let me be clear, I know I’m not fat, so this is not be saying that. It’s just me admitting (mostly to myself) that I need to spend a little time focusing on getting more active. I snuck in a few runs while we were gone, and we took one, super-steep hike, but I still feel like I’m at my “winter weight” already. I do believe bodies keep the weight they need to survive and maybe this is my body’s way of preparing me for a cold winter? Or maybe it’s my body’s way of motivating me to go run today.

4. I’m so lazy about my appearance at home by myself during the day. No makeup, messy hair, sweats and Wyatt’s hoodie with warm socks…it’s all so fabulous and yet, so embarrassing to see when I look in the mirror. Do us both a favor and call before stopping by for a visit, deal?

5. Christmas is getting closer! And that means Thanksgiving is really close, too! I remember how exciting this time of year was in college because it meant lots of time off from school was coming up. Now that Hubs and I work instead of go to school, it’s just great because it means lots of cuddling on the couch, visiting with friends and family, and eating yummy foods. That’s why I need to focus on number 3 above!

6. Work is work now. At first, all this freelance writing seemed sort of like I was simply playing at work, doing something I enjoyed, taking my time to get projects finished, and having a good time. Now, I’m still having a good time, but I’m busy! I worked my first two 8-hour days last week for this freelance gig and it was exciting and scary because time management is such a huge part of my day! I probably should be working right now, but I feel so bad about how I’ve been neglecting you all lately that I had to take some time to catch up.

My little “office” in our hotel room for the week. It was as big as our apartment!

7. I love southern Missouri. Yes, some people think Branson is cheesy and corny and not at all relaxing or fun. I say those people have never been to the Branson I know and love. Local diners for breakfast, beautiful views, nature trails, antique stores, shopping (if we want it), familiar (but not what we have at home) restaurants, and that smell. To me, the air smells a little sweet, almost like a mixture between maple syrup and crisp freshness, and dusty, fall leaves. It makes me feel peaceful and happy and excited all at the same time.

This doesn’t do it justice because it’s dark, but look how peaceful it is here! How can anyone not love a place like this?

8. Fall is possibly the best time for a road trip. I love seeing all the leaves!

The only thing I love more than fall leaves on road trips is Christmas lights on road trips.

9. Coming home to a clean house is SO worth the effort to clean it before you leave. I hate the feeling of stress that immediately hits me when I walk in the door and see dirty dishes, laundry, and clutter. Ick.

10. Hubs is certainly the only person I could ever imagine sharing this life with. He’s just wonderful. From the way he always wants me to pick the restaurant so I can have what I’m in the mood for to the fact that he loves to drive and I love to ride, traveling with him is always my favorite kind of adventure. Last week was stressful for him because of some long hours and hard tasks at work, so we didn’t get to have as much “fun” as I’d planned, but he’s still the best partner and friend I could have. Plus, he made up for all the not-so-fun times by being extra silly and special while we were together for those sweet moments at the end of each day.

Yes, we spent some time in this crazy, sorta creepy place. It was a “wholesale” taxidermy store inside a giant flea market/antique store. See why I love road trips with this man? (P.S. check out that bear!! Only $3,250)

Okay, that’s enough for now. Why don’t you tell me some things that are on your mind? You don’t have to choose ten things…how about two!?

Newlywed Resolutions–LAST CHANCE!

In case you didn’t know, there are only 8 more Wednesdays before Christmas.

That means if you haven’t yet accomplished your New Year’s resolutions, it’s time to do that.

Here’s a sneak peak back at our resolutions:

5. Write at least five things that are just for me. I can worry about what to use them for later, if anything.

6. Run more races. I’d love to do another half…maybe a full 26.2? I’m young now, and my knees and ankles and hips will only get worse, right? I only ran 1 or 2 in 2011, and they were fun, so I’m ready for more.

7. Finish reading 8 books that I ALREADY own and have squished into our bookshelf. I’m terrible about buying new books instead of reading ones I already own but haven’t read.

See? It’s full.

8. Use more coupons and take advantage of price matching. I also need to do a better job of keeping track of how much we spend and save.

I can tell you we have NOT accomplished everything on our list yet. Yikes. I’m still working on it. And trying to focus on making measurable progress so I’ll have some things to share with you in January when it comes time to make our resolutions for next year…

Here’s a fun game, which resolutions do you think I have or haven’t accomplished this year? I’d love to hear your guesses!

So what about you? Have you checked in our your resolutions recently? How are you feeling about that progress? Have any you totally gave up on? Let me know!

(Also, as a side note, progress is coming along on the new blog home. I can’t wait to reveal it to you guys, and start getting excited…word on the street* is that there will be a little *giveaway* to help celebrate the opening!)

*And by street, I mean the winding pathways of semi-crazy-semi-organized blog thoughts in my head. 🙂

 

House: Warmed

Well guys, it’s still crazy here at the newlywed house. We’re pretty much finished with the entire upstairs (main floor) level of the house (for now) and we are tired.

In fact, other than some small projects, we’ve decided not to do any more work until after the holidays.

Why?

Well, we think we deserve a break.

And because I want to decorate our house for the holidays…without all the distractions and clutter and mess that comes with remodeling.

And also because we want to live in our home for awhile and see what priorities we have for the next projects.

And in the meantime, we’re busy making this house our home.

Not that it isn’t already, thanks to the wonderful memories we’ve already started making here.

Wonderful memories like sweating and swearing while covered in ceiling dust and popcorn mess while Hubs and I struggle to remove the popcorn ceilings on the 4th of July since it was the only day he wouldn’t have to take off work to get it done.

And memories of yelling up and down the stairs about which lights and outlets were off so we could change all the switches and outlets from almond-colored to white.

And scuffing our knuckles on the sand paper while getting ready to paint all the trim in the entire house…all three coats of it!

Just kidding. Working on our house and “DIYing” everything we’ve done so far has been a huge blessing. Not only are we learning so much about our house and how to take care of it. We’ve making making decisions together, keeping each other accountable in sticking to our budget, learning to help each other and work better as team. We’re developing skills and finding out what we like and don’t like to do. For instance. Hubs does not like to paint. I do. (Usually.) Hubs like to build furniture. We both hate sanding by hand. (Thank goodness for hand sanders!)

And we’ve had a lot of good memories here just the two of us, like our first dinner here, our first night here, moving day, the day we got our living room all set up how we liked it, buying furniture, moving our things into the places we’ll keep them for as long as we stay here.

Plus, we’ve had two different housewarming parties now . Talk about a blessing!

Yes, Hubs built the cabinet we’re standing in front on. Yes, we realize we are matching the colors in our kitchen. Yes, I know that’s cheesy, but no, I don’t care.

It’s amazing the difference it makes to see and hear friends and family making themselves at home in your home. It’s amazing how much more like home it feels when it’s filled with so many people we love and care about.

Why?

Well, because welcoming friends and family into my home is one of my favorite things to do. I love entertaining. I love cooking for people, with people. I love sharing good food around a big table. I love sitting in the living room just talking for hours or playing games.

And yes, I love doing all those things with Hubs. Just the two of us.

But there’s something about the hustle and bustle that comes with having a full house.

It’s partly why I’m not sure I want to stop at just two kids (that’s Wyatt’s plan, for sure!)

It’s partly the reason I love to go stay with our families during the holidays even though it’s tempting to stay in and cozy up with Hubs, just the two of us in our quiet, happy home.

It’s partly the reason I so love our loud, crazy game nights with friends that always involve yelling and arguing.

I just love how happy a full house feels.

Because when a house is full of people, the right people anyway, it’s full of love.

That’s why I felt like I floating on cloud nine the night after our first house-warming party. And why I was so excited to have our friends come see out new home as soon as we could.

And now that our house has officially been warmed, we’re finally settled into this happy home. Maybe for five years, maybe for ten. Maybe forever!

What about you? What makes a house feel like home to you?

Last night…

Last night as Hubs and I fell asleep in our usual “sleeping position,” I dozed off and had some sort of bad dream. It had only been a few minutes so it was pretty early in the night to roll over and change positions but I was awake and needed a hug anyway so I rolled over to face him and gently woke Hubs and told him about my dream, snuggling in his arms with my head near his chest.

Only then, I suddenly felt something super cold and wet on my face.

Yup, I had put my cheek directly in his little drool puddle.

Ick ick ick ick ick!

I quickly picked my head up and expressed my displeasure.

Hubs reached up, felt the wet spot on the pillow and simply said, “Yup.”

He’s such a boy sometimes.

Like a gentleman, though, he quickly flipped the pillow to give me a dry, “clean” side.

And then we rolled over and settled back down to fall asleep again.

Looks like it’s time to wash the sheets!

Does this ever happen to anyone else? Are you or your Hubs a drooler? How do you keep it to yourself and not make a mess?

 

I’m still here!

Sorry it’s been so crazy long since I posted, you guys! I’m still here, I promise.

And I’m living in a house that feels like a home and looks like a home. This past weekend was our housewarming parties with our families and now we’re getting ready for a party with our friends this weekend. There’s just too many of everyone to do them all in one day.

Last week was crazy with cleaning everything up and finishing all of our projects at the last minute. We may or may not have been totally exhausted when it came time to actually have the party.

Seriously though, we couldn’t have asked for a better day and it was so amazing to be able to celebrate our new home with our loved ones there with us. I loved bragging on Wyatt’s handiwork and showing people all the amazing stuff he’s built for me so far. I loved sharing our dreams for other future projects we’re excited to take on. But most of all, I loved seeing our yard full of kids running around with soccer balls and footballs and our cozy living room filled with people talking and laughing and eating. It was perfect in every way. Really.

I was still after-glowing yesterday morning when I thought about how blessed we were by everyone that came.

So now my focus is shifting to getting the new blog ready. Design and layout take a long time, as does coming up with content to fill the pages! I’m just now starting to dive into making it look and function like I want. My goal is to have everything ready and going by the holidays, but even sooner would be great! It sort of depends a little on how work goes for the next month or so…which is actually really busy right now!

I love having writing assignments to fill my days and I’m so thankful for the opportunity to do this for a living. It’s what I love and I’m so blessed to be able to do something I really enjoy..even if it’s challenging to get settled into a routine for managing my time and my household chores and the way I want to do so many projects around the new house.

Anyway, that’s what’s going on in our corner of the world. What’s new with you?