before and after...

and this is what one old nasty ripped but free stool, and a doller tree rug have in common...

Before: 

After:

ta-da!!!! i like it 

an un inspired thursday..

today i am feeling lazy at its finest. my house that was completely clean just a couple of days ago, has managed to find its way back. i am feeling so uninspired, and it seems my list of complaint is much longer than my list of contentment. it's days like this that i dread..i usually try to keep a glass half full perspective but ever so often days like this creep in and i am not a fan of them. but still i manage to let them take over. i suppose it is because it is so terribly easy to have a bad attitude and negativity can sometimes be a temporary high. but hopefully before this day is over i will be able to shake this not so good attitude and remember all the little things that make me love my life. 

we are home...

we just got back from a short little vacay to the river/san antonio with my family. we had a wonderful time filled with good food (tanks mom), good company, river floating, shopping, sunburns (justin and dad are bad boys) and a much to close encounter with a snake. it was nice to take a break before our crazy school and work schedules bombard our lives. i am especially trying to enjoy that little lady in the picture above before she moves off to college :( we will miss her soo.

yes i am blessed..

tonight i am realizing just how blessed i am. yesterday mom,dad,my sister and i made a quick trip to help my cousin set up her classroom before school starts. sitting there in the car, mom in the backseat with me dad and sealie in the front i couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with love for them. these people are my village, the ones that have been here from my very beginning. these are the people that know all the different layers of me. these people have seen sides of me no one else has. why am i so lucky to have such cool, awesome, rockstar people in my life?

these people are MY people and i will love them with every fiber and cell in my body. i will love them love them deeply and madly until time bids us adieu.

10 things that make me happy...

1. Actually keeping the plants alive on the front porch..apparently my green thumb has like 11 lives.
2. Spending the day shopping with my mom sis and cousin.
3. Fresh flowers on my table.
4. No dishes in the sink to clean!
5. Fresh air and a cool breeze.
6. The fall decor being put out...If it were allowed I would pitch a tent and live on the fall isle at Hobby Lobby.
7. Making the bed..really I mean it.
8. When the husband stops and buys me my favorite brand of almonds without me even asking!
9. Old vintage mirrors.
10. Tessie kisses when I have been away all day.

some lyrics...

''There's a stirring deep within me could it be my time has come? When i'll see my gracious savior face to face when all is done. Is that His voice I am hearing? Come away my precious one. Is he calling me? Is he calling me? I will rise up, rise up and bow down and lay my crown at his wounded feet There's a stirring deep within me
could it be my time has come?'' We sing this song at church quite a bit, but the first time I remember hearing this song was at a friends funeral when I was eight. These lyrics have stuck with me since. At eight the words didn't carry as much meaning as they do now and boy do they ever carry meaning now. So many people are afraid to die, and I wouldn't be real if I told you I have never felt that fear. I heard a sermon not to long ago about how even some Christians won't get to heaven, and with that I am reminded at the fear behind those words. Death is part of life it will happen no matter what and it is up to us to fully study and learn God's word, to FOLLOW it and BE READY!  Even in a world where sometimes the other direction seems better or more logical(or whatever the case is). As a Christian it is my job to serve others and teach those who don't know. This is such a big responsibility and I often take it too lightly, I will become better at this.  I am not perfect but I can try to be as close as I can be. I fall short far to often. If you could please pray that I will step up as a Christian and do my job. Please pray that I have courage, and that the right words will be given to me. Please pray that I too will be open and willing to listen. Thank you friends. 

someone needs attention...

This little someone is the reason I can never seem to get anything done around here. She likes to sit on my chest and lay her head on my face and I would be lying if I said that I didn't like it because I do. She is just way to cute to resist, that little attention getter. 

some ramblings...

I am just one year and one month into this thing called marriage, I am by no means a seasoned pro. However when you share a bed with someone you learn a whole lot more about them than you ever knew before. You learn those little annoying things your spouse does that you never dreamed existed. You learn to stop complaining about who's turn it is to do the dishes, you learn to stop complaining about the clothes not making it into the hamper. Marriage is by far a learning experience, a great..wonderful..awesome...fun...exciting learning experience. I hope I never stop learning, or even worse I hope I never stop wanting to learn about the person I have chosen to spend the rest of my life with. Because the big picture is that marriage is one big awesome slumber party, and it doesn't matter if the toilet seat is left up, or if I lose our house key almost every time I leave the house. It just doesn't matter. All that matters is that we have been given an awesome life full of love and we are going to do our best to rock at it. 

a little before and after..

The other day Justin showed up with four old chairs he scored at a garage sale for FREE. He thought they looked like something I would like..and he was right. One has been sitting in the corner of our dining room for weeks. I couldn't decide what color to paint it but finally settled on the perfect shade of bright red. 

Before:

After:

I love her. I still need to distress it a bit to fit with the eclectic look i like. But I couldn't wait to show her off. 

a birthday adventure, because husband is awesome like that...

when i came home from work today this is what i found...

Guy knows the way to my heart is mason jars and flowers.

This is a total coincidence but

I found it quite appropriate that the name of these shoes are called Sadie.

seriously he is the best those are the lyrics to a song we have claimed ours. the boy even had the ipad hidden behind the pillows playing the song..are you kidding me!?! I have to give it to you Justin you are so the rockstar of husbands.

today i turn 21...

and to be honest i don't feel any different than i did on this day last year or the year before that. i wonder what age you actually start to notice you are getting older?  for me my birthday is like a mini new years..where i get to set some goals for myself again and see where i'm at with them on my birthday the next year. it's a fun little thing just between me, myself, and i. but today since i am older........no wiser, i will let you in on some of my goals.

• i want to be more active in practicing the word of God. now that i am older i am starting to realize the importance of this. i am now at a point in my life that i feel closer to God than i ever have and i want to keep learning and keep growing in his word. 
• i want to be a better wife, daughter, sister, friend. i want to be the best me i possibly can be. (i think that goes hand in hand with the first one)
• i want to stop and enjoy this time in my life. a time before kids, a time before justin and i have real jobs. i catch myself complaining sometimes because of the odd hours justin works ( as soon as i complain about this one i want to take it back because at least he has a job that pays our bills, and puts food on our table..pretty lucky actually), or because we are both in school and that consumes our time. but to be honest things aren't so bad..in fact they aren't bad at all, and i want to enjoy it. i want to enjoy the fact that i am young, that we are healthy, and pretty much care free. 
• i want to travel more..this one may be a hard one because we are poor college students..extra money goes to fixing up the house. or lets be honest expanding my shoe collection. but i would like to start saving. 
• i want to get better in photography 
• and i want to try new things that are out of my comfort zone. 

here's to getting older and rocking the heck out of it. 

wife of the year baby....

this morning my alarm clock went off at 7:30 sharp, and for the first time in my life i didn't hit snooze. (this is even awesomer because i stayed up until 2:00 am the night before) i got out of bed..went to the kitchen and cooked up some pancakes for the husband. then i served him breakfast in bed.

man im like wife of the year or somethin..

eating his pancakes in an inside out shirt i threw at him to put on for the picture...yeah hes gonna kill me.

happy 4th...

Happy 4th of July! I am so thankful to live in this country! I am so thankful that I am able to freely serve the God who created it too! I will be back tomorrow with pictures of our holiday..In the mean time have a happy and safe 4th everyone!

the past week according to instagram..

here is what we have been up too....

1. Justin's showed us his awesome art skills in bible class the other night...who knew?
2. Footsies.
3. I know I post alot of pictures of Tessie...but she is my first child you know.
4. Pretty cherries..another reason to love summer.
5. A ring I made.
6. Justin has become quite the little (trader/barter..er?) he traded golf clubs he got for $10 bucks for it on craigslist.
7. Justin and I went to estate sales this past Saturday and those are what I cam home with. (Justin went back the next day and surprised me with the set that goes along with the yellow anthropologie looking one on the side) He had told me they were to expensive so I just came home with one. However he had found out everything was half price the next day..Ha. Gotta love a man who will go back the next day and get you what you want for half price.
8. If that were in a a fancy museum somewhere it would be called...Will be cute for dog biscuits.
9. Road trip.
10. I desperately wanted that little kitty to be ours..I was certain it would make my life complete.. husband said no.
11. My nana and pa on their wedding day 6.9.54...gosh I love them so much.


*on a side note...I know this may seem like a totally weird request but....I talk about Tessie on here quite a bit. Tessie's precious mama Lilly passed away today and her sweet owners loved her like we love our Tess girl. If you could just keep them in your prayers...it hurts to loose a "baby". 

our first home together: the dining room

Here is a little before and now of our dining room. now because we have lived here for a year and still everything isn't completely finished (probably won't ever be 100% finished, because I like to change my mind every two seconds..so it seems) But since it is closer than it has ever been I figured I would share a little..

I had to dig through my archives for the before pics...looking back now it's a wonder I ever agreed to live here, ha. But we were in desperate need for a house..like we are getting married next week and need a place to come home to.. desperate. So we finally found this house and we saw potential...nasty old carpet with pet stains and all.

Here she is before in all her glory....

And then there's now......

It's a good thing we started to see potential in anything. It has turned out to be the perfect little first home for us. We love her... even though she still needs ALOT more work..but we will get there..hopefully before next year rolls around.

and this is what my life looks like today...

(and everyday last week for that matter) It's 12:00 pm still doning the sexiest pajamas I own (I need a sarcastic font) Still just staring at the computer screen, not a thing on my checklist is getting done. Ahh summer school you little peach..you. Maybe if I am lucky my "summer brain" will fly out the window and I will actually get some work done over here. Happiest of Monday's to the rest of you. 

alittle instagram love...

And here is what we've been up to lately according to my iPhone....

1. Sharing a quick lunch with Justin.
2. The new lights that keep our living room window company.
3. A new hat from Justin. Here's to a lot of bad hair days coming up.

4. Playing footsie.

5. Summa is just so bright.

6. Tess the mess looking ever so stylish in her new coller. 

7. Bookmarks that I made for my sister and the girls in her tent at church camp. (Man i miss that girl)

8. Stripes = Love.

9. Something that should not have happend. 

10. A Saturday night spent on the couch, watching our fav Sherlock Holmes.

I think it is safe to say that we are enjoying our summer over here.