“These Are a Few of My Favorite Things…”

Happy late Thanksgiving and merry early Christmas! It has been a hectic two weeks at our newly wedded household, in part because we actually weren’t at our house for most of it! But before I get to all of that, here are some pictures with holiday cheer:

I spent the week before last back home, as my love had to go on another business trip. It was so great to have a week to catch up with my mom and sister, help my mom decorate the house for Christmas, and to do some extra Christmas shopping! My mom has two big trees; the first one is a gold themed tree that is filled with pretty ornaments, picks, and ribbon; the second tree has all the sentimental ornaments, the ugly crafted things that my sister and I made to go on the tree over the years, the special trinkets to commemorate trips and events, and basically everything else that doesn’t go with the gold theme tree. They both turned out gorgeous this year! Once my love came back from his trip, we spent two days back at our house where I prepped the food I was bringing to Thanksgiving at both our families’ get-togethers. I ended up making these candied almonds, two versions of this peanut butter chocolate fudge, and a few cheese and cracker trays. It was all so yummy! Once back in Indiana, we enjoyed relaxing with both families and eating far too much food. We even squeezed in some family pictures before my sister had to work two horrendous Thanksgiving and Black Friday shifts (I, on the other hand, enjoyed NOT having to work retail those days for the first time in five years!). 

 
Once we were back home again, I unloaded all the treasures I had thrifted and found. The striped rug and gold pillows are from Ikea, the plaid sheets from Target, and the rest my mom and I hunted down in the surrounding thrift stores and flea markets (the guest room pictured above is still a work in progress, but I love these new sheets!)

Last night my love and I began setting up the outside of our house with our Christmas lights- I cannot wait until it is all finished! We are going to have the most festive house on the block :). Here is a picture I snapped last night before we realized our need to buy more extension cords to connect all of our plugs:

I also have begun one of my favorite things… wrapping presents! You know the old adage “it is better to give than to receive”? Well I love gifting presents more than I do getting them, and making them extra pretty makes me extra happy. My next post will showcase just how much wrapping I have completed already, as well as some tips, so check back later this week! (Update: Check this out for my Christmas wrapping pictures and some tips!)

Family, food, festive decorating, finding treasures, fixing up everything from the yard to presents in Christmas spirit; these are a few of my favorite things.

That concludes my quick catch-up and excuses for being absent from my blog lately. I am hoping that absence will change! I have so many exciting ideas and posts in store- now its just a matter of making time to share them all.

How was your Thanksgiving? What are some of your favorite things of the season? I would love to hear about them in the comments!

The Forgotten Date Night

Yes, we are newlyweds.
Yes, it wasn’t so long ago that date nights and full date days were all we knew.
Yet, somehow, in the midst of crazy life, becoming homeowners, serving in a youth conference, and traveling lots to see family, we have forgotten what “date night” really was.

Last Friday we were working hard on removing the cement from our backyard patio (it has sunken deeply over time and is the cause for some leaking in our basement). What was thought to be a difficult project became even more so when we realized that there were not one but TWO layers of poured cement, several inches thick each, that we needed to break up and remove. We had been making decent progress on it throughout the week almost every night, in the hour of daylight daily we had once my love got home from work.

Our patio before complete demolition

Working on the First Layer of Cement

Down to the Last Layer!

We were nearly finished with what we planned on removing before hauling it away the next morning when my love brought up this forgotten idea; maybe when we get finished and cleaned up we can go out on a date, you know, grab dinner and a movie or go window shopping?

I was taken by surprise. Here was my husband, after working a long day and coming home to a physically grueling house project, offering to take me out on the town. I could have hugged him right there, in the midst of our dirty, cement dusted gloves and clothes. It had been too long since we just went out for fun and not with a project, grocery list, or agenda in mind. We had just come off of a few stressful weeks and been working on a never-ending to-do list for the house. It had been a while since we had gone to a restaurant alone, as we had cut out going out to eat for the most part in attempt to cut back any possible gluten contamination for me. But tonight, for a special and over-due date night at a restaurant we had tried before, we made an exception.

About two-thirds rubble pile we had to haul off the next morning; it was a ton of cement!

We wrapped up the patio project, dressed up, and went out to eat to the one place our nearby city has that maintains a diverse gluten free menu that I have had no issues with on the few times we have gone. I enjoyed being able to sit and unwind together, have someone bring food to us, and just focus on each other and not on a task. It was quite the throwback to our dating days where walking the town and grabbing a bite was how we got to know each other and build memories. I fell in love with this man over our table conversations and walking adventures, and I continue to fall for him every day. As he told new stories about his childhood and of classes he didn’t pay attention to, I felt so blessed to be living my life with this man God has grown so much in the past year.

After dinner we window shopped at the outlet mall, discussing how much we were spending on Christmas gifts this year, who we were going to give what, and getting ideas from each other as to what the other wanted for Christmas. It was fun to begin feeling the Christmas spirit together as we heard Christmas music in every store, saw Christmas decorations, and chatted about giving gifts. The stresses from the week had melted away and we were simply enjoying each others’ company.

We drove around the city next, noting the dramatic difference now that the peak tourism times have passed. My love wanted to treat us with Starbucks so after reading reviews on their gluten free options, we each held a highly-discussed red cups in our hands, chatting and sipping on the way home.

Starbucks and the sweets that awaited us at home.

Saturday morning brought early alarms, a 25 minute trip to Menard’s to rent a truck and load up our new tub/shower (and experience horrible customer service), trips to the landfill to unload all of the patio cement we unearthed, and a trip back to Menard’s to drop off the truck. By then it was 12:30 and we had no real plans. My love, being the amazing hubby that he is, offered to drive another hour to our capital city for a day of shopping and thrifting- another date day! We had a blast exploring new places and stores, and boy did we score big!

I fell in love with these chairs at the thrift store!

We found three huge thrift stores and a bunch of cool little shops we will check out next time we make it to the big city. At one particular store, I stood and stared at these chairs for ten minutes, trying to decide if I wanted to buy two or four of these awesome finds. For some reason I have fallen in love with the yellow/gold shade of the two chairs; I have been eyeing one like it at my thrift store back home, but didn’t want to pay $20 for it. It just so happened that these were only $7.99 each AND we could fit two of them in my hubby’s car. So…..

The gold chairs came home with us, along with the Christmas tins, gold bird, Thanksgiving towel, and bronze box. At the other big thrift store (that I could have spent an hour in) I picked up the little deer, the rooster that will be painted white (I mean, every kitchen needs a rooster, right?), the amazing plaid tablecloth, and five Christmas CDs that I have already listened to ten times over :).

It was an amazingly full day of both work and fun. I loved exploring all the new stores with the love of my life- and loved that he was willing to buy me a few things, even if they seemed silly. Most of all, though, I enjoyed spending time with my husband without other things and tasks clamoring for my attention. I think this past weekend reminded both of us that every once in a while we need to unplug, put the to-do list away, and just have a night of dating each other again. It definitely was needed and brought us closer together- and who doesn’t want that?

Do you think that dating is still important, even in marriage? What are some of your go-to date night ideas? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section! Thank you for reading :).

Christmas in Full Swing

Before you judge me, let me say that I will be out of town visiting family for two weeks worth of the coming month; therefore, in order to enjoy my plethora of Christmas decorations, I needed to decorate this week. Or at least that’s how I convinced myself and my hubby to start decking our halls for Christmas this past Monday ;).

It all started when I went to the thrift store earlier this past week. I found these adorable vintage-vibed stockings and two ornaments for under $2 total. I started thinking about where to hang the stockings, then where to put the tree, and then the wreath, and then curiosity started to wonder just how many Christmas things we had thrifted together over the summer. Before my poor love knew it, I had hauled everything out of the closet and garage to do a quick inventory of what all I had.

Next thing I knew, the tree was up and I was needing to put lights on it to see if we needed to buy more (which we did, since I am a perfectionist about the lights…about everything really :o).

Once the lights were all purchased and on the tree, I started on my gold bulbs. I think it’s important to start near the core of the tree and place some shiny solid colors there to reflect light much better. After I take care of the core, I spread out the balls but keep them tucked under branches to fill holes and add reflection. Doing these steps first adds a lot of dimension to the tree.

Next came the fun part! I like to lay out all my ornaments before I start, in an attempt to gauge the main theme my tree is going to have. This year I had a nice selection of things that blended well :). Here are some close ups:

Once I admired my Christmas collection, I added each grouping of ornaments to my tree (first the doves, then the lanterns, the gold edged flat ornaments, then the vintage angel balls, etc.). Once I was content with how it looked, I topped the tree off with a string of pearl beads to pull it all together. I really love how it turned out!

(Better pictures to come in following posts :)) .

With all of my left over decorations, I had enough to make a wreath for the front door, add a few touches of cheer to the bathroom sink, spruce and sparkle up my shelves in the living room, and STILL had enough to totally makeover my kitchen!

The kitchen tree is traditional red, green, gold, and plaid. I only used two types of vintage balls, some bows, more pearl beads, and a touch of little ornaments. It goes well with the new tablecloth I thrifted on our date night (to be covered in a future post!) and the other Christmas items that deck our kitchen. Most of it I thrifted, but the island centerpiece is made up of Target items from a few years back .

Most of my Christmas littles- including my angel choir collection- still needed a home. My kitchen shelf (which I shared in this post) lacked Christmas cheer- but no longer!

I don’t know if the shelf will stay the same or not. I am not completely sold on having it covered with a bunch of little Christmas items, but they make me happy. So we will see :).

The last thing I did Monday was work on the Christmas tree for our breezeway. I picked up this tree for $6 at our thrift store about a week ago and knew exactly where it would go.

After covering it in lights, I used the rest of my gold balls, golden picks, and gold sparkly stuff from our wedding to decorate it. Once it made its way to the table in the breezeway, I decided I needed to offset the gold with another color. A quick search in the garage yielded my husband’s silver camping cookware. I  like the combination. Hopefully I will get better pictures soon!

So although it is a little early, I am totally loving and enjoying  decorating a whole house this year- let alone the special fact that its is our house, and the first Christmas that me and my husband will get to spend together. My heart is happy, my house is merry, and the season looks bright!

Do you decorate Christmas early? What are some things you do? I would love to read about it in the comments- and feel free to link up a post of your own about Christmas decorating 🙂

Making a House Our Home

Yesterday, amid yard work and busyness, my husband and I came to the realization that we have been living in our new house for three and a half weeks. It seems so much longer than that with all the things we have fit into our schedule during that time!

This week has been the first that we are not preparing or rushing for another full weekend away from the house, and coincidentally, the first weekend I have thought to myself, “This is our home”. It isn’t just a place we are keeping our stuff or sleeping at night. It is our home. I never felt as settled in our apartment, since I knew we would eventually be moving- and it wasn’t a whole lot of space to spend time in anyway. But this week, after pouring money into different home projects, using the newly installed washer and dryer, raking the yard, cleaning the gutters, and spending two evenings doing yard work, I feel this peace settling in. This is where we belong. This is something special we are making together. This is our home. And it is such a marvelous feeling!

{In this picture you can make out where the original sidewalk to the house used to be… and how much we uncovered the last two days! We were shocked at how much cement we have around the house and by the back patio. It was all buried under grass and weeds. Part 1 of this project is finished; Part 2 includes demolishing quite a bit of the cement to make room for a grassier yard for us to fence in next year.}

Today I started to wonder; what is making this house feel like our home? I think I have a few answers.

1) I’m shopping with our new home in mind. With so much more space to fill and decorate, I have a little bit more freedom when I am out thrifting. Yesterday I was able to score some fun fall decor items (and some new work boots for me : ) as well as a new Christmas tree to decorate our breezeway with. In my last post I shared the new curtains I bought for our living room- something I had been holding off on doing until I knew what our house would look like. I love having a house and the freedom to style and craft into something that fits our taste.

My thrifting haul from yesterday; all of this for $13- and the boots are practically brand new!

My thrifted Food Network mugs made their way into my favorite kitchen cabinet today. I love how colorful and organized this is!

2) I am doing lots of cooking in my new kitchen. And I have so much space to move around and prepare things in! I have been on a fall foods kick this week; chili (goulash style) and southwestern stuffed acorn squash (super yummy!) have made the menu so far. Using my new kitchen has really driven home the fact that this is our home and I can do what I want- or at least have the freedom to figure that out! I’ve thought about what I want to change the hardware to, what type of new appliances (in a year or three) I want, and which paint color I want to go with. I have rearranged our kitchen table a few times to keep with the season (from Halloween to Thanksgiving), played around with what I want out on the counters (so much space!), and rearranged the island to showcase my newest items. But decorating and dreaming aside, creating meals for us in our new kitchen has certainly helped drive home the idea that this is our new permanent space.

Still totally crushing on all my Pioneer Woman Collection. The stockpot, spoon rest, bowls, and dishes in many of these pictures are all from the set 🙂

Southwestern Stuffed Acorn Squash was an amazing lunch yesterday. Yay for cooking new things!

3) My love and I have talked about long term plans for this house. From deciding if we are going to host his coworkers for a Christmas party and which couple from church we will invite over first, to how long the wrap around fence for the yard will be next year, to where we are going to room our kids first in years to come (no, I am not dropping hints, mom and mom-in-love : ). My love and I have had multiple conversations about how we are going to take this house and turn it into our home; and in the process of those conversations, we have already made it to be our home. Even if we don’t finish the basement out in a couple years, or if I have to live with our current appliances for the next five years, or if none of our plans actually come to fruition (which they will, as we are both determined and motivated individuals), we still made plans. We talked about what we want this place to be; we have dreamed about how we are going to get to that point; and we have laughed and grown closer throughout the process. In an older post I stated that one marriage tip to grow you closer as a couple is to dream together. Dreaming about our plans for this house together has grown a fondness for it that is turning this house into our home. And I simply cannot wait to see where all this dreaming will lead.

If you follow me on Instagram (@newlyweddedwurl), you saw this compilation this past week! It makes me happy when my day is filled with pretty things- and it makes cooking that much easier.

Your turn! When did your new house start to seem like home? What made the difference? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Little Life Things: what I’ve been up to and thankful for

I’m finally back to the blogging world! This is due to three marvelous circumstances: (1) we have internet- YAY! (2) I think I have finally kicked this flu-type virus after nearly two weeks of being ill. And (3) I successfully served in my role at our church’s major youth conference this weekend! Being in charge of food for a conference of about 200 people was a daunting task, but thankfully with lots of planning meetings, help from other volunteers, and having my hubby by my side for the weekend, it went off pretty well. Now I can turn my attention back to my poor, neglected blog!

We went all out on our concession table for the conference. Just about anything you could think of!

Since my post “Friday: Sneak Peak and Celebrations”, we spent a beautiful weekend visiting my husband’s family in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (I wish I got more pictures; it was so gorgeous!), worked on little projects around the house, did some more decorating and crafting, celebrated another mini-anniversary (complete with a gorgeous fall flower bouquet from my love!), and went on a full day shopping-and-adventure spree in one of the bigger cities around us. I picked up some new curtains for our living room, a few Christmas decorations, an adorable vintage box, and some rustic looking décor signs from Hobby Lobby.

Haul from our day of shopping!

 

Our new curtains on display. Love their color against the furniture.

 

Gorgeous fall bouquet as an anniversary present from my love.

 

The start of the hand crafted card to my love- made in my new office/craft room!

 

Anywhere we have driven the last two weekends showcased a beautiful treescape of fall foliage.

Through all the fun there have been many evenings and mornings where I felt like I couldn’t move without feeling like I was going to pass out from pain. But I’m so thankful I know the Healer of both my soul and body; and so thankful He has given me an amazing husband who cares for me and loves me back to health. I am so grateful that the bug is behind me and I feel normal once more!

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While I was feeling so sick, I came to an important conclusion; I do not give enough thanks for the little things in life– which really are the big things. Some of these include; the rarity of me getting sick, my husband’s ability to know what I need without me speaking, the incredibly giving and creative family I have married into, the ability to serve with an awesome church body, owning our own home this fall, having pretty things surround me, the technology to stay in touch with family and friends, money to spend on non-necessary things, the gorgeousness of God’s handiwork in the creation around us, the everyday surprises of a gorgeous sunset or of an answered prayer…. my list could go on and on. One of the things I committed to doing in my How to Be Happy series was to create a dedicated “Thankfulness Journal” and to fill it out faithfully, listing at least 3 things a day. While I hate to admit that I have been less than fully committed to filling this out every day in the past month or so, I have been filling it out since I became sick. And you know what? I have had a much better attitude and been much more apt to feel happy by reminding myself of everything good going on! And I have learned the importance of the little things in life.

Though our first few months of marriage have been filled with several large trips and important life events, some of my favorite memories have been little life things; cuddling with my husband on the couch playing games together, doing yard work side by side, discussing the sermon we just heard and sharing what we took from it, waking up slowly on a Saturday with no plans or rushing, serving in ministry together, having a late night discussion at the kitchen table about my love’s college life stories. Those things/events/tasks/discussions that I never would have thought much about in the moment have become points in our relationship that I felt closer to my husband, that strengthened us together, or simply deepened my fondness for him.

Little life things make our life what it is. I don’t want to forget these little things or let them slip by unnoticed. Rather, I want to have an attitude of thankfulness for everything God brings across my path, especially the little things.

Thanks for reading! What are some of your favorite little things in life? Have you had a moment that made you extra thankful for those things (like me and being sick)? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!