i'm still here!

it has been way too long since my last post, i know.  we moved into our new house just two weeks ago, and decided to take a little hiatus from cable and internet, but i wanted to just give you a quick little update while i could -- and while i have 10 minutes online at the in-laws! 

no pictures yet, but the house is coming along!  i've started working on a few projects and i cannot wait to share them with you!  jonathan and i started painting yesterday - we finished the dining room and it looks fabulous, if i do say so myself!  i'm still waiting on some fabric swatches to make a final decision on the fabrics for the dining chairs and dining room curtains. more on that here.

we love where we live. l.o.v.e.  it is an urban area and very different from our home in lexington, but i've always been drawn to urban life, and jonathan has been really excited about the change of pace. we love our neighborhood and have the friendliest neighbors ever.  seriously.  everyone knows everyone and every family looks different one from the next.  i love being around people that are different than me. then there's the whole big city thing, and well, i have, and probably always will have, a fascination and love affair with big bustling cities, so i couldn't be happier about that. 

all in all we are happy. happy and blessed and excited to see what God is going to do in our new little corner of the world. 

i'll be back in full swing in a couple weeks!  see you then!

my husband is cuter than your husband

sorry, but he just is.

so, as i mentioned here, yesterday was our anniversary.  in the midst of a truly crazy week - both of us wrapping up our last week at work, and getting ready to move this saturday - we decided not to spend any money on one another and just postpone our anniversary celebration until after we are all moved in and settled in our new place.  well,  for one, i'm so proud of him for sticking to it and not spending any money - he usually goes big when it comes to gifts/holidays - and second...remember the part where i said he was cute? yeah? well, here's proof::

 (please ignore the packing mess in the background.)

see, i told you he was cute.

if you only knew how un-artistic (self admittedly) my husband is, then you would really appreciate this card.  he says the heart on the back (his "trademark" - ha!) looks like a butt...and...uh...it kinda does. 

best. card. ever.

to top it all off, after i had been packing and cleaning all day, at about 3pm, he told me to stop packing and get dressed, he was taking me on a picnic (i.heart.picnics.) so i did just that and with our pup in tow, we went to the park and had a fantastic, sun-lit anniversary meal.  for us, it was the perfect no-cost anniversary celebration. 

i love my husband.

 p.s. - sorry if you don't like the cheese and the mush. it's just who i am. ;)  i was dubbed "the cheesy one" from my 3 former, beloved, jersey roommates...and, let me tell you, it only got worse after i got married.

winning

no, but really - i won something!!  check it out::

i entered a giveaway at the Fabulous 50's Housewife blog and i won!!!

lucky for one of you, the giveaway comes with strings attached -- jonathan and i have to read it, sign it and pass it along to another blogger, who will keep the tradition going.  so, i'll let you know how it is, and maybe you'll be the next lucky reader. :)

i feel like a million bucks.  i never win anything.

one year ago today

one year ago today i woke up, still in a dream, surrounded by my best girl friends.  still in my pj's we drove to a place that will forever be special to me, where i wrote a letter to the man of my dreams,

had my hair and makeup fixed,

read a letter from the man of my dreams,

and put on a pretty white dress.

i posed for a few pictures with my girls,

and i walked down an aisle.

i took my fiance's hand,

 and stood before God, our family and friends, and vowed to love, comfort, and cherish him and to remain by his side through all of life's trials and uncertainties. i promised to remain faithful to him and to prize him above all others. i promised to honor, support, trust and follow him as i follow Christ, for as long as we both shall live.

***

one year ago today, my husband woke up, surrounded by his best friends, and drove to a place that will forever hold such dear memories.  he put on a tux,

read a letter from his fiancee,

took some pictures with his best friends,

and got ready to meet his bride.  he stood by the pastor, and watched as i walked down the aisle.

he took my hand,

 and vowed, before God, our family and friends, to love and comfort me, to remain beside me through all of life's trials and uncertainties.  he vowed to remain faithful to me and to prize me above all others, to honor, guide, protect and lead me as Christ leads him, for as long as we both shall live.

we said "i do",  kissed our first kiss as husband and wife,

and walked away to start our new life together.

***

it feels close to impossible to put this last year, our first year, into words.  God has given us much, and has blessed us in ways i never knew were possible.  He has been faithful to us, and has taught us much through one another. i am ever humbled, and amazed, thankful and blessed to be able to call this man my husband. 

i am happy. i am thankful. i am blessed.

jonathan beverly, i love you! thank you for an amazing first year of marriage. here's to another year, and to the rest of our lives. 

pictures by grey door photography.

theoretically speaking

if you were going to be moving into a cute new house, and you were going to inherit an awesome new dining set, and you were planning to paint the table white and the chairs gray, and you chose this fabric for the new curtains, in your new dining room::

and you wanted to recover the seats with a different, yet coordinating pattern, and you really liked these two options::

which would you choose?  or would you decide that two pattern in one room wasn't a good idea and just go with a solid fabric for the seats?  theoretically speaking, of course.

(pic credits:: 1, 2, 3)

what i've been up to...

exhibit a::

 exhibit b::

exhibit c::

try not to be too jealous.

meds. water. coffee. repeat.

i've heard that if you are going to be a successful blogger you need to post at least once a week -- and so i've made it my very own personal goal to do so.  it has, however, been over a week since my last post.  (oops!)

life is a bit crazy here, as you can imagine, i've been busy packing, sorting and organizing (t-minus 11 days til the big move - yikes!). jonathan is finishing up his current semester with grad school, and wrapping things up at the high school where he teaches.  then, to throw a wrench in the craziness, i've been a bit under the weather.  i'm still not exactly sure what this little bout with sickness is - a "bug" i've been told (a little vague, eh?) - but i do know that i'm over it.  so, today, i'm home, still in my pj's, curled up on the couch, with my ice coffee and my looooong list of blogs to catch up on.  if only i didn't feel like pooh, this might just be a perfect morning.

so,  soon i'm sure perhaps i'll have more interesting things to report on, but for now, if you need me, i'll be on my couch - downing meds, bottled water, and coffee.  (coffee makes everything better.)

home sweet {soon-to-be} home

over the last two weeks we've made four trips to cincinnati in search for our new home, and with cincy being almost an hour and a half away, and gas being 4 buckaroos a pop i am elated to announce that we found our new home!!

isn't she lovely?!?::

because we're not sure what the future holds, how long we'll be in cincinnati, or where we'll end up for the long term, we are still just renting for the time being. the market being what it is, there are no promises we'd be able to turn around and sell a house in a couple years, and right now that is not a risk we're willing to take.  we did, however, sign a two year lease, so that cute little house will be our home sweet home for the next couple of years.

the deets:: it's a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with a partially finished basement.  there is a HUGE deck on the back that will be perfect for entertaining.  the kitchen is also pretty cute - which i'm pretty happy about. :)

after living in our tee-tiny one bedroom apartment for the past year, jonathan and i were both hoping and praying for a house, and we are so thankful that we found one!  everything really just worked out perfectly for us to call this home, and now i just can't wait to get all moved in and start decorating! 

big news!!

drum roll please.....

we're moving to cincinnati!!!  

jonathan just accepted a job at holmes high school, which actually sits just across the ohio river on the kentucky side.  it's considered a suburb of cincinnati and literally just a 5 minute drive across the bridge. 

for those of you that know me, know that i am a city girl at heart!  i love concrete.  seriously.  big buildings, highways - all of it!  i just love feeling the energy of a big city and being in the midst of so much life.  so, needless to say i'm pretty excited about being so close to cincy.  we've spent a little bit of time there over the last year and i have loved it from our first weekend spent there. little did i know, or even think, we'd end up moving there!

the move itself i am pretty stinkin' excited about. there are, however precisely 2 reasons my heart sinks a little more every time i think about leaving lexington:: 

i am definitely excited about what's to come, about starting a new chapter and seeing what God has in store for us in cincinnati, i'm just not so excited about leaving these two precious boys that i have come to love over the last year.  it's a mix of feelings, and bittersweet at best.  excited to go, sad to leave - but isn't that how it always is?

i am, however, so so proud of my husband.  he is such a great coach, teacher, and an amazing man.  he is going to be such a great asset to holmes and i know they are going to just love him there. 

i'm sure i'll have lots to post over the next few weeks.  adventures in apartment/house hunting, packing, and all the fun craziness that comes along with moving.  keep your fingers crossed we find  a place soon...

did i mention we move in THREE WEEKS?!?!

 

happy day, mama!

i found this tory burch blog series about mom's in celebration of mother's day and it inspired me.  so, mama, this one is for you!

best advice my mother gave me...
1. pray.
2. trust God, He know's what He's doing.
3. don't worry, it doesn't change anything.
4. God will provide.
5.  use caps. everyone who reads your blog is going to think you don't know how to use propper grammer. ;)


favorite childhood memory...
laying in bed with her listening to her read the little house on the prarie series.  and pilgrim's progress. and any and every book she read to me/us. 

favorite thing to do with mom...
spend the day at an art museum.  play rummy.  play backgammon. play any game. yard saling.  enjoy a bagel and a cup of coffee on a saturday morning. (bagels + coffee + mama = three of my favorite things)  laugh.  when my mom gets tickled she is a hoot! i'm talking tears rolling down her face, cheeks turning red hysterics.  (i'm thinking of a particular instance, mom:: cracker barrel....bananas....).

i love you mama,  i hope you have a GREAT mother's day - you deserve it.  i'll be missing you all day.

joining the band wagon...

so everywhere i turn in the home-decor-blogging world i find two trends: 1) sunburst mirrors and 2) chevron pattern.  and i'm equally drawn to both.  just look.  you'll fall in love with them too.

Isabella & Max

Nesting Place (you'll never believe what this one is made out of!)

Our Humble A{bowe}d (another creative way to make a sunburst mirror!)

Just Pleased as Punch

love them all!  now i just need to decide which one(s) i'm going to make.  feel free to weigh in. :)

next comes chevron and i LOVE chevron right now!  rugs, wall art, pillows, bedding. everything. anything. chevron. yum. 

House of Smith's (diy chevron rug)

name 5 things (chevron inspiration board - diy, of course.)

 

 

appetitehome

 

 

Urban Outfitters

oh, chevron.  you make me drool swoon.  apparently i also love everything and anything diy.  who knew! ;)

free love birds

i am sooooo excited to share a tee-tiny project I did this weekend.  remember in this post i shared with you my new found obsession with with trying to find an animal or two worthy of a makeover?  well.  alas!  my yard saling (sailing?) yesterday morning paid off! 

i spotted these cute little love birds at a yard sale and just had to get them! 

the best part? they were free.  well, they didn't start off free. i asked how much and the lady in charge said they were two buckaroos and went on to tell me that they were real brass, and worth so much more. they were beloved by her for years and years - which only left me begging the question why she was selling them.  i, having been trained well by my mother, and almost never paying "full price" for anything offered her $1.  she agreed.  which only confirmed my suspicion that she was just trying to make a buck (no pun intended) and those birds probably did not hold that much value to her.  i handed her a $20 and she told me she didn't have any change. "so, i guess they are free!" she said.  score.  (suspicions doubly confirmed.)

so home they came.  i was just so excited i painted them almost as soon as i got home.  just look at how cute they turned out::

adorable, right?  it's amazing what a fresh coat of white paint can do!  now to find a home for these love birds...

tornado fun

first of all let me just say that one, there was no actual tornado, and two, had there been one it certainly would not have been fun.  we were, however, under a tornado warning for about an hour and a half this morning and since i am such a good scared  overcautious nanny, trevor, lotso the bear and i took cover in the bathroom.

trevor just thought it was the funniest thing in the world that we were playing in the bathroom.  he just kept asking "miss bethany, why are we playing in the bathroom?" and then giggling, which made it fun for all parties involved.     

after about half an hour the fun started to fade away, so there were no complaints when the warning turned into a watch and we finaly emerged from the bathroom. 

you can only play so many games of connect 4 and sing so many songs before boredom sets in. 

all to HIM i owe

I hear the Savior say
Thy strength indeed is small
Child of weakness watch and pray
Find in me thine all in all

Jesus paid it all
All to him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

Lord now indeed I find
Thy power and thine alone
Can change the lepers spots
And melt the heart of stone

Jesus paid it all
All to him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

It's washed away! All my sin! And all my shame!

And when before the throne
I stand in him complete
Jesus died my soul to save
My lips shall still repeat

Jesus paid it all
All to him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

Oh praise the one who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead 

Jesus paid it all
All to him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

 Happy Easter, friends!

blessings

my mama sent me an email this morning with a link to this song, and it was just too good not to share.





"what if my greatest disappointment, or the aching of this life, is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy..."

it's a GIRL!!!

no, we are not having a girl, but lauren, my high school best friend, and her husband, mark just found out that their baby #2 is a girl!!  i could not be more excited for them!  they adopted their first precious daughter last january, and thought they could not have children of their own - but, well, God is full of surprises, isn't He??  faithful, and full of surprises! so, baby girl #2 (name tbd) is due in september!  just look at how cute this family is! 

so, so, so excited for them!  love this sweet family, love my sweet friend, and i already love baby girl #2! can't wait to meet her!

just playin' in the rain (not always such a good idea)

+

=

a really bad idea.  :(

this afternoon we had some pretty heavy rain - i'm talkin' torrential downpour. well, being the kid-at-heart that i am, i convinced my hubby to play in the rain with me, and like the wonderful, fun, fun-loving, best-friend-of-mine that he is, it didn't take too much convincing and he was right out there with me.  the thing is, it may have sounded like a good idea, and it may have been fun (and it was!) - but ten minutes after we came in and dried off and realized his wedding ring was gone we resolved that it might not have been the best idea after all.  i spent a good couple of hours scouring the ground all around our apartment building, under cars, in bushes, and in the apartment just in case it fell off after we came in.  no such luck.  we quickly came to the same gross conclusion:: it was gone. we are about 98% sure that it got swept down the sewer/drain/ravine/thingy at the end of our parking lot.

so we spent the evening browsing local jewelers trying to find his ring, or a similar ring, but to no avail. after the third jewelry store we started to realize that ordering it online was the way to go - so home we came, and ordered a new ring we did. (you can call me yoda.) so in 3-5 days he'll have his new ring.

i feel pretty sick to my stomach about the whole thing, and feel like i need to take some kind of responsibility for it since it was i that talked him into playing in the rain. yuck. today was the kind of day that i wish we had a "rewind" button for.  

$2 ikea curtains!

much to my dismay, we only made it to ikea once while in cincinnati.  BUT on that one wondrous trip i did find these amazing curtain panels for $2 each! 

don't you just love them??  i do! and i cannot wait to hang them up!

3 of my favorite things

'nuff said

cincinnati

(any city, really, but i'm lovin' this one currently)

then there's this guy, who i love more than anything in this world.

...and i'm just so fortunate that i'll be spending the next 24 with all of the above. :) (well, maybe we won't be spending the entire next 24 hours in ikea - but we will be making an appearance or two.)

since it's spring break in not-so-springy-kentucky, in effort to make the most out of a little extra time together, jonathan and i decided to spend a night in cincinnati.  thanks to priceline we got an awesome last minute deal on a hotel room. (i took the pic above from our balcony just a lil bit ago.)

yay for getaways - and time with my favorite guy.