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...