An {Amazing} Night to Remember!

After a rough week last week, I'm happy to announce that Friday night was exactly what I needed! And it all started with a text... 

That's what my husband texted to my sister. Hilarious! Y'all, this man melts my heart! I never get tired of the silly, amazing randomness that comes from him...ever! Needless to say, we went out that night! 
I drove to my sister's place and selected her outfit for the evening, and then we accessorized. That in itself was therapeutic! :) As I drove home, I kept a lookout for restaurants that wouldn't be far from the house to head to - we were tired of the same old places: Olive Garden, Chili's, etc. That's when I saw it: the Brick House Tavern & Tap. Hilary looked up the menu online and she had me at 'Drunken Chops'! Colten okay'd the restaurant, and we were off! 

We were already having a blast and the night had only just begun! Some time with a few of my favorite people started the process of getting me out of the funk I had been in all week long! Thanks y'all! :) 
When we walked into the restaurant, we were asked if 'one of their couches was okay'. Umm, excuse me? A couch?! YES PLEASE! 

Y'all, never in my life had I even fathomed a place like this - it was AMAZING, for lack of a better word! Then it was time to order drinks. And yes, that picture above includes their huge drink menu...anything you can think of, they have it! Hilary ordered the margarita, Colten ordered the Zombie (with a two-drink limit), and I wanted a glass of wine. The waiter then asked if I was only going to have one glass ... umm, I don't know? He proceeded to explain that it would be cheaper to purchase the bottle than another glass, and they cork the wine and let you take it home if you don't finish it. Yes, please! 

That moscato was amazing. Yes, I know I probably need a thesaurus for this post, because everything seems to be amazing - it just was!!! AMAZING!!! And apparently it's pretty hilarious that the designated driver (me) continued to order a bottle of wine and drink half of it with dinner. Oops! :) Don't worry, I didn't drive home...
Colten wanted to try the fried stuffed olives (parmesan panko breaded, stuffed with italian pork sausage & brie cheese), which were apparently disgusting. We won't be ordering them again (I was smart enough not to try one...). Then was their menu. Oh My Goodness, their menu. They have a little bit of everything! BBQ baby backs, chicken fried steak, seared halibut, chicken & waffles, grilled mahi mahi, steak & shrooms, oven roasted chicken, atlantic salmon, prosciutto wrapped meatloaf, steak & eggs, drunken chops, classic meatballs, brick pizza, crispy center-cut pork sandwich, greek lamb burger, beefed up steak salad ... the list goes on and on! Seriously! 
I ordered the bbq baby backs (half rack of baby back pork ribs, slow cooked, glazed with whiskey bbq sauce & a side of fries) but substituted the fries for their cheddar mashed potatoes, Hilary ordered the drunken chops (two house brined center cut pork chops, whiskey bbq glaze, topped with onion strings & served with cheddar mashed potatoes), and Colten wanted the seared halibut (seared halibut finished with lemon thyme butter, over fresh haricot verts & russet thyme sweet potato hash). It was all AMAZING! Every single bite was finished and there were no take-home plates that night! We rounded out our evening with dessert: magic brownies for me and Hilary (walnut brownies topped with bluebell vanilla ice cream) and a bourbon cake with bluebell vanilla ice cream for Colten. Yum, yum! 

This was our view for the evening ... yes, that's a real fire! So....AMAZING! The entire night was just amazing! I am so unbelievably thankful for an amazing husband and sister to spend quality time enjoying a night out at a new place! We will definitely be going back to the Brick House ... time and time again I'm sure. We laughed so much and just really enjoyed each other's company. I couldn't have asked for a better night! 

14 Days of Love

I hate/completely despise/loathe/can't stand/am repulsed by/resent even just thinking about what to get/do for Colten for Valentine's Day. Every. Single. Year. He's a typical guy, for the most part. He gets his hands dirty, isn't overly sensitive or romantic, loves playing video games and anything camouflage. 
With that in mind, what the heck do you get for your man for Valentine's Day?! That runs through my mind every year, until now. In doing some actual research and scouring Pinterest, I came across a blog {surprise, surprise right? ;)} that had me at:  So remember how I kinda neglected my husband on Christmas.
Tiffany over at Raising Lemons posted about her idea for Valentine's Day last year, and I was hooked instantly. Check out her post {here}. Her idea was to go along with the catchy '14 Days of Valentine's' theme for her husband, but with a twist. Instead of doing corny little gifts every day {"I chews you," with chewing gum...}, she decided to focus on her husband's love language. Umm, thank you! From there, my 14 Days of Love commenced. 

Immediately, I knew I would be doing that this year, so I began on the several daunting tasks that laid ahead of me. I would start on February 1st and the last day would be on the 14th, Valentine's Day. First up: the list. I knew that Colten's love languages are acts of service and physical touch. How do I know? Well, he took the quiz, of course! Yes, there's a quiz. If you don't know what the love languages are, head over here to check them out! Since Colten tied on these two, I decided to incorporate them both into our 14 Days of Love. 
THE LIST 1. long kiss
2. wash dishes
3. foot massage
4. make the bed
5. buy groceries
6. long embrace
7. cook dinner
8. hold hands at the movie
9. breakfast in bed
10. 30 minute massage
11. laundry 
12. snuggle while watching tv together
13. Ace duty
14. full service 
Up next was creating a banner that would hold/display each day's surprise. Again, I went with Tiffany's idea but made it my own. I started with a trip to Hobby Lobby - where else? I purchased a pack of the mini craft sacks in brown, a tiny heart box {to trace the hearts}, and paper! 

I traced hearts onto some heart paper I purchased and cut them out. 

  Then, I numbered the hearts 1-14 and glued each one onto a craft sack! Seriously easy stuff here, y'all. 

  Next up were the cards - I used cardstock, cut them to size using the measurements of the craft sacks (2.5"x4") and then wrote the "physical touch" and "acts of service" activities on them. 

I then used jute that I already had at home to hang on our bar in the kitchen and attached the sacks using mini clothespins that I had purchased previously for my thankful tree. {Sorry about the unbelievably blurry pic on this one...}

We're on day 13, and Colten is loving it! I had to get a little creative for day 1 because we were out of town for the weekend. I wrote him a letter explaining the 14 Days of Love idea and even kissed the letter by signature for an extra special touch! I rolled up the letter, added day 1's card, and tied it together with some jute. Then, all I had to do was keep my big mouth shut until February 1st when I could finally reveal my plans! It's hard for me to keep a surprise a secret, so I was definitely tested. But, I did it! He really enjoyed the idea and has been looking forward to each day's activity. 
It's just a special way to really show your spouse that you love them {on a budget}, and what better way to do that than through their love language?! I considered our schedules in planning out each day's activity, and I definitely rearranged the order as we received our work schedules and things came up. It worked out because he didn't know what the next day held anyway, as long as he didn't snoop! 
Instead of just doing little things around the house, I added just a few extra surprises in the mix, such as a movie night! I incorporated the "physical touch" aspect by holding hands during a movie and will surprise him with movie tickets after he opens the card {that's tonight's plan}. I received an email from Treat.com that presented an opportunity to personalize my 14 Days of Love even further! I will be able to present the tickets in a personalized card, just for him! I was blown away by the cards from Treat and the ease of creating them! 
Treat.com is a Shutterfly affiliate that specializes in personalized greeting cards. I love what they say on their website: "Relationships aren't cookie cutter, so why should greeting cards be?" Seriously though, what a great idea! You're able to customize a card for any occasion {Valentine's Day, birthdays, anniversaries, sympathy, thinking of you, etc.} for anyone on your list! All you have to do is create an account {for free} and get to personalizing! With an account, you can set up reminders about something coming up that needs a card, schedule a card to be sent in the mail, and even send digital cards if time isn't on your side! 
I received two cards, one for Valentine's Day, and one to hold the surprise movie tickets and just to tell Colten that I love him. Look at how great they turned out...

The cards are way more gorgeous in person! The picture quality is clear {as long as you've uploaded a good picture} and the cards themselves are super thick! I chose to have them mailed to me so that I could give them to Colten myself, but Treat also provides the option to mail a card directly to the receiver. Super convenient! I know I'll be doing business with this company in the future. What better way to show a loved one you care than by personalizing a greeting card they can cherish forever?! No more cards being thrown away, people. This is a new era. 

No more missed birthdays, long checkout lines
or last-minute drugstore dashes.

We make it easy to stay thoughtful all year long—from the comfort of your couch.

*via*

The 14 Days of Love was a big commitment to take on, but I'm so glad I did! I was held accountable for all the things I said I would do, and by doing it through Colten's love language, I was really able to focus on loving him and not be distracted by my own wants and needs. It's definitely a Valentine's Day we won't forget!  
**I was not compensated financially for this post. I received these cards from the kindness of Treat's social media team. The opinions are 100% my own**

Letting Go

Letting go is a hard but necessary part of life. It's healthy. The absolute hardest part of this process for me is actually realizing when it's time to let go, whether it be of a situation, a feeling I'm having, friendships, material things ... I struggle in recognizing the when. 

Letting go is an art form and a process. It doesn't happen overnight. In fact, it looms over me and makes me constantly think about the particular situation for days and days, sometimes weeks and months! Confession: I struggle with letting go. Of anything. Story of my life! 
However, I've noticed recently that I'm finding it easier and easier to truly let go of things, people, situations that aren't good for me. It's not healthy to cling on to something or someone forever when in reality, you need to move past it. So I guess you could say I'm getting healthier :). 
A big part of my progress in this area is my faith. Becoming closer with God has allowed me to truly and realistically give it all to Him. This means it's taken care of. Whatever 'it' is, God's got a handle on it. Now, I've known this forever, but as with anything these days, it's way easier said than done. However, I'm really making strides in acting on it, and I feel amazing! 

I have a post-it note on my computer monitor that reads: 
"Sometimes the best thing you can do is not think, not wonder, not imagine, not obsess. Just breathe and have faith that everything will work out for the best. Let go and let God." 
It's true! Putting this into action each and every day has helped me tremendously! I no longer fret over losing a friendship that I know isn't healthy anymore or getting rid of those clothes I'm never going to wear again. Like I said, it relates to every.single.aspect.of.my.life. For real. 
I'm not saying that I've perfected the act of letting go, but I've definitely come a long way. With that, though, I've still got a long way to go. But I'm proud of the progress I've made and where I am currently. I'm happier because of it. My husband is happier because of it. I stress less. I'm more calm in situations I have no control over. I'm learning to let go. And it's amazing. 
The really amazing part is when other people notice my overall happiness and the way I deal with something that usually would set me off. Case in point: very recently, Colten discovered his wedding ring was missing. Normally, I would absolutely lose it {and for a second or two, I did...}; I mean, it's your WEDDING RING! But, I calmly helped him look for it, at least until he came to realization that the last time he had it was at work. Ultimately, he concluded that he accidentally threw it away when he took his gloves off at work. {This would've been the time that the old me would've stormed off and yelled something not so nice}. Instead, I took a deep breath and gave him a hug. He was beside himself with losing it, and it was unbelievably obvious how hurt he was. Me blowing up at him wasn't going to help the situation. Instead, I let go of the anger I felt and told him that I loved him. Yes, he'll never have the ring I gave him when we were married. But does that change the fact that we're married or that we love each other?! Absolutely not. A ring is replaceable - especially if it's not something that's been passed down or anything. And the awesome thing is that I remember exactly where I got it from, and they still have the exact same ring, on sale. So, we will replace it and move on with our lives. He still loves me. He didn't do it on purpose. It was a mistake, and we all make mistakes. Who am I to judge him?! I took a deep breath, didn't obsess over the situation, and I let go. And oh how amazing it felt to not be completely caught up in my feelings of hurt and anger.  Letting go is good. 

How do you 'let go'? Do you struggle with it?

Life Happens

Yesterday was a whirlwind. And now I'm angry, frustrated, stressed, mad, worried ... it goes on and on. 
Colten noticed a knot on his calf several days ago, which we both blew off as probably a bite of some sort that would go away on its own. Well, it didn't. It progressively got worse and then actually started hurting him. So, yesterday, he was off to the doctor. 
Once he was done there, he was told he'd had to have a venous doppler ultrasound done. When he tried to leave for that appointment, his truck wouldn't start. There was no one else around at the time to offer him a ride, so I left work early and took off to take him.  

We got the diagnosis from the radiologist: my dear, sweet husband has blood clots. Plural. 
I'm scared. I'm angry. I'm frustrated. 
And then I remind myself: life happens. These moments are inevitable. It's scary not knowing what's going on or what prompted something else to happen. It's frustrating having to deal with car problems when you shouldn't be having car problems {he bought a new battery only six short months ago...this should not be an issue}. It's terrifying to watch the love of your life first battle pneumonia and then get hit with blood clots. 
I'm stressed. I don't know where to turn. I don't know what to do. I'm worried. I'm mad. 
His doctor has yet to contact him to inform him of the next step now that his diagnosis has been confirmed. This angers me to no end. Aren't blood clots serious? Shouldn't there be a course of action for him to start on by now? I'm no medical professional, but not having answers or a 'plan' is driving me insane. We were there for hours yesterday, and we still have no clue what is going to happen next. 
Then, we had to still deal with the dead truck at the doctor's office. The plan was to jump it with my car. This took like 20 minutes -- it helps to know where the battery is in your car! I just got the car not too long ago, so I didn't know. My dad had to look it up - it's by the spare tire in the back of the car. Seriously? 

We were finally able to head home, but my husband still has no reliable transportation right now. And he had to open at work today. He has blood clots in his leg and has to go to work - his doctor hasn't said he can't. He has no 'excuse' that's good enough not to be there. He's in pain, and he has to work. This breaks my heart. 
And how was he supposed to get there? We both had to be at work within two hours of each other, and we only had one working vehicle. Stressed is an understatement. 
It's never-ending. Life happens. We just have to deal with it and move on. I'm just lucky enough that no matter what life throws at us, I have my loving, caring, goofy husband to hold my hand along the way, through every storm. He never lets go, and I'm amazed by his strength time and time again. Although he has been in pain, he still puts a smile on my face and cheers me up, even though he's the patient. He will go out of his way to make sure I'm okay. He melts my heart. 

I'm still worried about him and pray that he makes it through the day in as little to no pain as possible. I pray that he doesn't worsen today or have any serious complications while he's at work. I know that God is in control and ultimately knows the outcome of this storm, but while weathering it, I worry. What if he gets worse? What if he's not okay? What if we receive worse news today? Tomorrow?  
The 'what ifs' are nauseating. I refuse to get bogged down in them, but I still worry. I'm just glad that through it all, I get to experience the highs and lows of this life all with my husband by my side. All while life happens around us. 

All about Christ.

"Hooray for Friday!" is exactly what I'm happily shouting at the top of my lungs today! Seriously - it's been a super long week and I'm so ready to be able to just head home today after work instead of going to job #2. Although I'm thankful for both jobs, I truly look forward to being able to actually spend time at home and get stuff done {or just be lazy and relax...those days are definitely crucial!}. So, in the spirit of another Friday that I've been beyond blessed to see roll around, I'm sticking with the theme of blessings. Today's five on Friday is all about Christ. 
{one} CHRISTmas. Christmas is in the air EVERYWHERE, and I'm absolutely in love! It's been especially present on my little blog these past few days {seriously, I think there's about a bajillion Christmas linkups - so if you're in the mood, go have some fun!}. I had some fun this week sharing about what I love about the holidays and how I decorated my home and office this year! So, you should definitely go check it out. Also, I'm completely obsessed with the fact that Christmas is officially less than two weeks away! Ahhh! 
{two} thank God. There are a lot of people {way more than I'd like, quite honestly} that seem to feel as if they're at their wits end and don't know which way is up. They are spinning down into a tumultuous black hole and constantly complain about the 'awful' things in their lives. Well, I'm here to say thank God. I've been there, and I know what it's like to completely feel as if what you are facing is just completely terrible and you've been faced with such a huge burden that it's just the worst thing ever. Seeing others experiencing the same hurt, pain, and anger truly makes me thankful to God for the blessings that have been bestowed upon my life. No matter how big or small, a blessing is a blessing, and I am forever grateful. It's so easy to overlook the joys in life and stay focused on all of the negativity. I'm living proof that through the smoke on those bumps of life, there is greatness. There is happiness and joy. There is life. And for that, I thank God. 
{three} remembering. Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The video below is completely heart wrenching and just blows me away every single time that I watch it. Please, please take a few minutes {4 minutes and 5 seconds to be exact} out of your day to watch this beautiful video of Emilie's family after tragedy ripped apart their family just one short year ago tomorrow and changed their lives forever. You'll definitely need a kleenex or two, but it's completely worth it. I promise.  Those blue eyes...I die. This video has gone absolutely viral, as I've seen it posted on blogs, on Facebook, twitter, emails ... it is a truly amazing video of how evil did not win that day. 
In remembering such a terrible tragedy, I went back and read a few blog posts that I wrote regarding that day:  + Newtown, Connecticut Shooting + Because it Still Hurts They're not long posts, but they remind me of my anger, confusion, and faith from that day - the day that so many lives were completely changed forever. The day that will haunt them for years to come and may never go away. The day they lost a piece of their heart. I'm remembering, and I'm praying. May God comfort those that are still hurting from the senseless tragedy and bring a sense of peace that the lost loved ones are joyfully playing in Heaven at the feet of our Creator and Savior. 
{four}little drummer boy. After that last video, I'm now asking you to spend four more minutes watching this one. You won't be disappointed - honest! If you weren't in the Christmas spirit before, you will be now: 
Isn't it beautiful? The union of all of their voices and the gorgeous message behind the song. I can't sum it up any better than Amber did over at Mr. Thomas and Me. Please, please, please go read it. PLEASE! {Yes, now I'm pretty sure I'm begging.} It's glorious, to say the least! Thank you Amber! I can seriously have this song on repeat to enjoy over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. It's that good. Do yourself a favor and go listen to it, even if you've done so already - even a couple hundred times ;). 
{five}healing.  Hallelujah! Colten is finally free of his pneumonia! Now that is something to scream at the top of my lungs! He will still have to use his inhaler for the next month and a half, but he's done with his antibiotics, and he is fully admitting that he's all better {which is a suretell sign that he's better}. I hate feeling completely helpless and having to sit back while the man I love with all that I am suffers day in and day out. So I am praising God today that He has healed my husband and will allow us {hopefully...} to celebrate Jesus' birth day free from illness. What greater gift is there?! 

Of course, linking up with THE GOOD LIFE BLOG. 

Fabulous Friday: It's Been a Great Week!

I've honestly had a pretty fabulous week! Thank God! I admit that I was a bit nervous when Monday rolled around, especially after such a long Thanksgiving holiday weekend! But, the week flew by fairly quickly and was pretty awesome, even in the midst of some not so awesome news. So, we’ll just start with that, shall we?

My dear, sweet husband has walking pneumonia. Yuck! He’s been fighting bronchitis for the past few weeks {almost a month}, and now it’s turned into full blown pneumonia. L However, he is now fully stocked and owns his own pharmacy {we joke} – several maximum strength antibiotics, a nasal spray that he must use religiously, and an inhaler that will be his BFF for the next two months! Praying that this all will kick it in the butt and he’ll be back to his happy, goofy self in no time! God willing…

And now, on to the greatness that was this week:

+ THIS WEATHER! Is it really shocking that I’m in love with the current 30 degree temps?! No, no it’s not.

+ My super new and fresh blog design! Seriously, I’m so in love with it! I know I only redid it 9 months ago, but I wanted something professional and have been thinking of doing so for a while now. Well, when Jana's BLACK FRIDAY sale ad went up, I was hooked! I saw it on Monday, filled out the questionnaire, emailed her back and forth all week long, and ta-da! Blog design by Friday! She’s seriously fast and seriously awesome! Seriously! Check out her design site and let her make you a masterpiece! Click here for her design site. This is the color inspiration I chose, and she ran with it:

She did such a great job, and I truly enjoyed working with her! She was so quick to respond to each and every email, and she had the design up and running within a week, y’all! That’s even with a toddler running around… super impressive, Jana!  

Here’s what my blog looked like previously, just to have it out there:

I absolutely love the change – thanks Jana! She captured what I wanted perfectly and I’m so excited that this is my little corner of the Internet! We have a few glitches to work out, but I know when everything is all said and done, it'll be nothing short of greatness. :) 

Here's to a weekend full of cleaning, taking care of my sick hunny, and loving on my new design! 

Prayers, please!

I'm a huge fan of prayer. Seriously, I pray 346,594,439,103,049,664,258,376 times a day! Or so it seems... 
I love praying. It brings a sense of peace and hopefulness, and it's a weight being lifted off of my shoulders each and every time. I know that I do not have to walk this life journey on my own. God's got me. And when I'm in a particular situation in which I'm frustrated about or worried about, I know that I can turn to God and immediately feel a sense of peace wash over my entire body. It's amazing! 
All too often we turn to prayer as an outlet of frustration and anger - and that's fine! God can take it, believe me! When tragedy strikes, we question God. We don't know which way is up, and we don't know why God allowed for such a thing to happen. Why didn't he stop it? Why didn't he heal our loved one? Why? I wrote about that here. Turn to prayer. 
However, we should also pray in times of happiness and joy! Thank God for all that he has blessed your life with. Did you get to spend an extra hour sleeping? Thank God! Did you ace that final exam? Thank God! Did you travel safely to visit with family and friends for the holidays? Hallelujah! Thank God! Prayer does not only have to be filled with grief, hatred, confusion, or anger - it can be filled with love, patience, happiness, and hope. Be overly grateful and pray to God for all that you are thankful for. Pray that you know whatever happens, in His time, is His will, not yours. {a great and powerful post on that by Chelsea over at Anchors Aweigh yesterday, as her and her husband face the unknown in the military}

Sometimes, though, we forget to pray. We forget that God is at the center of it all and that we must put our faith in Him and His timing. We forget. Seriously?! It breaks my heart when I feel so completely overwhelmed by a situation that I feel I cannot breathe. Hello, Bri?! God's got you! And it's true. But we most often forget His presence in our times of joy. We happily go on with our lives in full complacency - but guess who made that happen? Yep, you guessed it. God. Pray to Him and thank Him. 
I constantly and continuously accept prayer requests. And I mean that! I take time out of my day {every single day} to pray for those in need. If you are in need of extra prayers, please don't hesitate for a single second! Let me know! Reach out to me in any way you feel comfortable {several means of communication here} and send me your prayer requests. You can be as vague or specific as you want, God knows what you're going through. 
With that being said, I'm sending up some serious prayers that my sweet husband feels better soon! It's nothing serious {God-willing}, but he's been fighting something fierce for the past few weeks and he just can't get rid of it. He's miserable, and I don't know how else to help him. Everything the doctors have given him seem to make things better for a few days, but then his breathing is labored again and the fever comes back. He's off to the doctor again today, so hopefully they'll have more answers! It breaks my heart to see him feeling so under the weather, and I pray that his spirits are lifted and that he feels better soon! If praying is your thing, please pray for better health to come his way! I seriously thank you in advance. :) 
Can I pray for you today? 

Marriage: {Two Years}

Two years ago today, I said 'I do' to my best friend. Two years ago today, my life changed forever. Two years ago today, I entered into married bliss...and I'm even more in love than ever! 
Over the past two years, my life is more enriched with love and happiness than I could have ever imagined. Is every day a breeze? Definitely not! Are there days where I just completely fall apart and disagree with everything my husband says? You bet! But is it worth it to work together, learn from each other, and live life every single day with my husband by my side? Absolutely. 
Marriage isn't easy. And I don't think there is a married couple out there, no matter how long they've been married, that would tell you otherwise! It's work. A lot of work - by both individuals. But it's so completely worth it. The bad days are nothing in comparison with the good days. I'm unbelievably blessed to experience this life journey with my best friend. He makes me laugh, knows exactly how to make me feel better when I'm stressing over something stupid or just had a rough day, and loves me unconditionally every single day of his life. I have never experienced a love like ours, and I can't even put it into words! We laugh together, cry together, and love together. Even the most random, common thing can put a smile on my face when I'm spending time with my husband. We're meant to be together, through all of life's trials and tribulations, we will be successful because we know love and have a healthy marriage. We work at it together. 
People keep asking me if it's felt like we've been married for two years already, and the answer to that is, 'no'. The saying holds true, "Time flies when you're having fun!" These past two years have held a lot for us, and it's been two long years of learning. Learning what makes the other 'tick'. Learning what it takes to truly make each other feel loved. Learning that life isn't full of flowers and rainbows, but it doesn't matter when you're experiencing the hurdles of life with someone you love unconditionally. The joys life brings are magnified when you're living them with your soul mate. Colten understands me in a way that absolutely no one else does, and I love that! He's always been there for me, 100%, from day one. He never judges me or questions my actions, even if he knows I'm wrong. He supports me in ways I've never known before, and he holds me when I fail. He's my number one fan!  Although we've been married for two years already {y'all, that's 730 days!}, I still say that we're newlyweds. I don't know when I'll stop considering us that, but I absolutely love it! I think back to our wedding day and smile. We were surrounded by so much love and support - I couldn't have asked for anything better! It was well worth all of the planning, stress, and tears ... It was perfect. Thinking back to that day now, I am reminded how blessed I truly am. Family and friends came out to support Colten and I's love for each other - they celebrated our love with us! I cherish the memories and the photographs, which will last me a lifetime!  But to be at this point we're at today, I keep in mind that the wedding day is just the beginning. It's the marriage that truly counts. I go to bed every night and wake up every morning with my husband. And I smile. I am a lucky, lucky girl to walk this life with Colten. Sure, there are days when we completely disagree on things and cannot come to an understanding with each other. There are moments when we just need our space and time apart from each other. But those moments pass. We become stronger because of those moments. We cherish the love a bit deeper and appreciate one another a little bit more. 
A marriage takes three. Husband, wife, and God. We vowed forever with God as our witness, and strive to become close to Him each and every day. Are we perfect? Gosh no! Do we have room for improvement in every single aspect of our lives? Yes! But we are learning and living together, striving for a more intimate bond with God and with each other. I am blessed to be the wife to such an amazing man. Every day is a surprise. Every day is a gift from God for us to learn more and more about each other. I never stop learning from my husband, and our marriage is never stagnant. We know that it truly takes effort and that it is a decision to love each other every day. It's a decision we make over and over every day. We choose to love. We choose to share our happiness with each other and to keep learning together. I know there are still struggles ahead. Struggles we cannot even begin to fathom. But with Colten by my side, I know we can do it. I know we'll make it through and will have so much to show for it.  Two years ago began a whirlwind of a marriage. Not a day has gone by in which we haven't told each other the we love each other. That's actually one of my favorite things about our marriage. We say 'I love you' every day, several times a day. And they are not just empty words that you routinely say. I feel the passion and genuine feelings behind his words every day. Not just a few times a week or once a month - EVERY DAY! I look forward to our future, as I have no idea where it'll lead, but I know we'll get there together, hand in hand. I know our love for each other will only grow, as we grow closer and closer to God. I know the road ahead will be a bumpy one, but I truly look forward to sharing every part of the journey with my husband. 
Colten, thank you so much for treating me with the utmost respect and showing me what true love really is. I have enjoyed these past two years and look forward to many, many more! Thank you for making me your wife and for truly making me happy. I love you! 

Lockscreen Love

So, as many of you know, the new iOS 7 is out and about, running amuck in our lives. It's definitely grown on me, and now that the apps are updating to be compatible with the new iOS, it's making me a happy, happy girl! But, the new iOS features meant that my old lock screen creations didn't really work with the new look. The clock part is a little lower than it used to be, and the 'slide to unlock' feature is much, much different. So, that obviously called for an all new lock screen creation!  I worked on a few earlier this week, and I wanted to share the two that my husband and I are currently using:

 

 

This one is gracing my lock screen, and I absolutely love it!

This one is on my hubby's phone. Although, it doesn't look the greatest with the clock feature because it doesn't show up much. I'm working on a better design, but he loves it too much to care that he can't really see what time it is. That man and his Duck Dynasty - my goodness!

 

 

So, I just wanted to share a little lockscreen love! Have a favorite quote or saying you'd like to grace your phone? What about a saying or design that you are just loving right now? Let me know! I'm in no way a professional or can guarantee anything, but I love to just play around with it and see what happens! :)

 

FAM{iLY}, FuN, & shoes. {Weekend Shenanigans}

This past weekend was excellent, and much needed as I hadn't had one in a while! So, what better way to capture all of the awesomeness than by linking up for Sami's Shenanigans?! Don't worry, I couldn't think of a better way, either. ;)

 

 

This weekend was also the first one that my darling husband has had off in a while - there were initially plans regarding his reasoning for requesting the weekend off, but they fell through. Lucky for me, because that meant we actually got to spend a weekend together! :) Saturday, we took advantage of it and spent the day running errands, together. It's always so much better to not have to do that alone. It was great quality time, and we accomplished a lot!

 

My amazing husband also surprised me with these 'get well' flowers after finishing up my retreatment on Thursday - so sweet!

We stopped by Academy to try on some shoes, as both Colten and I have been in pretty desperate need for new tennis shoes. And of course, my awesome brother was working, so it was a plus to get to visit with him in the process! We ended up staying for two and a half hours in the footwear department! Holy cow! But, it made his time at work go by faster, and Colten also found the steel toe workboots - score! However, he also found the above camo snake boots and tried to talk me into letting him get them. Umm, sorry darling husband, but you do not need snake boots to walk around our apartment. Nice try, though! ;)

Since we were at Academy for forever, it was time for Josh's lunch break, so we took him out to eat! Yay! Of course, we hit up Jack in the Box down the street - his fave! Then, this walked in the door... Needless to say we were highly entertained. I mean, seriously? Keep Austin Weird at its finest!

Sunday morning, we were off to church, and it was a great service! I truly cherish every time that we are able to worship as a couple.  Seeing how Colten's schedule differs weekly, this isn't always possible. But when it is, I'm one happy wife! Happy wife=happy life, right?! :)

Sunday afternoon, we headed over to Main Event Entertainment and met Josh after work. We started out with some bowling action, in which both Josh and I each won a game. And there's proof, people! It was a blast, as always! And, they are running their $5 FUNbination promotion through November 22, which means you get 'unlimited' play per activity for only $5! However, they do limit bowling to an hour at a time due to the high volume of people just itching to play. Colten wasn't too happy about this little fact, but we cheered him up and headed over for glow-in-the-dark putt putt golf! We had a blast, and it was definitely great to get out of the house! 

After golf, we headed back to Josh's place to order our new shoes! Score! His girlfriend was home, and we ever so kindly pretty much forced her to take a break from studying - sorry! But she hadn't heard of this song yet, so we definitely had to play it ... maybe on repeat for a few times...

We also introduced her into the world of music videos by Miley Cyrus - she knew of the songs and liked them...possibly until she saw the videos. You're welcome.

We ended the night by heading over to Sonic for supper, and I was introduced to the Ocean Water - THANK YOU! Super delicious, and I just so happen to work right next to a Sonic and can totally walk over during happy hour. :)

How was your weekend? Let me know!