wedding gift.

My childhood friend, Ellis, and his beautiful bride, Sarah, were married this weekend.  The wedding was absolutely gorgeous and lots of fun.  I thought I'd post a picture of the wedding gift I made for them.

As NC State grads and huge football fans, they spend lots of weekends tailgating.  In fact, I think they even had a tailgating shower before a football game last year where they received lots of fun NC State gear :)  Such an awesome idea!  

Well, you know how you fight and fight with saran-wrap to get it to stick to a bowl?  

And then you take it off when it's time to eat but if there are any leftovers in the bowl, good luck, because you've already wadded up the saran-wrap and thrown it away.

I decided to make them a bowl cover!  I thought it might be a good addition to their tailgating supplies!  Or even good for grilling out - to keep the bugs away from the baked beans until the rest of the food is ready.  And of course, a little embroidery never hurts :)

To go along with the bowl cover, I monogrammed some kitchen towels.  I feel like there's something fun about special kitchen towels.  I always love having fun ones and thought they may like to have a few with their monogram :)

I found the tutorial for the bowl cover on Finding My Feet!

one of my favorite things.

One night last week we did one of my favorite things during the summer.  We went to the pool and ate supper and then swam.  It was so much fun.  The weather was perfect.  The lighting was perfect.  And the company was perfect.  I took some pictures and then my sister-in-law, Gretchen, took some :)

Emma Claire learned how to swim this week.  So, she and Poppy spent time going down the slide.  He's so sweet with all his littles.

Nonny, aka - Superhero of the week, and sweet Anabelle.

Me and Tate

Jordan and Crews.  I loved his expression in all of these so I had to put them all on here :)

Me with Tate again.

An in-action shot of Poppy and Emma Claire.

Daddy and Tate :)

Anabelle and her princess float!

Jordan and his nieces.

Me and Crews.

Tate and Nonny.

4 years.

Today marks 4 years.

It's so hard to believe that we have been married for that long. But, I can honestly say, I love him more today than ever before.  Even though most of our friends would tell you we about kill each other all the time, we really do love each other.  We fight hard.  But we also love hard.  He was made for me.   And I am so, so thankful that I get to spend the rest of my days with him.  

Tonight we had a mini-photoshoot.  I set up the tripod and we took a few pictures in between changing diapers, attempting to feed babies avocado and oatmeal, bathing babes, and fixing supper.  Our house is a total wreck.  I am obviously a mess.  And I actually started to change clothes and try to fix my hair.  Or, at least put on some lip gloss.  But then, I realized, I want to capture us.  The real us. 

There will be time for high heels and makeup this weekend (when we leave the boys overnight for the first time!).  But tonight, it was real.  And messy.  But, it's us.

(And, no, contrary to what you might think when you look at this picture.  That is not a baby bump.  It is my lack of abs after carrying around two babies.  I'm working on it.  Thank.you.very.much.)

 And, we had to sneak in a picture of our new additions this year :)

I'm linking up with Emily for Embrace the Camera.

crazy.

Hi friends!

Happy Monday :)

I hope your weekend was fabulous!

Okay, interesting story.

First off, a little background...Worker Man is addicted to looking at houses.  So we have looked at houses for the last two years without any intention of moving.  Just to look.

Well, over the last few months we have started to feel a little cramped.  We love our little house [not that it's anything to get too excited about - but it's ours :)] but it's just not enough room. Especially when I have to use the second bedroom as an office, guest bedroom, storage space and craft room.  It's a little inconvenient to climb over Worker Man's mountain bike and wedge myself in between the Rubbermaid table and futon anytime I want to sew.  I'm just sayin'....

So, we came across a house that we really liked and thought maybe we should put our house for sale just to see if we could sell it.  Our house was not at all ready to be on the market.  Still lots of little projects that needed to be done.  But Worker Man wanted to just go ahead and "try it".  I figured no one would come see it for awhile so it would be no biggie.

Well, Worker Man put a sign in the yard on July 7th.  No paper with it.  No realtor.  No listing online. Just one sign with a phone number.

And we actually got calls.  From lots of realtors.  But also from people interested.  But no one interested enough to look at it.

Well, fast forward to last Saturday, July 24th.  I had just stepped out of the shower and there was a knock at the door.  Worker Man and I were getting ready to head out of town for a wedding.  And it's a woman with her sister.  Interested in coming to look.  Right then.

So, I threw on my clothes and they came in and looked around.

They talked to us about how quickly we could get out and told us they would call the next day.  We weren't sure if we'd hear from them.  They seemed serious, but we just weren't sure.  So, sure enough, on Sunday her grandson calls and wants to stop by.  Then on Monday, her husband and son stop by along with the grandson and his family.

Grandpa comes in the kitchen and tells Worker Man he wants to

buy.our.house.

Worker Man and I are a little in shock as we talk about and the man offers to pay cash, wants to close on the deal the next morning and wants us out by Saturday morning. 

We move the closing back to that Friday and agree to move out by Sunday afternoon.

And we had a deal.

So...as of yesterday afternoon at 4 pm, we are homeless.

We are living with Worker Man's parents while we look for a new house.  But seriously, we are so excited to see what the Lord has in store for our next step.  We know that this has to be divine.  We sold our house in three weeks, with no appraisal or inspection, with the man offering cash and closing four days after coming to see the house.   We will definitely keep you posted on what is to come.

But for now, just a little reminiscing...

Goodbye sweet, little first house.

Kelle Hampton It.

Do you ever plan for your weekend to be fabulous only to be disappointed Sunday night?  Like you think of all the fabulous things you're going to do for the weekend.  And in your head you concoct the perfect blend of relaxing and productive, funny and romantic, lazy and exhilarating.  It's like the perfect mix of everything that's going to happen.

Especially on Saturday.  You plan to get up early and go for a run.  Then come back and clean your house.  Have the floors mopped, the baseboards wiped down, three loads of laundry done, your bathroom sparkling, and your refridgerator cleaned out.  All before 10 a.m.  Then for the afternoon agenda, sew and finish your photography website.  Order business cards.  Start an Etsy store.  And clean out the attic. 

So all OCD dreams are fulfilled for the weekend.

But, simulatneously you expect the weekend to be relaxed and lazy and dreamy.  So you plan to sleep late and wake up to snuggle your husband for another half hour.  Then mozy into the kitchen and make a fabulous pot of coffee.  Do your quiet time on the screen porch while enjoying your coffee in a paisley mug with french vanilla creamer.  Then, you shower and get ready when you finally get to it and head out to....I don't know, that's where the dream gets fuzzy for me.  I got to Target and maybe to a couple of thrift stores.  Have a relaxing lunch, outside with a cool breeze and then wonder over to the bookstore to browse a bazillion different books.  It just makes sense.  

But then, Sunday night you realize that you've accomplished neither.  In trying to get everything done, you missed the opportunity to snuggle with your husband and enjoy your coffee.  And in being relaxed you totally stressed yourself out with your house is still being a wreck.

  Plus on Sunday night you realize that it's ridiculous to think that you'll clean your baseboards considering you haven't cleaned them in months.  [Don't be too grossed out].  Or that you'll actually finish your photography website that you've been working on for months.  Then you also realize that you don't really like to sleep late.  And that the cool breeze at an outdoor lunch?  Ummm...it's July.  Let's get real.

So, all of that to say...

Last Friday I showed up to work and had a twin.  And we had the whole conversation that I mentioned above.  So, we determined that in place of another weekend with ridiculous, unrealistic plans, we were going to Kelle Hampton it.

Oh you haven't heard of Kelle Hamptoning It?  Well, it's probably because we made it up.  But it's like saying that you're going to rock it. Except you're going to rock it time a bazillion.

Have you read Kelle Hampton's blog?  Well, first of all...you should.

And, once you read it you'll quickly realize that you want to Kelle Hampton It too.  Because she always finds the positive in everything.  Like everything.

And she...how does she put it?

Oh yeah, sucks the marrow out of life.

So, last Friday my "partner in crime" and I decided that we were definitely going to Kelle Hampton It.


When we left work, we both went home and painted our fingernails a shade of watermelon.  Yes, because Kelle Hampton did.  Well that and because it was going to be our visual reminder that we were going to suck the marrow out of life.  Even the little pieces.  Even when things are frustrating.  Finding a little thing.  That's so exciting.



And I went with the toes too.
Just for extra special measure.


It was a long weekend, ya know.


So, here's a little snapshot of my weekend.  Kelle Hampton style.




First a lazy Saturday morning. Check.
Quiet time with fabulous coffee on the front porch.



Looking at this across the street.
Could it be better?
Seriously?



We then moved on to green beans.
Picking, stringing, breaking, canning.



Talk about a ton of work!
But so worth it.
20 quarts :)


After canning green beans we went to the community 4th of July parade.
It was sweet.  Even though it only lasted 15 minutes :)



Once the parade was over, we docked the number one family get together with my dad's family.
Definitely ranked number one in the last few years.


We got together and had a cookout around 8:30 on Saturday night.  We planned the cookout around 7 that night.  Mom called all the aunts and said let's just throw everything together for a cookout right quick.  So we showed up at my grandpa's house with a hodgepodge of cookout items and a firepit for good measure.  I'd say the firepit definitely made it.  Homemade icecream, s'mores and a fire.  Could it get any better?



On Sunday afternoon we headed to the New River Trail in Virginia to bike along the river.
It was a twenty mile ride that was so.much.fun.  Exhilarating and hard.  But amazing to feel the breeze on your face and just soak it all in.



Such a beautiful place.



Such a wonderful family.



Then, in continuing to be Kelle Hampton - esque, I found the joy even in getting car sick to the point of laying in the grass in front of KFC on a major highway.  But all was okay.  Because my wonderful mother photographed the event and my wonderful husband went back to the KFC counter three times to get my bland mashed potatoes just right.  How hard to mess up, right?   But, my sweet husband was willing to get everything just right.




Then on to fireworks.
Which were so much fun.  Sitting all in the back of the truck beds all lined up and the bag chairs all sat  out in front of the trucks.


What's crazy is that there are plenty of weekends I spend with my parents.  In this gorgeous setting.  With such a fun and love-filled family.  Doing so many fun things.  But how often do I truly suck the marrow out of this life?  This crazy, exciting but sometimes ordinary life?  Not enough.



So here's to Kelle Hamptoning It.


And, FYI, my nails are watermelon again this weekend.

2 down.

on monday, worker man and i celebrated our two year anniversary!

it's really hard to belive the we've been married for two years already - seriously, it's crazy!

we went to the melting pot for supper and it was fabulous.

worker man had never been and we had the best time.

i would definitely suggest that restaurant - it was amazing!

happy two years worker man!

i'm blessed beyond belief.

marriage is way better than i could have ever imagined :)

umm...does this mean i'm not a newly-wed anymore?  because i totally still feel like one.

racoon holler.

a few weekends ago we went camping with some friends.
we had a blast!

i have been trying to get worker man to go camping since we started dating and he's always said it's not his thing.

i've also been trying to get him into biking which has again, "not been his thing".

well, then along comes daniel who loves to camp and mountain bike.
and now...worker man is all over it.

he's in love with both things.

i asked daniel if he could start to love to go shagging.
because apparently me thinking it's awesome isn't enough.
but when daniel thinks it's great, suddenly worker man doesn't think it's half bad either.

daniel's wife, ashley, and i decided we might be able to work something out.
if i just let her know what i want worker man to like, she can convince daniel to pretend to like it for a little while so worker man will start too!


not that i'm bitter or anything...

[ahem].

so, on to the camping trip.

because i had forty bazillion pictures, i just decided to make a collage for each day.

we spent our first day in boone.

we went to eat lunch at macado's, shopped at the mast general store, got coffee/icecream, got geared up for biking, and went grocery shopping.

we really had a lot of fun.

somehow day two and three got meshed into one collage.

we played lots of cornhole, went to another mast general store where they had a small bluegrass group [yay!], went to the trading post, ate at the daniel boone inn, played cards, played badmitton, rode bikes and just spent time hanging out.

it was so much fun.

we hopefully will be taking another trip soon.

[if you click on the college, it will open up so the pictures aren't so blurry].

s&c - edition: engagement.

last night i met up with two of my s&c girls.

and...

kcl is engaged!

we had such a good time.  just talking and catching up.

mst has moved back from kentucky so we get to make this a regular thing!

and, mjd is moving back from washington state in august!

we're so excited!!

breakfast.

on saturday morning we had breakfast at my parent's house before sl and her friends left for the beach.  all the parents came and we just spent the morning on their back porch [which is fabulous].

we had panckaes and fruit and coffee and juice.

dad's typical pose anytime a camera comes near him.

one of sl's friends.

so happy for me to be sticking my camera in her face at 8 a.m.

of course the moms insisted on one more group shot.
then we prayed.
and by the end, all of the moms were total basket-cases :)
some of the dads might have been on the verge.



and then they left.

oh but wait, not before a million rules and boundaries were set.

discussions about the best way to get there.
how often they had to call home.
to split up the cost of the parking.
to be careful.
to call home.
to have a good time.
oh, and just for good measure, one more reminder to call home.



and then they were off.

for real this time.

i know they are having a blast!