Happy Anniverary....

.... to us!!

This post is actually a day late, but that's okay. :) We're celebrating our anniversary over the next week and a half or so. :) hehe

Yesterday marked three WONDERFUL years with my husband! He is such a gift, blessing, and answer to prayer in my life. We have been together 5 years as of a little later this year, and it's amazing how it's hard to think about what routines and life were like before him. I am so thankful for his friendship, having someone so safe and strong to be completely comfortable with (which is especially nice when you're feeling goofy), his love, his patience, his forgiveness, his wisdom, his SUPER hard work to take great care of us, his help, his gentleness, and so many other things. God blew my dreams WIDE open when Matt came into my life. And we are both all the better for it.

The past three years have seen us through exciting changes like, well, getting married, starting our first "real" jobs, buying our house, finding a church here, and adopting Sammy dog. Sure there have been hard times too. But you know the best part? Even in the hard times, I am living with my best friend. And even better than that, He loves Jesus more than He loves me. So when we're tired or stressed or feel bewildered, He points me to Christ. There is no better way for him to love me well!! Our hard times have brought us not only closer together in relying upon each other and turning to each other (not too much of an option since it's just the two of us down here in FL), but turning to God together. We have grown so much closer in the Lord and each other as a result of each trial. I can honestly say, I would go through them again because of how I have seen God work in our tenderness to each other and desire for obedience in Christ. It's more than worth it.

So here's to the past three years, and here's to many, many (MANY) more!!

I love you, honey!

p.s. Our celebration continues, because we're headed out for a day trip on Saturday. And then next week we are spending four relaxing days at the very same resort condo where we spent our honeymoon!!

An Exciting Day!

Today was an exciting day at our church for a couple reasons.

#1 We both wore shorts to church (just kidding... Well, we did both wear shorts, but that's not why it was an exciting day).

#2 We celebrated the ceremonial ground breaking for the church building! That's actually why we wore shorts. Instead of meeting at the school where we usually have Sunday worship, we met on the property that has just been cleared this week. Imagine an outside service in Florida during the summer. That's why we all dressed comfortably and cool. ;) We did have a big tent that kept us pretty shaded though. It's an amazing blessing to be a part of the church in the midst of so much growth. It was planted about 11 years ago, and in the last 3 we've been here it's just amazing to see how God has/is working and moving. And even better to know the vision is to use the building to SERVE others, not just have a pretty place, and secondly to know the church isn't really a building. ;)

#3 We ordained deacons, including Matt! Four deacons were ordained, and it's really neat to see God provide a place for Matt to serve in this capacity, as his heart is so oriented to serve.

I took my camera, but I didn't get any pictures because we were on the greeting/question answering team and I didn't want to walk around with my camera. I'll post some from our pastor's blog as soon as he puts some up!

We hope you had a good weekend. :)

More Sewing and a Treat

I know I said I wouldn't be loading this blog up with sewing, but I can't help it--it's how I've passed the time the last few days. :)

Today I made a nursing cover for a "baby shower by mail." I need to take my gift to some ladies at church tomorrow so they can put it in a big box to mail on Monday. I made two things, a burp cloth and a nursing cover. Here they are for your viewing enjoyment. :)

Close up of the ribbon I found to match for the straps :)

Close up of the fabrics I chose

Secondly, the treat mentioned in the header. :) That sweet, thoughtful hubby o' mine brought me a surprise on Monday... flowers! He said he intended to have some sent to school the first day, but due to some other things going on the week of pre-planning when he was going to place the order he got a little side-tracked and was not able to accomplish that original plan. Instead, he stopped on his way home the first real day with this sweet bouquet. It has livened up the family room for the past week and been a colorful reminder of his love and care. :)

Matt's Final Birthday Party

Matt gets to have 3 birthday parties every year (it's so unfair!). :) This year, we celebrated on his birthday (July 1) with his parents and sister; then we celebrated on Saturday with my family; and lastly, he and I celebrated "just the two of us" this evening. I thought I'd share some pictures from our party. :)

Since we had a themed party back in TN, and he sprung on me yesterday that he wanted his party with me tonight, I got an exemption from thinking up another theme (I did Transformers last year). :) But we had a great time all the same.

I made chicken tortilla soup, bread bowls, and corn on the cob for dinner. As an appetizer when he got home from work, I had his favorite Green (iced) Tea waiting for him with some quesadillas, chips, and a yummy dip.


the bread bowl awaiting the soup



the birthday boy during dinner



pretty vase my birthday bouquet(s) came in now used as a votive holder... see how the design shines through to the tablecloth?



Bitsy's chocolate cake made an appearance! Mmmm mmmm good!



the loot

a cd he wanted

I wonder what this could be?

We like the wii. ;)


His final gift was hidden in the trunk of my car. This is Matt scurrying out to the garage when he figured out the clue I gave him as to the gift's whereabouts.


excited because he knows what it is AND where it is



an air compressor with 3 nailers--every man's dream (j/k)... he really did want it though, so he can finish our/do more crown molding

Bye, Bye, Beard

After 6 months of having facial insulation (a beard), Matt decided to shave it all off and return to his baby face. Instead of the "street cred" his beard usually affords us, we now BOTH look like high schoolers/undergrads. :) I love his beard, so it was a sad, sad day. But I love his sweet face all the same (even though it IS all scratchy now). I know it will be much cooler in the hot Florida summer, and he was ready for a little change. :) After seeing a shaving progression on another blog, Matt wanted to document each step of his beard's removal. Here are a couple shots for your viewing pleasure. :)

The "before"

an unflattering, "sad to see it go" picture

chops + a goatee

you might be a redneck if....

70s stache

there's the face of the man I love! (aka the "after")

**vote in the poll on the upper right part of the sidebar for your "favorite" (most silly) look! :) Poll closes June 2!

Valentine's Survey

taken from E's friend

My Valentine...

What is his name? Matt!

How long have you been together? We have been married 2 years and 4 months (the day after Valentine's Day), and we have been together for about 2 additional years before we married (10 months of dating, 1 year of being engaged). :)

How old is he? 27

Who eats more? It depends on what food you're thinking of, we each have our favorites. He is an ice cream fiend. :) I love Chili's chips and salsa.

Who said I love you first? Matt... and then I freaked myself out that I was making my heart that vulnerable, so the poor guy waited a couple months before I said it back. But when I *did* say it back, he KNEW "this was it." :)

Who is taller? I am (!)

Who sings better? We both like to sing along with silly songs in the car. He would probably say I sing bettter, but I like it when Matt sings, too.:)

Who dances better? Neither? hehe

Who is smarter? I could never do Matt's job, and he says he could never do mine. We have marveled over how perfectly our strengths fill in each other's weaknesses.

Who does the laundry? I do.

Who pays the bills? I do (I have more time at home since I get off earlier in the day... and also I took a basic accounting class in high school and am just enough of a nerd that I LOVED it.).

Who sleeps on the right side? Matt

Who cooks dinner? Usually I do, but Matt grills (especially in the summer) to give me a break. :)

Who drives? Usually Matt.

Who is more stubborn? Hmmmmm.... we probably tie there. ;)

Who kissed who first? Matt kissed me (my first ever)

Who proposed? Matt

Who has more friends? Matt has more friends in FL, I might have "more" outside of FL, but you know how girls hang out in groups... and I moved when I was little, meeting a variety of people.

Who has more siblings? I do

Who wears the pants? Matt, and I am thankful for his love and leadership. :)

Top 15!!

Check out this article from the Wall Street Journal. Scroll down to the Es. ;)

And Let's Not Forget...

...the GORGEOUS roses Matt brought home to me on our actual anniversary... :) :) :)

Anniversary in Pictures...

So, Blogger ended up posting these in reverse order... but here are pictures from our anniversary weekend!! :)

Smiley Lego Loch Ness kind of guy :) (his humps come up out of the water there in several places)

Lego shark and fish

Lego crab

Lego robot

Outside the Lego store they have huge bins of legos and these boards, so you can create. I made "I (heart) M." Inside they have large and small buckets and bins with every lego piece imaginable. You can fill up the bin with any/all the pieces you want for one flat price (per size of bucket). I can already see us taking a little boy (or girl... I loved those beach and stable Lego sets) for a special treat... or doing it for ourselves. :)

Really cool LEGO dogs!!! :)

Us strolling around the hotel property

Stream flowing through the hotel grounds

Sunset from our balcony

Downtown Disney at night

Wolfgang Puck restaurants (we ate at the Cafe)

Epcot on left horizon, Disney hotels (Swan & Dolphin) on the right

View from our balcony (that's Epcot in the center of the horizon and the Swan & Dolphin hotels to its left)

Us. :)

An herb garden on the hotel grounds that its restaurants use daily.

Crazy bird that was stalking some left over snacks around the pool.

Weekend and Wedding Fun

Here are some pictures related to two vastly different hobbies...

1) Brad and Joy send the funniest, most thoughtful gift to Matt! On Friday when he was home playing Halo, THIS arrived...




Isn't that so cute and funny? Matt was really excited, and he even told me he'll "share" with me. :) Thank you, Brad and Joy (and Charis and Cai) for remembering my crazy husband and being excited with him about this game. Thanks for your help in acquiring it, too. :) Now you just need to come down to FL and play it with him. :) We love you!


2) I don't think Ruthie frequents our blog. If she does... well, Ruthie, quit reading this post!
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After she received her first engagement gift, Ruthie mentioned that she'd said to her mom, "Oh! People will give us presents!? I need to get some stationery!" I thought that was really sweet. It's not the norm I know of for my dear friend to be concerned with stationery and such. I browsed several paperies online, but I couldn't find anything that seemed just right. I remembered that I still have a great pack of heavy-weight cardstock from our wedding, so I set to making some notecard sets for her myself. I settled on four versions of her name and 2 monograms I made in photoshop. Then I decide to use SU! Old Olive ink (the black looked reallllly navy next to the printer's black in. My pigment black ink was the right shade, but I didn't want to risk messing up with embossing--you know, having power stick places you don't intend, not sticking evenly, etc.--and it would have taken forever to dry without embossing). I need to get a few more envelopes, but in the pictures below, you'll see the 6 personalization variations I decided on (4 names, 2 monograms). I made 4 of each font, and I used the same 4 stamps for each font set. You'll see each font choice and stamp choice--the bouquet, tall vase, short vase, and wedding cake. I hope she likes them!