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. :)

Gifts and Samantha

We are expecting the arrival of our newest niece, Isabella Rose, in a little over a month! I have had a couple little projects in mind for her, but I was holding out until my order of the Husqvarna 4D embroidery software came in. Well, now it doesn't look as though that will happen before I go back to school. So, I decided to go ahead and sew some steps of the projects, and I'll have to go back and embroider later. Isabella's nursery is decorated with sweet ladybugs, so I made a coordinating set of burp clothes to go along with that theme.

You'll have to stay tuned to see what I embroider on them (eventually.... when my software arrives!)

Secondly, Samantha received a really fun gift from my parents. :) It's a huge black bear stuffed animal--only it doesn't have stuffing (except for the head) and it has a squeaker in each leg and its head!

We were sure she would have it torn open in a matter of minutes. But she's never had a toy this big before, and she's been treating it very differently! Sure, she shakes it and bites at it sometimes. She looked like she thought she'd REALLY caught something when we first gave it to her. But now it's like it's her buddy!

We just might need to come up with a name for it with the way she's keeping it around! :) Such a sweet puppy. :)

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

South Carolina Snapshots

The first part of our vacation (July 27-July 2) we were in South Carolina to visit Matt's family. Our time there included a baby shower for Matt's sister and our niece-to-be, Isabella; a birthday celebration for Matt; wild animals; and a great visit with Matt's best man, Tyson.

Isabella's nursery will be decorated with a ladybug theme, so guess what the theme of the shower was! :) Adorable ladybugs!

the cake

Matt's sister with a ladybug outfit we gave her


One morning, we went with Matt's parents to a kind of zoo/ranch place. We had a picnic lunch and the ranch had all sorts of animals and a wagon ride where the animals all come right up to you for food. I fed a giraffe, and Matt's mom almost lost a finger!

lily pads on the pond surrounding the lemur island

a blue and gold macaw

One evening, Tyson took us to a park his church owns as a ministry to the community. It was dark so my pictures aren't great, but it was BEAUTIFUL! Also, Tyson almost got attacked by an egret (he started it by pestering the mama bird)--fun times. :)

looking into a field


looking out over the river


We also got to celebrate Matt's birthday (July1) with his parents, sister, and his parents' dear friends Bob and Cindy.

Matt's yummy cake

In addition, we had a great lunch with Matt's sister one afternoon, got to see her house's remodeling progress (it looks great!!), all the baby gear she's acquired so far (so cute!), and enjoy a sweet time with his family. It was a wonderful first half of our annual "family tour." :) We can't wait to return early in September (or maybe the end of August???) to meet Isabella!

Hostessing

Tomorrow I am hosting a baby shower for a sweet friend who is due with a baby girl in August. This will be my first time really hosting a shower (I co-hosted a wedding shower for Matt & Ariana with Joy, but Joy did most of the prep as it was at her house). Whew! It's a lot of work, but I am pleased so far with how it's come together. Only 3 big boo-boos, and 2 of them were fixable. :)

What are the mistakes, you ask? Well, #1 A recipe I tried didn't work like it was supposed to, but instead of rolling it and then cutting swirly slices to bake, I just kinda plopped it all in the dish and baked it. It still smells delicious. :) #2 Publix forgot to put an "e" on the end of "welcome" as in "Welcome, Baby Katie," on the cake. I checked to make sure they spelled Katie right, but I didn't think to check the other words. Thankfully, my cashier looked to see what the cake said and noticed! Don't you just love Publix? :) They whipped up some pink icing and fixed it right up! #3 is the unfixable one. I was trying to make these as a favor for the guests (3 for each guest, and I was going to pipe a "K" on top of the "cupcake" for the baby's name). Well, I opened the fridge to put some bread away, and out came my cookie sheet of red velvet truffles. Only 18 out of over 50 survived (i.e. stayed on the cookie sheet, as opposed to the floor). I was pretty disappointed. :-( But you can't have it all, right? If I'd had time, I thought about finishing them off (they still needed the chocolate bark coating) and having one for each guest as birthday cakes, because one guest's birthday is tomorrow. But it's after midnight, and I'm EXHAUSTED! So, I'll finish them off for Matt later this week. :)

Lastly, I decided to take a trick from my mother, and I went ahead and set everything out for tomorrow (she does that for Thanksgiving or other really big, lots of people types of situations). Since it was all set up, I decided to take some pictures to show you!

The "cake toppers" that I made to match Baby Katie's nursery decor. I think I'll actually end up setting them right next to the cake, but all the same. :)

The cake (with an e at the end of Welcome :) )

In the foyer

On the coffee table in the den... may switch to living room. :) In fact, I probably will. :)
p.s. Don't mind the crazy pooch in the background.

Pitchers for orange juice and apple juice, a punch bowl for a punch I made, the coffee maker ready to go, and cups for all. :)

I even tried to set out serving utensils I think I'll need.

The food set up in the dining room. I tied a fork, spoon, and knife together in a pink napkin with a pink polka-dot bow. They're all in a basket, followed by plates, next will be a crockpot egg and cheese casserole, followed by the apple dumpling thing I had to dump instead of swirl, then a coffee cake, mini blueberry muffins, and mixed fruit. In the center 3 tiered platter I have cut up blueberry bagels and cinnamon/raisin swirl bagels and I made craisin scones. I also have strawberry and regular cream cheese and honey butter for that area.

The other side of the table.

So there you have it! I'm sure there will be more pictures tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Baby Shower Prep

Today I got to work on a couple things in preparation for the baby shower I am hosting next Saturday. :)

First of all, here are the topiary trees for the dining room table.

Then I was trying to think of some other "fun" thing for decor. I considered a diaper cake, but I also know they're quite time intensive, and I already had the topiaries. Then I came across a diaper wreath. Perfect! This will be on the front door to great the guests (and guest of honor).

I used a styrofoam wreath from Michael's and wrapped overlapping diapers around it. You tie each diaper with ribbon (I used pink polka-dot to coordinate with the shower invitations). Then I added some fun curly ribbon and an "it's a girl" balloon before adding some baby essentials to finish it off: various Johnson's baby care items like baby powder, lotions, shampoo, etc., a paci clip, 4 washcloths, some spoons, and some forks (obviously for when Baby Girl O is older).


A close-up of the top half.

A close-up of the bottom half.

I love how it turned out, and I love that it's a little more "novel" than the ever-popular diaper cake (as cool as those are). And I LOVE how easy it was!!

Lastly, I sewed the mother-to-be's gift of a nursing cover.




the terry cloth corner




the pocket




Today we also bought plates, napkins, cups, etc. So now I just need to finish the cake toppers, finalize the menu, and then I think we're set!

I'm Going...

...to Disney World!

Yesterday, Matt and I drove to Orlando to spend the day at Disney World. I have never been to Disney when it was decorated for Christmas. I have wanted to go at Christmas ever since I found out we would be moving here. This year is our third Christmas in Florida, and we finally went!! We had a GREAT day, even though it rained off and on, and even though it was warm enough for shorts and a tshirt with the rain. Here are some pictures of our time. :)


(p.s. Sorry some are blurry--it was dark by the end ;), and sorry they are out of order)