Give Thanks

{via}

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I pray that you're spending it with loved ones, whether that be co-workers, church family, friends, or family. 

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, I love being surrounded by family, friends, and amazing food. I also like that it's a time to reflect on everything we're thankful for. I try to do that all year round but I love that everyone else is doing the same and slowing down, looking around, and being grateful for what we have (right before they wake up at the butt crack of dawn to get more things). Keeping with holiday tradition I've compiled a list of what I'm thankful for below.

1. For Dave. He is my everything. I was thinking back to our first Thanksgiving spent together and how there was a question about whether or not I would be around the following year to participate in their family gift exchange. I love the feeling of certainty I have with him now. That no matter what, through the hard times, the FTB (feed the bitch) times, he sticks with me and loves me till we get to the good times again. I'm so very thankful that God made him for me and that we found each other. 

2.For my amazing friends. I am blessed with some of the best friends a girl can have. In life I think if you're really lucky you find people that make you a better person, love you for who you really are, and care for you genuinely. I'm one of the lucky ones because I've found some of these women and not only do I get to share my life with Dave but I get to share it with them as well. No matter the distance, we will always be in each other lives.

3. For family. You find throughout your life that family IS the most important thing. They are there for you when others aren't. They know you through and through. You may have your ups and downs but they love you unconditionally, no matter what. I love the family I was born in to, my parents and wonderful, giving, loving people and my sister is one of my best friends with the biggest heart. I'm also thankful for the family I married into. They are the sweetest, most thoughtful people that can cheer you up with a random text or card. And I'm thankful for the little family unit that Dave and I create just the two of us-three including Finley. 

4. For financial stability. There was a time when I just took this for granted but I am more aware now of our financial situation. I'm thankful that I have a husband that provides and allows me to stay home with our puppy while he needs me. I'm thankful that I don't have to stress about finding a full time job just yet and that I can still buy things that I want and need. I'm so thankful for all that I have and am striving to be more content with the things I do have instead of wishing for more when so many in the world aren't as lucky.

5. For faith in God. Without it we would all be lost. He knows the desires of your heart and He will love and protect you. He is an amazing God and though I forget that sometimes he is always there, arms open, when I return to him. I love that through the storms we weather he is always constant, you can always be sure of his unending love for you. I may break down and get angry at him at times but I know he has a plan for me and my life. It may not echo the desire and plan I have for my own life but his plan is greater. I have faith that the Lord will take care of me and I'm so very thankful for his love.

AND 

I'm so thankful for my best friend Megan, whose birthday is today. Happy Birthday Meg, I love you so very, very much!!!

sexiest man alive

I really don't understand People's sexiest man alive.

I mean I get it, but I don't ya know, get it.

Adam Levine is their pick this year which I whole heartedly agree with much to Dave's annoyance as I watch the voice while drooling and simultaneously smirking. But what I don't understand about their sexiest man alive is that the man they chose the previous year is still alive. No one is dying to pass on the title. Did they get mangled by a tiger so their face is less sexy? no. Did a crow pull out an eye in a freak accident and now they wear a patch that loses their sex appeal? no. (Johnny Depp could pull off the eye patch though-I know it!) So as of now I'm praying for Adam Levine's safety for 2014 as I'd like him to, ya know, stay alive.

Normal

This is pretty much what I saw on Saturday morning and it was so stinkin adorable. My two boys sprawled out on the floor just hanging out. I have said it before, that I have a tendency to compare my life to others, but this time I am comparing it to our life up in Maryland vs the Sunshine state. Despite missing my friends so much I really enjoy it here. Our life looks so different than it did in Maryland and for that I'm grateful. Sure, there were good times and when it was summer we would go out and play tennis but adding a dog and with the beautiful weather Dave and I are hardly ever in front of the TV. We go for family walks most every day together with Finley, putz around the house, find new places to try, and spend more real quality time together. We still have a few things to do to the house till we feel like we can stop for a while and I'm so anxious for that day because then we can get back into our normal routine. Here's our running list and how far we have to go.

House:

End tables and coffee table

kitchen table (ordered, won't come in till Jan)

Living room window treatments

Bonus room window treatments (3 weeks)

Bonus room man couch (2-3 months)

Paint guest bedroom (i have the paint, just need to get to work!)

Something to fill wall space by the stairs

Hang pictures in master bedroom

Hang pictures in craft room

Friday's Letters

Dear Momma, I'm so glad you're so close by that you can stop by for just a hug. Dear Christmas shopping, I just can't get into you this year. Maybe it's because the temps are in the 80's or because I don't have my disposable income anymore, but whatever it is I'm slacking. And it looks like immediate family will be the only ones getting gifts this year. Sorry friends, with a different lifestyle comes some changes.

{haha gotta love Bridesmaids}

Dear Florida, you're wonderful! No lines at the DMV, 80 degree weather at the end of November. We definitely made the right choice to live here. Dear Kelsey, it's so fun running into people I know in Home Depot (our second home). Makes it feel like we're really settling down. Love that! Dear Carole, you don't know how much your prayers mean to me. I can feel God at work in my life because of Mom and your weekly prayers. Thanks for being my second mom!  Dear Finley. can you get any cuter? I just love you so much and am grateful for all the time we spend together. It's funny, as soon as he hears the fridge ding for the ice cubes he ALWAYS comes running in hopes of getting one.

Dear family walks, you're something I look forward to everyday. I love leaving our phones and just being together with Dave as we teach the little furball how to LLW (loose leash walk-thanks Petsmart). A good way to catch up on the day together, enjoy the weather, and unwind from the day. 

&

Dear Dave, I'm excited for this weekend being just us. I'm hoping that you'll be able to relax around the house. You work so hard at work and then come home to take Finley on a walk and do more things around the house. I'm so appreciative for all that you do. I love you so much.

huff and puff

and blow your house down.....

Only with time do you find out the quirks of your house or living space. I've found one and sometimes it makes me want to blow the house down to the ground. I love our house, don't get me wrong, it's beautiful, new, set up with the best floor plan I could imagine and on and on. BUT what I don't love about it is that I get realllllllllly craptastic cell reception. I've had more dropped calls in the two weeks we've been living here then ever in my life. I can stand in one spot by the craft room window but even that sometimes breaks up the call. I'm looking into a land line because all my friends aren't in the area and we use the phone to communicate. As of now I don't even want to make calls while I'm in the house, because it's pretty pointless as you won't be able to hear me anyways and then I just get frustrated. I'm surprised at myself that I haven't thrown my cell into a million little pieces yet. I think it has something to do with the foil lining in the insulation or something who knows. All I know is that I'm on the hunt for a solution so I don't have to have my conversations out on the driveway (classy).

So friends, if you call and I don't answer, it's because I love you and want to hear what you're saying. That and my anger level might get too high and iphones are expensive!

gathering table

Growing up we always had family dinners. We would work on our manners by pretending the Queen was over for dinner. Why it wasn't ever the President I'll never know, but I'm assuming the Queen of England is just a little classier and cares more about elbows on the table and feet on the chairs.
In Maryland Dave and I would rarely sit at our dining room table, mostly because it was always filled with my craft stuff. We were always on the couch watching tv and eating, which was fine but not real good for communication. That's why I'm excited that I have my own craft room here to hide my mess and so that we can keep the table clutter free for easy eating ability. Already we've eaten at the dining room table a  bunch and it makes us slow down, enjoy our food, and talk. Yesterday we picked up our new rug and I really think it helps complete the area, It's exactly what I pictured when I thought about this dining area while the house was being built so I'm really glad we found it. I think the wall is a little bare and could use something above the candelabras, but we'll find that in time. I was thinking round or decorative mirrors. What would you put there?

Did you do anything silly growing up at the dinner table?

Momma time

I'm sure by now you all know how much I love my Momma. She's one of my best friends and I look up to her in so many ways. As we're both settling into our new lives in Florida we're trying to figure out a balance of time together and time apart. She's been so great during this transition of giving me and Dave much needed space and we get back to us and our normal. It's fun having her right down the road though for mornings I don't work at LOFT and since I don't have the kids (I nanny) until after school my mornings are pretty free. This morning Mom came over with her dog Bella and for the first time we let her and Finley play together without leashes. It went so great! They really seemed to get a long and no one was hurt. Mom and I  then went to get our new Florida licenses, hunt for centerpiece ideas for my sisters wedding, and dress shop. I'm so very lucky to have such a great relationship with my mom and for an Army brat with no home town to return to it's extra special for me to have family so close by.

Home decor

west elm

If you're thinking this is a funky rug, you're right it is...and it's made it's home in our new living room. I'm honestly so surprised that 1. Dave picked it out, and 2. that I agreed to let it come home with us. But I'm glad we found it and it looks really good in our space. It somehow ties in the gray of our walls, the driftwood of our media center, and brightens up the room, all in one not so little rug. 

This weekend we spent our time hanging things around the house. It always feels so much homier when artwork is up on the walls, it feels more personal and lived in. Dave's man cave is all decorated now with our collection of maps and some of his West Point and Army things.  It's very masculine up there (which is sexy) and is only amplified by the new 60 inch tv that was wall mounted this weekend. Poor guys has to be patient and wait for 3 months until his new leather couch is in, so the man cave won't be complete for a while. 

I've also contained my snarky side all weekend as I refrained from posting that it was 87 degrees here yesterday and that everyone who asked why in the world we were moving to Florida should suck it. 

I wish I was a photographer so that our space looked better but from me you get iphone pics...sorry!

Next up are window treatments. We get our coffee table and end tables tomorrow along with our dining room rug!

Friday's Letters

{my man at work}

Dear Dave, first off thank you for all you do. I'm so lucky and blessed to have you as my husband. You've amazed me this week with your hanging skills, putting together and installing fans and light skills, and as always your patience with everything. Dear Finley, you're getting so big. You're 21.8 pounds now and we've taken out your little divider in your crate since you need more space. You're starting to look more like a dog and not a puppy every day! 

{still working on things....but this is a good start!}

Dear Vigo (that would be my car's name), you're officially paid off! Got the letter in t he mail making it official! YES! Dear Spaz, I'm so glad we caught each other and got to Skype. Lots of things going on in our lives and sometimes it makes it hard to settle down and include one another. Promise to get better. Dear Finley, you're so silly. I love watching you eat a little, run around the house for a second or play with a toy and then circle back to finish your meal. Weirdo. Dear Mrs., I still love seeing that on letters and paperwork. It's so weird to be a Mrs. sometimes but I love it and it still takes me by surprise at times. Dear Dave, you're feeling a little under the weather and I hope you feel better soon. You've been working hard at work and at home that you deserve some rest. Dear weekend, I'm so glad you're here. Dear Aaron, it was so nice chatting with you the other day. I'm so very proud of you, who you are, and what you're doing. I'm so blessed to have you as my best friend and I can't wait to meet this girl of yours! Dear friends and family, I'm keeping you all in my thoughts and prayers, especially those with medical stuff going on. I love you.

Enjoy your weekend!

I'm glad the dog can't read

Dave may have mentioned to me the other day that I need a new post about how much I LOVE Finley now, since all my posts a while ago seemed to be about how annoyed or frustrated I was. Want to get real? At first I really wanted to take him back. Like uncontrollably crying to Dave that I hated him and I wanted to take him back. Thankfully I didn't, and I can't imagine life without him. He's only 16 weeks (as of Tuesday) and still very much a puppy. Things have gotten better and he's calmed down a lot but I'm reminded that he's just a baby and still learning. So I'm very glad that Finley can't read because I would hate for him to know how much I struggled in the beginning with his very presence in my life.

{at my parents a few weeks ago}

I'm so thankful that we're in our house now and the little guy has a ton of space to run around and play. The stairs are blocked off for now since he snuck up there one day and took a big dump, so unless one of us is up there with him he's blocked. All the doors are pretty much shut all the time too since he likes to chew on toilet paper in the bathrooms, and I don't trust him to just roam free yet.

He's the cutest thing when he follows us around the house, he's the softest little guy to kiss, and I love to watch him sleep all kinds of crazy in his crate.

He's only going to get better with time. He's already taking classes at Petsmart to learn how to walk better on a leash etc, so that's helping. He's such a good dog and I'm really proud of him and how we've all done together. Even though I'm covered in bite marks, my floors look like the wild west with his fur as tumbleweeds, and he doesn't listen sometimes I'm still overwhelmed sometimes by how much I love the little furball. So thanks Finley for being the most loyal and loving boy even when I don't deserve it. You're the best.

craft room

via

I made one of these things for my best friends baby shower last January (omg was it that long ago!) and I'd really like to have one for my craft room too. Maybe I'll try to find some down time to make one in the near future. Anyway....I've been having fun putting together my craft room;  for a while I thought maybe I could combine it with Dave's man cave upstairs---you know, in a corner so we could be together---but when all my shize (german for shit) came I knew my own space was needed. My mother in law was in town last weekend and graciously helped me put together an IKEA bookcase. It was massive and sooooo heavy. I am antsy to hang all the prints I've been collecting over the past year or so while looking forward to having my own craft room but I can't seem to find something I bought from IKEA awhile ago to hang pictures on. I want that to be the centerpiece before I start my gallery wall. It's driving me NUTS and I feel like I've looked everywhere. I'm going to continue the search, but if it's not found soon I'm going to have to go buy new ones.

Sorry this post feels like word vomit, I'm excited and tired and feel like I have so much to catch you all up on. It's before 9 pm as  I'm writing this and I'm slowly nodding off, so before it gets much worse I'm going to cut my losses and go to bed. My own bed, my sleepnumber bed, my super comfy bed.

I'm so glad to be home.

back again

Hi friends. Yes, I still do blog around these parts. Let me tell you moving into your first brand new home-having the movers come a day early-and all that jazz is tiring. I swear I've missed 5 calls from my best friends. At one point on moving day there were painters finishing up, movers, Verizon Internet guy drilling things in my garage, and me feeling very tired and overwhelmed. Things are settling back down now and it's back to just Dave, me, and Finley. I'm excited to get back into a routine and for it to be just me and my hubby again. Even though my mom is down the road she told me today she wouldn't bother me for about a week. haha. Seriously though.

I'm grateful to have our space and to tackle things in the house together. It's coming along nicely and I just know we're going to be happy here. All the new things we ordered have mostly come in and look wonderful in the house. Pictures are coming, but I'm a bit of a perfectionist so am trying to save posting them till I'm happy enough with it. But it's a work in progress and will be for some time, so I need to just let go.

Hope you all are having a great week and hope you know I miss you.

welcome home

I am beyond excited that today we close on our home. We've watched as it has been built from a concrete slab to the beautiful home it is today. While we get the keys today we won't start sleeping there till Friday after the movers bring all our stuff, but never the less it's going to feel great to know that it's finally ours. Dave and I have put a lot of time and thought into every aspect of the house (who picks our grout color?) and we're thrilled with how everything has turned out.

{the first time we saw it in person after moving to Fl}

I'm off shortly for one final walk through with our construction manager so that I have a perfect picture of it in my head instead of a laundry list of things that need to be done before I sign at closing. I'm excited and I can't' wait for Dave and I to walk into it this evening! 

I've been slacking in taking pictures lately of the house since it's been all business but I promise tomorrow you will have a picture of the finished outside and of course as things come together after the movers, I'll share our home sweet home with you. Otherwise you can always just come visit and see it in person!

Marriage isn't for you

Now before you get all crazy from my title, you should read the article that accompanies it.

Marriage isn't for you.

I may have cried reading it (ok when do I ever NOT cry), but I was so touched with this article. I think that marriage is for me sometimes and then when I take a step back I realize why I married Dave. I love him and I want to make him happy. I want to be the one that makes him happy. I have found myself in our marriage being selfish more than I would care to admit, but thankfully I have a forgiving and easy going husband. Relationships are hard but I wouldn't want to go through the ups and downs with anyone other than Dave. I am the luckiest to have found my soul mate. These past few months have been crazy and now that we're so close (tomorrow) to closing on our house and moving in I'm reflecting back on how difficult it's been, but how Dave and I as a team have gotten through it together fairly easily.

Dave, I know it's been hard, especially with my kinda crazy here and there, but thank you so much for stickin' it out with me. For being my shoulder to cry on, my voice of reasoning, and the love of my life. Thank you for loving me well when I don't particularly deserve it, and for everything else you do that I never thank you for. I love you so very much and I can't wait to move into our HOME together tomorrow.

Friday's Letters

Dear Momma, thanks for being willing to "feel creepy" and take pictures of my little family during Finley's bath time. Dear Dave, I hope you have fun at Boy's Weekend, but I miss you already. Dear friends, ahhh sorry I have been MIA this week. So much going on and we are living at mom and dads with my aunt and uncle visiting-so it's been a little hectic. Promise to be back in your lives next week...I hope. Dear Janet and Jeri, I get to see you today! Dear Finley, you've been so good during this transition, you're such a good boy. I love you a lot now. Dear sister friend, I really miss you. I may have listened to a voice mail you left this summer so I could just hear your voice.

{omg, he's toooooo cute, sometimes I just kiss and kiss and kiss him}

Dear Finley, you are sooooo good at "sit". Thank you for sitting still so I could get a picture of you in your Halloween bandanna. You're not scary at all, until I have to get something out of your mouth and your razor teeth come out! Dear little trick or treater, sorry Finley got excited and pulled on your tiger tail. He's a baby and I couldn't help but laugh when you said, "he almost ripped my pants." Dear friends with kids, I loved seeing all your little ones dressed up. My favorite was my friends Allison's baby boy as the old man in the movie UP.

{I mean....come on. Adorable}

Dear house, FOUR more days till we gets keys and you're all ours!!! Wow, I can't believe it's really happening. Dear prayer warriors, please continue to keep us in your prayers. There is still a lot to be done in the house and I'm anxiety riddled thinking that it won't get done and closing will be delayed...again. So pray for patience for me as well as everything being done correctly and timely.

Enjoy your weekend!