Friday, April 26, 2013

High Five for Friday

1.  Tonight my fiancé and I are going to a county fair in Mississippi and seeing Chris Young in concert- for only $10!  Wahoooo!!!  Bring on the fair food!  I LOVE COTTON CANDY.  And funnel cakes. Lemonade.  Hot dogs.  Beer.  Nachos.  All of it.  And country music too.  But really just fair food!


2.  I.  adore.  my.  students.
Example 1.  Check out Crystal's Pinterest worthy nails!


Example 2- part 1.  Cue the tears with this letter from a sweetheart. 
Example 2 part 2.  The back of the letter.



Example 3.  Please read my whiteboard.  
Example 4.  My hair is enthralling.  
Example 4.  One of my dearest little sister students .


3.  My dad and I butt heads a lot, especially as I grow older, but I am such a daddy's girl and realize often how blessed I am to have him.  





And getting texts like this just makes my heart sing.  

4.  plus every Maryland girl loves her some chevron, crabs and monograms.  All 3?  Be still, my heart.  (The iPhone background was made with the app Wall About You.  Let me know if you want me to make you one!)

5.  My kids took their state test this week and we made up songs to help remember the crucial information we knew they always forget and is always on the state test.  They were bopping around singing "Sound waves are (Clap clap!) longitudinal! nnd excretory system's when you- DOO DOO! ALLL week- but both of those were questions, so I know all my seventh graders got them right!  WahooO!





Draw Me a Map

My honey and I love listening to Dierks Bentley. We love country music, and for the extent of our relationship have bonded of him playing guitar while I sing along, or he serenades me. The whole "Up on the Ridge" album is so good and we have sung it to one another for years..  One song we love is "Draw me a Map"- about getting disconnected from the relationship, and asking your better half to draw you a map that leads you back to your better half.


Draw me a map that leads me back to you
I don't know where to go, please tell me what to do
Help me to find the road you're on
I just need directions home
Draw me a map that leads me back to you
You're my destiny and destination
Understand my desperation
You're the only place I wanna be
So get us back to you and me


As I mentioned before, we have been going to pre-marital counseling with our church.  Last night was our last of four sessions, so we are officially approved by the church to be married (wahoo!).  We did an interesting activity I wanted to share with y'all.  

It was called Love Maps, and you answered questions about your partner and how well you know him or her/ how equal you are in the relationship.  How well can you answer these?  It was interested how Chris and I compared, and I think you'll find it interesting to try them with your significant other too!

(they are all true or false questions, so I'm not going to write true/false next to them)

  1. I can name my partner's best friends.
  2. I can tell you what stresses my partner is currently facing.
  3. I know the names of some of the people who are currently irritation my partner.
  4. I can tell you some of my partner's life dreams.
  5. I am very familiar with my partner's religious beliefs and ideas.
  6. I can tell you about my partner's basic philosophy of life. 
  7. I can list the relatives my partner likes the least (we had fun with this one ;)  )
  8. I know my partner's favorite music.
  9. I can list my partner's three favorite movies.
  10. My spouse is familiar with my current stresses.
  11. I know the three most special times in my partner's life.
  12. I can tell you the most stressful thing that happened to my partner as a child.  
  13. I can list my partner's major aspirations and hopes in life.
  14. I know my partner's major current worries.
  15. My spouse knows who my friends are.
  16. I know what my partner would do if he or she suddenly won the lottery.
  17. I can tell you in detail my first impressions of my partner.
  18. Periodically I ask my partner about his or her world right now.
  19. I feel that my partner knows me pretty well.
  20. My spouse is familiar with my hopes and aspirations.
Not only can you answer these- it's easy to agree with what your partner says  your answer would be "oh you're right, I do kinda like that song by Katy Perry" but what was your first instinct of a response?  Write down your responses both for yourself and for your partner- and then compare responses and see how closely aligned you were!  It's fun to see how closely they compared- or how you can get to know one another better! 



Thursday, April 25, 2013

Throwback to College




#throwbackthursday

Every day I wonder why I'm not still in college....
Why i don't still spend every summer lifeguarding on the Jersey shore getting burnt to a crisp and partying all night until 5 am then working 7-7.

With the nicest most amazeballs sweet girls ever

In clubs where you literally just might see Snooki.

Why I don't get to dress up as a lifeguard...

Or a lumberjack...

Or cowboys and Indians?

On a bi-weekly basis?  Where's college now that I need it?

Where are the best friends EVER?

Where's my dad in his shades and my srat house love?

Where's Christmas in the Country, the opportunity to drink Shnapps and hot cocoa by a bonfire and dress like reindeer and santa?

Ho ho ho... I miss college...

Why don't I get to wear cocktails on a biweekly basis anymore?

Why don't I get to wear too-tall heels and too-short dresses?

Why don't I get to take pictures that shouldn't have been reproduced?

Why don't I get to take pictures at frat houses in ridiculously terrible gold leggings?
Why don't I get to dress up in animal masks with my srat family.  Yeah I love college. ayy.
Shooweee do I miss getting to decorate for big little week.  

I.  Adored.  Being.  A.  Big.  Sister

Seriously  Love.  Red.  hot.  Chi.  O.

Nesting

As I mentioned  few posts ago (Wedding and Marriage Planning) my fiancé and I moved in together last October.  He moved in with a roommate I had already been living with for about a year and a half in Memphis, and she and I already had a lease that lasted through this coming May.  Rather than us breaking our lease, and since we already have a really great 2 bedroom apartment in downtown Memphis, he just moved in and reduced everyone's rent significantly for the next 7 months.



3 of us squeezed in this aparment has not been ideal, but she has been wonderful putting up with an engaged couple living in her space and she and I get along well so it has worked out fine for the time being.  The cheap rent makes it workable for all ;)

He and I have been looking at spaces and are SO excited about the prospect of finally getting to move into our own space in May.  As much as it has been fun to go to pre-marital counseling, decorate our bedroom, learn to cook and clean together... This has never at all felt like our space.  We share the smallest bedroom, our bathroom is the guest bathroom off of the kitchen, our closet is teeny-tiny (his clothes are in the bathroom closet (have I mentioned he is the nicest man in the world?)... This move is going to be amaze-balls.




We have finally found our space for next year and although we do not have any intentions of having children for a long while, I have already begun nesting.  I just feel like we are starting our family June 8th and I cannot wait to make this space ours.  We are allowed to paint at our new place (what a luxury!) and I can't wait to make our huge master suite homey, our kitchen bright, our living room homey and our guest bedroom welcoming.

I've been scouring pinterest for ideas and inspiration, and am so excited!  Does anyone have ides for what they've done with a small space to make it more welcoming?

Our new apartment is on a golf course, so we have a gorgeous view overlooking lakes and woods.  Our patio has a divine view of water and trees.  I.  cannot.  wait.

I want to make a wall of maps of places we love/have traveled and lived/gone to school (so that includes Memphis, Mississippi, Atlanta, Virginia, Spain, Maine, a few places in Maryland, Portugal, England...)

Image Source and Inspiration
I'd also love to (probably in our kitchen?) print out a bunch of encouraging and happy quotes and do a wall of quotes.

Image Source and Inspiration

I want to paint at least one accent wall in every room, and maybe all the walls in some rooms.  I want our bedroom to be grey, so it is not too girly.  I like this dark soothing grey.

Image Source/Inspiration



This year, I reupholstered our kitchen chairs and it was SO easy.  I just used Chris' nail gun and took off the seat cushions, used scissors to cut fabric squares of cute cheap fabric and nailed them back on.  But now that I know it's so eaasy, I am itching to do it again!  I think I might take them all off, paint the wood chairs white, the table maybe a bright fun color (or maybe white...not sure), sand it so it's distressed looking, and do each chair in a different fun fabric!




How was your first married/living together apartment?  Any fun stories?  Fun decorating ideas?




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