yet another project

blog location: the back deck

As of last week, Josh and I still had not yet purchased our dining room chairs. All the chairs I wanted were around $45-$65 per chair (even at ikea) and I just felt like that was quite pricey....I could have settled for plain chairs without a cushion for $25 a peice but it still seemed like a waste because it wasn't even what I really wanted....SO...I decided I could just restore some old chairs for a way better price and make them how I wanted them :)
I found these chairs at Re Store for $11 a piece. I bought 5 of them (since the other end of my table will eventually have a highchair :))

This ended up being a bigger project than I had planned for....these chairs had been reupholstered about 4 times already so every different layer had to be removed and the foam had to be replaced...I could not have done these cushions as well or as fast without the help of my mom, and josh for the help sanding and spray painting (obviously, since I cant being preggo and all)

BEFORE

AFTER

I Love them!!

Also, I have yet another project that I just purchased....patio furniture! Ill be posting that whenever I am finished...I still have yet to get started though.

oh hey change: welcome to my life

Today I was just thinking of how much has changed in the past year and a half and how thankful I am for the Lords goodness in my life.

In December 2009 me and two of my friends (allie and erica who are also hair stylists) opened up our own salon (the picture below is me and ashley before I did her wedding hair :)

 1 year ago on March 12th Josh proposed to me in PA and as I'm sure you know, I said yes.

In June 2010 we bought our first house together

7 months ago on September 12th we got married and my life became so much more wonderful 

And now I am almost 16 weeks pregnant and we are expecting the arrival of our first baby in august

Needless to say, a lot has happened in a year and a half. When I look back at how much I have grown and changed mentally, spiritually, and physically I am in awe of the Lord and His power and goodness. He has brought me to so many new levels and places that the evidence of Him in my life is more real than anything else. There's no way I brought all these blessings to myself...He has been pouring out so many wonderful things. I have been stretched in so many ways and taken on so many new roles and there is no way I could have done anything without his help. His peace, joy and strength have been with me through everything. I am so thankful.

I cant even imagine what this next year or so will look like but I am so excited and I know one of the main things will be parenthood :) I honestly cannot wait to be a mom. I have a feeling it is going to be one of the biggest blessings and the most challenging of all :) more than anything, I am so glad I get to start this journey with Josh....the love of my life. 

I guess all I can say is I like to live in constant movement and growth :)

old photos

Lately I've been wondering what my baby will look like :) I of course have had lots of dreams and such, but recently I've been looking at some pictures of me and Josh. I think I can conclude our baby has the potential of being born with a lot of hair! OH - and the baby will be really cute like his or her parents :)

 

 6-8 months

1 yr

1 yr

2 years old

3 years old

5 years old

5 years old

7 years old

7 years old

10 years old

10 years old

me at a few months old...weird how josh resembles my dad...

1.5 years old

2 years old

3rd grade

time for a project

I love projects. I love sewing and re creating things. I'll post some of my pillows sometime.
Today I decided it was time to finally paint and reupholster this little stool I have had for some time. Now that I did it I can't believe it didn't do it sooner.....

BEFORE.....

AFTER.....

I feel kind of addicted to the whole project thing...I want to go out and look for more furniture to redo....I feel like this obsession will come in handy when its time to do the nursery....speaking of nursery's....I CAN'T WAIT FOR MY BABY TO ARRIVE!! :)
Oooh I should look for an old(ish) rocking chair!!!! Now I'm officially on a mission.....

bahamas

blog location: back porch

It was so wonderful being in the bahamas with my mom, sisters and sister in law. It was also nice coming back to such warm and wonderful charlotte weather :) My mom told me something on the cruise that I thought was so great! She was in the bahamas pregnant with me and in her 1st trimester! So random that I would be pregnant and in the bahamas too? How special! I can't wait to tell my kid that someday! SO CUTE! maybe I should go to the bahamas every time I'm pregnant to continue the story? :)
I wore a bikini on the trip because I figured I obviously look pregnant? Needless to say, I got a couple curious looks....I figured they could have been for 1 or 2 reasons: 1. is she pregnant or does she have a beer gut? 2. is she pregnant? she looks 17 or 18? --- I wanted to wear a sign that said I'm 23 and happily married..... it wasnt all negative looks though :) I got some smiles and some friendly questions which I enjoyed. It was my first obvious pregnant outing (or so I thought).

here I am at 13 weeks

my favorite thing: fresh coconut water!

 all of us girls :) I love my family!

There really is nothing better than family: Whether it is blood relatives, friends that have become family or family by marriage. I am so thankful for my family. I love my family, my in laws and I love my friends.

a little update

I feel like there's a lot of little things to give an update on so that is what Ill do. It has been such a beautiful week! Im sitting out on our deck soaking in a little afternoon sun :)


My parents came to town this past week and it was really good to see them (as usual). Sunday night my parents and Josh and I went uptown to Blue Restaurant Bar and Lounge. I had never been there before, it was really good! My parents celebrated 36 valentines together- awwww :)! Someday Josh and I will do the same :) On monday night (valentines) Josh and I exchanged gifts and then went to 15 North for dinner. Josh did amazing in the gift department!! I was impressed! He got me a beautiful free people dress tank (my fav brand of clothing) a light sweater with owls on it (my fav creature) a notebook for journaling with an owl on it,  and he wrote me "thank you" cards to give me every morning this whole week. They all say wonderful sweet things inside :) this last one this morning had a coupon for a free trip to autobell!! my car needs it big time :)  oh and I bought Josh charcoal jeans and a button up from Jcrew.

one of my thank you cards

Josh at 15 North in the shirt I got him

On monday I leave for a cruise with my mom, sisters, and sister in law!!  I CANNOT WAIT! I have been DYING to go somewhere and get some sun and relaxation! It was part of our christmas gift from mom and it couldn't have come at a better time. We are taking the Norwegian Sky and we are going from Miami to Grand Bahama Island; Nassau; Great Stirrup Cay! I fly out to Miami monday morning. I have never been on a cruise before. I am so so very excited!! On a side note: I feel like I look kind of funny in my bikini...oh well! the baby needs some sun too, right? Needless to say, I might not blog much next week.....

As far as the pregnancy goes, Ill be 13 weeks pregnant on wednesday while we are on the cruise! yay! so exciting. The baby started clasping its hands this week :) how precious! Last night I was half asleep and I said to Josh "I feel like I can feel the baby flutter" haha who knows? Like I said, I was half asleep but I remember feeling something whether it was in my sleepy mind or not. Also, I have been craving sushi non stop...not raw sushi but cooked sushi. I have had it at least 5 times this week and I was having it some last week too. It has just been so delicious.

Next week starts my 2nd trimester. I cannot believe it....Thank God my 1st trimester went SO WELL!! Today I have been looking up videos of ultrasounds at 12 and 13 weeks. I can't believe how much the baby moves! Im so excited for our ultrasound! We won't have one for another 6 weeks or so...but when we do we will finally know what we are having! :) Have a good week everyone!

continuity

I have been having this thought lately....well, more like a discovery of something that is true but I might not have realized it before or seen it in this particular way. I was sharing it with Josh in the car tonight and the more I talked about it the more it unraveled and made perfect sense. I mean this is basic knowledge here. Sometimes I visualize the Lord picking up a strand of wisdom and placing it into my brain and then seeing a light bulb light up :)

Basically, if I want to see and walk in a daily flow of results in my life I have to start with the one thing that creates everything....the Lord. He is what gives me everything, I have nothing without him. He literally created me! Every part of who I am....He gives me creativity, peace, life, strength, joy all of my ideas and a million other things. He is the reason I wake up in the morning. If I need opportunities, He opens them up. It's almost so simple I forget to think about it? The thing is, I don't want to go to Him just when I need something, I want to go to Him simply because I want to worship him, hear from Him, spend time with Him, just hang out with Him. Sometimes I forget these things. I don't want to forget these things. I want him to be the start of my day so the holy spirt can just flow through me at all times. I want to be so wrapped up in Him that everything great I have in my life is a obvious connection to my relationship with Him. A kind of abundance that cannot be created or made up of or from anything but Him. If I want all these things  in my life it only makes sense to start with the one thing that created everything...its a circle, a kind of flow that is continuous. A direct connection.  He is FOR me. He wants me to have everything and He wants me to Himself. He loves me more than I could ever even imagine. 

His grace, love, and wisdom is ever ending. Who wouldn't wanna be a part of that? :) 

There are so many verses that pertain to this, but one that always makes my heart full is Psalm 139.

I love learning and being reminded of things that have to do with Him. Don't you? :)