Bridal Shower Decorations

Today I am having a bridal shower at my house, I am very excited! I wanted to post the decorations I made, they were super easy and cheap. I love how they turned out......

I made pom pom tissue paper flowers! I just love them.

After making some big ones, I decided to experiment and made some really small ones to hang down over the couch. I like these too, but the big ones are definitely my favorite.

I am thinking one day if I have a little girl these would be so cute to put up in her nursery!

I also made some to put on the console table. These are my medium sized ones, and one small one that I thought looked cute in that vase.

CLICK HERE

for instructions on how to make them yourself! All of these flowers cost me under $10 and they were really easy and fun to make.

I'm off to finish final preparations for the shower!!

Rocky Mount Weekend

A couple weekends ago, we headed to Rocky Mount, Virginia for the Moonshine tour. Since my mother-in law's relatives are from this area of Virginia we visit a lot. It's a beautiful part of western Virginia, up in the mountains.

At the tour they had all these old antique cars, as well as many stories about moonshine. This area was known as the moonshine capital of the world. They also talked a lot about the 1935 moonshine conspiracy trials. Click here to read more!

It was a lovely spring weekend, glad I finally posted about it!

Planting our Azaleas!

I posted at the beginning of the year about some things I wanted to accomplish this year. One of them was working on the yard. So, this past week we finally planted some azalea bushes out in front of our house.

The bushes all ready to go. I can't wait for them to get a little bigger.

Me hard at work! I love how they look. I still need to take a picture of the whole house with them, but we still have to mulch. I just hope they don't die...I've never had good luck with plants in the past.

Easter Sunday 2011

"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." ~Isiaiah 53:5 

I just love that verse. By his wounds, we are healed. It's so true. Because of the pain he bore on the cross, we are saved. What a wonderful savior we have! Easter is such a sweet reminder of that.

We've had a great Easter. We started off the day at church, which was great as usual. Then we went to my mom's house for a big Easter lunch.

Me and Clarke at my mom's house.

This was a seven layer salad my mom made. It was so good, and it looked so pretty. We didn't want to eat it.

Now, I'm just enjoying all the candy from my Easter basket. Yes, I still get a basket, even though I'm 27 years old!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter as well!

Picasso and Sweet Frog

Today I finally got to see the Picasso exhibit at The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, here in Richmond. It was really great, I definitely would recommend seeing it if you live in the near Richmond area.

I just love this museum. I went with my in-laws, and it was fun to show them around since they haven't been in ages.

Here we are about to go in. We had to wait in line almost 45 minutes to get in, but it was worth the wait!

Afterwards we had dinner in Carytown, and then had icecream at Sweet Frog. I love sweet frog, you choose your yogurt, then put whatever toppings you want on.

So I would say it was a good day. Picasso and Sweet Frog, can't go wrong there!

Lately.......

I've been going through internet withdrawal! My computer got a virus and it's been at my mom's getting fixed. I finally got it back today, and couldn't wait to get on here!

I have been enjoying spring break. It's been so nice to get some rest, and catch up on my sleep.

I finally hung up the curtains we bought back in February. It took me all day. Of course I bought the wrong size rod, then had to go back and exchange it, and things always take longer than I originally anticipated. But they are up, and I love how they look!

I've been enjoying lunch out with friends and family. I tried a new place downtown, Cafe Rustica, it was really good.

I had a great time with my girlfriend's tonight. We finished planning a bridal shower (can't wait to share the decorations I made earlier this week).

The flowers are blooming in my yard. They look so pretty, and it makes me happy.

And that about sums up my spring break! I can't believe we only have 8 weeks left when I return on Monday. Where did the time go?

Musings of a New Homeowner

One year ago today we walked into the lawyer's office, gave them a big check, signed a zillion papers and got the keys to our very first house! It was such a big day, one I will remember forever.

Here is a tidbit of things I have learned this year......

1. Everything takes longer and costs more than what you think. When we first moved into our house we had big plans to re-do lots of things. And we were so naive about the time and money it would take. Every project we have done, whether it's painting or hanging blinds took twice as long and costs a lot more than originally anticipated.

2. I don't like yard work. I love home improvement, but when it comes to yard work, it's just not my thing. I want our yard to look nice, but it's a lot more work than what I thought! And one tree can produce hundreds of leaves, which takes hours to rake and bag. One important lesson we've learned....it's worth it to pay the $30 fee to have the county pick up your leaves on the curb. We will not be bagging our leaves next year!

3. Location, location, location! One reason we bought our house was because we loved the neighborhood. And it has turned out to be such a great decision. I love our neighbors, they're the kind that will see you struggling to trim your bushes and offer to help. I love that we live so close to a park, with a great trail to run on. I love living so close to our church. The location of our house is just perfect for us.

4. It's a work in progress. Going along with number one, I thought after 2 months of living here we would have this house exactly how we wanted it. Yet we still have so much on our "to do list". But, I've learned that it takes time, and that's okay. I've learned that when you rush to get a bunch of things done at once it's not fun. So it's better to take your time and enjoy each project.

5. Trash pick up and recycling services are great. When we lived in the apartment we had to walk down to the dumpster every time our trashcan was full, and recycling wasn't even an option. It's nice to roll down the big ol' trashcan to the curb on Thursday nights and be done with it. And everyone should recycle, so it's nice to have them come pick that up as well.

6. I love sharing our blessing. God has really blessed us with our home, and I love having people over and sharing it with them. Since we have moved in our bible study has had several parties here, and I always love being the host. It feels good to have a place where others feel welcomed.

7. I love being a homeowner and I love our house. Despite all the extra work and responsibility, I love owning our own home. We have such a sense of pride, and although it's a journey, we are slowly making it our own. We couldn't have asked for a better place to call home.

Our Honeymoon

Since I started this blog several months after our honeymoon, I never got to blog about it. It occurred to me last week as we were reminiscing about this great trip (2 years ago last week we were enjoying it) so here is a short recap!

We left the Sunday after our wedding for Martinique. (It's a small French island in the Caribbean.) Everything was going great until our flight from Miami to Puerto Rico. Someone brought a knife on the plane! It wasn't malicious or anything, security didn't find it when they checked in and so they had to search the entire plane. Which meant deboarding, waiting, more waiting and then reboarding. So when we got to Puerto Rico we missed our connecting flight to Martinique. And since there was only one flight a day, we were stuck.

At the time I was so upset. But, now it makes for a great story. So, here we are in Puerto Rico.

The Old Fort in San Juan is famous in Puerto Rico. So we checked it out. After a day in Puerto Rico, we finally made it to our resort in Martinique. We stayed at Club Med's Buccaneer's Creek. It was fabulous, and that is an understatement. Seriously, this place was just amazing.

Here is where we stayed. It was so private, and the beach was literally right outside our door. We couldn't have asked for a better place!

Us enjoying the beach on our first day at the resort. It was so nice!

We went snorkeling one day.

View of where we ate everyday from the boat. It was this covered place outside, and it was right on the water.

The pretty blue water. It was crystal clear.

One day we took a tour of the island. Martinique is famous for their rum, so we toured a run factory. It was really cool., this is us at the factory,La Mauny.

On the tour we went to the capital, Fort-de-France.

On the north part of the island is rain forest. So we drove up there to check it out. It was just beautiful.

Overall this trip was just amazing. Dispite the bumpy start and our delayed arrival at the resort, it was a wonderful trip. I feel so blessed to have shared this experience with my new husband at the time.

The Monument Avenue 10k

This past Saturday was the Monument Avenue 10k here in Richmond. If you are a regular follower, or know me in "real life", then you know that running this has been a personal goal of mine for awhile now. Back in November I started running (for the first time since high school) and in December I posted  about it.

Me and Emily being silly before the race. We used to be on swim team together when we were in elementary school and now we run together every Monday. I wouldn't have started running if it wasn't for this girl!

Here's an action shot! I look so into it, lol.

(photo credit)

I have found that I really do enjoy running. I enjoy setting goals for myself. And since I have accomplished my first running goal, I am setting a new one for myself. On November 12 I want to run the Richmond Marathon. I had already decided to train for the Half Marathon, and my good friend Rachel talked me into just doing the whole thing. I am really excited about joining a training team (since I have no clue what I am doing) and I am ready to push myself.

So here's to a lot more running in my future!

Our Second Anniversary

In an earlier post I shared about our tradition of celebrating our wedding anniversaries. But even thought we technically already celebrated we still went out last night. We had dinner at Maggianos, which is always a favorite of ours. In fact, it's where we had our rehersal dinner 2 years ago.

I can't believe how long my hair was back then! But I digress, we love Maggianos.

Afterwards, we had icecream and wine back at our house.

And, because he knows I love them, Clarke brought me flowers.

It was such a great anniversary. Here's to many many more!!

2 wonderful years

I can't believe it's been 2 years since we walked down the aisle, said our vows and officially started our lives together.

I couldn't have asked for a better husband! I feel so incredibly blessed to have found the perfect person for me to spend the rest of my life with.

I love you, Clarke.

Hello, April

April, I am so glad to see you! I have been looking forward to your warmer weather for some time now. I have also been excited about lots going on during this month.

First, the Monument Avenue 10k is tomorrow! I have been training for the past 5 months, and I am ready!

I am looking forward to celebrating our two year anniversary. (Where did the time go?)

I can't wait to start working on our yard, planting bushes and flowers.

We are going to a moonshine tour, in Rocky Mount, Va. I can't wait to see the mountains again and enjoy the springtime up there.

I am helping to throw a bridal shower for a close friend of mine. I can't wait to celebrate with everyone!

And glorious spring break, I have been waiting for you for some time as well! I am gonna conquer some house projects and hopefully catch up on my scrapbooking.

So welcome April, it's so good to finally see you!!