Wall Art

When Sam and I moved into our rental home, I knew that I wanted to work really hard to personalize the space, but I also recognized that we are on an extremely tight budget, and we didn't want to sink money into a rental. I hated the bland, boring white walls, popcorn ceilings, and icky beige carpet of my apartment in Athens, and I wanted our first "home" to feel as much like our own place as possible. One of the best decisions we've made is the investment in some beautiful "works of art".

Sam and I were blessed to meet two incredible people who photographed our wedding and engagement sessions. Chris and Allie Bartelski are amazing people and really, really talented photographers. (Plus they were recently blessed with one of the CUTEST baby boys in history) Together they form theReason (link directs to their interactive blog). Sam and I are so thankful to have these pictures to celebrate and remember these times in our life. But I didn't want to leave all the memories in digital form and look at them occasionally on the computer, so I searched for professional grade printers. After I found a fantastic site for high quality, professional prints, we decided to order some prints to hang on the wall.

First we composed an arrangement from our wedding pictures for the wall in our living room. I ordered when the site was having a pretty good sale, so I think total cost for the prints was about $40. We are really pleased with the way it turned out! And this is definitely an investment that we can utilize in every home for years to come! (Believe me, they look better in person... our house is just super dark)

Since our first experiment turned out so well, we decided to order another print to hang in our bedroom, this time from our engagement shoot. Again, we're really pleased! And the best part is that we got the frame for $31 and the photo for $16... Not a bad price for 24x36 art on the wall!

And lastly, it doesn't hang on the wall, but we got our wedding album in the mail several weeks ago, and as this blog has turned into an endorsement for Chris and Allie, I figured I'd include a couple of shots. As a designer myself, pretty much every wedding album I've ever seen has made me want to gag. There are some really talented photographers out there who get way too amped up when it comes to album design... yeesh! Let the pictures speak for themselves and for crying out loud... let them breathe!!! I was pleasantly surprised when I first met Chris and Allie. Their albums are well designed and timeless pieces to capture the story of the day. So as my last word on theReason... any brides scouring the earth for wedding photographers, Sam and I would highly recommend this husband and wife team!

As for Sam and I, we couldn't be more pleased to slowly make this rental house a home. Augusta may not be our dream locale, but we're making the best of our time here, and decorating on a BUDGET!

Not Enough Hours in the Day

So for months (well honestly years) prior to getting married I read books on getting married. I knew that if I could ever convince Sam that 30 was not the ripe age upon which to say "I do", that we would get hitched, so there was no harm in reading up and getting prepared early. Many of the books for engaged and newly married couples discuss the newlywed stage as something precious, as the foundational stage of the marriage, and a very important time for emotional, physical, and spiritual bonds between a husband and a wife. Many of these authors suggest that the honeymoon, which in modern day society has turned into a glamorous vacation, was originally a much more purposeful time set aside for these bonds to be created. This principle in even biblical:

"If a man has recently married, he must not be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him. For one year he is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married."

-Deuteronomy 24.5

When first reading this scripture I thought two things to myself. One, America certainly doesn't follow this principle for I know many newlyweds who are separated because the husband is stationed overseas for months (or more). Secondly, I thought that Sam and I were safe. This obviously refers to being separated for long periods from one another. As neither of us are in the military, neither of us will be going to war. We're fine.

However, recently after our wedding, I began reading a new book, Intended for Pleasure by Ed and Gaye Wheat. They take a very different look at this scripture and this period for newlyweds. They write,

"In our day of poor marriage planning we could hardly expect a man to take off from work for one year. However there is a definite spiritual principle here. It is that the first few weeks of the marriage are a crucial time for the young couple... I certainly advise balancing your funds so that you can be free of responsibility for a few weeks (or months)."

I read this and thought, yea, well that would be nice, but we've got to move, start grad school, find a job. Life doesn't just stop for us to bond together. Bills have to get paid, etc. Funny enough, he went right on spoke specifically to our situation, "Never plan on getting married before entering college or graduate school or starting a new business, when the demand on your time and efforts will be so great."

I kind of chuckled to myself at that time thinking, and when exactly would you like for us to get married? Our future hopefully looks something like this... grad school, a new career, open a new business. We would be 40 before we found time, and even then I doubt it would be ideal. I shrugged it off that this man was crazy and living in a fairy tale.

However, 5 months in, I'm starting to think he may have been on to something. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that Sam and I got married! I love my husband more and more, and I have been overwhelmed at how much God has answered my prayers for a growing love and respect for my husband. But that doesn't mean it's easy to find time for one another. We planned our wedding for the best possible time for us (just before moving, and a month before school started for Sam), but man-o-man has it been tough. I often see Sam less than I did when we were both home living with our parents and working. I definitely saw more of him when we were at UGA. Excluding the fact that I guess we're "together" when sleeping, we are in the house together about 3 hours a day. That's not much time to really BE with each other when you think of all the things you have to squeeze in to the evenings, not to mention, most nights, Sam has to study.

This is one of those things where I don't have the solution, not for Sam and I, nor for the many other newlywed couples who find themselves in similar circumstances, whether it be school, careers, etc. I don't know how we are supposed to do it all, bond emotionally, physically, spiritually, but still get it all done... make the A's, pay the bills, save for the future. And I know that there are probably many other couples out there who are feeling a little overwhelmed by it all too.

For the couples out there that for whatever reason, whether it be a terrific work situation that allowed you to take weeks or months off, or a financial situation in which careers could be put on hold after graduation-- consider yourselves truly blessed. It is a time together that you will probably never have again... or at least not until retirement. For the rest of us, including Sam and myself, I pray that God will truly honor the time that we are able to devote to one another and that he will multiply it abundantly and make the time as fruitful as possible. I'm also praying specifically over Sam and I (as I know this is our area of weakness) that the Lord will bless us both with restfulness and allow us to squeeze out a bit more time in the mornings and/or evenings to spend together with no distractions of school, work, or the world. My heart desires to know my husband more and more, so please let me find the way.

Labor-Less Weekend

So last weekend was a much, much needed long weekend. After all of the insanity Sam and I had gone through the past couple of weeks with our cars, bank accounts and credit card fraud, we were exhausted. My momma came to visit for the weekend, which just made the weekend that much better!

Saturday, we watched the dawgs in the opening game of the season against Louisiana Lafayette. It was certainly not a rousing game, but it was nice to see Georgia back in action and know that fall is on the way as we officially enter football season! If only the weather here in Augusta would catch on to this fall theme... can't wait for the 70's, but at this rate it may be December!

Sunday mom helped us out with some yard work again... she is a fantastic hedge trimmer. Real talent! We also took advantage of the slightly cooler weather and spent the afternoon playing with Sterling. He loved the sprinkler!

Also on Sunday, Momma and I finally, finally made it to see New Moon. I know, I'm a bit late. We hadn't had many opportunities to go together except opening weekend, and I just didn't think I could stand sitting in the theater with all the teenagers squealing every time Jacob or Edward came on screen. Plus, Sam and I officially started our budget system per Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace in August, and as the budget only lists 20 bucks each month for entertainment, there was no way I was convincing Sam to blow our whole month budget on New Moon. But the wait paid off, Mom and I got in for $3.98 at the local theater. Pretty sweet deal! At that rate Sam and I can go to at least one movie a month, and he can still save up for some golf!

Monday, our official day of no labor, we all went to explore the mall here in Augusta. I must say I was surprisingly pleased. Pretty nice, especially the outdoor village area! Plus, mom was sweet enough to let me pick out my own birthday present, a new purse, as mine is now in the hands of a thief! I also splurged and got myself a new wallet!

All in all, it was a pretty fantastic weekend of much needed rest and mommy time! If only it wasn't another 10 long weeks before the next day off!