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!

Busy Bees

So it has been forever since I've posted anything, sorry about that. Life has been busy, busy, busy!

Sam finished his first semester at MCG with STRAIGHT A's!!! I was pretty darn impressed myself, I secretly wanted to call all the schools who passed him by and let them know just what they had missed out on! But, I resisted. Instead, Sam and I celebrated with a night out to one of our favorite, favorite restaurants: Chops. For the past several years, my mom's husband has given Sam and I a fabulous gift at Christmas: a gift card to Buckhead Life Restaurant Group. The card allows you to eat at many different restaurants in Atl and the great part is you get 20% more at Christmas or when you reload an old card. Pretty sweet deal! Sam and I have been to Chops every time because it is simply fabulous! They have the most delicious flash fried lobster tail.... yum! And the steaks are incredible!

Other than that we've been busy with the following:

1- Sam had a weak off (= me JEALOUS!!!) He spent his time between semesters relaxing, playing video games, and getting in a round of golf. Now it's back to school for what is said to be the toughest semester of all.

2- Sam's long-time friend Jack Jackson came to visit making him our first official non-parental house guest!

3-Puppy Training classes with Sterling. In case you missed it, Sam and I bought a Weimaraner puppy about 8 weeks ago. He is 16 WEEKS today and growing like a weed. If you've ever thought about this breed, here is a great quiz. It pretty much sums up life with Sterling for the past 8 weeks! http://www.weimrescue.org/quiz/ The whole bit about carrying water in their mouth... so true! I read it and thought, "how bad can it be? it's just a little water" Well, I'm here to tell you that we've flooded the floor a couple of times with his giant bowl of water... he steps in it, slips into it, flips it... Not to mention, you'd think he was training for some kind of Olympic game... the "carry water in your mouth the farthest event". He makes it all the way to the other end of the house, leaking a little all the way, before he releases it all and then proceeds to play in the awesome puddle he created! Despite it all, he's pretty phenomenal and puppy training has been going fairly well. He can sit, lay down, stay (when he wants to), leave it, and we are working on "bang" (play dead). He loves his daddy like crazy, and every time he makes we want to scream at the top of my lungs, he looks at me with his big ol' eyes like "sorry mom, forgive me?", and you can't not forgive the little boy.

4- We've booked a cruise! This may be one of the craziest things we've done, but it was just the perfect opportunity that will probably never work out so smoothly again. Our one year anniversary just happens to be the weekend before the Masters, and here in Augusta, pretty much all schools have spring break the week of the Masters (I guess so locals can flee the insanity if they so choose). So Sam is off and I'll have worked for 6 months meaning I will have accrued enough paid time off to take the whole week off!!! We are going about it as cheaply as we possibly can, as we figure we've never been on a cruise at all, so we'll probably think it's wonderful no matter what. And we have years and years to upgrade the vacation status later! Plus, as we booked so early, we are paying less per day than a hotel room in Savannah would cost us... pretty sweet deal! It will be a wonderful way to relax and splurge a little on ourselves as we celebrate our first year as husband and wife!

5- I was ROBBED!!! Yep, on Friday night someone broke into my car, smashed the window, and stole my purse out of the back seat. I will admit that I was an idiot to leave the purse in there, but I felt that I was in a safe place (the vet) and as it was an emergency, I quickly jumped out, locked my door and ran in. Here is how it all unfolded:

On friday night Sam and I were playing cards with some of our friends, Matt and Emily. Emily happened to notice something weird with Sterling's eyes. One had constricted and the other dilated. We waited a few to see if they would return to normal and then, as our vet is open 24 hours, I called to see if I should be concerned. They said to bring him in immediately as it could be a sign of a neurological condition. I raced out and Sam stayed to keep Matt and Emily company until I could return. I was there for a total of 21 minutes. In that time Sterling saw the vet, I called Sam to inform him I needed to stay for another 10-15, we walked around outside (in front of my car I might add), Sterling saw the vet again, and we left... or tried to. We got into the car and Sterling immediately chomped down on GLASS!!! What the heck! It took me a minute to realize what had happened, but it was all gone, credit cards, debit card, license, check book. I guess my one happy thought in all of this has been that whomever it was, they chose the wrong person... They stole about a 6 year old purse that probably cost about $60 back then, a wallet that had already been partially chewed on, and about 6 cents.

All of this has kept us pretty busy for the past several weeks, but we are looking forward to a long weekend and the kickoff to the Georgia football season. My momma is coming down to stay for the weekend, so look for a new post soon!

Lucky Lady

Believe it or not, it has been 100 days since Sam and I got married! Time continues to fly: we've moved to a new city, started school, started a new job, bought a puppy... I can't imagine what we will have seen and done in a year!

These 100 days have shown me that I am truly blessed. Sam is my best friend and he understands me far more than I often give him credit for. In our premarital counseling, Mike said something that has turned out to be so true... one of the best things Sam can do for me is protect me from myself. Sam has really shown that to me. Over the past five years he has learned my tendencies and knows how best to protect me from the unhealthy decisions I often make. I have truly found a partner to walk through life and that is something to cherish!

Not only am I blessed to have an awesome husband that loves me and takes care of me, but I'm a lucky lady because my husband is pretty darn cool! I'll take this opportunity to brag!

Firstly, if Physical Therapy were to ever not work out, Sam is an excellent brick layer! Haha! Let me explain: Our house is fairly old and I guess one of it's semi-adorable idiosyncrasies is that it has "flower beds" all around the perimeter of the house. The problem with this cute idea is that our house is surrounded my some of the tallest pine trees in the world and our house gets about an hour of direct sunlight on two sides. The second problem is that we have really long overhangings, so not only were the beds receiving zero light, but they also received no water. At some point, someone planted several azaleas, which were understandably sad and pathetic; picture those small, twisted trees from the desert. So one weekend Sam and I decided to transplant them and see if we could save them. The result left a bed of weeds and bugs, neither of which did I want to keep. So Sam decided to match what was already an odd theme around the house and fill it in with bricks. I doubted this project, but I've learned to leave him to it, because he won't stop until he is satisfied. He scouted the whole yard and uncovered a few dozen bricks. He copied the patterns in the other beds, and in the end we have a neat bed of bricks! : ) But truly, it's much better than before, and Sam discovered a new talent!

Another possibility for Sam if PT ever falls through would be the pizza business. Honestly, he is AMAZING! Everyone who tastes his pizza says that it's fantastic. When we were back home, my mom would always ask if Sam was coming over because she wanted homemade pizza for dinner. It is delicious! And the best part: he makes half for me exactly how I like it!

Now you may be thinking that Sam's Physical Therapy dreams are dim as I find all these other opportunities for him. Thankfully, that is far from the truth! Sam will not need his brick laying skills nor his pizza making abilities any time soon. Despite the difficulties he experienced getting into PT school, Sam is doing AWESOME in the MCG PT program! He's completed one course, Human Anatomy, with an A!!! And he even made the highest grade in the class on a Research test! Pretty sweet!

So in culmination, I am one lucky lady! 100 days have been a dream come true, and I'm looking forward to hundreds and hundreds more!

Wild 4th of July Weekend

What a weekend! I know I'm a little slow in getting the details up of our wacky July 4th, but I've been so busy (you'll understand why shortly).

Luckily Sam's program gave all the PT's an extra long holiday: he had a test on Wednesday but he didn't have to be back on till today, the next Thursday. Sam and I had been planning on spending the whole week home visiting family; however, I recently acquired a full time job, so my trip was cut short. Last Thursday Sam left for home and I was to follow suit Friday after I got home from work. And this is where the trouble begins. I had previously contacted the vet about getting a mild sedative for our cat Everest.

She really hates car rides, and it's a very unpleasant trip to make alone. The vet prescribed a little pill... Everest hates pills. I came home from work in a desperate hurry to get on the road. I scooped Everest up and grabbed the ominous pill. She fought immediately, twisting and scratching. It's nearly impossible to get her to swallow a pill, she bites you, and unless you really get it down her throat, she just spits it back out. But on I fought. She bit the pill in half at one point, and I was fairly sure that she swallowed one piece, so I just had to get half the pill down, and we could get on the road. All in all, it was about a 15 minute process. Thinking at the very least the pill had dissolved in her mouth, I jumped off the bed with my bleeding finger to bandage myself and call Sam. While on the phone with him, I saw my baby jump off the bed... she fell. Now my sweet Everest isn't the most graceful cat in the world, but she doesn't just fall over. I watched her stand up, but could see that she was really wobbly. I told Sam that I thought something was wrong and I wanted to call the vet. By the time I hung up with him and called the vet (thank God for 24 hour vets) my baby had completely lost mobility in her legs! She was just lying on the floor trying to pull herself towards me with her front paws, but she couldn't stand at all. I told the receptionist what had happened and she set to come in immediately. Of course I'm already thinking that I might not make it, and she may die! Ughhh! It was awful! She was practically paralyzed! I ended up staying at the vet for about an hour where they ran tests and monitored her. In the end they decided that she had an "adverse reaction" to the sedative, but that it would wear off over the next 10-12 hours!!! Well I was a mess, so my momma and Sam decided that they would drive to Augusta to come stay with me that night because I was so afraid of what might happen. I took my baby home and watched her detox for the next 3 hours. By the time Sam and momma got to Augusta, she was able to walk, but was very wobbly and fell over every few steps. It was one of the scariest nights ever! Thankfully by the next morning she was almost fully recovered! Obviously, I decided that there would be no pill for this trip home and we all set out for Gainesville for the official start of my long weekend!

Before the aforementioned insanity, Sam had gotten to Gainesville on Thursday, and he had gone into his old work at ProTherapy to visit with friends. While there he learned that one of his coworkers had a litter of Weimaraner puppies for sale. Sam sent me a picture... too cute! I knew Sam had really wanted a dog for a long time, so we added plans to go look at the puppies to our weekend. We spent a good part of Saturday at Sam's house laying out by the pool and enjoying the cooler weather! That evening, my mom and Stuart came over to enjoy dinner with Sam's family and we had a great time! Sunday we made plans to see the puppies. Sam and I had already talked and decided that if Sam really wanted one, that now was as good of time as any, and we have a great place. So obviously... we ended up with a puppy by the end of the day. We made plans for Sam to pick up our little boy on Tuesday when he came home.

I headed out Monday afternoon with Everest in tow to get the house ready for our new addition. Sam worked at ProTherapy Tuesday to make some extra money and then picked up our little puppy after work and headed home to me! By 10 o'clock our entire family was under one roof for the first time! Meet Sterling: He was 8 weeks old on Tuesday, and he loves his daddy to death! He's not so sure about his sister yet, as she regularly smacks him in the nose, but we are definitely one happy family.

In addition to our little puppy, our families were incredibly generous to us while we were home. My momma worked on a beautiful dried flower arrangement for our dining room. She has a great eye for this, and I always love what she comes up with. Dried flowers are kind of pricey, but the look so much nicer than silk. It turned out great! I probably need to trim some of the grass, but it looks beautiful and added a great deal of color to our dull little dining room corner.

Sam's momma was also very thoughtful! She knows how much Sam loves to grill and decided to get us an early birthday present. Sam grilled yummy hamburgers last night and is currently working on pork chops tonight. He loves it! I am pretty thrilled myself because on top of having a happy husband and tasty dinner, there are less dishes!!! Thanks Genie!

As you can see we had a fun-filled weekend that started out full of insanity and ended the same way! Now we just have to argue over who gets up in the middle of the night! But we couldn't be happier to have everyone healthy and back under one roof!

A Grown-Up Bed

Yay!!! Sam and I received our new california king Pottery Barn bed today, courtesy of my momma! We've been sleeping with the mattress on the floor since we moved, which kind of felt like camping. We are so excited to have this new addition! I love it! The whole thing: the bed, the mattress, the sheets, the duvet cover! It's perfect! We're slowly adding on the extra's like throw pillows, quilts, etc. But it's pretty amazing as is!

Special thanks to momma for the amazing wedding gift, my uncle and aunt, who gave us the mattress, and everyone else who gave us sheets, pillows, duvet, etc. We love how it all come together!