on the danger that is Target

Last weekend, I made the mistake of suggesting a random trip to Target to walk around.

I know full well that Aaron and I are not capable of entering the magical land that is Target and not walking out without a white bag with red circles on it.

Meh.

Off we went. 

We walked through the whole store. Taking most of our time in the movie and toy sections of course.

We left with some cheap, new iPhone cases (now that the iPhone5 is out...and we'll not get started on how sad I am to have to wait to upgrade until June...all of the iPhone4 cases are on sale), some random needs like shower gel and dog treats, and some new fun house decor that I was super excited about!

I love decorating our house to what little extent we are capable of!

Yes, I did hammer in two nails to hang these cute canvases. I was pretty proud of myself!

And this little sign was in the Dollar Spot! So, I'm not quite sure how you pass that up...

Anyway, Target is always fun, but always dangerous! Unless you leave all of your money at home, I suppose...

about Aaron's attic adventure

Ever since Aaron and I moved in together, our parents have slowly been giving us stuff that they have been storing on our behalf.

I took and/or got rid of most of my childhood "stuff" when my parents moved from their house to their new apartment. They, fortunately, are still storing some of it in the storage unit they rented for a lot of their stuff.

Aaron has taken a few boxes from his parents' attic, but usually we hear, "Aaron, you still have so many boxes up there! All of those movie posters and Batman collectibles!"

Aaron's reaction to this is usually excitement at being reunited with all of his treasures.

I try to hide my cringe.

I, of course, love that Aaron has collected a little so much...stuff, for lack of a better word, over the years, but I also have no idea where in the world we are supposed to put it all!

Our tiny attic is already pretty full!

Last Saturday night, we went over to Dave and Lisa's (Aaron's parents) for dinner. Lisa had gone up in the attic earlier that day to pull down a few toys for my niece and nephew. This sparked the whole attic conversation, and before I knew it, my husband disappeared up a ladder into the ceiling.

Amidst shouts of "Oh boy!" and "That's mine!" he passed down box, after box, after box....

And we ended up with this:

Yes, they stack taller than him. And yes, most are filled with Batman toys, Wizard of Oz collectibles, Coke paraphernalia, and the random childhood memories of my child-at-heart husband.

And, yes, it's too cute to be upset about.

And, no, that is not even all of it.

That's just as much that would fit in our car at once.

Oh bother...

a Friday flashback

Aaron and I are going on four years of being together as a couple. We've had many adventures together, and I look forward to years and years of many more adventures with him!

Let's hear about one of those adventures today...

Flashback to...2009...

In the summer of 2009, Aaron and I went on a date in downtown Raleigh one sunny afternoon. We parked at the Raleigh Convention Center and took the free circulation bus (the R Line) over to Glenwood Avenue to eat lunch. It's a short ride, but a pretty long walk. About 20 blocks or so at a diagonal. I don't really know. But, we were about to find out.

We ate at one of our favorite restaurants (that, unfortunately, doesn't exist anymore) called Hi-5. And as we were eating, the sky started to look quite ominous. 

We hurried through our meal and figured we had better catch that bus back to our car before the storm started!

We walked outside, and the wind had really picked up! Just as we got to the bus stop, it started...

A monsoon of rain.

The bus, which came through every 15-20 minutes, was already passed and on its way up the street.

We tried to hide under the cover of an awning on the building next to the bus stop, but the wind just blew the rain under.

We were soaked in just minutes.

It wasn't thundering or lightning, so we decided we might as well start the walk to the car. By the time we waited for the bus, we could be almost there!

We started up Glenwood Avenue, which is a pretty steady uphill slope. We were about halfway up, it was still pouring, when all of a sudden, I accidentally stepped out of my flip flop.

Before I could even bend down to grab it, off it floated down the hill.

Yes, floated. I told you it was a monsoon!

Aaron was up ahead of me about 10 steps.

"Aaron! My flip flop!"

"What?!"

"My flip flop! It's floating away!"

Being the good boyfriend that he was, he took off down the hill after my flip flop.

He chased it down the sidewalk, and he was just about to catch it, when it took a sudden turn and crossed the street!

Under the cars driving by it went!

By the time Aaron could cross the street, my flip flop had gone down a monsoon waterfall towards the next block where the train tracks were. He lost sight of it, and it was gone.

He came sulking back to me.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't catch it."

"That's okay...it was just from Old Navy."

Of course, the rain stopped then. 

a concert review

About a year ago, Aaron was on NoiseTrade, and he downloaded an EP by a guy named Ben Rector, along with many other free EPs from different artists (it's not illegal, I promise).

We listened to a lot of them, but as soon as I heard Ben Rector, I liked him. I liked his voice and his lyrics and his music. And as soon as I found out he wrote it all, I was sold.

I like most all music, but all of my favorite artists write, play, and sing all of their own stuff.

We slowly collected Ben's few records, and I've listened to him frequently over the past year.

A couple weeks ago, Aaron got an email from I don't even know where that said Ben Rector was coming to Raleigh on Thursday, September 20th, to the Lincoln Theater downtown!

As soon as he told me, I was SO excited. He bought our $10 tickets (great deal!), and I asked my parents to watch Penny for us.

Last Thursday after work, we dropped Penny off, went to dinner, and went to see Ben Rector!

It was probably my favorite concert I've been to. Or at least tied with when we went to see Brooke Fraser!

If anything, it was too short! I wish he would have played more!

The best part was sharing it all with Aaron, who loves Ben too! We had so much fun singing along and being together.

If you've never heard Ben Rector, check him out on iTunes! I highly recommend his music!

Us at dinner before the show

Waiting for it to start

That's Ben on the keys...so cool!

Thanks, Aaron, for taking me on a date to see Ben Rector! There's no one else I'd rather go with! :)

another post on priorities

Last week, I told you we were finishing up a discussion on priorities in Journey18:25. This discussion has challenged me a lot, mainly because my priorities haven't been lining up quite right.

It's an easy answer as a Christian to list God as my first priority. But truthfully, I really want that to be the case. And not just "first" as if He's some separate thing. But that he's first in all that I do, say, and think. I want to view everything through His Word.

I've lived through times when I have put God first in everything, and those times have always been more freeing and fruitful.

So, it's the ever puzzling battle of flesh versus surrender. I often feel like Paul when he wrote his letter to the church in Rome. This is all from Romans 7. To paraphrase, "I know what is good and I want to do it, but I keep doing the wrong thing instead. I do what I don't want to do. I don't do what I want to do!"

It's exhausting. But, thankfully, Paul doesn't leave it on that note. He asks, "Who will save me from this?" And he answers himself, just like I know this answer too, "God will do it through Jesus living in me!"

So, I know God will help me. But, I know I have to play my part too!

It's cool because Jimmy's message at Journey on Sunday went along with what I've been thinking and praying about from our talks in Journey18:25 as well. He talked about how to know God better, we must spend time with Him. And the more time we spend with Him, the more we'll want to. And the clearer we will hear Him speak.

To start out small, this week, I have gotten back to spending time in His Word and journaling. I have been reading my Bible quite regularly lately, but I know for me, journaling is what helps me think on what I've read and remember it throughout my day. I've not journaled in so long. It's good to be back at it!

about Cinderella

I know I told you just last week that I am nowhere near the level of addict that Aaron is when it comes to Vinylmations.

It's true, I promise.

But, in August, Aaron informed me that to go along with the release of Cinderella on Blu-ray in October (Disney did that for my birthday, obviously), there would be two limited release Vinylmation sets released in September.

Let me just say that I LOVE Cinderella. Like, really. I just do. She's so nice. And pretty. And selfless. And kind. And I just love her the most. I have a Cinderella blanket, Cinderella cups, Cinderella movies, Cinderella keychains, Cinderella trinket things... When we go to Disney World, I am most excited to visit Cinderella's castle. I could go on...

Anyway, of course, I had to have these Cinderella Vinylmations that were going to be released last Monday at 12am Pacific time (that's 3am here). And, of course, my AMAZING husband was going to oblige because, after all, he LOVES Vinylmations and he loves me even more! :)

He woke up in the middle of the night to order them for me. Oh I do love him!

They arrived at the end of the week, and they are so wonderful! I'm so excited for Cinderella to be released on Blu-ray next month, along with a few other of my favorite things that just happen to be coming out around my birthday! I'll let you know about those on October 1st though!

For now, here's some pictures of my newest Cinderella collection pieces...

about Penny's first day of school

We've had Penny as part of our family for over a year now. She has been a joy to raise! She's very eager to obey, and she hates to make us upset. I can count on less than 10 fingers the number of accidents she's had in the house, and she's not chewed anything of terribly great value.

She is a very energetic little dog. She LOVES to play. With anything or anyone. If you don't want to play with her, she feels quite rejected.

She's a little bit intense, especially when visitors come over! She's SO happy to have new friends and she jumps all over them and freaks out. She's small, but she's still packs a punch to your legs and her nails don't always feel so pleasant!

So, we decided we've done all we know how to do for her, and we signed her up for beginner's training at PetsMart.

We want her to be ready when the time comes for changes in our family too!

Penny had her very first day of school last Monday night!

We hopped in the car, and she wasn't quite sure where we were going. When she saw we were going to PetsMart, where she also visits the vet and the groomer, she wasn't too thrilled.

She got wet on the way in because it was raining. Then she plopped down on the floor and would not walk any further. (another reason for school...she's so stubborn!)

Class ended up being really good! We signed up for a class expecting to have a few other dogs, but no one else signed up, so we have 6 weeks of private lessons!

Penny is starting to learn some basic commands:  "here," "off," "sit," and "watch me."

We are learning too! We have learned to stop using the word "no," and replace it with a buzzer sound. We also learned to completely ignore her if she jumps and never give her attention or treats unless she's on all fours. We no longer use the word "sit" to make her sit; it's now a hand motion. We are actually learning a lot more than Penny is I think! So, the school is probably really more for us!

We have been working on her "homework" all week and practicing at home. She has her second class tonight.

We are so proud of Penny for doing well in school! She's such a good girl!

about how we're on a (small) break

I never promised to write on this every day, but I've gone over a month without missing a day. I'm a little proud of myself!

Although it is a priority for me to write this blog, I don't want to feel bad or guilty for skipping a day here or there.

So, I am skipping today. And tomorrow. Because it's just one of those weekends...

And I'm writing this to tell you.

Although you probably don't care.

That's it then.

See you Monday!

a Friday flashback

I promised yesterday to regale you with the events that unfolded on our hike back from the greenway near our house...

Let's flashback to...

Last Saturday, September 15, 2012...

The greenway is approximately .6 miles from the entrance of our neighborhood. There is no sidewalk. For about half the way there, they have mowed through a trail of the long grass and there is hay to walk on...we think they might have plans to pour a sidewalk. The other half of the way, you have to walk on the narrow shoulder of the road, or else plow through two feet of grass and bugs.

Anyway, the way there was fairly uneventful. We used Nike+ to track how far we were going. We only walked about 1.5 miles because of my back and Penny's little legs. Then we turned around.

We were literally about 10 steps from the entrance of our neighborhood when it all went down...

Aaron and Penny were walking in front of me, and Aaron starts muttering something.

"What?" I say.

"There are so many bugs in this grass! I hate it!"

I rolled my eyes, unbeknownst to him. "Well, we are outside, you know. Besides, the bugs are just as scared of you. They'll leave you alone....

....EXCEPT THIS ONE!!!!"

At that moment (Coincidence?!), a loud buzzing mutant bee thing came out of nowhere and flew around my head. What are the chances?!

I might add here that my two worst fears of the animal kingdom are bees and sharks. I've never encountered a shark, thank God. Bees, on the other hand, stung me constantly as a child. I. Hate. Bees.

So, I of course, freaked out. I do not shriek and flail about much ever because I'm pretty chill.

But I made up for it then.

And of course we were right next to the main road by the entrance of the neighborhood.

And then I felt it sting me!!

So I freaked out more. And I threw my sunglasses to the ground. And ripped my pony tail out halfway.

As I proceed to jump around and brush at my hair frantically and scream, Aaron just stands there laughing a little because I'm sure I did look ridiculous and keeps saying, "It's huge!! It's stuck in your hair!!"

"Get it off!!"

"Stop moving then!"

When I finally get it un-stuck from my hair, Aaron yells, "RUN!!"

So I did. Probably as fast and haphazardly as I've run in a very long time!

"IT'S CHASING YOU!!"

So I ran faster.

Then I hear, "OH NO! NOW IT'S CHASING ME!"

I'm sure we were a sight to see.

My hair was flung all over the place and I was running like a crazy person.

Aaron is flailing around behind me holding Penny with a leash dragging behind him as he runs.

And we had a stupid giant bee thing flying after us.

Finally, winded, we stopped running when we thought we were surely in the clear.

Out of breath, I remarked, "We...are never...walking to the greenway...again..."

"Deal!"

And the bees win again...

a Penny post

Last Saturday morning, we slept in until around 9:30am, which was wonderful, and decided to take a walk together. There is a greenway trail less than a mile from our house off the main road. It seems a shame to drive to it, although, you do risk life and limb a little bit as there's no sidewalk on the way there...

Anyway, the three of us set off on an adventure. And oh the adventure we had.

There will be more on it tomorrow as part of my Friday flashback, but for now, here are a couple pictures of Penny meeting a horse for the first time.

A house on the way to the greenway has two horses right out by the road. There is of course a fence, and we didn't go too near the horses, but Penny sure did see them and was quite intrigued...

And remember to check back tomorrow for the events that were to unfold shortly after this...let's just say we will not be walking to the greenway anymore!

about priorities

In Journey18:25 for the past three weeks, we have been discussing priorities.

pri·or·i·ty

noun \prī-ˈȯr-ə-tē, -ˈär-\

plural pri·or·i·ties

1

a (1) : the quality or state of being prior (2) : precedence in date or position of publication

b (1) : superiority in rank, position, or privilege (2) : legal precedence in exercise of rights over the same subject matter

2

: a preferential rating; especially : one that allocates rights to goods and services usually in limited supply 

3

: something given or meriting attention before competing alternatives

It's one of those seemingly easy, yet not so much, subjects.

It gets especially difficult when what we state as our priorities is not how we actually live.

For example, if I said reading was one of my priorities, but I never picked up a book, that would be strange. And a lie. And confusing.

In our study of priorities, we focused on the verse in Matthew 6 that says "Where your treasure is, that's where your heart is going to be."

We equated treasure with the two things people treasure most:  time and money.

So, where you spend your time, and where you spend your money, that's where your heart is going to be.

We've talked about the reality of where we are spending the majority of our time and our money to show us what are priorities currently are.

And then we decided what we want our priorities to be.

Tonight, in our last discussion, we will map out a plan that, with God's help, will get us headed in the right direction.

I think I've landed with this list of priorities, for now...although I'm sure it will change in the future:

1. My relationship with God
• Bible
• Prayer
2. My relationship with family
• Aaron
• Parents and other family
3. Preparing for our future
• My job
• Saving money
4. Health
• Exercise
• Eating right
5. Ministry
• Journey Church
• Journey Kids
• Journey Worship
• Journey18:25

Now, I know I have some work to do for my life to actually reflect this list! I struggle with balancing all of this. It's easy to shove off going on a walk or sitting down to study and journal to do something else seemingly more pressing.

I've said it before, we are typically very busy. To make what I say is important actually the important stuff, some other not-so-important stuff might have to go.

I'm looking forward to sitting down with my small group tonight and discussing a practical plan to make my priorities a reality!

More to come on this later!

about Tuesday lunch dates

Since before I came into the picture, Aaron has had lunch with his mom every Tuesday since he started working at Journey. Lisa, Aaron's mom, works at Journey too, which is pretty cool!

After we started dating, I got to tag along to a Tuesday lunch here and there when I didn't have school.

And after we got married, I came every week for awhile because I wasn't working.

Then, I got my job as Bensen's nanny. The first outing I took him on was to Tuesday lunch.

Almost two years later, we are all still having lunch together on Tuesdays! That's me, Bensen, Keyen, Aaron, and Lisa!

My mother-in-law is the best! She and Aaron are super understanding that having two very young children tagging along makes it a big challenge for me to eat at many places...you just never know what kind of day it's going to be! So, every Tuesday we end up at one of two places at Triangle Town Center:  Moe's Southwest Grill or the Food Court (which usually means Chick-fil-a). This is because I don't have to put the boys in the car again and you don't necessarily have to worry about them being "cooperative" during lunch. :)

The boys and I hang out at the mall for the morning, then around noon, we walk to one of our typical spots to meet Aaron and Lisa for lunch.

Lisa buys us lunch every. week. We definitely take it for granted! It's such a blessing! We sure are spoiled!

And, of course, at Moe's, kids eat free on Tuesdays! Win-win situation, people!

I'm so glad that we get to have a special time every week to hang out with Lisa. It's on the calendar and none of us schedule anything else unless it's an emergency!

I'm looking forward to years and years of Tuesday lunches!

the alternative to cable

Right after we got married, we decided not to splurge on things like, you know, internet and cable TV.

We didn't have any internet for a couple months. It was actually nice. And instead of cable, we had a digital antenna for local channels and like 500 movies because Aaron owns a lot of movies.

In August 2010, my parents bought me a new phone for a college graduation present. We paid for the data plan, and we added an internet hotspot for an extra $10 a month. Cheap internet, lousy internet mostly, but internet nonetheless.

That worked okay for awhile. We could use our laptops as long as I was home with my phone and it decided to work well. And we started paying for Netflix so we could stream instantly to our Wii. Very slowly, I might add.

After about six months, we had about as much of the hotspot as we could take though. We finally forked over the extra $20 a month to pay for reliable internet access and got rid of the hotspot on my phone.

That was a good move.

But, we didn't get cable TV. And we still don't have it.

I don't think there's anything wrong with having cable, but I'm really glad we don't. It would actually be quite a waste of money for us.

We only care about a handful of shows that come on the air. And we both hate watching sports.

So, we still have a digital antenna to watch Gordon Ramsey shows and a few others that we enjoy on local channels. We also bought an AppleTV a couple years ago that streams Netflix, Hulu Plus, iTunes, and other fun things. We have a ROKU box too. Which is a better deal than AppleTV, but I think the interface is more confusing. Also, if you have other Apple products, they can stream things to the AppleTV. I suppose if you do not have Apple products, a ROKU is a much better option.

Anyway, if you have been thinking about getting rid of cable, join our club! It's fun! I promise!

Although, I guess if you REALLY like sports, you're probably out of luck...sorry...

about vegetables

When I started dating Aaron, he claimed to be anti-vegetable. Anti-salad. Anti-all that "rabbit food stuff."

Slowly but surely, you know, so he doesn't get too suspicious, I've converted him a little bit here and there.

Now, my husband is quite the vegetable consumer!

He started out with the simple stuff. Corn and green beans. He'd eat those at family gatherings and such.

Next, we worked on broccoli. My mom made broccoli for a dinner one night, and to be a good boyfriend, he tried it. And he actually liked it! Now it's his favorite vegetable! He requests it every week!

After that, I worked in asparagus one night to the meal plan. Again, he liked it! Although he complained about the smell of his pee...but we all do that, right?!

He will also eat yellow squash and zucchini, two of my favorites!

Now, all of those vegetables above are usually eaten warm. He still wasn't so keen on the whole salad thing.

At the beginning of this year, he completely surprised me and ordered a salad at the Mellow Mushroom. And he ate the whole thing! And enjoyed it! I was perplexed!

Since then, he says he had at least 10 salads this year! That's more than all the salads he had eaten for the previous 27 years of his life!

Last week, we had a salad at home that we learned how to make from our friends, Ryan and Aura.

It's baby spinach, grapes, pistachios, feta cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette.

I'm very proud of my Aaron for being brave and eating salads and vegetables! It might not be a big deal, but I think it's pretty cool! At least now, when our kids don't want to eat vegetables, he'll be on my side...well, for most vegetables. And he'll have to campaign tomatoes. And peppers. Because I HATE them. But I'll take onions. And mushrooms. If mushrooms count as a vegetable?

I digress......

about my Vinylmation

I hope you remember that I warned you about my husband's slight addiction to Disney Vinylmations.

We have about 170 now. I suppose it's all relative though...

We know someone who has over 400...

Anyway, I'm sure we're on our way there, slowly but surely.

Aaron LOVES Vinylmations.

Like he reads the blogs about them, tracks when certain ones come out, and searches Ebay for ones he really wants.

I happen to love Vinylmations as well...just not quite to that extent! Mine is more like...

    Walk in Aaron's study to drop something off and he's looking at them...

    "Oooh! That one's cute! Can I have that one?!"

Like that. I have about 15 that are "mine."

In June, we went to Disney World for our 2nd anniversary. I was proud of Aaron. He left having bought less than 12 (our limit for the trip), which was really good for him!

When we were at one of the stores, I saw a Vinylmation that I really liked! It was a 9inch "Create Your Own" Vinylmation. But, he had already picked quite a few out and bought me something else, so I told him not to get it for me.

Fast forward a couple months, and he saw it on the Disney Store website. Of course it was like the only one that wasn't on sale! I told him not to get it for me again.

I had basically given up on it!

Yesterday, a shipment of new Vinyls arrived for Aaron. He showed them to me and was so excited! 

Then I went to take a shower and go about my night. When I got out of the shower though, lo and behold, the Vinylmation that I had wanted was sitting on my dresser!

I was SO excited! It's so cute! I can't wait to decorate it with colorful Sharpies!

What a sweet husband I have! He waited just long enough for me not to even really remember that I wanted it to buy it for me! I sure love him!

I'll make sure to post a picture after I decorate it too!

a Friday flashback

If you don't know my dad, you are missing out. A lot. My dad is very funny. Not the kind of funny like telling jokes. But he's just funny. Funny things happen to him. Maybe you wouldn't think they're funny, but if you have the sense of humor like we do, they're hysterical.

Before we get into this week's Friday flashback, here's a few things you need to know:

1. My immediate family (mom, brother, and Aaron), but especially me and my mom, find it hilarious when something awkward, painful, or stupid happens to my dad.
2. By painful, I obviously don't mean that in a way you might think. If my dad was ever seriously hurt, we wouldn't think it was funny (at least not right away).
3. My dad is a good sport, and he knows we all laugh at him because we love him so...he can't seem to help the situations he gets into.
4. He certainly can't help it that he can't always hear well which often leads to his dismay.

I have story upon story about my dad that I can't wait to share with you. One at a time though!

Let's flashback to...

2006...

My grandparents on my mom's side moved from Pennsylvania to Tennessee several years ago. They used to live in a campground on the Little River in Townsend, TN. We would go visit for a week every summer and stay in a cabin next to them. We would have an unplugged week tubing down the river, laying by the pool, having campfires, and enjoying the beautiful Smoky Mountains.

A Tennessee camping trip isn't complete without having hotdogs cooked over the fire for at least one meal!

I love roasting hotdogs over the fire.

I also love hearing stories my grandparents tell.

Those two things seem innocent enough...right?

That summer, the six of us were sitting around the fire roasting hotdogs. It was still light outside, and my grandma was in the middle of an interesting story that I just don't remember anymore thanks to the events that were about to unfold.

I had roasted my hotdog to near perfection, and was ready to fix it up with a bun and some ketchup and mustard. All of the hotdog supplies were at the picnic table about 10 feet away.

Not wanting to miss a second of my grandma's story, I hurried to the table, hotdog on a stick in hand, grabbed a paper plate and the bag of buns, and walked back over to the fire.

As I fumbled with the bag tie on the buns, my grandma finished her story. It would now be much easier to finish assembling my dinner at the table. I turned around, and that's when it happened.

My hot, greasy, just off the flames hotdog spun around to where my dad was innocently roasting his own hotdog.

And what are the chances...it went right between his glasses and into his eyeball.

He screamed.

I gasped and jerked the stick away flinging his glasses to the ground.

My grandma jumped up.

My grandpa looked on in confusion.

My mom died laughing.

And I lost it too.

My poor dad was rubbing his eye and trying to find his glasses.

My grandma went in to get him a cold, wet towel to wipe his eye off.

My grandpa stared at my mother and I quite disapprovingly.

We managed to ask my dad if he was okay in between our uncontrollable laughter.

"I'm...so...sorry! Is...your...eye...okay?"

"Well, I think so...freaking hot grease!"

Thankfully, my dad's eye was fine and his glasses were fine too.

Although, he's a little more wary around me whenever we have hotdogs...

about how (not) handy we are

Aaron and I went to Home Depot last Saturday to do some dreaming and planning for our house. We moved into our house a little over a year ago, and it has come a long way since then! We have put it together piece by piece and it is still a work in progress...I guess a house always is!

We love our house. It's definitely home.

While it is perfectly fine the way it is, there's nothing wrong with dreaming a planning, right?!

In the future, we would love to add... 

• a back deck that is screened in
• new carpet up the stairs and in all of the rooms upstairs
• a gray, stone-looking laminate floor in our dining room and Aaron's office
• a backsplash in the kitchen
• track lighting above the kitchen sink
• a light that is not a florescent light in the kitchen
• some new things to our bathroom like medicine cabinets
• and I won't even get started on our plans for our future kids' rooms and a play room...

I would also like to clarify that by "we would like to add" I mean "my dad or my mom or Aaron's parents or Home Depot or our other friends that are handy would like to add."

Yes, if you didn't know or hadn't guessed, we are not in the least bit handy. Sad, I know.

Let's just say we didn't own a single tool until we got bikes for our birthdays a couple years ago. Since we lived in an apartment on the third floor, we thought it would be a great idea to hang our bikes on the balcony. You know, so they wouldn't take up as much space. So we bought a tool "purse" thing at Target with you know...the basic tools...drill, hammer, screwdrivers, and the like. And we attempted to hang our bikes. And failed. Miserably.

We shied away from "projects" for awhile until one day Aaron thought he could hang this cool framed poem someone made us for our wedding. I told him that it better be straight! I guess I made him a little too nervous. He was trying to hold it straight, hold the hammer, hold the nail...yeah...it fell to the floor and shattered.

We didn't attempt much else in our apartment. Right after we moved into our house, Aaron had to go out of town for a few days. My parents came and stayed with me because I had never been alone for more than one night before then. That worked out perfectly. While they were there, they helped me hang lots of stuff up and we avoided any "bike-like accidents" in our pretty new house.

We were pretty settled for awhile until we started to accumulate some more projects.

Last Christmas, we bought a new TV as our Christmas present to each other. Our awesome friend Matt (as in Matt and Magan) came to help us mount the TV to the wall. Aaron was his trusty assistant. We had also bought a shelf to hang below the TV for the Blu-ray player and such. It took so long to hang the TV that we didn't have time to hang the shelf while Matt was there. For some reason, the next night, we thought we had watched Matt and my dad enough to have some sort of clue on how to do it ourselves.

Yeah...nope.

We put two big holes in the wall with the anchors that didn't even work.

Parents to the rescue again!

I have now sworn off any do-it-ourselves projects. I mean, we can hang a picture frame here or there, but that's about the extent of how much I trust us.

My parents have since come to hang ceiling fans, curtains, and canvases. Our lovely friend Lisa came over a few months ago to help me plan out a picture frame collage and hang it in our living room.

If you can't do something yourself, it's certainly a blessing to know the right kind of people to help you out!

Anyway, back to Saturday...

At Home Depot, the nice lady that helped us was trying to save us some money.

"You know, if you do it yourselves, you save quite a bit of money..."

I just laughed.

"We're not so much the handy people!" we clarified.

Thank goodness for helpful friends and family. And of course, there's the friendly neighborhood Home Depot for the big jobs. :)

on cooking and grocery shopping

When we first got married and I wasn't working, it was lots of fun to try out new recipes all the time and make special meals a couple times a week.

And then I started working. And our schedule became much more hectic.

If I don't make cooking meals a priority every week, we easily slip into Chickfila, frozen pizza, sandwiches, and chicken nuggets. Meh.

Thankfully, I've found a pretty good system that works well for us.

Every Saturday, I make a list of basic food items that we have run out of since the week before (milk, juice, cereal, etc.)

Then I pull out my phone to check the calendar for the week. On a normal week, we'll have Sunday lunch out or grab it on the way home from church. After a long Sunday morning, I'm in no mood to cook anything! We tend to skip Sunday dinner because we eat lunch so late. I cook meals on Monday and Tuesday night. Wednesday night I have to make something easy and quick (tacos, salad) so we can make it to Journey18:25 on time. On Thursdays, we typically have dinner prepared for us by my wonderful mother. Friday is date night and Saturday is usually a mix of leftovers from a couple different meals!

So, I get out my recipe books to pick meals for the few meals I cook during the week. Our go-to meals are usually some sort of chicken entree. We have steak every other week or so, but we are spoiled and like filet mignon...expensive taste, I know. Aaron surprisingly eats salads now if they are prepared to his specifications (spinach, cheese, sunflower seeds, bacon...). We like pasta, tacos, asian food, scallops, and other things too.

After the list is done, I usually head to Walmart on Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon to get the groceries for the week.

I know some people can plan out meals for up to a month at a time...that totally overwhelms me! Week to week is just right for our life right now...when we have kids, I'll let you know how that goes! 

thank yous

I'm relaxing on the couch in the living room right now staring at this.

Penny is next to me on the floor. We just got back from the dog park. She is worn. out.

I am listening to Ben Rector because I love him. And we get to go to his concert in Raleigh next week. Yay!

I am streaming my music to the AppleTV so I can also glance up and see my Photo Stream in a slideshow as I type.

And the candles are burning vanilla and pumpkin smells.

It's a great night!

Where's Aaron though, you ask?

Good question.

He's on a conference call with children's pastors from all over the country as part of a group he's in. He's been on the phone since 7:00pm...not sure how much longer he'll be on the phone!

It's one of those nights where I'm just thankful for things that I have.

I'm thankful for my hottie husband and that he loves his job. He's always trying to be better at it too. He's a great children's pastor but he still loves to learn from those who have been doing it much longer!

I'm thankful for my sweet Penny and that I got to have a doggie date with her at the dog park. She had fun running around and I tried not to care as she completely disregarded that she had just had a bath the other night.

I'm thankful that I got to talk to my mom for an hour on the phone tonight. I'm also glad that my mom is also one of my very best friends!

And shallow as it may be, I'm thankful for Apple and that they make iPhones, MacBooks, and AppleTV. They may be earthly possessions, but they sure are fun and I'm glad to have them!

Happy Tuesday night!