friday's letters {26}

this picture is completely unrelated to this post.

dear beach trip we had to cancel you. since my mother-in-law is ill the doctors don't think she'd be up for vacation. but as long as she gets the treatment she needs, that's all that matters.
dear anniversary you'r right around the corner! we would have been at st. augustine but not anymore ^^^. but last night i figured out M has something in the works. he told me not to push him too hard to find out what it is. i'm really bad at that though. if i don't know what it is i usually think to high & get disappointed when i find out what it really is. so, the real questions is, do i push him or not?
dear anniversary gift year one is paper. what does that mean? like a card?
dear insanity workouts you're literally insane. that's all i have to say about you.
dear God i was thinking about how everything in my life has worked out okay. there used to be a time when i wished i could go back in time & change things. but as i write this, i don't wish that anymore. You knew all along that everything would be okay. You just sat back as i learned on my own. watched me fail but knew i'd be okay. it's so clear how much Your hand works in my life. i'd be lost without You.

happy friday!!!
enjoy your weekend with the ones you love!

lately {22}

yeah, so lately i've been trying to go through all the pictures we took on our road trip last week. yep... there's a ton so i'm pretty much putting it off till... whenever i'm ready. 

lately we've been watching an unhealthy amount of dexter episodes. CAN'T. STOP. only a few more episodes till we're caught up with the current session. shhhh! don't give anything away!

lately i've been itching for a new phone. yeah yeah yeah, i know i've only had this one for nine months but i really want a new toy. #firstworldprobs M says we don't have the money to throw at a phone we don't need. but he doesn't know i'm secretly hiding my paychecks to save up for it. muahahaha.

lately i've been craving to facelift my blog. everyday i'm seeing a new blog get updated & i'm loving them all! who do i contact for that task, cause i know i'm not skilled in that department.

what have you been up to lately?

a little pick me up

as you can see these pictures have no flow to them. but they make me smile & laugh as i think about the moments just before or immediately after taking them. & that's exactly why i'm posting these pictures, because i'm in need of a serious pick-me-up. just when we thought we could use the word "remission" my mother-in-law was diagnosed with another form of cancer. she's going on her fourth year of battling this awful sickness. cancer isn't fair & that makes it hard to talk about it. so in order not to talk about it, & to simply make me feel better, i'm sharing these goofy pictures from last week's adventures. 

eff you cancer. 

marriage update

in less than a month M & i will have been married for one year. that's wild to think about. i can still vividly remember the weeks leading up to our wedding day. remember all the planning & that morning perfectly. so, it's hard to think that almost a year has pasted since then. but in that short year, i've learned a lot about marriage.

... learn to pick your battles. we don't fight. ask anyone who knows us & they'd say the same thing. but, like any couple, we have disagreements. we both don't like confrontation & try to avoid it as much as possible. but if we find ourselves arguing/bickering, we ask if it's worth it. life's to precious to be wasted on the small stuff. which leads me to my next point.
... learn to laugh together. we've almost perfected this. not sure if that's something that should be pointed out or not. we try to laugh at our mistakes. laugh at our stupidity. most importantly, laugh with each other. we make it our goal to laugh & smile together more than anything else we do.
... but sometimes it's best to be quiet. being with someone 24/7 requires some separation. we don't get mad when we need alone time. this is crucial for us in order to have a happy marriage. occasionally M will meditate or go for a run, & i know this means he needs time to himself. NO WIFE ALLOWED time. & i'm okay with that. i respect his space just like i'd except him to respect mine. but i wouldn't have known this without the next point.
... you need to communicate. our favorite time to talk to each other is in bed. we call it Pillow Talk. it's when we talk about anything. we often reminisce. wonder what our kids will be like. where we'll be in five years. what kodi & maggie would look like if they were human. have tickle fights that turn into wrestling matches. laugh till we cry moments. communication is key & probably the most important thing we've learned this year. it's what keeps us on the same page. update us on each others feelings & thoughts. it simply keeps us connected.

marriage is still a bit foreign to us, but i'm confident we're going to enjoy every bit of it.
xoxo
-L

friday's letters {25}

dear last week you were something else. nashville one night. indiana the next. even visited st. louis & ended up in the mississippi river at one moment. you were filled with so much adventure & laughter. can't wait to share more with you all next week.

dear kodi & maggie your daddy & i are so happy to be reunited with you two again. we've only spent a week away from you once before & this time it was more difficult. glad we're all together again :)
dear little tradition i've run out of bottles to put you in. in separate bags, we have dirt/mulch/gravel from central park, indiana, the arch in st. louis, illinois & even nashville {& most of that is all form last week}. i guess i'll go out tomorrow to find cute bottles for ya.

me getting dirt from the cahokia mounds in illinois.

dear jury duty uggghh... you start monday. i'm not looking forward to you at all. but it's my civic duty as an american & i accept that. still doesn't mean i'm not hoping they won't need me.

happy friday!!!!

xoxo

-L

linking up with lisette, lauren, chrissy

12 ways to wear a sweetnessaboos mini bow

ever wish you knew how to wear a those cute mini bows that are all the rave right now? yeah, me too. well look no more! my sweet friend shio is sharing 12 different ways to style such bows & better yet, she makes bows! say whhhaaat?! yes, shio recently just opened her own etsy shop where you can find bows, headbands & even jewelry. be sure to stop by her blog & say hey! 

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Hey, my name is Shio and I blog over at Sweetnessaboos where I share little tid bits of my life, faith, creations, DIY (tutorials), inspiration, and whatever else that interests me :)

One of my favorite things to share on my blog are tutorials, whether it be of food, crafting, or my fave...... beauty (hair)! I am really starting to love sharing tutorials about hair, because that is one of my favorite things, to make my hair PRETTY!! And so, I decided that I would share with you guys '12 ways to Wear a Sweetnessaboos Mini Bow'! I know I probably could've stopped at 5 or 6, but seriously guys, there are a TON more ways than that! And I wanted to share as many as I could think of with you guys (girls) so that you could sport more cute hairdos this summer!

Aaaaaaand......... the 2 CUTE bows I am wearing are from my shop Sweetnessaboos on Etsy at a really great price! And because I know Laurie loves bows, and I adore Laurie so much, I decided I would give her readers a coupon for my shop to 'buy 2 get 1 free' of my mini bows!! Just use the coupon code "buy2onefree"! Hope you enjoy this post!!

messy bun w/ bow in back

messy bun w/ bow on side

                             mini front pompadour w/ bow                                    2 pieces from each side pulled back w/ bow

messy side bun (or pony) w/ bow

high messy pony w/ bow on top

                               bow clipped on side of hair                                              side swept back on one side w/ bow

attach bow to elastic headband (boho look w/ bow)

side messy braid w/ bow

                        attach bow to side of metal headband                                         low/mid pony w/ bow in back

lately {21}

  

lately we've been on the road. stopped in nashville for a good ole' honky-tonk {& to find me a cowboy to bring home to mom}. with perfect evening weather, we watched a live concert by the river. that next morning we were on the road again, headed to indiana where the real parties were ;) lately i've been a night owl due to staying up way past our bedtime & all the wedding festivities. i haven't danced so much since my senior prom. it was such a great time with family & friends. wish it didn't have to end. 

but now i'm writing this from st. louis. where the weather is almost as humid as august in georgia! it's nuts, but a nice taste of home all the same. 

driving into nashville // rockin' out to the live music // beautiful buildings in nashville // needed some pick-me-ups // storm blowing in // all pumped to party... except for M // admiring the scenery // M&L // prettiness from st. louis // collecting dirt //    

what have you been up to lately?

captured memories in a bottle

we aren't well traveled -- it's something we're currently working on. but every time we go somewhere new, instead of souvenirs, we collect ground. since we've been married we've traveled to mexico & hilton head island. each place we've gathered a handful of sand & put it in a bottle for keepsake. not photographed is our dirt from central park. it's still in a baggie because i've yet to find a cute bottle to house it in. not sure who decided we should do this, but i'm glad it happened. this is become a special tradition that allows us to store our memories.

we just collected mulch from nashville & now we're headed to indiana for a wedding. can't wait to collect our sample from there too!

do any of you have any unique or special ways of remembering your vacations?

xoxo
-L

new york -- day three

our time in new york was short. the third day was our last full day spent in the greatest city in the world.  with that being said, we wanted to take it easy. we'd already done so much walking & exploring the two days before, we figured we spend this day closer to our hotel & spending more time in central park. we managed to find a great place for breakfast -- a cute diner filled with black & white photos. i ordered their red velvet waffle {probably the most sinful thing i've ever consumed}. it was sooo good! immediately after we went to the park & found some great rocks to sit on & watched a few games of softball. before we knew it a few hours had gone by. getting restless, we made our way towards times square to buy a small bag of m&m's. we then headed back to the park to enjoy them in the shade. on the way we stopped by a couple food trucks & grabbed lunch. the one thing that i had my heart set on doing in new york was to have a picnic in central park. the idea of it seemed so pleasant & authentic. we found ourselves the greenest patch of grass possible & parked our booties right there. as we devoured our $9.00 lunch, we people watched those around us, trying to make up their life stories. we laughed so hard to some of the things we came up with. when we finally left that spot, there were the cutest butt prints in the grass where we sat & laughed.

i love you new york.

thanks for creating such treasures.