marriage on my mind: Finding Beauty in the Ordinary

hello lovelies!!
today we have the wonderful heather from finding beauty in the ordinary sharing a bit on wedding prep and newly wed life!


I met my husband, Joshua, at a movie theater. He was sitting next to me at Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion of the Christ" in February 2004. I remember exactly what we were both wearing. We talked the first 45 minutes of the movie. We became close friends over that summer of 2004, started dating that August, and got engaged exactly 2 years later, on August 19th, 2006. We had a 3-month long engagement and got married on the most beautiful day of my life, November 19th, 2006. It's been a beautiful 5+ years of married bliss! We have expanded our family this year with our German Shepherd puppy, Hartley, and now a beautiful baby on the way, due August 2nd! We love being married!

What was your favorite part of your wedding day?

My favorite part of my wedding day was simply having all of my favorite people in my life together in one place. It's beautifully surreal.

What made your wedding uniquely you?

I love water and grew up sailing close to the beach in San Diego. My favorite colors are the colors of the ocean-- blues and greens. So I wanted to incorporate a very tranquil, serene feeling through our wedding. Our bridesmaid dresses were a beautiful shade of teal. Our floral arrangements were hydrangeas submersed in water in glass fish bowls. And I walked down the aisle to a non-traditional wedding march: Enya's "Carribbean Blue." That was the best decision ever.
If you could plan your wedding again what would you do/not do over again?

Honestly, there is not much I would have changed other than possibly delegating more and having friends and family help so that they felt more included and not so much was put on my back.
What advice do you have for a bride planning her wedding?

Prioritize. Make a list and put in order the things that matter to you the most to the least. This helps you stick to a budget and prioritize where your money goes. The thing that mattered to me the most was photography. The thing that mattered the least to me was favors, so we simply went with an ornate piece of chocolate on the top of the plates on the tables. My wedding photos are a forever-keepsake.

What advice do you have for a newly wed couple?

You can't read one anothers minds. Communicate and be honest. Always make one another your biggest priority. Aim to serve him and lay all of your expectations aside. When you get married, he is loving you in a new way by putting gas in your car or washing the car. It's not always going to be a dinner out. Learn to see love in different ways. And always make him feel like he's your world. Oh, and lots of sex is always good, too :)
thanks so much for sharing heather and a huge congrats on the little one on the way.

you can find heather here as well
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48 things

1. What time did you get up this morning?
7 so i can text clint good morning before he starts class,
then i pass out again til 8:30

2. How do you like your steak?
being a vegetarian i'm not much for meat

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
the help...maybe? i don't remember
4. What is your favorite TV show?
murder mystery

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? with my love (haha so cheesy!!)

6. What did you have for breakfast?
breakfast? what is that?

7. What is your favorite food?
sushi, thai food, homemade pizza

8. Foods you dislike?
not much, but not really a meat eater

9. Favorite place to eat?
at home

10. Favorite dressing?
i make my own - equal parts olive oil and vinegar, dash of dill, pinch of sugar, squirt of dijon mustard - stir, pour, enjoy!

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive?
2000 toyota corola

12. What are your favorite clothes? tights and tunic, so comfy but still looks good. win, win!

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?
africa

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
1/2 full most of the time

15. Where would you want to retire?
hmm i dunno i guess we'll see when the time comes

16. Favorite time of day?
morning and evening

17. Where were you born?
dauphin, mb, canada

18. What is your favorite sport to watch?
hockey, i am canadian eh!

19. What is your favorite fragrance?
i dunno i just use what i have

20. What is your favorite face cream?
whatever is on sale at the time

21. Favorite baby/kids products? dunno i don't use baby products

22. People watcher?
absolutely

23. Are you a morning or night person?
both

24. Do you have any pets?
nope

25. Any new and exciting news you’d like to share?
i'm getting married... but most of you probably know that already!

26. What did you want to be when you were little?
be a mommy

27. What is your favorite memory?
to many to pick from

28. Are you a cat or dog person?
dog!

29. Are you married?
will be soon, June 23 to be exact!

30. Always wear your seat belt?
you betcha

31. Been in a car accident?
yes, that is why i always wear my seat belt

32. Any pet peeves?
fakeness

33. Favorite pizza toppings?
tomatoes, feta, black olives & oregano = YUM

34. Favorite flower?
gerber daisys, lilacs, black eyed susans, (i guess that's more than one)

35. Favorite ice cream?
vanilla

36. Favorite fast food restaurant?
i like fries... kinda my guilty pleasure

37. How many times did you fail your driver’s test?
once

38. From whom did you get your last email?
my grandparents (addresses for invites)

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
etsy (does that count as ONE??)

40. Do anything spontaneous lately?
not that i can think of

41. Like your job?
you bet!

42. Broccoli?
my favorite!

43. What was your favorite vacation?
i always loved camping (still do)

44. Last person you went out to dinner with?
clint

45. What are you listening to right now?
movie playing in the background

46. What is your favorite color?
depends what the colour is going to be on - usually earth tones trump all though

47. How many tattoos do you have?
none, if i wasn't so scared of needles i would have lots

48. Coffee drinker?
straight up please

have a fantastic day!

sponsor highlight day: Jen @ Arizona Russums

Hi y'all! I'm Jen and I blog over at The Arizona Russums. When Amber asked me to do a "day in the life" post, I was excited and overwhelmed all at the same time. I have been thinking about doing one of these for a while, but I have never actually tried it because my days are so varied. I could tell you what each day of my week usually looks like, but no one day looks like the other, which I love...

But I will tell you about my typical Tuesday because that's perhaps the most normal day of my week.

7ish - Wake up. On a good day, this happens at 6:45am, but good days are few and far between, and 7am easily becomes 7:15...

7:15ish - Brush teeth/straighten hair/put on make-up {on a good day the make-up happens in the bathroom; on a rushed day it happens in the car as I drive to school}

7:45ish - Coffee and Bible reading. I make myself a white chocolate mocha on my at-home espresso machine every single morning. I really don't think I could get through a day without these two things!

8:00ish - Leave for school. Again, this often sadly becomes 8:15 or even 8:30 and I pray on the way that I don't have to make any copies before class.

9:00onthedot - Teach my English 102 class to college freshmen. They are studying and writing about online communities and I love it!

10:00ish - Meeting

11:00 - 1:00 - Office hours... students rarely visit, so I talk to my office mates, answer email, and sometimes do homework during this time. Oh, and I always eat a lunch I bring from home. Preferably leftovers from Monday's dinner.

1:30onthedot - Class {as a student this time, not a teacher}.

3:00ish - Head to the gym on the way home. Workouts usually consist of 20-30 minutes on the treadmill, weights and abs.

4:00ish - Home to shower and fix dinner. I usually grocery shop on Mondays, but if I forgot anything or didn't go for some reason, I might stop by the store.

Evening: Fix dinner, do homework, catch up on the blog, hang out with husband. Stay up too late. Sleep.

So that's my life. It's a little crazy every day. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I substitute teach, but I usually don't know which school I will be at until the night before or the morning of. On Wednesdays, I have an evening class and then rush straight to our Missional Community. I am always switching between roles: college teacher, high school teacher, grad student, wife... but I love every second of it. I feel so blessed to be in grad school getting my PhD! Thanks for having me today, Amber!

Please stop by and visit! I'd love to meet you!
Blog // Facebook // Twitter // Bloglovin

xoxo,
Jen

sponsor highlight day: Amber @ The Pless Press

Hey there all you lovely readers! I am Amber from over at The Pless Press. I am so excited to be here. I am so grateful for Amber allowing me to give all of you a glimpse into a day in the life of the Pless household. I am sure we are no different than any of you, but sometimes it nice to be reassured that we do not have to be crazy busy all of the time to have a happy life.

Here is a typical day in our life.

We both get up and ready to be out the door by 7:40 for work/class.

I work at Oklahoma Christian University with the new students. I love their excitement about college. It reminds me of just a few years ago when I was one of them just beginning my college journey and what an incredible journey that was.

I love working where I do because I have the blessing of still being around so many of our family and friends. I am visited everyday by either my sister-in-law, some of our friends who are still around campus, and so many others. I am truly blessed to be in the community that I am!

Since most of our friends who have graduated are still around the Oklahoma City area, I am able to go to lunch with some of my dearest friends during the week, which is a great time to catch up and enjoy time with other sweet friends.

As soon as I finish work, my sister-in-law and her roommate and I all work out for about an hour. This has been something that has become such a priority in my life. I never worked out in high school or college because I spent my time practicing for cheerleading or dance or some sport I was in at that time. Since my junior year of college when I was not cheering anymore this became a major challenge for me. Lately, I have grown to love it. The refreshing feeling afterwards and the changes I can already tell in my physical body and in my stamina while working out have made it much more rewarding.

If you have ever looked at my blog, you can tell that I cook quite a bit. As soon as I get home I start cooking dinner. I do not really enjoy cooking, but it is growing on me. I do love, however, researching new recipes on Pinterest or recipe websites. Once I find one that I like to try, if C and I both like it, then I am beyond excited to share it with my readers because that is a major accomplishment.

After dinner, I spend some time studying the Word. Sometimes this consists of a Bible study that I am participating in like the Beth Moore James' series that I just recently completed. At times it consists of me spending time prayer journaling. Other times it could consist of me just reading and working on Scripture memorization. I have to tell you, this has been the hardest thing for me to find a large amount of time for, especially because I have a hard time staying that focused with other things going on around me or just in my mind. But, over this past year reshaping my alone time with God has really opened up my mind and my heart to what the Lord has so graciously blessed me with in my life. I know I have a lot of growing to do in this area of my life, but I strongly believe that the pursuit of God in any amount will bless us tremendously.

The rest of the night it just spent with my sweet husband C and our precious little dog Skip relaxing. Sometimes this involves a sweet treat like ice cream and others it just includes us throwing toys all around our apartment so Skip can frantically chase it everywhere. We are definitely TV addicts, though, so we always find time during the week to enjoy shows together that sometimes we both love and sometimes it is simply just to spend time together.

As I said, we are just a normal day to day couple trying to find our way through life. Thanks for letting me share a glimpse into our life with you. I hope you have an incredible day!

sponsor highlight day: Beth @ Until only Love remains

A day in the life...

What really is a day in the life? Every day that I wake up is completely new & an amazing adventure. But they say a picture is worth a thousand words & here is a snapshot of a "day in the life"

1. best way to start the day with some good time with Jesus

2. coffee from my french press - also an important start to the day

3. nanny my beautiful lovelies in the morning

4. Gap it up at worky work & help pick out stunning outfits

....

then the night time comes...

Monday: girls night

Tuesday: bible study

Wednesday: Financial Peace class with the boy

Thursday: game night with my family

Friday: date night

you can find Beth here
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etsy

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sponsor highlight day: Melissa @ Simply, Melissa Ashley

Typical day in the life of: Simply, Melissa Ashley



I am thrilled to be guest posting for Amber today! Although I don't find my life as interesting as say...most bloggers out there (at least it appears), I will do my best :) I am currently a student at Appalachian State in Boone, N.C. so typically my days revolve around school..more school..and just a whole lottttttttttta deadlines! Here's a little peak into my everyday world.

My morning typically looks like this...drool and all. I am not afraid to admit I don't wake up beautifully like they portray in various films and tv shows. What is not pictured is that fact that I press my snooze button for a good ol' five times before I wake up.





Typically I have classes on Tuesday and Thursday from 8 a.m. - 4:45 p.m. so I normally look like a train wreck, but Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays I have "free days" which aren't so free. I normally spend my days writing articles, working on assignments, working on a campaign media kit for my internship and trying to fit in episodes of "How I Met Your Mother." (I'm currently on the 7th season! Finally gotten caught up)

My day isn't completely without a trip to my favorite local coffee shop, Espresso News! I also from time to time order a bowl of their homemade soup and when I'm really feeling wealthy a pint of beer from upstairs. Yeah, coolest coffee shop EVER right? In between procrastinating and remembering to squeeze in a meal, I always somehow make time to play Words With Friends. Yes, I am one of them. Nothing like a game similar to my favorite board game Scrabble, just without worrying about someone knocking the board over and letters spilling everywhere. Plus, WWF gives you less awkward moments when you think a word's a word but it's really not.

I probably have ten games going on simultaneously.



Other than coffee, checking on Noisetrade for new music and making lists of things I've already done to convince myself I've been productive, I like to add humor to my typical days to make them not-so-typical :)



Do stop by my blog and say a little hello! My blog is a little place to keep me inspired and focus on the little things in life when we get overwhelmed with life's stresses. I like to blog about photography, food, fashion, crafts and anything else that tickles my fancy. I absolutely love meeting new bloggers out there! You can also find me on Twitter, Flickr, Pinterest and Tumblr.



Thank you Amber for hosting me :)

All images via Tumblr

Sounds like a busy day!
Thanks for sharing Melissa
Be sure to hop on over to her blog and say hi!
Have a great day!

sponsor highlight day: Kitty @ A Law Student's Journey

Here is Kitty to share what a typical day looks like for her!

Hey there, its Kitty from A Law Student's Journey

A day in the life of a crafty law student, is always dull yet never ceasing to be busy. I wont bore you with the specifics of my day, however, I'll share a bit about the life of a blogger in law school. I spend the afternoons either in class, or at work at the Nebraska Capitol building, sitting in on senate committee hearings.

Blogging is done often in the mornings, right when I wake up, before the stress of a legal education sets in. You'd be surprised, however, how creativity and a legal education coincides. Law school is loop holes, creative thinking, hypothetical situations and pulling out every possible claim available.

My evenings are spent crafting, and completing etsy orders. Between (and honestly, sometimes during) class I talk to etsy customers, answer blogger questions and keep up with my online social networks.

I suppose you could say I live vicariously through my blog. Whenever I have a free moment, I enjoy taking my camera out for some photography, try a new place in town, or if I have a longer break, I travel. Almost all of my spare money (after paying for school that is) goes to plane tickets.

That about sums it up! I'm a bit over half way through with my legal education, and have almost no idea what I will do when I graduate. Feel free to come visit me over at A Law Student's Journey to observe first hand how I manage my time crafting my way through school!

Sounds like you are always on the go!
Thanks for sharing!

Be sure to stop by and say hi to Kitty!

lovely little things this week

the lovely little things that happened this week...


1. cookie baking time - they magically disappeared in two days
2. catching up on grey's anatomy
3. wedding countdown & lovely green plants4. beautiful snow
5. the path to my friends place... it was a winter wonder land6. while bridesmaid dress shopping my sister and i found these :)

must have wedding shots

hello hello!
i trust you are having a fantastic day!

as i have been browsing pinterest i have been pinning some pictures that i really want to do for our wedding. here are a few of my favorite!

Source: indriindriindrii.tumblr.com via Amber on Pinterest

the bridal part is going to be bare foot so feet pictures are a m.u.s.t.

Source: mybeloveds.tumblr.com via Amber on Pinterest

have the flower girl and ring bears 'frame' us, too cute!

Source: media-cdn.pinterest.com via Amber on Pinterest

praying together before we see each other

Source: greenweddingshoes.com via Amber on Pinterest

l.o.v.e.

Source: atriversedgephoto.wordpress.com via Amber on Pinterest

super cheesy, but i love cheese

what are some wedding pictures that you love?
what were your favorite shots?

marriage on my mind: Jessi

today we have the lovely Jessi from this camera tells my story
to share a bit about her wedding and some tips for newly weds.

here is a bit about me:

i love Jesus
i live in texas with my husband, our son and our big fat orange cat
we used to live in Oceanside, CA and we miss it like nobody's business!
we hope to have a lot more children (like, a. lot.)
my favorite past time has to be creating, anything
my first car was a white 1991 mazda miata.. and i really miss that car
i love fruit
my favorite kind of paint is spray paint.. i mean, paint in a can? genius!
one dream i have is to visit ireland for christmas
i spent the past 4 years of my life in san diego.. ya i miss it, who wouldn't?
i'm a work in progress

what was your favorite part of your wedding day?

There isn't one particular moment that was my favorite. It was being able to say that I was now Ben's wife. It was finally being married to the man I had been dying to marry. My favorite part was that what I had been waiting for had finally come!

what made your wedding uniquely you?

It was frugal and thrifty. If I were to pick 2 words to describe me as a person, I would also choose those words. Our wedding cost $5000. How in the world did we do it?:

-I bought my wedding dress "off the rack" on a sale weekend

-My mom made my veil, garters and a clutch. I borrowed a tiara

-A friend of mine, who was a Mary Kay consultant did my make up.

-My flowers were done by a grocery store floral department. (You can also buy your own flowers bulk and make arrangements yourself. I've done this for several people.)

-Our venue was the neighborhood church

-Our reception was in the club house at a trailer park for free (It was a retirement community/trailer park. Yep, I'm pretty proud of that!)

-We did not serve dinner, only appetizers and cake. My mom bought all the food from a bulk food store. A friend made my cake for $150 (fondant and all!)

-We did not have a bar, only a couple kegs, wine and champagne (after all, neither I nor the groom were even old enough to drink!)

-Instead of party favors, Ben and I donated money to our favorite local charity in honor of our guests

if you could plan your wedding again what would you do/not do over again?

The #1 thing I tell everyone I would do differently is pay more for a photographer! I went with someone who was cheaper than many others and we got what we paid for. I only received prints, no images and she wasn't nearly as creative as I look back and wish she had been. I think in the future, Ben and I will get dressed up again and take new "wedding" photos with a photographer who I know I like! I honestly would have paid as much for the photographer as I did the whole wedding had I known!

what advice do you have for a bride planning her wedding?

Relax and have fun! There's absolutely no reason to stress about it. What matters more than your wedding day is your marriage. Focus on that. Enjoy your wedding day and your husband, but remember what really matters. Don't go overboard and please, please, please don't go into debt for it! The last thing you want is to enter into marriage with debt from one single day.

Enjoy each other! Let the little things go. You'll find out things about each other that you didn't know before. Embrace the differences and learn to compromise. Learn each other's love language and learn to speak it.

And my #1 piece of advice for any married couple is: learn to communicate. Talk about everything! Keep no secrets. Bottle in nothing. The more you discuss, the more that's on the table, the less likely either of you is to explode and turn a simple argument into something major.
---
thanks for sharing Jessi.
these are all great things to keep in mind.

blessings,
amber

coffee date

if we were meeting up for coffee...
i'd say lets head to a local coffee shop because i need to get out of my place for a bit.
i would ask you to people watch with me. i love people watching,

i hope you do too. {listing}

i would also ask you how you were doing? what are the highs and lows of your life right now?
i would tell you that i am doing good. still not stressed about wedding planning, everything seems to be falling into place. i would tell you that i am counting down the days until i get to see my clint every single day! it really could not come soon enough. i would also tell you that a surprising amount of people don't believe in marriage. people who i just meet tell me not to get married. most of these people are married and it makes my heart sad. i know that marriage will not be easy but i know it will be worth it.

i would ask you what your plans for the week are?
this week i am working everyday. i enjoy work but all my shifts are in the evening so it kinda eats into my social life and being an extrovert that isn't always a good thing. i need to be with people to be rejuvenated. not having this has kinda got in me in a funk right now. i'm just not myself. i need to learn that it's ok to say no to shifts that become available and take time for myself.

{source}

i would ask you what you would like prayer for? i believe that prayer is a powerful thing and that although God knows all that is going on in our lives he wants us to bring them to Him.

i hope that you enjoyed our time together and that we can do this again some time soon!

my bridesmaids

so far i have not been stressed about wedding planning at all.
everything is going so smoothly
and i could not be more excited about the lovely ladies i will have standing beside me
they are fantastic!
let me introduce them to you.these fine ladies in neon will be standing beside me.

directly behind me is alana also known as maid of honor, nanners, lanner, dr.wilson, nan, and the list could go on and on and on.... you get the point!
we have been friend since the wee age of four and have grown up together! living way in the country it was difficult to always get to town to hang out with friends but i could walk (or quad) to nanners place no problem since it was only 3 miles away. we have many, many memories together! she has always been there for me and i love her so much!

directly in front of me is the sweet & caring lynnette. i dunno if you could find a sweeter person on earth! we met in college and our friendship has been growing. she is always there to pray for you, ask you how you are truly doing, and to laugh with! i am so so happy that God has blessed me with her.

in the very back is the beautiful sarah, also known as 'my bumble bee' ...heee heee....
i also met sarah at college, she was my bathroom buddy and r.a. my first year at prov. she was so welcoming and we clicked right away! this girl is the goofiest ever and can always make you laugh. when you are with her you will have a good time. she is a super caring and an amazing prayer warrior. so glad that being bathroom buddies bonded us so much.

next is baby sister #1, erin, this girl can belt it out!! (and she will be at the wedding) this girl is the perfect mix of sarcastic, witty, caring, sensitive, loving, and fun! even though she d.o.e.s.n.o.t. like to hug i always manage to squeeze one in... or i give her love taps (double clap...be prepared erin, muahahahahha) i wish all teen girls were like her, she cares about those around her, isn't judgmental, listens, and tries new things. so glad that God let me be her big sister!

last but certainly not least we have my babiest sister! this blond ball of energy is my sweet, sassy baby chloe! also affectionately known as 'bean'. this girl is passionate about every living creature. she loves to dress up, sing, dance, go horse back riding, give me makeovers, make home videos (none of which i want shown at the wedding), and she is super creative! so glad that she is my little bean!

cute story about her!
i was shopping for wedding stuff and found a dress for her, she was four hours away so there wasn't really a chance of her trying it on right away so i called home. my brother was babysitting. i asked her is she wanted to wear a gold sparkly dress... "YES!" so i look what sizes they have, i ask G (our brother) what size she was his response, "i unno" ok well can you check her pants please, he agrees, after about five mins of nothing on the other line i ask G if he knows how to check for the size, he doesn't. i get chloe on the phone i ask her is she knows her size she says, "umm i think i'm a six.... or maybe i'm a twelve. i think either would work." i laugh and tell her that six and twelve are VERY different sizes!
she is so cute!

happy monday!

i'm over here

hello friends

hope on over to sam's blog, threadesque for a fun tutorial

it involves chalkboard paint, love notes, and clipboards

blessings,
amber

link love: free printables

as i am wedding planning i am also really excited about decorating our place so that it reflects clint and i. we will have a pretty tight budget so find cheap (but not cheap looking) ways to decorate can be difficult.

so free printables it is!

there are so many fantastic and free prints out there and i am excited to share some of my favorites.
for our bedroom
for the living room
for the entrance
for the kitchen perhaps?
for the bathroom....
its good to be reminded of this every morning to start the day off right.

my life according to my phone

this week was a busy week but there were lots of little things that made it great!

{opening my valentines swap gift}
{making valentines with the grade three class i volunteer in}
{love}
{me on 15 - #febphoto366}
{a valentine i got in my mail box... made me laugh}
{visiting a friend and this is how the dining room way was decorated...love it}
{flowers from my love}
have a happy weekend!

linking up here and here

making my own wedding invites

this past week i have been working on making my wedding invitations!

it involved a.l.o.t. of cutting!!they are finally f.i.n.i.s.h.e.d. i just need to write our the addresses then in the mail they go!
i had to change the design of the invites about five times but i am really pleased with how they turned out.
they are simple.
each and everyone is unique.
and i had fun making them.
also as a note to other people who are making or ordering your wedding invitation...
not every single person on the invite list needs an invite.
i made that mistake when printing the pictures for our invites as well as the maps for our location.
so now i have about 150 pictures of clint and i and maps to get to get to our wedding location

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