Where You Shop

It just so happens that Travis and I went shopping today.  Next week, we are taking family pictures at my family reunion.  We went to get shirts for the pictures, but came home with 3 pairs of shoes (2 for me, 1 for Travis).  I guess I will have to go shopping again tomorrow.      

Something Cute

I just had to put a picture of us for this topic because as we were leaving to go to a Dayton Dragons game I noticed that we were matching. You can't really tell from the picture but his shirt is grey and mine is pink and grey. Aren't we cute?!

Popular!

POPULAR! i know about popular.

and with an assist from me,
to be who you'll be,
instead of dreary who you were...uh, are.
there's nothing that can stop you,
from becoming popular... lar...
la la, la la!
we're gonna make you pop-u-lar!

You guessed it!  We went and saw Wicked this weekend and it was amazing!  I loved the whole show, but this was one of my favorite songs!  I think I mentioned it before, but my old roommate Ashley Dee used to play this soundtrack over and over while we were living together.  I grew to love the songs and can't help but think of her every time I hear them.  

The play lived up to its high reviews.  I was even blown away by the scene where they sing "Gravity."  I heard that was the best part so it was talked up a lot for me, which sometimes brings disappointment.  I got the chills because I knew the story line and the girl that played Elphba was AMAZING!  Everytime I see a play or dance or things of the sort, I get very emotional at the end.  I can't help but imagine all the hours and hours they have put in to their performance like I used to do in gymnastics and guard.  It literally becomes your life.   

Picture in front of one of the many advertisements.  Unfortunately we never got a picture with Jake and Amy.  We were going to at the restaurant, but I forgot.  

We went with Jake and Amy and they both really enjoyed it.  If I remember correctly, it was Jake's first play ever!  Hopefully he won't be disappointed by others because this set the bar pretty high.

After the play we went and ate at Thai 9.  It was another first for Jake and Amy.  We even introduced Jake to his first sushi.  Amy wasn't quite as daring.  Last time we were there, the Stewarts had us try some sushi with barbequed squid on top and I loved it so we got it again to share.

Since Amy was out of her comfort zone with the food, she took us to a familiar place afterwards...Coldstone.  I haven't had Coldstone in at least a year.  I am not a huge ice cream fan, but when it is covered in caramel, brownie bites and pecans I can't pass it up.  It was delicious!  It was an awesome Saturday full of adventures.  I am so glad that Jake and Amy were able to come with us!

Side note:  They came and took out our non-functioning hot tub that morning.  I am super excited because now our side yard is more open and kid friendly.  We have some fun projects planned for the yard now!

On Your Mind

I had the opportunity to teach the young women at church today. The lesson was on Temple Marriage, so obviously I thought about my temple marriage.  Our 1 year anniversary is coming up in a couple weeks so it has been on my mind a lot anyways. 

One of my favorite quotes from the lesson talked about marrying the right person, at the right place, at the right time.  That is so true of our marriage.  We just had to wait for the right time.  I am so grateful I waited because I definitely got a good one!

Burst

I am sooo excited that I feel like I am going to burst!!!  As I was laying in bed last night, I made the realization that SUMMER IS HERE!!!!  We seriously have the best summer ever planned (besides last summer with our wedding and honeymoon)! I really am so excited that it is hard for me to hold it in.  Here is what the next 5 weeks looks like for us!!!

-We are going to see Wicked tomorrow with some of our best friends here.  I have wanted to see it since living with Ashley Dee and her obsession to the soundtrack.  I already love the songs and I hear the play is amazing.  Can't wait!!

-A week from today we will be at Granny and Papaw's house.  It it such a famaliar place that reminds me of my childhood.  I can't wait to see them and eat some of Granny's famous Fried Chicken!! 

-After Granny and Papaw's, we are headed to Emerald Isle.  Slingshot (the house) is another place I think of when I think of my childhood.  I have been every year (except last year-honeymoon instead) since I was 2.  It is so relaxing and I can't wait to see my family-direct and extended. 

-This year at the beach, Travis' sister and her family are coming.  I am so excited, especially because they can't make it out to Utah for the Barlow reunion.  That is part of the reason I couldn't sleep last night.  I am so glad they decided to come.  It will add more kids to the excitement.

-ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!  I don't know what we are going to do yet.  Travis isn't a big celebrater so we will probably just use the gift cards we have to go to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner.

-Girls Camp-I am excited and a little scared.  I may die if the temperatures are in the 100s like last year.  I am still trying to get used to the humidity from being in Utah for so long.  It will be fun to get to know the girls better and do all the fun things they have planned.

-Drive, Drive, Drive...we are driving to Utah for the Barlow reunion.  On the way, we are going to stop at Mount Rushmore and meet up with Jared and Ann.  I love them and it is always fun to visit a new place.

-Provo-visit friends and roomies that we haven't seen the past year.  I can't wait!!!  I also want to go to Bohme Boutique.  I miss the stores in Utah.

-Barlow Reunion-These reunions happen every other year and they are way different than Broadhead reunions.  We just sit, relax and read.  The Barlows love to party (not to mention there are 3 times as many of them)!  There is something going on every day we are there.  It is going to be such a fun week and I can't wait!!

-Drive, drive, drive-get home and collapse from a fun filled month

I really can't wait!  Plus, we have some projects planned to get done around the house in our spare time.  It is going to be a busy, but fulfilling month!  The only down side is that after we get back, summer is pretty much over. 

Where you slept

 

Today's topic is really ironic to me.  Remember how I had a migraine for 3 days straight?  Well, I spent most of my time in my bed.  I couldn't stand, clean, eat, or even watch tv.  I just spent a lot of time laying there in pain.  Today though, I woke up and the first thing I realized is that I am back to normal!!!  You have no idea how amazing I feel!  I cannot wait to do all the things that have been neglected this week:  clean, laundry, yardwork, gym, and I even have a few crafts/projects that are on my to do list.  You are going to think I am a crazy person, but I am looking forward to every single one of those things.  I am just grateful to be able to do them pain free.

Now on to the bed.  We are very lucky to have gotten this bed as a wedding gift.  (thanks again!)  In looking at beds, I fell in love with this one:

http://www.home-decorating-co.com/jennifer-taylor-yorke-queen-bed-in-bags-2853-979.html

(Sorry, I can't get the link to show the image)  The only problem with that one is the $1,121.99 price tag.  Luckily I found this bedspread at Target for $50.  We are missing the big pillows in back and red accents, but I love it anyways!

Alive

Just in case any of you are worried about me because I haven't posted in a few days, I thought I would let you know that I am alive.  :)  I have had a terrible migraine for the past 3 days that has left me bed ridden.  Ok, not that bad, but pretty close.  I literally haven't even been outside my house since going to the gym Monday morning.  I just can't seem to kick this one.  It started subsiding last night, but was back full force this morning.  So, sorry for not posting any pictures.  Light hurts my eyes so the computer screen isn't my favorite thing to look at.  Now that I have surrendered to this migraine, maybe it will decide to go away!

Out and About

We were out and about pretty much all day! We woke up early and got some work done around the house. Then Travis actually suggested going shopping and I never turn down a shopping opportunity! It was actually really successful! I went shopping last week and came home with nothing. Today I came home with two shirts and a pair of capris that were all 50% off! Travis even found a couple things.

After eating lunch, I went over to Kresta's for Kera's baby shower. She is due in less than two weeks. She is absolutely adorable and I can't wait to meet baby girl. I am pretty sure that she is going to be the cutest dressed little girl around (and that is saying a lot because there are lots of adorable little babies at church right now). You should see the collection of bows that Kera has already made for her. She also got lots of cute new clothes today, but my favorite thing was a quilt Kristi made. (You may remember me mentioning Kristi in my post about learning to sew. She is absolutely amazing and when I see her work it inspires me to develop this skill.) The quilt is one that Kera wanted to make, but was not able to. It was such a sweet and thoughtful gift! Once again, I have to tell you how amazing my friends are!

Here I am with Kera. As we were taking the picture, Leisy laughed at how much I had to bend over. I love it!

After the shower, Travis and I headed over to his boss' house for a party. He had a bunch if his good friends over. We really enjoyed getting to know them. They are pretty entertaining people. We just hung out, ate, played in the pool and played our first game of corn hole. I had a lot of fun. Their backyard is incredible so I just enjoyed sitting there taking it all in. They have beautiful landscaping around the pool and the perfect hangout area. I don't really know what to call it, but there was a storage room, changing area and bathroom alongside an open bar. There was a covered sitting area with the most comfortable chairs! They had a tv, fans and surround sound. It really is the perfect place. I told Travis that if it were my house, I would live outside.  It was so relaxing.  One day when we can afford it, I dream of having a place like that. I really like Travis' boss and his wife. They are the most friendly people and really make you feel comfortable around them.

This was Travis' favorite chair.   Just look at those rose bushes!

 

Watching as they played in the pool.

We had such a great day full of fun activities and great friends!

Yellow

Yellow is a color that has really grown on my the past couple years.  It started while I was living with Amy.  Yellow is Amy's favorite color and it embodies her personality.  She is just sweet, sunshiny and happy. 

Now, I love all the yellow that is in style for clothes and decorating.  Yellow just seems to light up your mood.

Today I got to watch these two adorable little boys! 

Since I was searching for a "yellow" photo op, I seemed to notice every yellow thing.  Many "kid" things seem to include yellow, like these blocks. 

They had yellow cars, books with yellow in them, yellow blocks, yellow room decor, and we played at a water park with yellow structures.  It is such a happy color. 

Now that I have displayed my photo, I just wanted to record a little about today.  Alison went to her best friends wedding, so I got to be mom for a day.  Her boys are so well behaved that I wasn't worried about anything.  Alison also leaves "lesson plans" that outline everything for me.  Besides our daily activities, we got to visit a waterpark with some friends.  I seriously have the best friends!  I know I have been saying that a lot lately.  I just feel like I have finally found my place.  I just had to learn to go to things even though I sometimes feel awkward without kids. 

Anyways, back to my day.  The boys were so good and so sweet.  One of them kept telling me he loved me and giving me hugs.  It was so cute.  We played a ton and we were all tired by the end of the day.  I have done a ton of babysitting and nannying in my life, but I actually gained a new insight today.  In my past experiences, I wasn't married and didn't have a house.  Now I understand how mothers' TO DO lists pile up.  I can't imagine getting any house/yard work done with multiple kids around.  So, to all those mother's out there, I am more impressed by all you do now!

Time

Lately I have had a lot of free time since school has been out. I have enjoyed every minute of it! I have time to clean, craft and just be lazy! The best part though is that I have been able to hang out with my friends. I have done more the past 2 weeks than the past 6 months combined. Ok, that may be a small exaggeration but that is how I feel. A lot of the times it is me tagging along for play groups, meeting up at the park or seeing them at the gym, but I still count it! Today we even had just girl time with no kids. Aleese and I planned on doing something tonight since we were both available so we decided to get pedicures. I thought Kera would enjoy the pampering, especially since she is due so soon, so she joined us. It was fun to chat with these girls and learn new things about them! I seriously have the best friends here and feel so grateful for all of them!

Art

Today's photo is "art."  When I think of art, a large range of concepts come to my mind.  I absolutely love art in all forms: dance, music, photography, acting, crafts, interior design and what you think of when you think of traditional art.  

Today at church, we just so happened to be doing a craft.  We made mailboxes for girl's camp.  Here are just a few pictures of the adorable girls that I get to work with on a weekly basis! I absolutely love them and have been so lucky to work with them. 

Alexis, Merlinda and Emily:

Stephanie She is quite the little crafter!

Kyleigh

Emily

Door

Today's photo topic is "Door."  I was trying to figure out which door I wanted to get because basically all our doors look the same.  After an eventful evening, I decided to take a picture from the view of our door.

As I was cooking dinner, I see a small EMS fire truck pull up right at the end of our driveway.  I wondered if they were coming to check on the fire hydrant that is located by our mailbox.  I went to the door to see if there was anything I could help them with, but I didn't see where the person was.  Seconds later, I heard sirens.  I went back inside to continue dinner.  Out the window, I saw the ambulance and fire engine show up.  The crews went into the house next door.  I realized that Travis would be getting home any second so I went ahead and gave him a call to give him a heads up and let him know I was ok.  It looked like they were at our house and I know I would have panicked if I arrived home to that sight! 

Turns out that there was some sort of emergency at our neighbors house.  They took the husband out on a stretcher.  The wife and son followed the ambulance so I was unable to see if there was anything I could do.  Hopefully everything turns out ok.  My adrenaline was running just from seeing the lights and hearing the sirens, so I can only imagine how their family felt.

Your View Today/Best Bit of Your Weekend

I know my mom reads my blog because she sent me a text yesterday reminding me that I hadn't done my photo post yet.  So for those that actually check my blog daily, sorry for keeping you in suspense.  I remembered yesterday that I was suppose to teach today so I was planning my lesson instead of updating my blog.  Good excuse, right?

It is also pretty convenient that yesterday's and today's pictures are similar.  After attending Super Saturday (doing crafts) at church, Travis and I headed to Yellow Springs for the Street Fair.

 

People describe Yellow Springs as the Hippie/Granola town of Ohio.  I think I posted about John Bryan State Park before.  It is located in Yellow Springs.  Ever since that visit, we have wanted to go back to visit the local stores.  We still need to go back to visit the stores since we didn't get the chance again, but we REALLY enjoyed the Street Fair.

As we entered the fair, this was the first thing we saw.  I am not exactly sure what it is for, but I was fascinated by it.  Unfortunately I didn't bring my good camera so you will have to deal with phone pictures. 

There were TONS of different vendors selling things from food to jewelry to clothes to home decor.  I LOVED it.  The prices were pretty reasonable too.  I got a necklace for $1.

This is the official picture for the "Your View Today."

There was even a vendor that just sold jewelry made from Amber.  (Don't pay attention to my crazy hair!)

Along with tons of vendors, there were tons of street performers.  This was one of our favorites.  It was a blue grass band. 

This was the only picture of the two of us that I took.  We sat down for a minute to watch some hippies and gypsies dance and perform. 

This was also the "Best Bit of Your Weekend" because I just got to spend the day with my sweetie and explore a new place.  (To add to it, Travis even bought me some new jewelry!)  This is why I love the summertime!

6 o'clock

Today at 6 o'clock, I was crocheting and waiting for Travis to get home. Lately I have been giving Travis a hard time because I have been wanting some flowers to go in the kitchen. Today when he got home and noticed my eyes were red (from allergies) he said I looked sad. I said it was probably because he came home again without flowers (just jokingly). Then as I walked into the kitchen to begin dinner I saw gerber daisies sitting on the counter. These are my proclaimed favorite flowers even though my mind/taste may be changing. It made me so happy! I have such a sweet husband!

Drink

Those of you that know me well know that I love Dr. Pepper. I had to pay tribute to my favorite drink even though I have been neglecting it lately. You see, now that I have started this healthier lifestyle, one of the first things I cut out was flavored drinks. Now I only drink it if I have a migraine. My new drink of preference is water. I carry a water bottle everywhere. I even order it at restaurants. So today's photo, drink, is of my favorite from the past and present.

Thursday=Trash Day

One of the joys of living in a house is having a specific trash day.  Our trash is picked up earrrrrly Friday morning so we put it out Thursday night.  I probably didn't feel this way as a child, but I love trash day!  I know that sounds weird, but I love the feeling of getting rid of stuff that I don't need and starting over each week.  We (mostly me) have also turned Thursday into cleaning day.  I clean the whole house and get rid of any junk.  I just love feeling refreshed each week by having a clean house. 

Hat

Today's photo is "hat." I have never been a hat person so I decided to take my own picture. I went to the park to hang out with my friends today. It has been gorgeous weather and on the way home I couldn't get over how beautiful the sky was. So this picture is to illustrate the perfect weather we have been having.

Summer Lovin'

Lucky you!  This is the second post today.  I just had to write about our weekend and about our amazing friends!  I can't tell you enough how lucky I am to have such good friends!  Our ward is made up of mostly young couples with small children.  We are one of 3 couples that don't have kids (one is pregnant and the other is getting their adoption stuff up).  I don't really have a best friend here, besides Travis, but I have a lot of really good friends. I was thinking about it the other day and each person is so different and unique, but we all get along great!

Alison is my friend that I have the most in common with.  Love her!

Since moving into our house, we have been wanting to get some of our friends together.  We never felt like we could in our apartment because it was so small.  We invited a few friends over, since our place still isn't that big, to play games, eat and chat.  It was the perfect summer night!  

I wish I had taken a picture, but Travis was the grill master with hamburgers and of course bacon.  After eating, we played a couple rounds of goofy golf.  Travis and I used to play this a lot when we were dating, but we haven't had space here.  Then the girls sat down to chat while the boys played an intense game of bocce ball.  It was fun watching them and I was glad that Travis could have some guy time.

 Bocce Ball that landed on the blanket.  They had all kinds of bizarre places from under a tree to under my chair to on top of the blanket.  Leisy threatened anyone's life who hit her baby!

My favorite moment of the night was when Scott told me that our yard looked perfect!  Travis asked if he was looking at our neighbors yard because hers really is perfect.  I have spent a TON of time working on our yard so it was nice know that it was worth the effort.  

It was a very relaxed night, but I have a ton of fun.  I am so glad summer is here and we can hang out outside.  We want to do stuff like this all summer!

Close Up

I have decided that this is my year of growth and learning. I am trying to expand my boundaries. This growth is spiritually, physically, and knowledge based.

I am forced to spiritually grow with my calling in the young women's presidency. Currently we are all reading the Book of Mormon by the end of summer. It is good for me to do a "quick read" because the stories are making more sense.

I have definitely grown physically. I have been going to the YMCA to either run or go to classes. I actually love the classes even though I was unsure at first. I have also been studying a lot about nutrition and have learned a ton! I have been able to implement some of these good practices into my life. I still love my sweets, but I am learning to eat it in moderation. I still need to work on cooking. I just need to find a way to enjoy it.

I am trying to develop my talents as well. This year I have learned how to sew...kind of...simple sewing I guess. I am also relearning how to ride a bike. I bike to the gym, church and friends houses. The most recent talent I am developing is crocheting. My friend Sheri has been teaching me. I decided to make a blanket so I went over today for her to help me. It is taking me forever, but it will be fun to see the end result. (I will have a hard time giving it away, but that is why I am making it)

Since crocheting is the most recent endeavor, that is why I chose today's topic "close up" to show proof I am doing it.

On Your Plate

I had a lot on my plate today, both food and plan wise. I started off the day with nothing on my plate because it is fast Sunday. We went to church and had a wonderful meeting. After church we went over to our friends, the Terry's, house with the Carlson's. We had a delicious casserole, pasta salad, watermelon, homemade rolls and amazing pumpkin chocolate chip cookies! Straight from there, we drove to Columbus to meet up with Travis' sister in law and nephew that were in town. We talked and ate again. This meal was crockpot pork, salad, homemade bread and corn on the cob.
I did not get a picture of any food, but I did get a picture with Alyssa and Sam. I was a fabulous Sunday filled with family and friends!

Empty

Today's topic is "empty." Immediately I think of our spare bedroom. Now that we have unpacked and organized most of our stuff, this room remains empty. Eventually we want to get a spare bed for guests to stay in when they visit. We have bought a lot of stuff lately, so for now it will remain empty.

Morning

This morning as I was looking at some blogs I follow, I saw June's photo a day list. I see people do it all the time so I thought I would give it a shot. Hopefully it will get me back into taking more pictures because I have been bad about it lately.

Today's photo is "morning." I took this picture out the front door this morning. Hopefully you can see the rain. It hasn't rained in a while so it is good for the grass and plants. Rainy days make me want to put on comfy clothes and cuddle up. Luckily I can today because I don't have any set plans, just cleaning and getting stuff ready for our party tomorrow.