our wedding (the details - part 1)

It has been a coons age since I've talked about our wedding. Which is kind of odd to me because I have been missing it like crazy. Thinking of anyway I could possibly have another wedding....with the same guy. Hmmm, renew our vows? Is a year too soon? Dang...

Today I just wanted to share some of the small details throughout the day that made it all come together and show a little bit of who we are. And why they were brought into our day.

The little details were some of the most fun to me. The most fun to see play out, that is. At first they were a pain in my you know what because there were so darn many of them. And now looking back, those are what mean the very most to look at in the pictures. Thank God for pictures btw. Ya know?

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking with a little explaining. I mean, I'd way rather look at the pictures than listen to me.

These mason jars were given to us by Jeff's mother. We used them on our head table to drink out of during dinner and the reception. I have loved these little guys from the moment I saw them. Something about mason jars...

This beautiful rosary was given to me from my Grandma J. I will treasure this until forever and ever and ever. 

This penny was given to me by my mom for "good luck". I think it is the luckiest penny I've ever owned. And along with it is the handkerchief I gave to my momma. It's self explanatory. She is my very best friend. My rock. And I owe that woman my whole life.

It's funny how even the mints have a story. We spent all day with my moms friend making these little boogers. And half the day eating them. They were delicious and I loved being a part of making them. Even thought most of those you see with the balls not centered are probably mine. 

Template created by my best fran. And those darn paddles took about 500 bazillion hours to make. We cut, we glued, we painted, we tied. For hours. upon hours. upon hours. And during that time, we also made a video to Call Me Maybe.  Success.

These pew balls. Gosh that name is just so lovely sounding isn't it. These were personally made by my Aunt Diana. I cannot even tell you how much everyone in my family helped with the wedding. Every little single detail of it. How special these are to see. The memories just keep flooding back to me.

Groomsmen gift. Office putter that looked like it was in a briefcase. Pretty legit if I don't say so myself.

I was totally head over heels in love with our cake. Head.over.heels.

I seriously cannot believe I married a Yankees fan. This cake was pretty incredible though. I mean, you could eat the sand! It was also a surprise to Jeff. He thought it was going to be a plain ol' Jayhawk. Little did he know. Now that, folks, is love. Jayhawks are way cooler.

Because we are a team, and that's how we ROLL.

These champagne flutes were given to us by my Aunt Janet. Seriously are those not the most adorable things you've ever seen? They also matched our cake knife which was also given by my Aunt Janet & Diana.

If anyone has any ideas how to redo your wedding all over again with it not costing the same amount and having all of the same people there...HOLLER! I am having withdraws.

on a lighter note....

Can I just say how entirely much I am missing this little fur child of mine?! Seriously it's like we are lost without her. It's entirely too quiet. Every time I get a glass of water I am just waiting for her to sprint to the fridge to get a piece of ice. Not cool.

Thank goodness the snow is (finally) pretty much gone for good and we can actually do that thing called drive, again.

On another note, we are going to Hawaii in the near future and I am pretty much the whitest person you'll ever meet. Okay, close to. This.has.got.to.change. 

Speaking of Hawaii, I have to have a white dress for one night there. And guess what? The moment I start looking for a white dress, is the moment I cannot find a single one. Help?

I did get this (dress below) though and on a scale of 1 to 10, I'm at about a 56.5 about getting this baby delivered.

shophopes.com

Can I lastly just say how much I adore you all? The past few days while I was snowed in I finally got to read many of the blogs I love, comment, and even find a few new ones. It was awesome. And now all I want to do is stay home, not work, and just talk to everyone all day. Let's convince my husband?

Happy Wednesday! aka....my monday (please send happy thoughts my way as the snow bunnies are back in school)

hopes & dreams (the truth)

One thing that has always frustrated me is my inability to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up. Or what my dreams really were.

I looked beside me and saw all of my friends talking about being graphic designers, photographers, nurses, etc. And I had no idea. I always wanted to be a teacher, but that burning passion just was never there during my early years. I mostly just wanted to be like my mom, who was/is a teacher.

I love teaching. But what I really love about teaching isn't the curriculum and subjects. What I love about teaching is getting to know my students, laughing with them, watching them grow, sharing stories, and making them realize how special life is, how special they are. That, is my passion in teaching. It's the students.

So when I got to thinking of if I could be anything in this whole world, what would I be? What would I do? I tried to dream of all these scenarios of owning my own non-profit. That is the only thing in my head I could think of as a dream job.

I read one time to figure out what you had a passion for keep writing down things you enjoy until one of them just makes you cry and your heart ache. One that hits you so deep inside that you cannot quite thinking about it. The possibilities. I loved that.

The real dream job in my head, I was always a tad embarrassed to say. Like it wasn't good enough to be my dream job. Like I needed something more.

I've never really cared about the money. I've never cared about the big name, the big title, the fame, or the fortune. Sometimes I wondered why I didn't.

When I was in girl scouts back in the day. I mean, waaaaay back in the day. I put down on a little piece of paper that I wanted to be a teacher. While everyone else put dreams that were way beyond our little third grade minds.

Thinking back, a teacher is the job I wanted. But it wasn't my entire dream. It was just a small smidgen  (yeah, probably not a word) of the big dream in my head.

My dream that makes hot tears streak down my face thinking about. My dream that makes a fire in my soul. My dream that pushes me, encourages me, motivates me.

That dream is quite simply to have a family of my own. My dream job is to....be a mom. And to intensively love others. Help others. Be what my family has always given me.

And my biggest fear in this lifetime is not getting to do that. Not getting to do the one thing I have dreamed about for so, so, so long. The one I look forward to the most.

I am really just blabbering. But after starting our Bible study with the book One Thousand Gifts (which I HIGHLY recommend)...it's almost like I was freed. Like I finally got it.

And I realized what excites me most is the smallest of small things. The little moments that pass by that you catch yourself just dazing off smiling and thinking about them.

The moments like the smell of coffee in the morning before you have gotten out of bed. The sounds my little Piper makes when she is so, so sleepy. Seeing my husband dance around the house. The feeling of looking out onto the lake as the sun is going down. Fresh snow that hasn't been walked on yet.

Those moments. Those are the ones that I treasure. And make me realize my dreams are coming true just about everyday. The little ones. And someday, the big ones.

Please tell me, what are YOUR dreams?

weekend getaway (KU basketball + reliving the college days)

HAPPY MONDAY!

It is a happy Monday for me because technically it's not even Monday. It's pretty much fake Monday since we have yet again, another snow day.

I am not complaining about them until we have to make them up in May when it's actually warm out and I could be getting myself a nice tan.

This past weekend we ventured out of the house and headed to our home away from home....away from home. Lawrence, KS of course. We went to watch our favorite Jayhawks play against TCU with some friends from Jeff's work.

I must say we got some payback on TCU for beating us and it felt pretty dang good. Plus, Lawrence never disappoints. Even though yesterday was payback for all of the lovely drinks I decided to consume pretending like I was in college again.

On Friday, I drove Piper down to near my hometown to meet my mom and let Piper have a puppy vacation with the grandparents as we would be gone all weekend. You guys it is ridiculous how much we miss that little furry girl of ours. However, since the weather is supposed to get bad we have no idea when we will be able to go get here. Insert heart breaking here.

she seriously slept on my lap most of the way to meet my mom. dangerous? maybe. adorable? of course

Thank goodness for FaceTime and for having some pretty awesome grandparents. Piper is probably going to never want to come join us boring folks.

Happy Monday and hopefully you get to hang out in your sweats all day like me :)

friday's letters (captive)

Dear Friday, You feel like Sunday. And I am on cloud nine knowing that I have two more days of pure relaxation and fun. Dear Coffee, I need to get a little unattached to you. I rely on you to keep me awake. To keep my words friendly. And to warm me up. Maybe we should re-evalute our relationship. Dear Snow, Boy oh boy are you are a pretty thang. But boy oh boy you are really holding me captive here inside. Leaving me sitting here unshowered, unattractive, and flat out lazy. I don't hate it. But really, I'd love to drive again. Dear Jeff, I have loved these two days snowed in together. Reminds me of our college days. Chili, wine, and all. And thank you for waking up with our early rising and letting me sleep. Dear Family, I miss you. Somehow no matter how long it's been since I have seen you, I still miss you the same. Dear Piper, You are spoiled. And you won't go number two in the snow. You sure loved getting it all over your face, paws, belly, etc though. I am so blessed to have you Pipes.

Happy Friday! And another....Happy SNOWDAY!

one foot under

Reporting to you live from twelve inches under the massive snow mounds.

and it's still a comin'

Oh my word I have never seen as much snow in Kansas as I have the past two days. It has just taken over.  One very large perk of all of this snow is a snow day.  My excitement level was off the roof. Yeah, teaching isn't too bad.

don't mind the bare windows. currently on a curtain search.

I am so glad Jeff went to the store yesterday and stocked up so we starving AND captive. Whew. Now that could have been bad. Even though I think his chili is going to have me full for days.

I actually imagined myself getting a lot of errands done today. I pictured our "snow day" just being a few inches and easy peasy. Wrong.

So since I am stuck in the house for hours upon hours I have a feeling I will be doing a lot of nothing but lounging around, responding to e-mails, getting hyped up on coffee, reading, hopefully cleaning/organizing, and making a sweet snowman.

I hope everyone who is getting this weather is safe and sound! If you get bored, just sled on over!

transitioning into marriage

Since I said I was going to start writing from the heart...here I am.

On August 4, 2012 my life changed. Each chapter in life brings on changes, challenges, disappointments, surprises, fears, promises, and happiness...you get the point.

Getting married has been all of those as well.

It is something that you don't fully understand until you have committed that love to someone and fully taken on the role of living life as one. Husband and wife.

One? I've never lived my life as one...with two people. I've always lived my life as one for...myself. That is one concept that I did not fully grasp until after we moved in together after we got married.

You mean, I have to literally share every piece of me with my husband? And the answer was a mostly yes. And in that meant a lot of compromising. And a lot of talks. And a lot of patience. But mostly, a heck of a lot of love.

I won't lie, it was a hard transition for me. It was hard being away from home. It was hard to stop thinking for just myself, to start thinking for us. Our future. Our lives. Not just mine and my own wants. And I never really thought I was selfish until I figured out I wanted my wants....a lot.

At first I thought I was an awful wife. Trying to just get my own way. I prayed for patience. I prayed for understanding. I prayed so hard for God to help me with this transition in my life.

Then I realized....I was human. I also realized I continued to love Jeff more. Slowly I began to realizing what drove him up a tree and he realized the same. I remember Father talking about how important communication was in marriage, and he was straight up not joking.

These past months have tested everything in me. I am continually learning more about my husband. And especially about myself. I am learning how to sometimes just shut my little mouth, even if I don't agree. I am learning bickering about things that aren't life changing....are not worth bickering about at all. I am learning how to live as one, continually learning.

A lot of days I'm not perfect.  A lot of days I will leave a mess when I'm running late for school. A lot of days I will forget about the laundry. And a lot of days I would just rather lay down after work than clean the house or do anything productive for that matter.

One thing I do know is that everyday I chose to love my husband. And I am continually falling for the guy I met just four years ago. Even though marriage isn't always easy....I wouldn't have it any other way nor want anyone else by my side for life.

my 24 hour trip to Texas

One. This past weekend we (Jeff, his mom, and I) decided to venture on down to the great state of Texas. This was a first for me. We were driving down to visit a woman who helped take care of Jeff when he was little. He never told her he was coming, so this surprise was one of the best I'd ever seen.

Two. Texas sure can rock the sunsets. Among many other things.

Three. This, my friends, is the oh so sweet Bea. I took a video when Jeff walked into the room and totally screwed it up because I was smiling so much and ended it on accident. She not only said it was a miracle, she said it made her whole life. Sweetest 93 year old woman I've ever met. And hil.ar.i.ous.  She loved the words "nit wits" and "ding-dongs".  So so glad we went. And so glad my husband has a heart of gold.

Four. Piper traveled with us. A whole other experience it in itself was. We thought we could easily leave her in her cage in the hotel while we went to eat the first night we got there. Wrong. She cried. and cried. and cried. We figured she had stopped since she only does it for a second when we leave. Well, she got a lovely complaint from someone on our floor and therefore we no longer could go eat and were left in the hotel room for the night. Reason 1 why I'm not ready for kids. ;)

Five. Pappadeaux. Enough said. First crawfish I've ever had, and definitely NOT the last. MmmMmm.

Six. Mugs across America has begun. I'm trying to collect coffee cups from each state I travel to. However, I've already been to more than half so...I may have to just go visit them again :)

Seven. On the way home we stopped in Norman, OK so we could check out the OU campus. I love love loved it. And so did Piper as she left a little present on their lawn. 

Eight. The sky was seriously perfect, as was the weather on the way home. I couldn't pass up a picture of it.

Nine. Piper was so tired on the way home she decided to drink my coffee to get hyped up again. Kidding, but she really did try to keep drinking it. That dog for some reason always wants coffee and beer. She must be my child. 

All in all it was a great short trip and I cannot wait to keep traveling around the US of A. Next stop, Hawaii. Bow chicka ow owww. I'm trying to get my tan on and body on to get ready!

ps. thank you from the bottom of my little heart to all of you who commented on my post yesterday and made me feel like I was not alone. reason 43095840598 why I love you all. thank you thank you thank you for having my back.

my fears of blogging

It's no secret in the blog world that Becky who writes From Mrs to Mama is seriously awesome. Today she is having a link up for people to just...write. Sounds simple right? Yeah I thought so too.

Her post sure got my mind a brewing. In this little space of mine, we have been all over the place. I have been trying to figure out what I even wanted out of this little corner of the cyber world. Why I was even here. Why I put in the effort when barely anyone reads or comments. Why I kept coming back for more.

Then I remembered the simplest answer I could come up with. For me. That's why I'm here. I'm here to remember these little moments in life. Soak them up. Go back and remember them again and again. There was a time and still some times where I would write for other people. What they wanted to hear. What they wanted to see.

Boy did I get it all wrong. There came a time when I took a long break. Evaluated what the hell I was doing. And then I came out knowing I wasn't here to write for other people to "hopefully" like it. Even though of course I still do hope people like it, that just wasn't my main purpose.

Which comes to my next point. I adore connecting with you all from all over the world. The moment I see someone commenting to me, our lives the same, a moment the same, a little piece of life experience shared...I jump for serious joy.

But I'll be completely honest, many days I feel like this blog is a simple failure. Many days I feel like I cannot even compare to the blogs out there. Many days I feel like everyone is making best friends and flying across the world to see each other and then....well the questions come flowing. I begin to second guess myself and then find myself never blogging because I don't feel "good enough" to do it.

Then I wake the heck up with a nice cup of coffee and realize, no, I may not be the best of bloggers or writers but I love doing it so dang much that nothing will stop me from doing it. I love connecting with you all at different levels. I love sharing my heart. And I love not being perfect. And quite frankly, it just makes me happy.

So I am going to keep on keeping on and try to write from the heart more often. Be me. The me how has many ups and many downs. Keeping it real around these parts.

HAPPY MONDAY (and thank you Lord for our Presidents. I love having this day off!)

my take on valentines day

The one day of the year where everyone dresses in red, pink, and hearts. Where dinner reservations are made and the best outfits come out of the closet. Where everyone buys cards, flowers, and chocolate. Where "I love you" is said just a little bit more. And where some boyfriends/husbands get in trouble and some get extra love.

I fancy Valentine's Day. I love to love on the husband just a little bit more with things I think mean something to him. I try to get him things that aren't really "things". I hate when it turned into a holiday of expectations and not real feelings.

Every year I go with the same type of pattern of making things myself. Making it personal. Making it come from my heart, not just my bank account. I want him to know I put my heart into giving him something and didn't just rush to pick something up from the store.Which, by the way, I totally saw at Dillions last night. Longest flower line I've ever seen.

This year I went with a picture book I created online of mostly Piper and a little of myself. My husband adores our dog. Seriously, adores her. So when I handed him that little book he just kept laughing and smiling at each page. The rest was a little coupon book, card, a massage, and a couples book for us to read together.

My favorite Valentine's days have not been the ones with the most expensive restaurants and the food that doesn't measure up to it's price or wait line. My favorites have been time that is just us, in our element, and spending quality time together. I love his thoughtful gifts and I love the beautiful flowers he gives. But mostly I love spending time with him.

I hate that this day has been blown so out of proportion it is almost like you expect something or you are totally disappointed and feel like you got the bad end of the deal. I hate when I read about people who may not have a boyfriend/husband feeling so down on these days. Or sad "that guy" they had been talking to didn't ask them on a date on this day.

I hope that today no matter single, married, or dating that everyone has someone to share a little bit of extra love with. Whether it is your husband, boyfriend, family, friends, whoever. Just give them a little extra "I love you" and let them know you care. Because sometimes, we just feel like they know.....but let me tell you, it never gets old to hear.

Muah to all my valentines! (that is you by the way)

the joys of conferences

Okay. Conferences. Parent/teacher conferences if you are wondering. Wowee.

I'm kind of curious how parents feel about them. Any input by you all? Because if they are half as terrified as me, I will feel better in life. Parents for some reason just make me all sorts of nervous. Maybe because I know I have their child's life in my hands and I want to make sure I don't screw it up too bad.

I get all tongue tied and forget to say half of the things I planned to say. Probably making myself sound like a total fruit loop. And in one conference today I literally starting tearing up talking about a student I adored. The parent seriously probably thought I was nuts.

I had no pictures, so this is what you get. Life is good....other than conference days :)

I guess that's what happens after 8 hours of teaching and then three hours of conferences.

Speaking of teaching. Tomorrow is lent. This year I decided to give up pop. I have been a little more friendly with pop lately and considered drinking a lovely gallon of diet coke to get ready for the next 40 days. I thought about coffee too, and then realized I'd literally die. I am talking death here.

Anyway,  I just wanted to stop in because (this is going to sound really bad) husband is watching the state of the union and Obama talk and well, after listening to people all day it's just kind of hard to listen right now. I have my left ear open, don't worry. I just heard minimum wage is increasing to 9 bucks. If only I could rewind!

How is everyone?!

Have a lovely FAT TUESDAY. Speaking of, I got all fatted up with pizza, girl scout cookies, and chips. I think that is what you call a successful fat tuesday.

"When I said I do" by Little Brother

So I know I have talked about my little brother (who happens to be ten feet taller than me) pretty much kicking major booty in singing/acting. Well, while hanging out at home this weekend he had me just look at a little video of him and a girl in his dorm singing a song on a random college night together.

Well of course everything he does blows me away, but this was so darn good not to share with the world. They are a pretty good duo I must say.

I introduce to you "When I Said I Do" by Patrick and Jessica.

friday letters

Holy cow. Is it seriously Friday?! I swear it was just Sunday. Not that I am complaining or anything.

I am feeling all sorts of Valentinesy since we are having our class Valentines Day party today. It actually feels a little weird being so early. I guess that's what happens when you get Valentine's Day off for the oh so horrid fun conferences.

Time for some Friday letters. I miss writing letters.

Dear Piper, You made me realize yesterday I am not ready for a child.  I took you to your vet appointment and you were trying to jump out of my arms and kept crying so you could go lick everyone. I forgot your leash, so you were stuck in my arms crying your little heart out for the fifteen longest minutes of my life. I'm sorry. I have to say though, everyone said you brightened their day. How could you not?  Dear Jeff, You cannot leave again. The end. Okay okay, I'll give you more than that. I hate when you leave and it always feels like something is missing. Or maybe it's because a king size bed with one person and a dog just feels really weird. Dear Home, I seriously cannot wait to see you. Dear Beer, Why do you taste 100 times better when I'm taking a hot bath? Is that weird? I have no idea. Dear Blog, I'm sorry I'm a crappy friend but I still love you. And I love you who still come back and see me. Dear KU, I am going to pretend yesterday never happened. I still love you, but hey....get your shiz together. Dear Target, You are the third love of my life. It's true. I do I do I dooo-ooo love you. Dear God, Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Happy Friday folks!

Over and out good buddies.

weekend update (new bedroom furniture & more)

Hey hey hey. I realize it's been a good long week since I've been here, but boy oh boy did Catholic Schools Week keep me busy. And quite frankly, wore me out.

I must say the highlight of the week was dominating some 8th graders in volleyball. However, the next day I was so.sore. It was quite embarrassing. I guess I'm not in high school anymore. Weight lifting here I come.

I was so busy that I didn't even remember it was my 2nd blogiversary. Thanks to Ashleigh for reminding me. It is crazy to think I've had this little space for two years. But then again, it is crazy to think I've been married for 6 months. Blows my mind.

Since we have chatted, a few exciting things have went down in the ol' S household.

One being I received my Erin Condren planner. If you are my "friend" on twitter, you would have seen me asking for advice on planners for this year. You see, I am obsessed with planners. Too obsessed. Last year I got my first Erin Condren planner and was head over heels with that thing.

However, this year I did not want to dish out that kind of dough as the previous year I had gotten it 50% off. So I asked the ol' twitterserve for different kinds of planners they liked and used. And then one day a miracle happened and I found TWO coupons for the EC planner I was dying to have again. Long story short, this beaut came in last week. And $15 instead of $50? Yeah, count me IN.





























Another exciting thing to enter our household was new bedroom furniture. We are just over the moon. We haven't had bedroom furniture other than a bed since we have moved here and now can finally store all of our closets full of clothes somewhere. The angels are singing.

As for news on the Super Bowl, I was rooting for the Ravens but honestly did not really care who won. All I know is husband and I had a bet going on and I won. So therefore, I love the Ravens and will now do my "winning" touchdown dance.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and ate their fair share of chips, dips, and brews!