Quick Review on Year 1 of Married Bliss :)

Well, this year has absolutely flown by.  Wanna see what I've been up to the past year?? Take a look! :)

MARCH 2011

March, 12, 2011.  Absolutely, the best day of my life. :)  

 

We honeymooned in the Dominican Republic, soaking up lots of sun and enjoying the BEAUTIFUL views.  I felt like we stepped into a postcard for a week, everything was so gorgeous.  

April 2011

My bestie and I pulled an awesome April Fool's prank on my husband and his friends while they were at their poker guy's night.  Well... we thought it was awesome...they thought it was awful.  It resulted in our first married couple fight later on, but thankfully he forgave me and I vowed never to mess with his car again. :)

May 2011 

We hosted our first family night at our house in May.  Below is what the basement looked like when we first moved in.  We put down the flooring by ourselves and found an amazing deal on the sectional sofa so we were very proud of how cozy we made our new little house. :) 

June 2011

In June, I got my first salon job as a hairstylist at an Aveda salon nearby.  I became their Color Specialist after only 3 months of working there.  While I'm not there anymore, it was a great learning experience and I am so thankful for all the opportunities I had there.

July 2011

Celebrating the 4th together. :)  

August 2011

Birthday month!  I am forever in love with the beach, so hubby took me to Ocean City for the day on my birthday weekend.  This is me all dressed up in my birthday shirt from my sweet baby sister.  

September 2011

We added a new member to our family in September.  Meet Ava.  She is sweet, but spunky, and the most curious bunny I've ever met.  She loves to help me get ready for work in the morning by running in circles around my feet.  She also likes to imitate me by standing on her two hind feet and looking into our full length mirror with me while I put on my make-up.

October 2011

Hubby's birthday month and Halloween, of course.  I was Batgirl.  He was Horrible Pun Man. :)  

November 2011

Turkey Bowl!  I look really mad in this picture, but I had tons of fun!  Even caught some passes and almost made a touchdown.  That's my goal for next year. :)

December 2011

Along with all the normal holiday activities we did, we also helped out a friend by "starring" in his Zombie spoof web series trailer for a school project.  Don't we look absolutely dreadful? 

January 2012

We partied in the New Year in style!  ....and then got up super early to teach Sunday School the next morning haha.  DEFINITELY took a nap that afternoon. :)

February 2012

This is us at a UMD women's basketball game for my sister's birthday.  We beat Duke at the last second - such a great game!

March 2012

We got super lucky and were able to find a great deal on a second honeymoon for our anniversary.  :)  It was a much needed vacation and we had a wonderful time reliving the great memories from our first year and sharing our hopes and dreams for the year to come.  I am a blessed woman indeed to be sharing life with this incredible man. :)

Hope you all enjoyed the update!  

Our "Little House"

Yesterday, I obtained the key to the house that we will be renting. How exciting!

It is unreal that in just a few short weeks, Jordan and I will be the little keepers of our own "little house", as our new landlords like to call it. I was too excited to wait for the weekend to start moving the shower gifts in, so Jillian and I made a trip there today to just drop off a few things. :) I don't have many, but I thought I'd post a few pictures just for fun.

This is a before picture of the kitchen. It has recently been renovated and now looks like this:

I love all the windows. :) Natural light is my friend!

Behind this wall is the stairwell to the basement. This used to be a second bedroom, but they put a staircase in so you don't have to go outside to get downstairs.

This is the basement and off the right is another room with the washer/dryer/water heater, etc.

Yay! So excited about this. Can't wait to post more pics when we're moved in and decorated. March 12th is coming quickly! :)

Is it bedtime yet?

We got the Perfect bed! :) Oh, how happy am I. Jordan's parents are AMAZING and as a wedding gift from them and their family they are getting us this:

THE DREAM BED. :)

I couldn't be happier. Or more excited about bedtime now...not to say that I wasn't excited before ;)

So... after two emotional breakdowns already (yes, I had another one), the rest of the week is definitely looking brighter. Besides the fact that "Purchase [the perfect] bed" is now crossed off the to-do list and Punxsutawney Phil has declared an early Spring, I have also had a great coffee date with a friend this morning, small-group tonight, a meeting with our caterer tomorrow, and Joel's birthday on Friday. Productive AND fun. My kind of week. :)

Tough decisions...

So Jordan and I went to look at bed-sets this weekend and I pretty much had an emotional break down... NOT the reaction I thought I was going to have. Don't get me wrong, shopping for furniture for our new house is exciting and fun...but for an indecisive person like myself, this weekend resulted in a dilemma of Head Vs. Heart.

The issue is this:

Roomstore has the PERFECT bed. I mean perfect. It's like, what I've always pictured without knowing I was picturing it. I love it in every way...except the price - $750 for the bed alone, $600 for a mattress, $900 for a dresser and mirror, & $350 for one nightstand. Throw in a package discount and the total rings up somewhere around $2,450.

THEN - the discount store down the street is selling the non-perfect bed. And the dresser, mirror, chest, 2 nightstands, AND the mattress all for just under $2000.

Obviously, my head is telling me to be thrifty and wise and go with the better deal. But for some reason, my heart has latched on to this other dream of a bedroom set - thus the waterfall of tears last night.

Someone PLEASE tell me this is just wedding stress leaking out and I'm not going crazy...

I've been arguing with myself non-stop since last night trying to tell myself that:

• Getting married is expensive and we will be glad we saved the money.
• We could use the extra chest from the discount store to store off season clothes since there's not a ton of closet space
• It's just a smart decision - more for less, who wouldn't make that choice?

But my heart always argues back:

• We don't have to get all the pieces right now - we can save and buy as we need them
• The dream bed has some storage built in so we might not really need a whole extra chest
• We don't even have room for that much furniture right now anyway - half the discount furniture would end up in the basement.

I'm trying to think for the future too.... Which will we be the happiest with down the road? When money's tight will we wish we had saved a little more? Or will I never like the other bed after seeing the first one and always wish we'd gotten the dream bed?

Am I overanalyzing this? After all, it's just a bed...

...but it's our FIRST bed. And we'll probably be stuck with it for a while. And this dream bed, I don't know... I just love it. I can't even explain it... I can just see it in our house. I can picture late nights on it watching a movie. And lazy Saturday mornings just enjoying not having to go to work. I can picture children climbing in it after a bad dream at night (someday...wayyyy in the future :p) ...and the other bed? Well, I can't even remember what it looks like. And we just saw it this weekend. I'm sure I'd get used to it. I'm sure I'd forget about the other bed eventually, someday...maybe?

*sigh*... the indecisiveness could go on forever.

I think I'm gonna go look at the Roomstore website for the 12,000th time today...maybe it will be on sale this time.

...a still, small voice...

Proverbs 25:2
It is God's privilege to conceal things, and the kings privilage to discover them.

But you must [discover]. You must search and seek and find out.
You must be untiring in your pursuit.

Come after me.

Desire me as you would your lover. Don't relent in your search.
For what you find will be a treasure BEYOND COMPARE. A priceless giftthat none can fathom.

It will cost [all you have], but what you gain you will never lose.

Come away. With me.

You are my one [love].
Let me be yours...