Oh, hi!

Oh...well hi there!

Okay okay, I know that I have been a very bad girl...but i'm not really sorry because i have been having lots and lots of fun :-). Not that blogging isn't fun...but hey, the sun has been out.

Anyway, I thought i would share a little bit of mother's day festivities (i know, kinda late) with ya'll. We had my mom and dad and bro and sister in law (who is a new mommy) over on mother's day for a little brunch. It was so warm we ate outside!

sorry for the not-so-top-knotch-photography.

The Menu:

.mimosas.

.buttermilk blackberry scones.

.cheesey hashbrown caserol.

(via Paula Deen)

.fresh fruit.

The Decor:

hydrangea and ranunculus

$10.00

paper flowers made from tissue paper at the dollar store.

$2.00

place settings using things i already had

$0.00




mismatched vases wrapped in target dollar bin twine
$1.00

sunshine

$0.00

celebrity guest

(Avery)

a fun day celebrating my mommy!

i love parties.

♥

.Happy Monday.

This weekend went by too fast! I thoroughly enjoyed the infrequent bursts of sunshine though! We got a chance to do our most favorite of things...BBQ. Ben's birthday was a couple weeks ago, and the family surprised him with a tiny little party and big fat new grill.

a little birthday banner

made out of a $.25 book
and some twine from the $1.00 bin at target

a proud man and his grill
(complete with bottle opener).

and a happy, muddy puppy.

Hopefull the sun sticks or around (or should i say, comes back) so Ben can try all his fancy-schmancy recipes on tips from his "BBQ Bible".

Got any good grilling tips or recipes to share?

Reasons I love My Life #4

.quiet times.

My life is busy. It has been busy since I was a little kid and we lived next door to the church where my dad was a pastor. Since I can remember, I have been filling my plate with tons of things, and having to play catch-up way too often. Ben and I are really making a concious effort to slow down our life. Some of my most favorite and cherished moments are quiet times. A couple weeks ago I was really sick and home from work for three days. Not so fun to have the funky sickness, but really amazing to have three fulls days off peace and quiet at home with me and my doggy, my bible, a cup of coffee, Amelia and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and crafts.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

My view for three days.

I couldn't be more content.

(unless i didnt feel like i had pinecones in my throat)

I had time to make this little guy.

a sunglasses case for my sissy-in-law.

"a" for allison.

that tree was a labor of love, let me tell ya.

Having quiet times is one of my favorite things to experience in life.

It makes me so relaxed and at peace.

What do you do to relax?

Obessesed with the Sweetness.

Valentine's Day

=

Sweet.

(see)

I love valentines day.

yes its cheesy.

yes its silly.

yes its an excuse for girls to get presents.

yes its pink and red and white everywhere.

so?

To be honest, this year Ben and I are not doing any gifts at all. We are going away for the weekend. Finally. sigh. Its much needed. Some friends of ours are lending us their lodge on the river. I can't think of anything I would rather do on Valentines Day then wake up in the morning and have a cup of joe with Ben in our slippers and sit on the porch and watch the rain. Then go make breakfast and do nothing all day. We will be there Friday-Sunday and there really is nothing to do besides fish (its not fishing season). So he is bringing a book and I'm bringing....crafts! I have a couple in mind, which i will share once completed when I get home...but THIS, I fell in love with this morning. I will attempt it over the weekend.

SO sweet and lovely.

(see)

Any plans for Valentine's Day?

Have you seen any cute lovey-dovey projects that you want to try?

look what i learned.

I made myself a little button! kinda cute eh? I had NO idea what i was doing, but i figured it out!

see!

<a border="0" href="http://www.thenewellyweds.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiexf5_bj3TaM6EmtQ3Fr7daeKj8PcDYLwaXFyElS_8DLSjnPdruubarJE4zyEvaUO-OwFH6P2v7KrsiZFrPHqG0a0RqLwX3KcrSxgZJJpmtSos-U3vNIVnYMosljGuK7celAnAvxYRLZdm/s220/button+lamp.jpg" /></a>

The internet is amazing. Thanks for teaching me, internet.


Take it and spread the love!

I love branches?

Free and Easy.

Its winter time in Oregon and lots of people are pulling their hair out, flying to sunny places, counting down the days until summer, and bombarding the social networks with their longings for 80 degree weather.

Me on the other hand, I find Oregon in ALL its seasons to be lovely. I adore the season changes and think there is something nice about all of them. Right now, I am loving the free decor I am finding laying all over the sidewalks and backyard from the windstorms. Branches. Lots of free, twiggy bare branches. I take full advantage of them in my house during this season. Overkill? maybe! But oh well! I think generally people like to use flowers to brighten up the winter gray in their house, but i kinda loooove it! So why not embrace it?

*baby twiggies*

*branches on the mantle*

(on top of Gone With The Wind, which makes them better, I think)


*sharing his home*


*serving a purpose*


*hangin' from the ceiling*


*Just taking up space*

Do you like to bring nature from all the seasons inside?

Does winter make you sad
or do you appreciate it?

The Most Wonderful Time...

Back To Reality

Hope everyone had the best and happiest Christmas. Sadness is setting in while Im back at work this morning, so I needed to indulge in some memories from the Christmas weekend. Sharing some of my favorite things about my favorite day of the year, hopefully it cheers everyone up who has to go back to reality today!

*Tangle's first stocking*

*morning walk*

*buying baby shoes*

*Christmas Morning Coffee

in my new pretty cup
from Ben (good job,right?)*

*a homemade clock for

our stylish brother*

*crafty gift wrap*

*dad's scary dress-up act*
(cousin Eddie)

*so cute...

homemade jewelry display

from Laura*

*perfect gift from hubby*

I feel better already!

I'm still kinda sad.

Maybe I should eat a Christmas Cookie?

Merry Monday after Christmas!!

little paper hearts

A cute little whimsical project I wanted to try.

(see)

Here is what I came up with, except I used brown grocery bags instead of craft paper because thats what I had at home.

not bad eh? easy enough too!

organization?

To Do: get an office.

(see)

Our house has a second bedroom which currently holds a crappy old desk from when i was little holding nothing at all (on which one of the drawer faces is actually glued on from when it fell off once), a filing box sitting on the floor, a funky futon that holds unfolded laundry and never gets sat upon, Tangle's crate, and thats about it! In the room though are too small closets with bi-fold doors. One of them holds Ben's clothes and the other one we are wanting to turn into an office space. I have always wanted to have a desk in a closet, and now we have a an extra one...so that is our next project. I have been gathering inspiration on ones that I like. Ben wants to make sure its "manly"...I think he means he wants it dark and studyish and rugged. Thats fair. I can go with that. Here are some things I have found that I like..let me know if you have seen anything amazing. Its our Christmas beak project..even though it will probably be ongoing for a little while if we're realistic. I'll post progress as we get started! But for now here is some inspiration...

Some of these are not in closets, but I love them just the same
(see)


(see)


Seen any good ones lately?

my next project

I have WAY to much jewelry which needs to first be sorted through and purged...but at the same time, I need a more lovely way to store everything in one place other than draped over my bed posts, mirrors, door handles, cups, bedside tables, drawers, or any other place that happens to be next to me when i want to take it off (I'm kind of a free spirit when it comes to keeping things in "their place"). This is lovely and I think i will try it. I might need a few of them.

(before.)

(after.)

cute!

i live in the north pole

Hi my name is Amanda and I live in the North Pole. And by that I mean my living room is a winter wonderland full of Christmasy goodness. Ben and I made the journey to cut our tree over the holiday weekend (all 10 miles away). We tried a different place this year that we did not love as much as last year, but it was still fun. The place we went was a little more domesticated and less rugged hiking through the mud. It may have been the mansion sized house behind the tree farm that tainted the experience just a tad...but not enough that it was not still really fun and festive. After we got our tree we set it up and got to decorating, and then attempted the almost impossible task of teaching the puppy not to eat the bird ornaments... really hard for him clearly.

such an adventurer.

boyfriend and girlfriend

I love this dog, but he was SO annoying to have at a tree farm. Not the best place for a hunting dog. I think he ate some mushrooms too.

Its fun starting out and working with what we have to make decorating cute and fun without spending a boatload of money every year. We are firm believers that you can make people feel special and loved without draining your savings account or going into debt. It may be a little more work and time, but home made and creative gift giving, hostessing, and decorating are so much more fun and memorable in my opinion. Anyway, enough of my rant...here's where we are at so far

eureka! the lights are good!

my dinner: frosted flakes and cider



I promise after Christmas I will share my homemade gifts, but I don't want anyone who is getting them to see and ruin the fun!

CHRISTMAS!