{very} young love.

Look at my cute parents.

My dad is hilarious. My mom is 17 here. Thats how old she was when they got married. People say I got married young (20).

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

By the way, if you're wondering why she is so tan...she told me they used baby oil mixed with iodine.

safe.

2 years with My Lobster

Two years ago today, on March 29, 2008, I married this handsom guy.

And I could not imagine being happier.

I love you Ben. Excited about many many more years and memories with you. I'm blessed to know you, and even more blessed to be loved by you. You're the best person I know. You've got me forever.

..........

I will always love you.

I will always let you spoon me in the morning with your scruffy chin.

I will always walk right next to you.

I will always make you grilled cheese with secret sauce.

I will always tell you Im the most proud of you.

I will always let you wear socks and sandals.

I will always dream big dreams with you.

I will always trust you.

I will always play with you.

I will always pick you first.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

year #2: Cotton

In honor of our 2 year anniversary coming up on Monday...

Cotton.

in a cup

in style

on my feet

in a frosty field

sleepy time cotton

in the sky

on my taste buds

not sure if we will go traditional this year on the anniversary gifts. Pretty versatile though...maybe i'll come up with something fun.

Any good ideas?

( ♥ all images from weheartit ♥ )

"punch it back"

This morning i told Ben that I felt like the day punched me in the face. He said "well, punch it back." i love him.

So, since I feel like Monday Morning smacked me in the face, I shall smack it back by thinking about things that I love...

Take THAT Monday!

♥ ♥ ♥

the cutest puppy in the world.

feeling tiny

a place in my heart on the other side of the world.

a mad tea party.

best friends

being a girl

building a little home and pretending

its the safest place in the world

being a lot in love

rainy day boots

baby bunnies

staying in bed way too long

frozen yogurt with strawberries

( all images except Tangle and me and Ben at the beach taken from weheartit.com )

Happy Wednesday Favorites

This week has been out to a great start!

Yesterday I was greeted by Lauren's lovely smile at work as she dropped of my giveaway winnings...which I will post all about tomorrow. I love everything she picked out, but it was even better to get to see her after so long and chat for a bit! Thanks Lauren, you're adorable and the sweetest!

Sorry for my lack of posting. I will say I have been a pretty busy gal! But now it's hump day, and after today I am closer to the weekend than I am to Monday morning...so that is something to smile about :-).

In hopes of getting through this day quickly with lots of joyfulness, I am posting some of my favorite pictures of my happiest memories from my most joyful day of all...our wedding.

PS...celebrating two years at then end of March..wow that went fast! Hope y'all enjoy!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

**all photos by Tyler Gould

Well that was fun! I love weddings. What are some of your favorite weddings or wedding ideas? Post a link in the comment section if you want! I'd love to see!

Happy Wednesday lovelies!

Confessions

.I need grace.

At our church, Solid Rock, John Mark (one of the teaching pastors) is doing a series on Jesus. Sounds funny since its all about Him anyway, right? He is digging into Jesus, who He is and who He is NOT. The result- I don't know about others, but for me, its making me fall head over heals in love with Jesus...who I THOUGHT i already WAS head over heals in love with.


This is all taken from John Mark's teaching yesterday, you can listen to the whole thing (which is way better) here.

Yesterday I remembered that I need grace. Please read the story and think about it. Think about who you are in the story.

Luke 7:37-50

And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that
He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster
vial of perfume,
and
standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her
tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and
anointing them with the perfume.
Now
when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man
were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is
touching Him, that she is a sinner."
And Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have
something to say to you." And he replied, "Say it, Teacher."
"A moneylender
had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.
"When
they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them
will love him more?"
Simon
answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He said to him,
"You have judged correctly."
Turning
toward the woman, He said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your
house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears
and wiped them with her hair.
"You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time
I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet.
"You did not anoint My head with
oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume.
"For this reason I say to you,
her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is
forgiven little, loves little."
Then He said to her, "Your sins have
been forgiven."
Those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say
to themselves, "Who is this man who even forgives sins?"
And He said to
the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

How do you feel right now? Do you feel like Simon, or do you feel like the woman (by the way, the woman being a "sinner" means she was a prostitute)? I know my answer. I think I used to feel like the prostitute. I KNOW what grace means. But more often than not, I am the snobby, stuck up, prideful Christian named Simon.

Whether you have been a prostitute, or you have been a "good Christian girl or boy" you whole life. You need grace. I need grace. When I compare myself to others...yeah, i'm okay. But when I compare myself to Him...i'm the chiefest of sinners.

So really, We're all the prostitute, right?

Reasons I love my life #3...

.weekends.

Mostly last weekend, not just because it was Valentine's Day, but because it was spent in the most amazing way. I'll get into the recap in a minute.

When Ben and I first met, we never had normal schedules. He worked on the weekends and I was living in a different city, so we spent time together whenever we could fit it in. In January, when I started my most recent job, is the first time since we met that we have been able to take weekends off together. REAL weekends. Man, its been a long time coming. We are kinda going crazy with the possibilities of all the things we can do on the weekends, simply because we can! Its such an important time to have when you're newly-weds and before you have kids. Its something to look forward to and work towards all week. We feel like we're dating again.♥ I sound old, don't i?

..........

So this last weekend was incredible. Our dear friends let us stay at their lodge on The Riffle, a famous fly fishing stretch on the Deschutes River. Pretty much in the middle of nowhere...but beautiful. I don't know what I was picturing, but I was pretty blown away when we got there. It was so secluded, and the lodge was amazing...heated floors and all. :-)

the lodge driving in

huge fireplace

the view form the balcony

Old fashioned toilets...

the chain is the flusher. so fun.

beautiful. notice the stuffed cougar.

fierce.

The weekend was filled with card games, cooking, laying on the couch in sweats, listening to owls, watching bald eagles, napping in the loft, horseshoes, looking at stars, throwing knives at trees (Ben's idea), and lots and lots and lots of time falling in love with the Lord in His creation. MUCH needed time. It felt like a retreat away from the rest of the world.



Three funny highlights of the weekend:



1. Me waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, finishing, and turning the corner out of the bathroom to go back to the bedroom, and there is Ben..with a knife...he thought I was a bad guy...he was ready to pounce. HAHAHA. That is not a joke. He really thought I was a "burglar".





2. Me being SO excited to do tons of crafts and even spending a pretty good amount of money on supplies...packing them up and putting them by the door to pack...getting halfway there and Ben asking me if i remembered to bring them....



...no. no, i did not remember to bring them. I cried a little. seriously. I was pretty disappointed, but turns out I did not miss them one bit. Maybe I forgot them for a reason because someone else wanted my attention. (Jesus)




3. Us getting a little bit stir crazy around 4:00pm on Saturday night, it was raining outside, we had read all the way through our books, played thirty games of "thirteen" in a row (28 of which i killed Ben), and eaten wayyyy too many chips and salsa to be ready for dinner. So we decided to take a little drive...through Madras, the bustling metropolis...and straight on through to Redmond, where we stopped at a Wal-Mart to ask for directions to a movie theater. We pulled up just in time for the 6:30 showing of Valentine's Day at the 4-plex. awesome. ghetto. romantic. stupid movie though. It was still fun..Ben kept turning to me and saying.."we're in Redmond."




And to top off an amazing weekend, I came home to find out I won Lauren's giveaway at The Little Things We Do. I was so happy because i love Lauren and i love the thrifty little find that she was giving away. hooray!

here it is. cute!

So, no crafts to share unfortunately..But i did have an amazing weekend. Now looking forward to picking up my new shelf from Becca this week, and getting started on our office while Ben is gone snow caving this weekend. Manly.

Longest post everrrr. sorry. Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Fill In the Blank Friday

Well, you know I have to join miss Lauren and

Fill In The Blank.

It is becoming my favorite little post of the week, afterall

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

1. I am hoping my Valentine's day this year includes,lots and lots of relaxation and quietness.

2. My biggest guilty pleasure is eating cereal for two out of three meals a day WAY too often, and not feeling bad about it usually.

3. I am most proud of My job that I have worked really hard for, although on the scale of whats most important to me, its way at the bottom...meaning I could give it up in a second. Close second would be sticking it out through the EXTREMELY challenging times with our puppy. Seriously, the dog is like a human. Everyone told us he was not the right dog for us, but there were some people who encouraged us to stick with it, and now we could not love him more. He is the best dog. :-)

4. If I could choose one outfit to live in it would be my favorite jeans (which happen to be from forever21, go figure, my hunter boots(even when its not raining),a plain solid fitted shirt of some kind, and some headband or hairpin i made...and my wedding ring, of course. ♥

5. People are mostly all looking for the same thing. To love and to be loved. Which is why I'm confident when i say that I believe all people are looking for Jesus. Not just "God" they way people think of God, as some force to believe in...but JESUS...the only One whose plan from the very beginning was to give himself for a people who had yet to turn their back on Him. Jesus was not plan B, He was the plan all along. That is love,and that's what people are looking for. Did you stop reading yet? :-)

6. I would rather have something old and classic than something new and trendy.

7. I love my life more than I ever thought I could.

Do your own Fill In The Blank Friday post and don't forget to link up here!


Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day.

See you again on Sunday!

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?