Join me in the Making Your Home A Haven Challenge

It's fall... and for me that means wanting my household to be just perfect! Why? I'm not really sure but year after year the fall seems to be my time for a clean house, an apple aroma of some sort, hot chocolate, kind attitudes, loving words and lots and lots of family time. I am joining Courtney and many others over at Women Living Well (have you checked out her blog...? It's a must!) in the Make Your Home A Haven Challenge. Will you join me?

Weekly challenges are designed to help make your home a place of peace. Too many activities pulling you in different directions? Stressful day at work or with the kids? Lots of errands to run? A To-Do List a mile long? This challenge will help you to be intentional each day in finding the calm.

Interested? Head over to Women Living Well to watch the video.

Week 1's challenge was to buy a large candle and light it each day praying for peace in your home. I will be using my candle lantern that Mark and I got on our Honeymoon!

Dear Jesus,
Please bring peace to our home today. Please help us all to use kind words and to practice patience with each other. Please allow us to spend time together and enjoy each other's company. Thank you for this home... for the walls that surround us and the roof over our heads. I pray that we can use it to glorify you.
Amen.

A Wedding Ornament

So one of my very close friends got married this weekend and I was able to make another invitation ornament. I have to say... this is kind of my 'go-to' handmade wedding gift. Its so easy but yet looks so nice and is a great keepsake for the bride and groom.

Materials:
A clear glass or plastic ornament
The wedding invitation
A paper cutter
A pencil
Ribbon to match the colors

 Step 1: Find the wedding invitation... (And make sure you copy down all information so that you know where the reception is and what time both the ceremony and reception start...)

 Step 2: Using your paper cutter, slice the invitation into strips. Each strip should have only one line of text on it. It doesn't matter if some are thicker than others... you won't be able to tell. I also only use the strips with 'wedding' text (For example if the invitation gives directions I don't include the directions or information like that.)

 Step 3: Using a pencil, loosely wrap each strip around to form a curly-q. (Yes, that is a technical term.)

 Here is what you will get. Don't worry if it looks to 'tight'. They will loosen up and expand once in the bulb.

 Step 4: Place each strip into the ornament. I found that rolling it in a small circle then poking it through the top works best. If you feed it through, one end to the other, it tends to uncurl.

Step 5: Add a ribbon to the top and there you have it! Now the bride and groom have a copy of their wedding invitation and an ornament to remember their wedding by every Christmas!

What are some wedding keepsake ideas you use?

Why I Love My Husband

This time of year I really start to think about my love for my husband. You can find our Love Story here but here is a Cliff's Notes version... Mark and I 'met' in seventh grade at youth camp. The boys from his church roomed with the boys from my church and they became friends. I on the  other hand, wanted nothing to do with the boys from his church. Fast forward about 15 years and we started casually talking on Facebook. That January he was working at Seneca Lake Youth Camp and I went as a chaperon for our girls. After spending a little time together that weekend he asked me for my number. He called the NEXT day... he was such a gentleman that he did not need the whole 3 day rule!!! Our conversations from that night on were at least 3 hours... every night. 2 weeks later he came up to Poland, from Louisville KY, for our first date. Due to the snow that date ended up being a weekend and by Sunday I. Was. In. LOVE. Monday on the phone he asked me if I wanted a silver or gold ring! Wow... So, why do I love this man?

1. He has such a love for God! Many of our conversations revolve around loving the Lord and trying to be faithful to his calling for us as a couple.

2. He is so funny! Just yesterday he had me laughing so hard I was crying... and it wasn't even trying to be funny! He sings, he dances, and he just likes to goof off and have fun!

3. He is my rock! He has gotten me through many ups and downs. With him by my side I can accomplish anything.

4. He is faithful! I love knowing that he only has eyes for me. He makes sure I know that I am the only one for him.

5. He is oh-so-SEXY! Especially in his Bengals jersey and hat turned backwards... Hubba Hubba!

Now I could go on and on but for times sake I would say that this is why I love my husband! Join me over at Happy Wives Club and link up your post on why you love your husband. 

99 Reasons...

While browsing Pinterest today I found this great pin with an equally great challenge. The pin was titled "99 Things You Might be Thankful For About Your Husband". The challenge was to tell you husband one reason why you are thankful for him each day of November. Now Mark is great at always telling me why he loves me, appreciates me, and things he likes about me. In fact, I would say he does it at least once a day if not more... he is always bringing a smile to my face. But this got me thinking that maybe I don't tell him how thankful I am enough. So... challenge accepted. Will you join me?

Happy Anniversary

I love you because...

So I totally stole this idea off of Pinterest but I loved it so much and wanted to share...

Using two old picture frames and some scrapbook paper that matches our bedroom I made these 'I love you because...' dry erase boards. We hung them up in our bedroom and use them to leave quick little messages throughout the week. I really didn't think that Mark would get into it... But I think he changes his reasons for me more than I do... We share really sweet and sentimental reasons (see his for me) and corny reasons as well (see mind for him). It really puts a smile on my face when I walk in and see that he has changed it. Total cost = found 2 frames I've had for years, 2 pieces of scrapbook paper $.25 each, and a dry erase marker in a 'teacher pack' given to me at the beginning of the school year.

You have the right to remain silent...

So after Mark had a long day at work he came home to this...

We had a blast!

A Hand-Made Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day... Mark and I decided that to make Valentine's Day more meaningful we would make each other our presents. After searching for hours for an idea on Pinterest (as if I needed and excuse) I decided to make a Map Frame with all the places special to Mark. Check out how it turned out:

The map includes:
West Virginia: Mark has a lot of close family in West Virginia and spent many summers of his childhood hanging out there. We were also engaged while Four Wheeling in West Virginia.

Columbus: Mark was born in and lived in Columbus up until moving to Kentucky. His parents still live in Columbus and we visit as often as we can.

Seneca Lake: Seneca Lake is a place special to both Mark and myself. It is both where we met and where we were married. To read more about Seneca Lake click here.

Louisville, Kentucky: Mark was living in Louisville when we first started dating. He was going to Boyce College at the time. I went and visited over Valentine's Day weekend two years ago and it was probably the most memorable weekend we've had.

Mark did a great job picking out my gift. He got me a letter box to go on my nightstand. He added his 'hand-made' touch by imprinting 'Sug' on the front of it. He also wrote me a letter to be the first of many to go inside.

While our Valentine's Day may not have been ideal, spending two hours standing on the side of the road waiting for AAA, it was perfect. After we finally made it home from Applebee's we exchanged gifts and watched Breaking Dawn =D

One Year of Wedded Bliss...

Yesterday Mark and I celebrated our one year anniversary. Mark had the day planned, with a little alterior motive I might add, and it was so sweet. We started our anniversary 'weekend' by going to visit his parents in Columbus. Sunday morning we woke up and headed out... where? I was not told. I quickly guessed though as I saw the truck heading the all-to-familiar way to Seneca Lake. We stopped and ate lunch at Bob Evans. Mark chose Bob Evans because that is where we went to breakfast the morning after the wedding. That morning was one of my favorite moments to date... Just sitting there across from my husband. It was perfect... cold and rainy, I was in my 'Mrs. Wimbish' hoodie, shiny new rings on our fingers, we had nothing to do but go back to the cabin and warm up in the hot tub... I loved it. So we started off with lunch then headed down the windy road to the chapel... our chapel... the setting of not only our vows but where so many important decisions in our lives had been made.

We stopped to take a picture there then headed onto Vesper's Hill to snap another one before the rain came. Our wedding picture above the fireplace is the two of us standing in front of the cross. Now we have another one exactly one year later.

On our way home is when the sneaky guy of mine says "So umm... Did you know Cabella's isn't to far from here?" Because I love him so much we stopped at Cabella's.

After the drive home we came back to a year old cake waiting for us and envelopes to open... At the wedding we had our guests leave a message and seal it in an envelope. They were told that the envelopes would not be opened until our first anniversary. We had so much fun reading the advise given, hearing about our guests favorite part of our wedding, and reading different date ideas they thought we should do. We had a blast opening them. I would definitely recommend this to other brides out there. The cake... yea, we ate enough to say that we ate it...

 

Now I am all about traditions and found this GREAT idea on pinterest (can you say addicted???). I was really wanting to make our anniversaries special so we are documenting them with a picture. Each year on October 2 we are going to take a picture. This picture is different though... This is a picture of us holding last years' picture... Have you ever seen the opening of Modern Family... Where they hold a picture of them holding a picture of them... and I think you get it. That is our anniversary tradition... I can't wait to see this over the next few years...

Choose Your Own Adventure Date Night

So the other day when I was doing my daily blog-hunt I stumbled across The Dating Divas. I sat for hours looking through all their creative date ideas. One idea really piqued my interest, a Choose Your Own Adventure Date. My mind immediately started going thinking of my husbands favorite places around here and cool things we could do. Finally, I gave in and told him to keep Thursday night free as I was planning a date for us.

I started by creating a book cover from a CYOA book. I changed the title to The Dating Adventure, put myself as the author, and added detective/clue-like clipart.

Then I came up with different levels of activities: pre-dinner, dinner, post-dinner, etc. For each level I had four options for Mark to choose from. I printed these off, put them in envelopes, then on each envelope I wrote a clue as to what was inside. I think he had the most fun trying to figure out each clue as he HATES surprises.

When I had finished that I wrote a poem to go with the cover. The poem told him what tonight's date was going to be.

Here are some pictures from our Choose Your Own Adventure Date:

I gave him the first set of envelopes at home. He read the clues then choose one to open.

 That envelope sent us 'Window shopping at Family Christian Bookstore'.

After that it was time for dinner and we were off to Los Gallos. This decision was a tough one...

For our activity we went to Wal-Mart and bought each other a $5 gift. We cheated a little on this one and we kind of picked out what we wanted. Mark got doe pee (how romantic, I know...) for hunting, and I got a Paula Dean cinnamon and apple candle.

Overall our date night was a huge success!

52 Reasons Why...

The story behind the gift: Mark and I knew each other for years but just from passing at Seneca Lake Youth Camp. We began talking via Facebook on November 30,2010. We met at the Winter Retreat (Seneca Lake), I was a chaperone, he was Co-Director in January. He came to Ohio (from Louisville, KY) for our first date, 7 hours away, on Friday, February 3. He got snowed in (we got 27 inches in a few hours). He ended up stuck in Ohio until Sunday afternoon... On Sunday afternoon, I fell in love. Over the phone on Monday he asked me if I wanted a silver or gold ring... (apparently he fell in love too) The next weekend, which happened to be Valentine's Day weekend, I drove the 7 hour drive to see him. I needed a gift and had 4 snow days to create one for him... 

 

This started as a '52 Reasons Why I Like You' book but after our Sunday afternoon I knew I loved him. I simply bought a deck of cards, a pack of binder rings, and scrapbook paper. I sat down with my Cricut and bad a blast. I had the most fun thinking up reasons why I loved him... Some are quirky like 'We both hate pickles' and some are very serious.

Red Letter Dinner

A good friend of mine got me a Red Letter Dinner Set for my bridal shower. My husband used it on me for the first time tonight.

I have seen it as a gift at Bridal Showers many times. It is a really nice idea for anyone looking for a sentimental but inexpensive gift.

How to make it:

1. Buy a nice box (hat boxes work really well as they are already decorated). It ties it all together if the box has red in it.

2. Buy a red plate (dinner and salad), bowl, glass, napkin, and placemat. It is also nice to put a red candle in it as well as a candle holder.

3. Copy the following saying onto a piece of red paper. A special touch is to add the bride and grooms name and their wedding date. Decopauge the letter into the inside of the lid.

Your Red Letter Day

This one setting of red dishes is intended for "Red Letter Days"

Surprise one another by setting it for your spouse of child when you prepare a special dinner for him or her.

Let the birthday spouse or child use the red dishes to mark another year of good health and happiness.

Set the red dishes for a guest of honor who comes to visit your home.

Celebrate the completion of a project or a promotion for your loved one.

One day you may set the dishes for a child who brings home a great report card.

Whenever you use the red dishes, we pray God's blessings on you, your marriage, and your family.

May you have many "Red Letter Days" together in the years to come.

To print the letter click here. (The letter is printed in black font so it shows up on red paper.)

Thanks Sarah & Tom!

Date Night

Mark and I have already spent numerous nights trying to decide what to do. We had finally had enough so I made us a 'Date Night' can. We each wrote down ideas of things we would like to do and put them in the cans. Now, each 'date night' we can pull a date… I will finally get my nice candlelight dinner and he will finally get me to the shooting range (okay, so maybe I glued that date to the bottom so it would never get pulled…). I had just as much fun making it as we did coming up with date ideas.

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! Mark really did a good job in making tonight a special night. He knows that my favorite memory is when I drove to Kentucky last Valentine's Day so he recreated it for me. We had the best time and grew so close as it was only our second date. I remember walking to B-Dubs on Saturday night and all the lights stringing across the street. The sidewalks were covered in snow but that was okay because he kept me warm. I remember waking up on Sunday, Valentine's Day, and going to church then Arby's for our Valentine's Day dinner. Which was fine because that gave us more time to cuddle up and watch movies. He actually sent me my Valentine's day present because we weren't supposed to be together. So, I packed it up and brought it along. He bought me Serendipity, a favorite of ours. Using a deck of cards, I made him a book of 52 reasons why I love him.

So now here we are a year later watching Serendipity and eating Arby's curled up on the couch.

He got me a shirt that says 'I love my husband' and one for himself that says 'I love my wife'. And love me he does... Its awesome that he tells me how much he loves me each and every day not just on a day like today. If I had a quarter for everytime he told me I was beautiful and that he loved me I would... well, not have to go to the change machine at the car wash every time we needed to do laundry.

100 Days of Married Life

Well, as of today Mark and I have shared 100 days of wedded bliss. Okay, so maybe they were not all completely blissful but we have definitely grown in our relationship. We have taken these 100 days to learn even more about each other. For instance, I learned that he would rather hang is towel over the shower rod than on the nice little hook that we registered for. Ha Ha! And he would probably say that he has learned that I hit snooze about 10 times before I actually get up. Our first 100 days have also been very eventful. They have been filled with many day trips to Grove City and Pittsburgh, PA; Columbus, OH, and Wheeling, WV, some very special 'first' holidays, a few trips to the hospital, spending plenty of time with our youth group, game nights with both the Wimbish's and the Stare's, and many movie nights where we snuggled up in bed and watched movies all night! I love Mark more today than ever before. As we always say, "I love you more than your more!"

Our First Christmas... As Mr. & Mrs.

Our Holiday
Well, as you may or may not know, Mark and I started talking on November 30, 2009. After decorating my Christmas tree and making sure every bulb and light was in place I plugged in the tree and much to my dismay... a whole strand of lights were out. I posted my frustration on Facebook and was met with a sarcastic response from Mark. That conversation was the beginning of our happily ever after. Now, on November 30 we will celebrate our 'holiday' by decorating for Christmas. Here are some pictures of 2010...

Mark putting our Christmas tree together.

Don't worry... I did check the lights this year!

This Christmas Tree is approved by my husband!

On our Honeymoon we went into a Christmas shop and bought our first Christmas ornament.

Christmas Eve w/the Stares
This year we started our own Christmas Eve tradition. Our morning started off with breakfast in bed. My husband, the wonderful cook that he is, made pancakes and sausage. We spent the rest of the day lounging around and having some quality time before all the Christmas festivities.

Christmas Eve at my parent's house

The year that my dad lost his job he started buying us gag gifts from Goodwill in order to bring laughter back into our family. This tradition has continued over the past few years and it is a highlight of our Christmas. This year my dad got Mark a kid's bow set and a wooden deer for practice because he hasn't 'caught' a deer yet, my brother a car and bubbles for his hot bubble baths, my sister camo slippers because she loves camo so much, and me a Coach/Louis Vuitton/Chanel/Prada purse.