a new love is found.

Over the Christmas holiday, Seth always takes off for a week and we get to enjoy a little family staycation. This year, by far, was the best one yet. We had so much fun being together as a family and having little adventures planned for each day.

One of the mornings, we set aside for going thrifting as a family (inspired by the massive amounts of stuff we needed to drop off), but it seemed like an easy way to kill two birds with one stone. We've been working on our bedroom and basement and were in search of several different pieces. We had somewhat of a vision and an idea where we were going, but in the thrifting world you can't always plan that what you are looking for will actually be in the store and for the price you want to spend. Thankfully on this occasion we scored big on our first stop at Salvation Army. Two beautiful matching side tables for $44 total (the best part was we hit it on a day they were offering an additional 25% off all furniture).

And thus began the transformation. We started off sanding and then used Behr premium plus primer + paint in one to finish the job with two coats. Amazingly, we were even able to salvage the hardware. 

The finished product came together exactly as we wanted it to:

You might have noticed a little green chair in the "during" pictures above, Audrey had her first thrift store find too and she came home with a $3 old schoolhouse chair. It was in need of a lot of work, but nothing a little sanding and paint can't fix. 

Here is a little thing Seth and I learned in the process, even after being married for 5 years, we are still learning new things about each other. We both are pretty different in our interests, but I think we finally found something that we truly love doing together. And the timing couldn't have been more perfect in light of where we are in making progress on some huge projects in our house. It was as if all the right events finally came together and a light came on, I almost felt a little bit like John + Sherry from Young House Love, minus half of their skills, but we're learning. 

I'm working on all the final details of our bedroom, but thanks to a lot of hard work that room is so close to being done. I can't wait to share. 

This post has been brought to you courtesy of 3rd trimester nesting. 

5 years.

On Saturday, we celebrated 5 years of marriage. And its been a wonderful 5. I can't wait til 10, 15, and beyond. 

In 5 years we've bought a house and a new car (and almost 2 now), a 2 year old in tow, and another baby girl on the way. So many more milestones have been reached and as I think about 5 years, I can't help but feel we've just begun. 

Seth, I love you more than words can even say. You are the best man for me and I'm so glad you asked me to be yours. There isn't a day that passes that I don't thank God that he gave you to me. We've come a long way. 

dreams do come true.

I should preface this post by saying, that in the sum total of things I have "won" in my life, I think its a measly total of 1 (a blog giveaway for a poster).

Now rewind...

The week Becca had Behr, by the way my house look for the two weeks following you would have thought that I had the baby. To say everything was a mess is probably an understatment and as much as I love my husband, he really isn't cut out to work, take care of A, and keep our house clean while I recuperate from pulling an all nighter.

So one afternoon, during nap time I was feeling pretty ragged and thinking of sending a hint to Seth about what I "really want for Christmas," I tweeted:

I fell asleep and really thought nothing of it and Seth didn't even mention it when he came home from work. So much for a girl dreaming, right?

The next day, I got an email telling me that Olive Garden had started following me and that they mentioned me on Twitter.

At first I messaged them and asked if it was spam. It was probably total disbelief. Then they gave me an email address to correspond with a member of their team.

Next thing I knew there was a $300 gift card in the mail for Merry Maids to come clean my house. To say I was floored was an understatement. How they found my "wish" I still have no idea, but I am SO grateful. This pregnant mommy was not looking forward to getting down on my hands and knees to clean our floors.

our 2011.

It's hard to know where to start after a year like this. Seth decided this was our roller coaster year. We had some really high high's and some really low low's. Walking through this year, it didn't particularly feel that volatile, but looking back, it was a significant year.

-We didn't buy clothes (separate post coming on this later).
-We found out about baby girl #2 and Audrey turned 2.

-Our church, that we love, is walking through one of the biggest trials I have ever experienced. It has been good, and we can see good coming from it, but there have been a lot of very sad days.
-Several dear friends got married and Seth was in 2 weddings.

-We made some major progress on house projects (in large part thanks to Pinterest). Our bedroom and dining room are almost done, and the basement ideas are rolling.
-Every single kitchen appliance in our house died and we finally bit the bullet and put new windows on our house. This was probably our biggest house investment year yet. But on the bright side of an investment like that, at least its done?
-We discovered the wonderful gift of Skype as a means of staying in touch with my Mom, Gma, who lives all the way across the country.
-Seth had the opportunity to show his art work not once, but twice, and we got to meet some really cool new people. It was such a privilege. He was able to sell several pieces. And for a proud wifey, this was a high. (If you missed them, he is hoping to do another show in 2012 with a whole new body of work.)

-We celebrated 5 years of marriage in year 4 with a trip to Disney.
-We had one of the best summer vacation trips to Cape May with some of our dearest friends.

-My best friend, of many years, had her first baby boy, Behr. It goes without mentioning that I got to throw her the shower of my dreams too.

And after another year passing, our God has remained the same. He never changes. And for that we are grateful as we look ahead to a new year, 2012. It will no doubt hold many unexpected blessings and trials, but we know that our faithful, good, wise, and loving Savior goes with us.

So as with Merry Christmas, it also seems right to say, Happy New Year, from us to you.

the party to celebrate 2.

After last year, Seth told me that I had to keep it simple this year. Two is a big deal, but in the party world, you don't really have to go as all out as one. That wasn't too hard so we decided on a painting party theme. Over the past year, this has been a significant interest that Audrey has had and a very special way for her to spend time with Daddy. It just fit and seemed to be such a defining thing from her second year.

We were blessed to have cousins, grandmas, and a handful of friends join us to celebrate our girl. It went so well and even though it was more low key, it was still memorable. Proof that less, can be more.

In terms of deciding on a color scheme and decorations, thanks to Pinterest, that was easy.

It's amazing to think that this time next year, we will have a growing 6 month old sister to join in the celebration with her big sister. And today, while out running errands, it occurred to me that Audrey's birthday is so perfectly timed in a season where gratefulness and thanks are at the forefront of our minds, because truly her small little life is a wonderful start to that thinking.

(many thanks to our favorite Titi, for highjacking my camera and taking some photos to remember the occasion.)