That's a Wrap!

Well, 2014, you and I didn't always see eye to eye...

We started off on the wrong foot...

A lot of heartache happened before a lot of good happened...

But, with every heartache, there was a light at the end of the tunnel...

First, we lost someone...

Then, we had a blessing in disguise, but that was taken from us as well...

There were some tough times... But, during the healing process, we welcomed home a little puppy we call Abby.

She has filled our lives with joy, laughter, and unconditional love.

As the year progressed, we purchased our first home!

This only added onto our stress and heartache... Our process took about a total of four months for what we thought would be a simple transition since we were purchasing the home from his parents...  We were so thrilled when it was finally over!  We feel like such "grown ups"!

We went to Disney, only to catch a bug when we were down there...  This definitely took a lot of my energy.  For a trip I was really looking forward to, it wasn't quite as I was hoping for.

(All in all, I couldn't have been happier to spend quality time with our family.)

Well, our year came in a full circle...

The week before Halloween, we found out we were expecting, again!

We kept the secret in long enough and now we're eager to share it with the world!

::My Very First "Bump" Photo::

::Our Growing Family::

 ::My Announcement on Social Media::

"Shhh! Don't tell Santa that Mrs. Claus stole his suit! She needed something a little roomier now that she's carrying Santa's Little Helper! Coming to the North Pole June 2015!"

We started 2014 with this song:

Ed Sheeran: Small Bump

We're ending it with this one:

Garth Brooks: Mom

2015, I cannot wait for you to arrive!  You have a lot to offer us!!

Coffee Shop Cozy

Day 10 of Style Me May is probably one of my favorites!!!

 *Coffee*Shop*Cozy*

These three words alone are some of my favorite pass times!  

Putting them together just makes my heart sing!

I was channeling my niece's birthday party with this outfit.  And, my master retreat makeover.

(which will hopefully be undergo sooner than I thought!)

The day I took these photos it was super gloomy and rainy (as I'm sure you can tell).

Putting these pieces together just perked me right up!

Who says clothes can't make you happy?  

When I slip into certain colors, it changes my whole outlook for the day.

I dress how I feel.  In most cases : happy

I think I need to find "happy cleaning clothes", because my cleaning clothes just bring me down, which then makes me curl up on the couch and in turn become unproductive.

 Anyway, Matthew and I have made a few big decisions these past few weeks...

We found a house!

Well... What I really mean is we are buying the house we are currently living in.

It's not our dream home, but our dream home seems a bit out of reach at this time and we don't want it to swallow us whole.

We feel very smart about this... We feel this is a great investment and BONUS : We don't have to move! 

(I hate moving!)

We're already in talks of what we'll do to make it our own.

For those of you who do not know, we're renting my in law's home.  

Which, in return, is Matt's childhood home.

They have offered this home to us so many times, but we always declined.  

Now, with the house market continuing to increase, they presented us with an offer we just couldn't refuse.

It will be nice to say we'll finally be homeowners!

It will also be nice to finally start "living" to the fullest extent!  

(In reality this means we can get a puppy!)

I've been waiting for a very long time for a new puppy.  Some of you know this story very well.

I'll be excited to add a new addition to our little family.

We won't be jumping the gun right away though...

Because we have booked our trip to Disney! 

 {Source : Google Images}

::cheers::fireworks::balloons::confetti::

This, too, is another long, awaiting trip, and I can hardly contain myself!

A few months ago, my husband was getting the ball rolling, trying to make this a huge surprise for me for my big 3-0!

Sadly, I found out.  But, I didn't snoop!  Not intentionally, anyway.

I am just giddy with excitement and am tapping my toe waiting for that time to come!  I cannot wait to share this experience with my husband!  Although, I hope he doesn't get jealous for my love for Minnie, The Beast, Tiana, Belle, and any other character we run into! 

 {Outfit Details}

Top: LC Lauren Conrad (Kohls)//Blazer: LC Lauren Conrad (Purchased from IG)//Pants: Gloria Vanderbilt (Kohls)

Shoes: Target (Purchased at Goodwill)//'Hot Air Balloon' Necklace: ebay//Watch: Kohls

My polka dots and I will fit nicely at The Magic Kingdom, don't you think?

April Showers

 

I think after a week of gloomy weather, this outfit only seemed fitting to post.

Besides the fact that it has a bunny on it...  And, well, since Easter is over, I thought I'd better post it now than posting it later.  However, I have a few more bunny posts lingering...  

Hope you aren't tired of them yet. :)

 

I absolutely adore these rain boots, but I can't help but drool over every Hunter pair I see...

I know everyone raves about them and the colors alone have me sold:

 

 

I'm craving the aqua ones.

Especially with my new, navy raincoat!

Even though the yellow ones are so fun!!!!

I'm just worried these babies won't fit over my calves and I'll have to settle for the short ones.

Thoughts?

 

{Outfit Details}

Bunny Sweater: LC Lauren Conrad (Kohls)//Floral Dress: Old Navy//Leggings: VS//Rainboots: Falls Creek

Anyway, after a long, stressful week, my Friday evening sure turned everything around!

Did I mention I have the most amazing friends?

I received a sweet, unexpected package last night from a dear friend.  She's truly my "friend" soul mate.  It warmed my heart and I had the most silliest grin on my face.

Then, Matt and I rushed to meet up with my sister, brother in law, and Godson.

Even though it was a quick meet up to plan someone's 13th birthday party, it was such a fun visit.

I admire that spending some quality time with great company can change your entire mood within moments.

Because, I needed it.

Now, the weekend is here and I'm so excited for it!

Easter

Easter was last weekend, right?  Oh wait... It was two weekends ago.  Yeesh.  I'm so thankful for everyone who still reads this even though I'm so neglectful.  You guys rock!

Well, here's my ol' Easter post which I was planning on posting many moons ago, but never got around to it.

Matt and I have a lot on our plates right now... Big decisions, big plans.  I'm pretty stoked!  But, more on that later... And, knowing my pattern, much, much later.  :)

My Easter consisted of taking selfies with Bunny a.k.a. Oreo (exhibit a ^), playing dress up, hiding eggs (even though I wish I was the one looking for them), laughter, bubbles, and most of all family.

And, we were blessed with such beautiful weather!  High 70s, sunshine, with a nice breeze.

Now it's been replaced with a high of the 50s and rain all week.

That's okay.  I love rainstorms.  

And, my non-green thumb needed this rain for some flowers I just (carelessly) planted.

 

{Outfit Details}

Dress: inlovewithavintageshop (IG)//Oxfords: Trotters (IG)//Belt: Target (Thrifted)//"Bunny" Necklace: H&M//Sunnies: Apt. 9 (Kohls)

I bought this dress in the dead of winter, yearning for a perfect day like this to showcase it.

This baby came with shoulder pads, but I took them out.  I love the modest length, darling button back, and pockets, not to mention the print.  

I actually bought this as a "Disney Dress".  Fitting, right?  Just add some ears and I'm good to go!

(Speaking of which, I'm planning on doing a Disney inspired post one of these days... The ideas are there; my productiveness just isn't.)

Enough of that.

Back to how I celebrated my holiday:

The Easter Bunny stopped by our house, but only left me some goodies.  Unfortunately, Matt must have pissed the Easter Bunny off because there was nothing left for him... 

(Whoops!)

 

 You have no idea how excited I was to see Phineas and Ferb's "Squirrel in my Pants".

Seriously... love... that... song.

Let's continue on, shall we?

In case you need a few ideas next year where to hide your eggs, here's some of my favorite hiding spots for 2014:

 It was so fun watching the kids on their egg hunt, even though I wanted to jump in.

But, then, again, I was holding the bunny all day.

Yes, I was a total bunny hog.

I'm not ashamed.

A few photos of my family:

 Love these kids!  Okay, my sisters, too.

The bunny even got bunny ears, because, why not?

 

Until next time...

 

Flea Market Fun Day

It's been ages since I've been to the flea market!  At least a few years...  I've been itching to go for a while... And lucky for me Matt said he'll come with me!

I dressed up, just for the occasion:

{Outfit Details}

Jeans: Levi's (Kohls)//Top: Chaps (thrifted)//Scarf: LLT//Hat: thrifted//Purse: Fossil (thrifted)//Oxfords: 8thavethrift on IG 

(It worked for the Style Me April challenge, anway.)

I was like a kid at a candy store... I was super giddy!  I almost skipped to the entrance... almost...

It wasn't as warm as I thought it was going to be, so I had to throw on a sweater.  Bleh.

No surprise here: it didn't take me long to make my first purchase. 

I bought an old Polaroid for $13.  I have no idea if it works, but my goal is to use it for decor.  I just love it to pieces!  Then I bought a few other trinkets and as we were walking around, I received a text from one of my all time favorite people:

Sigh... She always makes me smile!

As soon as she wrote that, I saw this book:

Fun and Fancy.

That's us in a nutshell!

Ha ha!

Just kidding... Kind of...

Friends Far and Near.

I wanted to take this book home with me just because of all the love and support I have received 

from you all...I love you to pieces!

As we continued strolling, Matt found some nostalgic items... Such as these wrestling action figures:

 

All locked up and in safe keeping.

I did score some more crochet material to make more scarves, ladies!  I know it's been forever since some of you requested one, but... I didn't want to go to the flea market by my lonesome.

I'll share more of my purchases in the next post..

In the meantime, can we just drool over one of my favorite shops?

I even saw an old Gone With the Wind book... Published in the 1920s!  She was only asking $20.  I guess I don't think that's expensive?  I never read the book and only saw the movie once... If it was

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, I would've been all over it! :)

After our delightful day of prancing around... Okay, it was just me prancing... I know Matt was bored...  We headed to Jimmy John's.  Quick lunch date before seeing some houses and heading to dinner with friends.

Here we are, stalking our first house of the day:

 

What else is there to do when you're waiting on someone other than to take selfies?

 

Truly Blessed

Words cannot express how wonderful my friends and family are.

After my last entry, many of you reached out to me and even though I wasn't ready to talk about it, and still am not ready to talk about it, you respected my feelings yet you continued to stand by my side.

Without even realizing it, you were there for me more than you may have thought.

Your simple, "I'm thinking of you", and "I hope everything is alright," meant so much to me.

Knowing that once, some time ago, I lost a lot of friends, and to think, now, 

how many true friends I have gained...

I will continue to say it until it's no longer true... I am truly blessed with every single person that is in my life.

I may know you in person, I may know you from Project Wedding, I may know you from Instagram, I may know you from marriage, or I may know you because we're blood.

No matter what the case, knowing that I have so many people that care about me, even in the slightest way, made my heart skip a beat... skip a few beats, really.

I smiled through my tears.  And those tears started to diminish and I am now smiling more and more.

{Outfit Details}

Dress: vintagetouched (IG shop), Cardi: Eddie Bauer (Thrifted), Leggings: VS, Boots: Madden Girl, Mug: Anthro (gifted)

I'll never forget what happened, but I will move on.

And, that's all thanks to you.  Your love.  Your support. Your friendship.

This Friday evening was a perfect example of this.

I had a hot date with the hubs... (let's soak this in a minute...)

...which continued to an unexpected  BFF coffee date.  This included many giggles and "teenage" feelings as we just sat in her car and chatted about anything and everything.

After my drive home, I was welcomed to a sweet, little "care package" sitting in my mailbox.

When I opened it, I found a sweet card, book, socks, Peeps, and chapstick.

It amazes me how much an "internet friend" can get me so spot on.

This was truly the icing on the cake for my Friday night.

Tonight was one of the best "medicines" I could have asked for.

Thank you, my dear, sweet friends!

You mean so much to me!

Happy Distractions

I'm going through some real personal things right now and am trying to find every distraction I can to avoid thinking of it.

I apologize in advance if I'm cold, distant, or just not myself.  I'm trying to regain myself.  Please know I'm not ready to talk about this... Not yet.  I typed my little fingers off yesterday so this secret will be something I will share... Just not right now.

I wore this outfit just last week and it made me so happy.  I'm craving to be back to that part of me soon.

Enjoy!

{Outfit Details}

Peach Dress: George (Wal-Mart)//Aqua Blazer: Candie's (Kohls)//Leggings: LC Lauren Conrad (Kohls)//

Boots: Madden Girl//Necklace:  Brand unknown

I'm still trying to figure out how to hide my remote that Matthew got me when taking photos... I'm such an amateur...Teehee.

Well, this lovely peach dress was a trade from Instagram.  And, Ladies, the brand is George.  That's Wal-Mart!  I was shocked!  Wal-Mart is stepping up their game!

The black necklace was also a part of a trade on Instagram.  I love it so much!  Figured it broke up the bright spring colors perfectly with my black leggings.  (You do not want to see whats hiding underneath those leggings... Not yet! :P)