FIRST MARRIED CHRISTMAS

And just like that our first married Christmas is over and it was one for the books! It was the sweetest few days and I am so sad it is already over. I don't like to pack up the Christmas stuff right away so I'm going to enjoy the lights and Christmas pj's through the end of this week....or until the storage totes we ordered deliver (they are supposed to deliver this Wednesday!) I'm a firm believer in enjoying Christmas decorations even after Christmas is over just as long as they are down by New Years Day. I'll probably start taking them down Wednesday night, and everything will be packed away by early Thursday afternoon. 

On to our Christmas celebrations...

I got off early Wednesday and we met my best friend, Sarah, for dinner. If you haven't been on social media this past week or have watched the news then you missed "spring" happening here in the south and along the east coast. Wednesday night a lot of strong storms moved through, there were multiple tornado touchdowns and even more on Christmas day in the south. Temperatures have been in the low to mid 70's and we've had our air running for over a week. It's crazy! I was sweating in my Christmas attire on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day...how's that for trying to look cute on Christmas lol.

We woke up on Christmas Eve morning and ate breakfast with his parents and then headed to my parents house for the day. We decided to spend Christmas Eve (day) with my family and Christmas Day with his family. For both of our families it works out perfectly! We spent Christmas Eve (day) watching Christmas movies, cooking, making pictures, eating, spending time with family, and swapping presents. After my extended family left Matthew and I did Christmas with my parents and sisters. I'm going to be so honest, it was weird giving my parents and opening their presents on Christmas Eve, I've done "Christmas" with them on Christmas Day morning for 22 years. 

This is one of the presents we gave my parents.

I made a chalkboard sign that said "forever you little girl" and gave this picture to them, they loved it!

 My parents got Matthew a ladder...woo hoo! (Sorry, this is terrible iPhone quality)

We loaded up our car and headed back to our apartment for Christmas Eve. We decided to stay at our place for Christmas Eve so we could wake up Christmas morning and do our Christmas together.
Waking up beside my husband Christmas morning was something I have always been excited about.

Christmas morning I woke up early and turned on our Christmas lights and Christmas music. Matthew woke up shortly after and we opened our stockings and gifts. It was such an exciting time. I was even able to surprise him with a few presents. It's hard to surprise each other when you live together and share the same bank account! I had to get creative and sneaky this year and it was fun lol. Matthew even managed to surprise me big time, more on that later. We made monkey bread and sausage balls after that and they were delicious.

So fun starting new little family traditions together.

My heart is so full that I have a husband and home to love on this year. Our first married Christmas was so special and I will always remember these sweet moments we share together. Being married has been such a sweet thing to me, I can't wait for, Lord Willing, many many more Christmases shared together.

After we ate breakfast we lounged around until it was time to get ready and head to Matthew's parents house. We loaded up the car with presents and our bags, we stayed the night with them.

Soon after we got to Matthew's parents house Matthew gave me my last present...my sweet, sweet husband surprised me SO good y'all! Remember in this post where I found my dream desk?

This desk...

Well Matthew went back the very next day and bought it for me. He has been hiding it at his parents house this whole time. Y'all, I am SOOOOO excited about this beautiful desk! Matthew is THE best!

We spent Christmas day spending time with family, eating delicious food, taking pictures, playing games, swapping gifts, looking at Christmas lights, and watching Christmas movies. Such a fun day!

Feeling so blessed to have doubled the size of my family this year!

Such a fun Christmas!

We all three showed up in similar green shirts...not planned, but made for a fun picture!

Again, sorry for the awful iPhone quality. I need to remember my camera!!

Jenny and I got cute pj's from Matthew's parents and we put them on early that afternoon because we were stuffed and they were so comfy! We all loaded up and went and looked at Christmas lights and then came back to his parents house and watched Christmas With The Kranks. We love that movie!

We woke up the day after Christmas and had breakfast with everyone and then headed to my mema's house for Christmas #3, and out last Christmas celebration! It was good to see everyone and eat more delicious food! My aunt and uncle gifted us this beautiful Lenox tree platter with our last name on it.

Can we just do it all again?? This time of year is so fun, and I love being around everyone and spending tons of time with family. 

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FIRST MARRIED CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVE!

Merry Christmas Eve, friends! My heart is so full that I have a home with a husband to love on this year! I am just beyond excited for Christmas morning tomorrow with my sweet Matthew, and I am hoping to take it all in and really enjoy every second.

Thankfully we were spared last night, as the strong storms missed us, but praying for all those who lost loved ones and their houses. I am heartbroken reading all of the news stories today of the damage all the storms left night. We decided to come to Murfreesboro a night early because of the storms, we are so grateful Matthew's parents let us stay with them last night. Tornado warnings and living on the 3rd floor just don't go well together. Please pray for all those who were affected last night by the storms and tornadoes. 

From our little home to yours, Merry Christmas!

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MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVE!

CHRISTMAS CARDS DISPLAY 2015

Growing up my mom always hung each Christmas card up as they came in the mail. They hung on our door frame in the kitchen leading into the living room, it was the first thing you saw when you walked in our back door and I loved it, and still do!

This was our first year sending our Christmas cards and I spent a lot of time picking out the design, the pictures to put on it and handwriting a little note on the back of them, So I know just how much time people put into their Christmas cards. 

I know not everyone puts as much time into them but they are still special! So I wanted to hang them up to display them somehow. We had this blank wall in our dining room and it was the perfect place to hang them up. I love how it turned out, and it was pretty simple! 

I just bought some red and white twine from Hobby Lobby and pinned it on our wall and I used these clothespins that were left over from our wedding reception. This display cost less than $4 for us!

 I decorated our console table a little with stuff I already had, and picked up a couple of cute items. That "oh deer" piece is from Target's dollar section. I loved the Christmas plaid on the deer and it ended up matching my ribbon that I used for the bows on the lanterns!

These clear glass lanterns are left over from our wedding. I LOVE them and LOVE decorating with them. We have about 10 and I am putting them to good use each season. For Christmas I just bought some cheap (AMAZINGLY scented) pine cones and stuffed in there. I found this ribbon for our wreath and made bows for both lanterns. My bows are lacking a little but they'll do for this year lol.

My favorite milk glass dish, ever! I just placed some extra pine cones in it.

 I am going to be so sad seeing these go next week. I really wish Christmas decorations stayed up longer!

Christmas card season is the sweetest of all!

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CHRISTMAS CARDS DISPLAY 2015

ENGAGEAVERSARY

Today is our engagement anniversary. I still can't believe that the boy I love went from being my boyfriend to my fiance to my HUSBAND all in these past 365 days! What a joy it has been watching Matthew take on these new titles and transitioning into them so well. So much has happened in these past 365 days, it's kind of hard to wrap my head around all of it. You can read all about how Matthew proposed to me HERE!

We were engaged a little under 7 months (208 days to be exact) and those months were probably some of the longest months of my life. They probably felt that way because Matthew and I were living about an hour apart and really only got to see each other on the weekends. I remember multiple times we were frustrated with ourselves on making such a "long" engagement. We had honestly thought about moving our wedding date up a bit, but in the end it worked out perfectly. Those 208 days were all in God's timing. We were able to plan and prepare for our wedding/marriage, and looking back now, I wouldn't have changed those 208 days of our engagement (I also wouldn't add any days to our engagement lol 208 days was definitely plenty long for us!) I thought I knew happiness 365 days ago, but come to find out, I had a lot of happiness left to discover (and still do!) 

I know that anniversaries will only get better from here. Days like today are the little ones, but it's still fun to celebrate even the small events. And I'm overwhelmed when I think about the fact that we haven't even really begun to scratch the surface of this whole marriage thing. 

Matthew, it is an honor to have your last name, and to be your wife. Having you introduce me to people as your wife will never, ever get old. What an adventure these past 365 days have been!

We had an engagement picture as well as a wedding picture taken at the same spot where Matthew got down on one knee. All three occasions were very exciting, and that's now my favorite spot on Tech's campus. 

December 22, 2014 was a really, really good day, but every day after that one has only gotten better.

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ENGAGEAVERSARY