Posted on by Tiffany · 2 Comments

Summer is Ending, School is on the Horizon

I love summer. I love being hot. I love smelling like coconut sunscreen, bug spray and maybe charcoal. I love having a tan. I love sitting outside, feeling the hot sun beat down on me and then jumping into a cool body of water. I love playing in the pool with my babies; splashing them, laughing with them, seeing their messy hair and hearing squeals of delight as they soar down rushing water slides.

I love watching my kids chow down on watermelon. That juice running down their arms clear to their elbows, the sticky red lips and slurpy noises that accompany the task.

Chase partaking of summer bounty

I.Love.Summer.

So, I’m sad. Next week is not the end of summer (I’m pretty sure that comes in October for St. Louis), but it is the end of total abandon. Yes, Cooper starts school in a little over one week.

Unfortunately, just because of how things fell, I’m watching a baby all 5 days, all day that week. So our opportunities to be spontaneous are much more narrow and short-lived. I’m going to try to live it up a bit though. I think we’ll head to the water park at least 2 times in the evening next week. 😀

Have I mentioned that a water park at the end of the day, complete with sandwiches brought from home for dinner and not leaving until they close at 8 pm, is a perfect way to end any evening any day of the summer? Well, it is. Half price admission after 5 adds the icing to that cake. Try it, you’ll like it. (And invite me to come too ok?)

What are you trying to cram in one last time before school starts?

 

 

Posted on by Tiffany · 4 Comments

9 Years Down, 61 to go!

9 years ago today, I married the love of my life! We started a new life together with heads and hearts full of dreams. We’ve experienced rough circumstances in our marriage, but we have always been together in them. We’ve truly been there for each other for better or for worse. In sickness and in health, till death we part…in 70 years when we are roughly 93? That’s my best guess babe. You’ve got 61 years to go.

Ahh...wedded bliss 😀

Jeremy and I have both commented that we are extremely and uniquely blessed in that we had firework-worthy pre-marital counseling and prep. Seriously…I bet it was 2 straight years of marriage conferences, Bible studies, book studies, counseling, classes and even mentoring before the big day. After we tied the knot, we continued to seek out knowledge about how we could work together as a couple. We did more marriage Bible studies, more book studies by Christian authors, more marriage conferences and more mentoring. We still do today.

I have no idea why I'm making that face....

But probably the most important aspect is that we did it in COMMUNITY. From the start of our dating relationship, we surrounded ourselves with other Christian couples and we leaned on them for help, for fun, for encouragement and support. We committed to praying for those couples and they committed to praying for us. When we had a little hiccup, we got help with it so that it didn’t become a boat rocking mess. Not that we haven’t had those too though…

103 degrees and we're taking pictures outside? Slurpees were a must!

We aren’t perfect. Our marriage isn’t perfect. But we are a testimony to the difference that is made when you have 3 things: Jesus, training/mentorship, and community.

To all those people who have been a part of our 9 years of marriage, thanks! You have been with us through a lot.

9 years have flown by my love, and when I think of all that is ahead of us..whew! Can you imagine 61 more years with ME? HA! What fun we’ll have. I love you babe.

Posted on by Tiffany · 1 Comment

The Fireplace Project Reveal

Back in June, I wrote this post about the fireplace in our “den”. I was really nervous about potentially painting the brick surround because, once you do it, you can’t take it back!

However, I just felt this nagging pull to do it. I’m such a rebel…

I did it!

Here is the before shot:

Ho Hum...

And here is the after!

BAM!

I went ahead and primed &  sealed the brick with some Behr. But after I had a good coat of primer on it, I felt like,”hey, it looks exactly like I painted it. It’s sealed…it’s fine”! So I left it without paint. I can always run a little white paint over it if I decide not to leave it this way.

Now, my best friend already confessed she doesn’t like it. And, that’s ok. I like it. I think it makes the room pop and it does what I wanted it to do for this whole room; moves it one step away from traditional.

This project was NOT as easy as the couple over at YHL said it would be….but it wasn’t hard either. It was time consuming.

Also for the den, that cute chair I found on Craigslist was just too ecrue for me…I wanted a softer cream color. So I bought a slipcover at Target on a whim and tossed it on there.

Better color...

I can’t find a before picture of this chair! I think I only took them on my phone. BOOO! (I know I can get pics off my phone…somehow.) So just believe me…’cause I don’t want to take the slip cover off to show you…maybe I’ll just lift up a corner or something or go to Facebook and you can see the difference. But you get the idea.

The next project? Finding some fun wallpaper to put in the back of the built-ins! (I won’t actually stick it on…I’ll just tack it up there so I can take it down if I don’t like it later…or right away!) That’ll be a more drawn out project I imagine. There’s lots of measuring involved and random browsing/shopping…things I can’t do with kids around. Hurray for house projects!