It's my Mom's birthday today! Happy birthday, Mom!!!

Here's the thing it's easy for me to forget about my Mom: she fills a lot of other life roles than just 'mom'. She's a wife...a daughter...a sister...a sister-in-law...for a lot of years she was somebody's daughter-in-law...now she's someone's mother-in-law...she's an aunt...a cousin...a friend...a small group leader...a neighbor...a mentor...

That's a lot of roles for one woman!

For all the roles you've played in my life, and all the roles I see you play in other people's lives...I'm grateful, Mom! I love you!

Guernsey, Channel Islands // England

Happy September! My Dad's parents were married on September 1st years and years ago...and Andrew proposed on September 1st two years ago! Technically it was his second proposal...in 24 hours. :) You can read all about that special weekend here.

Our engagement anniversary has had me reminiscing all day! And, when my friend Katie posted this photo on Instagram a few weeks ago, my mind went soaring back to our honeymoon travels in England!

Have you read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society? Oh goodness was it ever a wonderful little book. I think there might even be a movie adaptation in the works. I read the book several years ago and thought it was downright delightful. It made me want to visit the Guernsey Islands...

...fast forward a few years later and my soon-to-be-husband and I were talking honeymoon plans! We both wanted to travel to the British Isles. Andrew scheduled the whole trip and a few weeks after our wedding we were off on our European adventure!

The first stop on our trip (after a flight into Heathrow) were the Channel Islands...and Guernsey! THE Guernsey! From that wonderful book! I was SO excited. Guernsey was as charming, darling, and precious as I'd imagined. I didn't want to leave! Andrew and I explored a few historical sites, and then wandered into the downtown area for a cup of coffee. The town was gearing up for a parade later in the week and shop owners and townsfolk were spread around the main street hanging banners and decorations for the parade. It was like something out of a Disney movie. I loved every second of it.

If you ever get the chance to visit Guernsey I hope you'll go! And if you never get to go, read the wonderful little book about the island and its people...a pseudo-traveling adventure! :)

Living Room Artwork

When Andrew and I bought our house the thing I was secretly most excited about was hanging artwork on the walls. So long, shared college dorm room! Adios, apartment living! This was going to be the place we could make ours. I had plans to decorate the walls with all sorts of goodies.

Little did I know we'd spend the first six months of home ownership just trying to get the wallpaper down! Haha! Getting artwork on our walls has been a work in progress, like most of this house. :) 

I feel like we've finally crossed the finish line with the wallpaper removal, painting, spackling, etc. Now on to the fun part...artwork! I'm a big believer that it takes time to make a house a home. I'm not looking to throw just any old artwork on our walls. I want it to have significance for both Andrew and I, and reflect the life we're building together {I don't have high expectations for it at alllll ;)}.

Several months ago Andrew and I popped into a print store in Charlottesville, Virginia. We stumbled across some maps from the 1873 edition of Gray's Atlas. There were dozens of prints from the atlas, but the two we fell in love with are featured below. One depicts a map of present day Oklahoma (labeled 'Indian Territory'!) and the other is a map of the Dakotas. My Dad was born and raised in Oklahoma, and Andrew's Dad hails from North Dakota. These maps reminded us of our dads...two incredible men who have had such an impact on both of our lives. I don't think Andrew and I would be the man and woman we are today had it not been for the fathers we had. We put the maps up in our living room, and every time I glance at them I think of the legacy of love that has been passed down to us. I hope it's a legacy we can pass on to many generations!

{We framed the prints with a rustic barn wood material. Seemed fitting as both of our dads grew up in farming communities! I like the masculine feel it brings to an otherwise pretty fancy feeling room.}

Living Room Before & {Almost} After.

Hello! Hasn't this summer flown by?!?! I can hardly believe September is right around the corner...! I feel like I'm still trying to catch my breath from what has felt like a whirlwind summer of family visits, vacations, celebrations, and home projects!

Ah, yes, somewhere in between all the summer activity Andrew and I have been trying to spruce up our living room. :) You may remember around this time last year, I was writing about painting these built in bookshelves (which I still just adore! They're one of my favorite parts of the whole room).

We finished up that painting and didn't really touch the rest of the room. We were gearing up to host our small group for the year, and the room worked fine. We decided we would get to more painting, decorating, etc. later on. (We did move that dresser though!)

Well, "later on" arrived this past spring! It was time to get a handle on this room. Andrew has given me free reign with every paint color in our house. I so appreciate his vote of confidence in my judgement. :) While thumbing through a Southern Living Magazine I came across a feature on the Nathaniel Russell House in Charleston, South Carolina. Sherwin-Williams worked with the Historic Charleston Foundation to develop a gorgeous paint color called Verditer Blue. It's a rich creamy turquoise color combining shades of blue and green. I was SOLD. 

We put a sample on the wall, cleared out the room, and got to work!

About this stage of the game I realized just how much color was on our walls. I started to have a bit of uncertainty...but your kind comments on Instagram, and my family's genuine words of encouragement led me to believe it might not be all that bad! :)

Here's our (almost) finished living room below! We've got a few more items to get on the walls and mantel. Window replacements are coming. And blinds. Drapes. Throw pillows (my friend, Julie, compiled arguably the best throw pillow suggestion post for this room!!!). It's a work in progress! But, it's real life! :) A new room made with plenty of helping hands, a few gallons of paint, and a little bit of hard work...totally doable!

30 Things {A Birthday Post!}

St. Thomas, USVI
photo cred: Sister

Tomorrow I turn 30! My brother and his girlfriend gave me a card last week that said, “30: It’s like 29...only better.” :) I’m excited about this next decade. Life is a gift from the cradle to the grave, and every year is precious. I can hardly fathom my 20s are over! Some of my favorite moments in all of life happened in my 20s. Some of my hardest moments, too. The things I’m most proud of took place in my 20s. And the things I’m least proud of happened in my 20s. The last decade has been joyous and painful and exhilarating and heart-wrenching and life-changing and monotonous and full. And God has used it all! Every bit of this last decade. He hasn’t wasted one experience. I’m grateful for my 20s. In a farewell of sorts, here’s a list of the 30 things I’m most grateful for from my 20s:

photo from last week's surprise party!

1. Grateful to have graduated from Biola University. My college career was so circuitous! I’m glad Biola was my final resting place. ;)
2.  Grateful to have been able to attend Biola with my Sister!
3. Grateful for my Sister. A friend through all of my 20s. The best kind of friend.
4. Grateful for the experience of living in New York City for two years.
5. Grateful for those 9A roommates in New York City.
6. Grateful for the hilarious retail memories from working at the Rockefeller Plaza J. Crew store with my dear friend Sarah.
7. Grateful for the opportunity to have spent a gap year overseas after high school with Operation Mobilization.
8. Grateful for a Mom who first floated the idea of a gap year.
9. Grateful for those six weeks in Israel during the summer between my sophomore and junior year of college.
10. Grateful for that summer roadtrip through the American West with two wonderful college friends.
11. Grateful for summers at Camp-of-the-Woods.
12. And summers in Oklahoma.
13.  Grateful for girlfriends who have known me through every season of the last decade.
14. For parents who loved one another and loved me. And helped point me, at an early age, to the love of God.
15. For five siblings. Grateful for the countless birthdays, graduations, moves, and life changes we’ve celebrated together in the last decade.
16. Grateful for the opportunity to travel with my family to Lima, Peru on a missions trip.
17. Grateful for that extension trip to Machu Picchu. High altitude and all! ;)
18. Grateful for the lives of Lon Solomon, Timothy Keller, John Yates, and Eric Metaxas.
19. Grateful for all the wonderful churches I’ve attended in the last 10 years, but most especially for McLean Bible Church, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, and The Falls Church Anglican.
20. Grateful for my friend Jenna, who started dating Adam, who led a small group for single guys that my future husband attended.
21. Grateful Andrew asked me out on that last first date.
22. Grateful that after all those years of praying and hoping and wishing for a husband, God brought me someone who completely surpassed my wildest hopes and dreams.
23. And in-laws who surpassed my wildest dreams, too!
24. Grateful for the ministry, mystery, and magic of marriage.
25. Grateful for that rascally puppy we brought home together.
26. Grateful for the life of C.A.M. Wagner.
27. Grateful for my Dad's life. Every day with him since February 9, 2004 has been a gift. 
28. Grateful for grace.
29. Grateful for joy.
30. And, most of all, grateful for Jesus.

A Surprise Party!

How was your weekend? I was expecting to spend most of yesterday celebrating my Dad and my father-in-law...instead, that mastermind husband of mine decided to throw me an early birthday party! Surprise surprise! It was the best surprise! And I'm not always one for surprises. ;) 

Andrew orchestrated the sweetest details for yesterday's party! And if you know me, you know details mean the world to me! I don't need a lot of fanfare...but a few simple, sweet gestures? I just melt. 

Andrew ordered Hill Country Barbecue (and all the fixins!) for lunch. My wonderful Sis and her boyfriend looped through D.C. on their way to the party to pick up all the food. And was it ever a feast! Hill Country was actually the original caterer for our wedding before we had a last minute reception change! It was so special to have it for a birthday lunch. I can't get enough of their BBQ!

Of course there was cake, too! My in-laws picked up the cake Andrew had ordered from Randolph's...the same place that did our wedding cake! 

Gifts abounded. Laughter filled the patio. Family members visited. And the June weather was sheer perfection. It couldn't have been more beautiful if I had dreamed it all up myself!  

My actual birthday is next week, and it's a pretty big one (30!). I felt excited about turning 30 before this weekend...but now I just feel buoyant about it! :) My heart is full to the brim. What a gift to celebrate with so many of my favorite people yesterday. 

(And thanks to my Dad and father-in-law for sharing their day with me!)

 

Let's talk herbs

Years and years ago I clipped a tidbit of an article out of a Coastal Living Magazine. The title of the article was, "Mark and Clark's Top Plants To Grow." I didn't know who Mark and Clark were but I loved their plant suggestions...heirloom tomatoes, thyme, chervil, basil, cilantro...yes, please! I carried that little article around with me through California, New York, and Maryland. It finally came to rest on our fridge here in Virginia. I actually pulled it off the fridge just the other day because...guess who finally has herbs growing in her backyard!

I cannot tell you how unusually happy these herbs make me. Andrew and I swung by Home Depot several weeks ago and he insisted that I finally pick out my garden of herbs. (When I say that he makes my dreams come true I mean the big dreams and the little dreams! He's the best.) So I went wild! Thyme and oregano and cilantro and basil. And a couple adventurous ones like okra and cantaloupe and cucumber and even bell peppers! We've got one mystery plant that lost it's tag. I cannot for the life of me figure out what it is!

These little herbs and veggies are just flourishing! We've got them in containers right now--soaking up plenty of sunshine and rain. Andrew picked out two varieties of watermelon plants. Might have to transplant those at the farm. :)

Cilantro! Homemade guac anyone?

Our Mystery Plant...any green thumbs know about this one?!

Cucumber!

Thyme flies when you're having fun!

Blooming cherry tomato plant! 

Oh Basil, I love you. ("Smells like pizza" said my Sister)

Bell peppers!

German oregano!

A bloom on our bell pepper plant

Cherry tomatoes coming your way!