project cleanse: hall closet

organize our hall closet

Organization makes me a happy girl. I feel more relaxed and way more on top of my game when the 
things around me are organized. Ever since I moved in with my hubby 6 months ago, we have been filling up our hall closets, and even though they span the length of our hallway, we still have managed to fill them full. I spend too much time jumping up and down to try to get a better look at what’s really on them, and I end up pulling down a whole shelf’s content to see what is all up there. This had to end.

I first emptied the entire content onto our family room floor. I decided on what type of storage would work best for us and I measured the shelves, estimating how many storage baskets we would need. I don’t know about you, but when I can make something both organized & cute, I am all for it. I sped off to one of my favorite stores {The Container Store} and was instantly in ‘organization heaven’. I picked out these gems and labeled then to match the content of our closet. What do you think?!

There is just something so satisfying about opening up our closets, seeing everything organized in it's own place, and enjoying the benefit of it being cute while also being functional.

Next week, I rid our apartment of clutter.

project cleanse: bathroom cabinet

minimize the products in my bathroom cabinet

If you didn't see the introduction/game plan for my new 'project cleanse', check it out here.

It’s no secret that I love trying new products, make-up trends, and enjoy testing out new finds. With that, I also have sensitive skin so not every product will work well with my skin type. Over the past few years I have accumulated quite a cabinet of make-up, skin care, and body products, but I hadn't really noticed until I moved from an expansive bathroom to a more modest room with ½ the amount of storage. In all honesty, it was the best thing to help my growing product collection.

On November 26^th, I decided to take a stand and not allow myself to purchase any new products until I used up at least 20 products from my cabinet. This would include everything from body lotion & face wash to nail polish & hair products…. It really made me focus on what I have and clean out what I don’t use.

I utilized an app called Wunderlist to keep track of everything. I could have kept track on a piece of paper, but paper lists always seem to get lost in my life.

In the end, it took me almost 4 months to complete my 20+ list of emptied products and I have to say it really makes me think when I want to purchase a new nail polish or face cream. I ask myself: first, do I really need this, second, do I have any other products similar to it {making it unnecessary} and third, how long will it take me to use it up. These steps have really helped me to minimize the products in my bathroom cabinet, and also helped with my budget.

Now I have room for more right? Just kidding

Next week...I attack our hall closet.

our wedding: part 2

After our photo opt at the apple orchard the wedding party headed off to the church. We had a little time to relax and refresh before the big event.

Surprisingly I didn't get too weepy on our wedding, but in this moment {pictured below} I couldn't hold it in. As I stood there looking at the wide empty church where I would be entering in an hour to be joined together with B, I lost it. I welled up with tears knowing what would be coming next: me & my dad taking the final walk before I became a wife. Oh, boy I still get teary just thinking about that...hold it together Emily!

If a picture says a thousand words, then these 2 pictures say about four thousand words. I loved that our photographer managed to catch this lovely moment of my dad taking a few minutes out of the crazy day to soak it all up.

There must be a dozen pictures of me & my sister making this pose. From age 2 till 22, we still do the same pose.

I just love the smirk on Brian's face here. When walking up the isle on the arm of my dad, all I could see was Brian. I knew I wouldn't be able to look away from him or I would loose it. And sure enough I took one quick glace at his mom who {who was right behind B} and my eyes instantly filled with tears.

It was also such a wonderful addition to have the pastor who baptized me as a baby, be the pastor at our wedding.

There is something magical about this picture that seems to transport me right back into that moment. We felt so overwhelmed with love from everyone around us. 

Coming up next: the reception...

project cleanse

{just including a picture from last year's spring season. maybe this will inspire us to keep looking ahead,

seeing as though we haven't seen a hint of spring yet}

I have too many things for a 1 bedroom apartment. I think know my husband would agree with that statement, so I have decided to do something about it. A few months ago I set a goal for myself to clean out my life. It seems that our society is a little too focused on material things and we sometimes get too caught up in having the latest technology, or a closet filled to the brim with clothes that hardly see the daylight {just speaking for myself there}.

I decided that instead of just talking the talk, I would walk the walk, do the work and enjoy the benefits. Here is what I will be doing to cleanse my life and do some major spring cleaning:

This is a 6 part series {I might not go in this order} but you will see me go through them all, one each week
1. minimize the products in my bathroom cabinet
2. clear out our apartment of clutter
3. organize our hall closet
4. clean out our fridge & bodies, replacing them with clean foods
5. organize & clean our bedroom closet
6. go as el natural as possible

Can you tell that I am one of those total 'spring cleaning' sorts of people. There's nothing better that opening up the windows, clearing out the stale winter air, and cleaning out the cobwebs from our lives.

So every week I will share one cleansing project with you! Hope you hop on for the ride!

Are you a spring cleaner? Let me know what you do to cleanse your life.

Blessed Easter

He is risen from the grave and we are now free.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Easter celebration with your families.

our wedding: part 1

It only took a few weeks for us to realize that we were the perfect fit. In each other we found a best friend, someone to lean on when things get challenging, a supply of constant laughs, a loving partner,  and ultimately a spouse.

After a whirlwind romance of dating, Brian popped the question and I started planning our wedding. The planning process of our wedding was a labor of love. I spent countless hours getting ideas, planning out projects, shopping for materials, and many days creating our day of bliss. I can't say enough that I loved every minute of it. Well, there might have been a little stress involved {wink-wink}, but it was what I always dreamed of doing. I enjoyed living out my fantasies of having a sparkler send off and walking down the isle to a song that I heard in the 9th grade and instantly knew that would be the song.

On October 19 2012, my husband and I were joined together to become husband & wife. We had a magical day filled with unforgettable moments & emotional tears. I am so excited to be sharing some of our captured moments with you.

For today I am going to share some of our pre-wedding pictures. B & I were blessed enough to have an amazing photographer Rebecca, on our special day. It was so nice to previously know our photographer and be so comfortalbe with her. Another tip: make sure you and your photographer are on the same page, it will make the day go by without a hitch!

We decided to forgo many of the formal wedding traditions. There was no way we would be able to wait till the ceremony to see each other, and besides I wanted to take some pictures in a beautiful setting. Me and my girls got ready at my parents house. I slipped into my dress with the help of my mom & sister {and trust me I needed the help}, and all together the girls got to see me for the first time.

Brian & his boys joined the scene mid-morning and my mom slipped a blindfold over his eyes so he could sneak a peak. Near my parent's house there is a beautiful field where we decided to have our first look pictures. It was a magical moment that I would suggest to any bride!! Take the time to have a special moment with just you 2 {and your photographer of course} because that may be the only uninterrupted time you get all day.

The wedding party ventured out to a local apple orchard where our lovely photographer snapped some breathtaking shots. Even though it was a little on the chilly side, the girls were troopers and we had a blast. We even heard a few funny 'Brian as a little boy' stories from his sister.

I got to live out the fantasy not only of a dream wedding, but the man of my dreams. Cheesy I know, but I never thought such a fairy tale like this could exist.

Coming up next: the ceremony & reception....

featured on The Wedding Notebook

On Monday morning I woke to my Bridesmaid Boxes featured on The Wedding Notebook. What a perfect start to the week to see a piece of our wedding featured on the lovely wedding website. Check out the Be My Bridesmaids Ideas post and you can find my boxes along with 4 other wonderful ideas.

In February my DIY Coloring Mason Jar tutorial was also featured on the Wedding Notebook. I literally squealed with joy at seeing my mason jars up on a website devoted to tying the knot. So hop on over and take a peak. 

on my mind

{photo credit}

About 1 month into our marriage I awoke from a vividly terrifying dream with tears streaming down my face. I think it was the worst dream I have ever experienced and it will be one of those dreams that I never forget.

Let me start by giving you a little back ground on the subject.

Anyone who knew me as a child knows that I have always been the motherly type. Half of the pictures from my childhood involved my holding a baby, stuffed animal, doll, or caring for some sort of animal. Even when I was too young to stay home by myself, I enjoyed helping others care for babies. Once I was able I started babysitting on my own, I enjoyed watching countless children. I got a job at a Day Care and loved every day of it. Even though I had to quit when I moved here, I still miss those kids along with the special little ones that I babysat.

I have always known without a shadow of a doubt that I was meant to be a mom. You know when you are in grade school and everyone writes a paper on what you want to be when you grow up? Some say a teacher, some say a police man, some say an athlete.... well I wanted to be a mom. Others may have giggled at my grown up answer, but I never doubted that that was exactly what I wanted.

My husband and I have been married for just over 3 months now {yey!!} and {while as a kid I planned on already having a baby by now}, we are not planning on having one quite yet. We would love to enjoy our time together as a married couple and not to mention save up our pennies, cuz my goodness they are pricey little bundles of joy.

So anyway, 1 month into our marriage I awoke from a vivid, terrifying, tragic dream. Everything was as real as I have ever felt and there was no one that could have convinced me in that moment that this life was not my own. So here was my dream:

I just stated a new job and was happily learning all there was to my new position {not unlike where I am now in my real life}. I am keeping track of my "monthly cycle"  by a method that allows me to not be on any sort of birth control medication. I will not go into details, but if you want them just send me an e-mail or ask, I am so open about that sort of thing.

One really nice thing about this method of keeping track of my monthly cycle is how when we do get pregnant I will be able to know even before I take a pregnancy test. Well, it turns out an unexpected little peanut started growing and I was shocked. Totally totally shocked! It was not in our plans and I didn't really know how to tell my hubby. We had talked about waiting, but this was not planned. Of course I was excited, but for a short moment I was sort of sad that this wasn't a part of my plans. We live in a 1-bedroom apartment and there is no space for a baby. Contrary to what my husband thinks, we can't just put the bassinet in the closet and call it good.

After the shock wore off, we began to get more & more excited. Of course the Lord was opening doors and things were working out perfectly. Once we told our families there was nothing but excitement along with million of hugs as they expressed how wonderful being a parent is. My dad cried, my sister expressed how she was going to rock at being a godmother.

Brian and I couldn't have been more excited as we counted down the days till our little girl would grace us with her presence. And all in one day our happiness came crashing down.

I think you can imagine what happened next, and it's amazing how even though it was a dream, it's still hard for me to think about. It was even harder as tears streamed down my face when I had to tell Brian why I couldn't stop sobbing in the middle of the night.

Back to reality. Monday morning rolled around and I pulled myself out of bed not wanting to go to work. I had a little pity-party in my head about waking up so early, but headed off to work. As we were all chatting about our weekends, little did we know that one of our co-workers had one of the worst weekends ever.

She was about 13 weeks into her pregnancy when she lost her baby and had to share the tragic news with the whole department, over and over again. We felt so helpless as tears rolled down her {normally so positive} face.

Recently my husband and I were blessed with the privilege of becoming Godparents. We were yet again reminded just how precious a baby's physical & spiritual life is.

Life is so precious whether they are weeks old, or not even born yet. I will never be able to take life for granted because you never know how long you will be blessed with it.

strawberries & cream Valentine cupcakes

Our work week around here is crazy. We get up long before the sun peeks out and by the time we get home it's time for supper, a little cleaning and then we relax on the couch with a tv show or 2. Then it's off to bed early since we have to start the day all over again in about 7 hours.

So This year I wasn't able to do any valentine's day cooking/baking till the weekend. That didn't stop my amazing husband though from cooking an amazing romantic supper for us on Valentine's Day. I still melt when I think just how amazing it was.

This morning I woke with a need to do some creative baking. My husband and I love watching cupcake wars, and that is where I got the inspiration for these Strawberries & Cream Valentine cupcakes. So here is what I did this morning:

I combined 2 cups of strawberries + 1/4 cup sugar + 1 tablespoon lemon juice. On to the vanilla cupcakes with red sprinkles inside. After letting them cool, I cut a hole in the tops and added the cooled strawberry compote. 

After letting them cool, I cut a hole in the tops and added the cooled strawberry compote. Now onto the frosting. For those of you who don't have a frosting piping bag, don't fret. I don't have one either and I still made them look somewhat professional. My trick is to transfer the frosting, what ever type you choose {I so happen to like cream cheese frosting the best} into a plastic bag and pop it into the fridge for about 10 minutes. This way it will hold it's form a little better when you pipe it on. I snip a small hole and spiral it on, starting from the outside and working inward.

My husband and I couldn't keep our fingers off of them. We try to stay away from too many sweet treats but around the holidays, that tends to go out the window.

What will I make next? Any cupcake suggestions?

St. Patrick's day is coming up next, and trying a tart lime cream cupcake seems like a great way to kick off spring.

happy happy Heart-Day

What an wonderful Valentine's Day to celebrate. Last year we were newly engaged and this year we are newly married. I'm so excited that I get to show you a few pictures from our wedded day of bliss. What better day to share them then on the Heart-Day.

I am still amazed at how blessed we are as a newlywed couple.

Hope you enjoy them as much as we do.