Actually moving in- the living space

The process of turning our house into a home was and still is absolutely wonderful. Our house is absolutely precious and I love showing it off. The pictures in no way do it any justice, come see it for yourself!

living room theme- country chic 

coffee table- $25

Kitchen accent color- RED

we FINALLY got the bench in for this table- so it's the 4 chairs pictured here and a 2 seater bench. The table also has a hidden leaf. I searched for-ever to find this piece, I knew exactly what I wanted and didn't want to settle. It also took 2 months to get the bench in from back order

What is funny is how bare these pictures look in comparison to what the house looks like now. I'll upload some more later. (hint- the wine hutch has more wine than a BevMo)

Thanks for stopping by!

Nesting- making our house our home

I've been in our new place for about 2 months now, so it's probably about time I share it with you. :)

Here are some of the pictures of turning our house into our home. 

All the walls were painted and the home was cleaned, thank you all for your hard work!

Planning is fun, Payson is sick

I don't believe we've updated the internet world, but we noticed Payson was pretty sick about a week after we got him. One evening he developed lots of gastrointestinal issues, and after some webmd dog version research, we decided the vet was in our best interest.

Long story short, poor Payson, our little pound puppy, has a parasite, 2 bacterial infections, and 2 viruses- including Distemper, which was our biggest fear.

He's been on meds every 8 hours for roughly the last 2 weeks, which is tough, but he's doing SO MUCH BETTER!

Until last night. He was coughing the entire night. Dustin got about zero sleep, and I was up about every 15 minutes. Poor puppy. So we took him back today to hear that he now has a respiratory infection. Just on a cough suppressant, so not too big of a deal, but he's still coughing so stinkin much!

So that is what is going on in our puppy world- we're ready to have our healthy baby Payson back.

Halloween Payson

Wedding planning is so much fun, and yet it's been so tough with Dustin's new promotion. Until his new shop gets settled, he's working some pretty crazy hours, which has put our venue search on the back burner for about the next week (which is fine because we're still over a year out).

The big thing I've been working on is the bridal party. How tough! I've really been doing some soul searching to figure out who will make up my ultimate team. Good news is I've finally settled on my list, and I'm super excited to officially ask them. Even better news, the goodies I've made for them are absolutely precious- fitting for some of the closest people in my life.

November Wedding Plan Goal- Pick a venue- any suggestions?

p.s. thank you all to those who already sent me your venue ideas! Got some really great ones, our only issue is most of them have a cap at 200, and our invite list is well over that. So keep size in mind with your suggestions :)

Our First Fur Child

I'm years away from being a real mom, but we've definitely been wanting a dog for quite some time. And where better to find a dog then at the pound (allow me to clarify- there is no better place- try walking through those kennels, knowing that they only get a few days there before hitting the E list, and you can't help but leave with one).

We played with a few puppies (the term in which I call all dogs because it's much cuter than dog), but our heart kept coming back to this little guy.

he is not a fan of posing for the camera.

Meet Payson.

He may be only 6 months old, but he knows what he likes. 

He loves going potty outside (which he's done since day 2 with us), playing fetch, cuddling with mom and dad, and eating through cords (well, it was only one cord, and it's my fault). 

He doesn't like walking on leashes, loud noises, us going to work, and being kicked out of our bed. 

He pretends he doesn't like baths (as evidenced below, but when he's all done he loves being clean- and not smelling like a ferret- side effect of the pound), and that he doesn't sit on the top of the couch when we're at work.

the best dog shampoo EVER

Payson does not like bathtubs.

Since we're not married yet, we joke that Paysons full name is Payson Henderson-Fast. And I think that is hilarious.

Welcome home Payson!

life as a fiance

Hey there,

Welcome back! It's been forever since I've written, but it's because life has been absolutely wonderful and I haven't had all the time I'd like to dedicate to blogging. But I'm now a fiance and want to make sure I'm cateloging this wonderful experience. that & I've had so many people tell me they are so excited to see me plan the wedding. I'm not entirely sure what that means, so I'm going to use this!

Not sure where to start this journey as I don't have all the pictures yet of the engagement, so I'll start with the week after.

Dustin has 3 sisters, and as life would have it he and his 3 sisters were all engaged for a week. It was wonderful to be able to celebrate our engagement with his entire family at Shannons [his oldest sister] wedding.

wedding planning tip #1 (wpt): create an email address to use for wedding planning so you don't get stuck with tons of mass emails after the big day! 

just shy of 3 months.

Hey all,

I am sorry to say, but it's been 3 months since I've posted last. 3 months. Which is mostly like 4 months, since really I didn't post in November.

On the bright side, I haven't had time to blog because my Real Estate career has taken off. On the down side, I definitely miss blogging.

So lets see if we can keep this short and sweet. Here are the 1st two months I missed.

November 

Thanksgiving day at the Monsons

Sibling love

Thanksgiving evening with the Johnsons

December

The best gift given at the White elephant exchange- this creepy doll from my Grandfather

Cousins :)

we be crazy

those are some great people

the love of my life. 

Twinnies

Sibling love

Hey ladies!

Our gingerbread house in the competition against Natasha and Nolan

Tell me youre not impressed

E-mail awesomeness

I'm not really a fan of chain e-mail letters and such, but ones like this make my day. Take a quick read


 

Our 14-year-old dog Abbey died last month. The day after she passed away my 4-year-old 
daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if 
we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. 
I told her that I thought we could so she dictated these words: 

Dear God, Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her 
very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick. I hope you 
will play with her. She likes to swim and play with balls. I am sending a picture of her so when you 
see her you will know that she is my dog. I really miss her. Love, Meredith

 

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven.
We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because
she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into
the letter box at the post office.

A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had. Yesterday, there
was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, 'To Meredith' in an unfamiliar hand. Mer-
edith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, 'When a Pet Dies.' Taped to the inside front cover
was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey &
Meredith and this note: 
Dear Meredith, Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help and I recognized her right away. Abbey isn't 
sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we 
don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets to keep your picture in so I am sending it back to you 
in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by. 

Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a won-
derful mother you have. I picked her especially for you.  I send my blessings every day and remember that I love 
you very much. By the way, I'm easy to find. I am wherever there is love. Love, God 

October- Spooky and Scary

You may remember me talking about starting a new photochallenge here, so here is my first post!

October- Spooky and Scary

These pictures may not be spooky, or scare you, the titles are just for themed ideas :)

My heart is a stereo

Mark is a fantastic artist, and gives me the opportunity to take some pretty wonderful shots. 

Working up some hunger

Anytime you head to the pumpkin patch, you may work up a hungry tummy. 

And any time you're uploading pictures onto your blog, you may realize you never finished uploading all the pictures from your Pumpkin Patch post.