Good Life.

I'm blessed with such a wonderful life. I catch myself complaining far too often about silly stuff, when really, our life is so good. It's November and I am thankful. I've been scanning the internet for desserts to bring to Thanksgiving dinner at my aunts. I want to bring more than one, because sampling them all, as well as having leftovers, is part of the fun. I can't wait!!! My friend and I will be baking this weekend in order to find the right desserts to bring. So far I found recipes for an apple pie, pumpkin spice cake with honey frosting, and rice krispy bars with chocolate and peanut butter. I think they all sound so good.



Thanksgiving 2010 with my sister and brother.



Disney Land

Sunday morning we were ready for church way before it started. We went out of town this weekend with our college group, so we were running low on the groceries. So before Sunday School, we went to Shipley Donuts. I ate a bear claw while Russell ate two chocolate glazed donuts. As we were eating, this older couple came up to us and introduced themselves. They were from another church in town and wondered if we went to a church. They also had their great granddaughter with them. I asked her what her name was and she said, "My first name is Disney and my last name is Land." We laughed the rest of the day about it.

Birthdays.

A birthday has never been a significant day for me before. My parents always celebrated birthdays with parties and cake when we were younger, but as we got into our teens we kinda stopped celebrating. We usually got a card with cash or a check in it made out to us to go shopping for whatever we'd like. I was always completely content with that. Russell's family celebrates them in a whole different way. We celebrated Russell's younger brothers 14th birthday tonight. He got gifts like it was Christmas morning. haha. Too fun! There was this game I wanted to get him, but the store was sold out. Due to the fact that we were completely LAST MINUTE about it, I decided to get a little creative with the cash and made him this.

It was a success. He really liked it.

TODAY I AM THANKFUL FOR:

Family. My family back home in Oregon and my new family. I sure miss my family, but Russell's family has been so kind and welcoming to me. I know that the transition and the move would have been a hundred times harder without their support. They really have gone out of their way to make me feel welcomed and loved. 

11.01.11

Hi, it's November 1. Shoot. Technically, it's November 2 because it's 12:10 am. Anyways, I wanted to write something that I'm thankful for. I really want to sit back and reflect on how much God has blessed me just this past year. I think that I should always do this, but it's something that I want to do for the month of November.

TODAY I AM THANKFUL FOR:

My loving husband. I wouldn't change the way we met, our current circumstances, anything about our relationship for the world. There's nobody who understands or accepts me the way he does. And for that, I am thankful.

Photo from a picnic in Ashland. June 2010

[photos]

The rest of the month of October has flown by. We haven't spent much time in the evening chillin' down and keeping up with blogging online. The past week or so has been wonderful though. I have lots of pictures both from my phone and my camera...

[finally got my hair done...happy]

[my desk at work has been STACKED UP with paperwork...finally got a handle on things yesterday]

[pancake breakfast]

[mums from The Mum Man]

[corn maze]



[found the perfect pumpkin]

[movie night with friends]

[indulge]

[inspiration]

[harding game with friends]

[pumpkin carving]

[frozen yogurt for dinner]

 

As you can see, things have been busy, but fun. :)

Burn.

Russell is so sweet.

I came home around noon to eat lunch with him and I saw that he had lit the candles around the house. It really are the little things that make a differnce. I love these candles for all of their autumny smells. Looking out for one another and showing each other how much you care inspires each spouse to want to "do better" for each other. I thought it was so thoughtful of him to do this for me. It made me smile.

I know I am not the perfect wife and I don't do everything right, but he loves me anyway. I know that I make mistakes, get frustrated, burn a meal, say something wrong, but he still forgives. I see this as a reminder of how much Jesus loves me, cares for me and forgives me every single time. Each and every day I will continue to strive to be a better wife and honor God by doing so.

[photos]

My phone has been real slow here lately. I assumed it was because I had a million pictures and texts saved to it and it wasn't able to handle it all. So tonight I saved them all to my computer. Here's the last few months, according to my phone:

[In the airport on our way to Arkansas]

[New home]

[Setting up house]

[Discovering a new town]

[Trying on clothes]

[New town=new hairdresser...(still on the hunt). I took this right after she decided to chop my hair off]



[Drove all night to a Texan game in Houston]

[My handsome man at his brothers soccer game. (I stood up to take the pic)]



[My husband is a HUGE fan of the snooze button. We're so close to being late every day to school/work. This means coffee and breakfast in the office]

[Tonight, we went to Walmart and bought a space heater for our bedroom. The cold weather season is most definitely upon us.]

I hope my phone works now. I guess I'll tinker around with it some more before I go to bed. Maybe tomorrow I'll clear off Russell's phone of his pictures. xo

"How sweet the name of Jesus sounds"

Russell is propped up on the rug studying for a couple tests tomorrow. I've been trying to keep myself entertained by showering, baking peanut butter cookies, doing dishes, cleaning out my purse, writing in a card for a dear friend, talking to my parents on the phone, making tabs for the file system I thought I had to have, and looking at pretty things online. I'm needy and therefore need his attention. This is hard for me. Stupid school.

Today, I am thankful for:

• my husband
• my job
• my church
• our gym memberships
• peanut butter
• my kitchen aid mixer
• a dishwasher
• shaving cream
• texts from sweet & understanding friends
• magazines
• babies
• flats
• cookie scoops...I don't know how I ever baked without one

Today I am missing:

• parents, brother, sister
• the pink fuzzy comforter on my bed at home
• the summer heat
• trey, the family dog
• dutch brothers coffee
• ahuva bagels (...bagels in general actually. I have not had one since wedding day when I ate breakfast at Starbucks with the girls)

(Summer 2010 feet at the Oregon coast. Him: white, Her: tan.)

(My sweet parents on one of their matching days)

Ps, Russell and I matched today. We both wore green shirts (him=polo, her=t-shirt) from Target. Same color. Love.

*lyrics in title from Amazing Grace

I've got you, babe.

The past few days have been full and fun...just the way I like them:

Friday night: we went out for pizza and did our grocery shopping. I decided I like shopping with Russell a lot better than shopping alone. In an attempt to eat healthy, we started out buying milk and oatmeal but quickly started throwing mac n cheese and chocolate granola bars in the cart....we're no good.

Saturday: was Sampa's (Russell's maternal grandfather) birthday. A bunch of his family got together and went to eat breakfast. We came home and cleaned house. Then we went to Sam's (Russell's younger brother) soccer game where he scored his first goal. After that we loaded up and headed to Little Rock with his family to go to the Apple store and to dinner. Although the guys were not able to get the new iphones we ate a lovely Italian dinner. We got home just in time to watch the second half of the Duck vs. ASU game...of course Oregon won!!!

Today: we went to church. After church we ate lunch and walked down to the park to play catch with the football Russell found while cleaning out the yard. (YAY!!!) For dinner we went down to the little mexican restaurant around the corner and ate quesadillas. With Russell's student discount, we ate dinner for $4.10. SO good. SO cheap. :)

...today also happens to be our 3 month. ;) I love my husband.

(photobooth strip is from our wedding.)

Umbrella.

I don't mind the rain. It's just there and there is not much you can do about it. Growing up in Oregon, I've experienced my fair share of rainy days. Somewhere in my mess of boxes I haven't unpacked since the move to Arkansas, I have packed away an umbrella and a pair of rainboots. I can't think of a time I've used either. I like fall. I don't care for umbrellas or rainboots. I miss the pretty leaves in Oregon. That's what I am thinking of today....

*Photos: I took these pictures on my little camera phone last fall to send in a picture text to show Russell just how beautiful Oregon trees are. :)

Sick.

We love the weekends. No work. No school. All play. Two little days where we can do anything we'd like. This past weekend was different. Sickness hit our household. Super yuck. So, we spent the weekend watching movies, talking, napping and watching football. Nothing got accompished around the house. We didn't go on any adventures. We just stayed in. It was nice. I love my husband. He loves me. I really wouldn't mind spending every day just hanging out with him. It was a nice change of pace for us allthough I hope this next weekend we are all better and can do something fun.



Russell has a fantasy football team so we always catch at least one game. Sunday night we caught the Packers vs Falcons game. Everytime we watch the Packers play, it reminds me of my sisters love for that team. She also has a crush on Aaron Rodgers. I miss my sister.

*photo: this is one I took at her house. She has a framed picture of Aaron Rodgers, along with an action figure Russell gave to her last Christmas.

Save the date...

I asked Russell to make a simple save-the-date for the wedding. Instead, because he's so good and so creative he made this, which captures us so well. I love him...and this cute card.

Isn't he so great? ;)



My husband makes me very happy...

1. He has fully embraced [and encouraged] my ice cream addiction.
2. He lets me pick the music in the car.
3. There's this cute bald patch of hair under his chin that he lets me rub (he also has this scar on the left side of his lip. Imperfections make me happy.)
4. He kisses and holds me close when I'm sad. It always makes me feel better.
5. He eats the food I cook for him because he's a good sport and knows I need the practice.
6. He likes taking pictures as much as I do.
7. He knows which medicines to give me when I am sick. (He even goes to Walgreens after we are already laying in bed, to go get me more medicine so I can sleep better.)
8. He wears glasses.
9. He reads to me from our devotional or from articles online. I love him.
10. He always reminds me of how much he loves me and how happy he is to be married to me. He's wonderful.

:) I'm in love.

russell & hillary...

            love each other very much!

                                                                         And now, we have this little blog to share our lives.  xoxo