Weekend Recap

This weekend was SO BEAUTIFUL. Russell and I continued to work on our spare bedroom and getting the house a bit more organized. The organizing continued into the wee hours of the morning on Friday night, then we were up bright and early to continue all day Saturday. We purchased and installed two new bookshelves for our books and additional storage for picture boxes and such. Saturday night we made plans to eat and hang out with friends. We drove to Conway, and ate a hibatchi grill dinner at Fugi's, drank a mocha from Starbucks, shopped at Target, then went to a new hookah lounge to hang out and visit. It was such a nice time to catch up and double date with our friends. Unfortunetely, I only whipped my camera out for one picture from the night. Pretty disappointing...at least it's of the DELICIOUS rice.

After church on Sunday, Russell had some guys over to play games, so I left town with Dara and Erin to do some hiking. We went out to some place called Sugarloaf. It was crazy. Basically, you hike up a steep slope for 15-20 minutes and round out at the bottom of a BIG rock. Then, you climb.

We had quite a bit of fun on our adventure! :)

key to marriage.

The key to marriage is selflessness.

If one person has it, it will work. If both people have it, it will be amazing.

I heard that in a sermon a while back and jotted it down. I'm not sure who said it but I know whoever did say it, gets it. I'm by no means the perfect wife, and Russell is not the perfect husband, but I do believe we are perfect for each other. I do know that every day I need to work on my marriage and be a more selfless person. I struggle with not feeling sufficient enough, and constantly complaining and getting on Russell, and for some crazy reason, he loves me through my doubts and fears. I not only want a marriage that works, but I want it to be amazing.

NEEDTOBREATHE.

NEEDTOBREATHE came to Harding University (my husbands school) this week and put on a great concert. Since I like the band, and it was five minutes from my house, I went with friends and my sis in law, Erin. We had seen them before at the Taylor Swift concert where they opened for Taylor.

Ben Rector was the opening act for NEEDTOBREATHE. He sang lots of cute love songs that he wrote for his wife. Such a sweet opening to the concert.

                               Erin and I                                                                             Dara and I

This girl cracked us up with her binoculars, but the guy rubbing her shoulders while she was creeping on the crowd was definitely a highlight.

NEEDTOBREATHE

Overall it was a fantastic night. I'm so glad fun bands come through that we could go see. :)

"Is eating too many carrots bad for you?"

I've been snacking on carrots all afternoon now. I love them. It's amazing how good and full they make me feel. I've been on a mission to eat healthier food. Simply because I love healthy food and the way it makes me feel. Being a vegetarian does not mean I only eat fruits and veggies. NOOOOOOOPE....I eat WAY.TOO.MANY carbs and breads, sugars and other bad foods too. Whoops. So as of late, I've been looking at different blogs and sites trying to find some healthy food to make this weekend while i have some extra time. Some things I'm going to try to make are:

Hummus

Vegetable Pancakes

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes (for breakfast)

Whole Wheat Pizza

....and probably some kind of treat (most likely not healthy).

I'm pretty excited to use some cooking appliances that I haven't had the chance (or courage) to use.

Also, I've been extremely motivated to get organized. I've constantly been dreaming of organized closets, refrigerator, and spare bedroom. It's scary how much stuff Russell and I have accumulated between the two of us. I don't know how we have completely filled our little home...but it's been done. Tonight my dear friend, Dara and I are taking a trip up to Little Rock to do some shopping at The Container Store to get some stuff to get my closets in shape. I'm relying on her to help me stay on task and not buy more things to fill my house. Although our trip will most likely include a stop at Target because we don't have one here in Searcy. :( (SO SAD)

I think by getting our house in order, our lives will be much more organized. I'm tired of the running around looking for a jacket, or one of Russell's school assignments early in the morning. Putting together healthy snacks for our late mornings is also on my list of to-do's. Writing about getting our lives organized makes me feel anxious, excited and nervous. I'm already aware of the fact that it's going to be a difficult and overwhelming task, but I'm ready for it. My best friend is coming to visit me in 6 weeks. I need to clean "her" room out!!

With love.
~Hillary

It's the weekend....

...& I plan to spend every minute of it at home, in my sweats, with my hair in a crazy bun, without any makeup on with my husband. Sounds just about perfect to me, don't you think?

love.

Get it.

We recently renewed our gym membership at our local gym. Yesterday was our first day back and I went again tonight while Russell had to work late. There is no greater feeling than that after a truely great workout. I used to be crazy about hitting the gym up every day and slowly over the last year I've been going less and less. My goal is to go every day and do something even if it's just for a little bit but still to get in to the habit of going to the gym.

make it pretty//

Yesterday some friends came over and we made some picture canvas's. They turned out quite lovely. I'm looking forward to making lots of them!! :)

One goal I had for 2012 was to do a craft once a week. The jars on the left of the canvas are simply wrapped in yarn and were my first craft of 2012.

Chit Chat.

It's always nice to pour your heart to a willing listener when things get heavy. I'm so thankful that I was able to catch up with a dear friend and fill her in on the happenings of life tonight. So excited for this weekend. We're celebrating a friend's birthday Saturday, and Russell's having a guys day on Sunday. Currently, we're staying up really late listening to Sheryl Crow- If It Makes You Happy. haha love our life.

Blurry picture taken right after Russell proposed 12*24*10. I love this man!!!!!

This is the year!!

It's a new year!!! 2012. :) I realize that we are now 18 days into January, but it's better late than never? Righttt....

I'm really excited for this year. Today marks 6 months of living in Arkansas. I miss Oregon EVERY.SINGLE.DAY but I love the new adventure. And even more, experiencing this new place with my husband.

I'm not big in making resolutions, but I did however write out a list of some goals.

2012 GOALS

-to be a more loving person
-to craft once a week
-to meet new friends
-to honor God in the things that I do
-to blog more
-to keep a clean and picked up home
-to save money (i already coupon regularly but i want to set a budget for other things)
-to try new things
-to visit new places (museums, local landmarks, plus we have a few travel plans this year!!!)
-read every day
-to go back to school
-to cook dinner 4x a week
-to take more pictures

I'm really happy right now. I have a wonderful husband who loves me with all that he is, and isn't shy in letting me know. We live in a cute house and have everything we need. We both have good jobs that pay the bills and allow us to both be home all weekend together. Russell goes to a great, Christian University. Both of our families are wonderful, loving and supportive. Our relationship with God grows each and every day.
...we are SO blessed. I'm so excited to see what this year has in store for us.

Love, Russell & Hillary