making a house a home...

Things are beginning to settle down around here- post wedding and honeymoon. I am excited to share all of the stories and photos with you detailing our beautiful wedding day and adventurous road trip! If you know me at all, you know that I took a gazillion pictures of the trip and I just haven't been able to organize them yet into a blog post. However, that day is coming soon. What I have been doing is organizing our little house and making it cozy with all the wonderfully generous items our friends and family gifted us with over the last year.

When we got back from our honeymoon and picked up all the boxes from my mom's house, I was so anxious to set the table with our new placemats, napkins, plates, and silverware that once I did, we scheduled two dinner parties! I have christened the bread maker and the pistachio green kitchenaid mixer with pizza and a strawberry cake. I am looking forward to making popcorn with our whirley pop gadget and experimenting with our new ice cream maker! Mr. T is in the process of growing some watermelons and I am kind of hoping to make homemade popsicles out of them. I feel so inspired by all of these new kitchen accessories! My grandmother was a home economics teacher and my mom is the queen of the kitchen, so surely there is some of that in my genes, right?

My new role as a wife is different than a girlfriend or fiance, there's a lot of weight in that title -but the day-to-day stuff is a lot of the same- in a good way! I continue to ask myself, "What can I do for Tison today? How can I show him I love him right now?" This next chapter in our lives has so much potential and is filled with an ocean of possibilities. Talking with my husband about our future goals- sharing our dreams and encouraging one another to reach them...these are the things that make life worth living. This creative, positive, loving energy that is alive in our conversations inspires me daily. Can you tell my love language is quality time??

(yes, I still have some work to do on my baking techniques...but it was tasty!)

*photos from this weekend

making striped soaps...

Tison and my latest DIY project was making our own soap as gifts for friends and family. My friend Ryan told me she found an easy how-to on the Martha Stewart's website. I decided we had to do it :)

Maybe it doesn't look exactly like the picture on Martha's website, but our family certainly enjoyed the effort! We purchased the glycerin at Hobby Lobby and the peppermint oil from Drug Emporium.

wedding update...and a handmade gift!

I'd like to say I'm not one of those brides that feels overwhelmed - that everything seems to be falling in place with practically no stress or effort on my part...but that would be a big lie. I am for sure enjoying the planning process, however, it does sometimes feel like a full time job- on top of a full time job. Squeezing in meetings on lunch breaks and weekends really takes a toll on your "social life" and everyday normal routines. I am beginning to understand why brides only talk about their upcoming nuptials! It's because that's all they have been doing! With that said, I haven't been blogging because it just seemed like something else I had to add to the to-do list and no one wants me to blog like it's my job, right?!

 In any event- on the topic of weddings, I would like to post about my dear friend, Diane. She was in town after the holidays visiting her in-laws and me, of course! As an upholstery apprentice in South Carolina for the last 6 months, Diane offered to reupholster one of my "side of the road" lazy-boy finds as a gift for our wedding. She came into the house with all her power tools and took over for 3 half days until the chair was complete. I'll tell ya, I am still overwhelmed when I look at the finished product and I'm in awe at the wealth of knowledge she has collected in her new position; and on top of that, the fact that she has chosen to share her time and talent with me is really the ultimate gift. Diane- I applaud you and your bad-assery :)

This improved 1978 lazy boy is now a point of contention between Tison and I as we now argue over who gets the recliner! :) Thank you again for all your hard work! We love it.