The List

What I'm looking forward to for fall

1. Finally, actually, going to Oak Glenn to pick apples! (yup, it's going on the calendar so it happens!)

2. Pumpkin...I love almost everything pumpkin! Sadly, I seemed to have married a man that's not overly fond of it but he humor's me the best he can!

3. Decorating my first home ever for fall! (now, where to find my decor in the boxes still packed up?!)

4. Baking pies...I plan on exploring a bit this year!

5. Wearing boots! (if it ever cools down...)

6. The start of "Amazing Race" cause it's my fav AND we get to start up Sunday nites with the fam...

7. Baking bread

8. Windy days

9. An excuse to drink hot drinks during the day

10. Getting to cuddle with the hubs cause, "I'm cold!"

I love list and plan on sharing more with you each week!

A grand day!

Our labor day consisted of...an adventure! (and me blowing my nose every other minute...) I'm pretty into coupons...not quite at the obsessed level but i'm sure a sucker for them! So we headed off with our "buy one get one" and had a much needed "grand day" together!

We both enjoy history so our stop was; The San Juan Capistrano mission. The weather was a lot cooler down by the beach and made for a relaxing day.

Our last stop was a "b.o.g.o" for some yummy Gelato! Hooray for "grand days"

My grandma...

Well, it's been a week now and I'm still missing my gram like crazy...things are starting to get back to normal though (if there is a normal?!) but before I start up on all business and fun, I thought I'd share with you what I shared at my grams memorial. Listen to this song and it will make more sense.

Grandma….

The past 7 years have been those blessings in disguise… Gram loved life, she loved people, she loved family and most of all she loved Jesus. I’m sure there were so many times through these last years that gram felt discouraged when she couldn’t remember how to put on her shoes, but she traveled many amazing places in those shoes or perhaps when she could no longer express her true feelings, yet we all know, gram knew how to give an opinion. Or the times when she would sit and smile across at you, maybe she was remember the time she taught you scripture or how to laugh at your self for silly things or how to make a paper sword. Maybe there were times at night that she lay in bed thinking about the visits from grandkids, the marriage she had with grandpa for 50 years or the relationships she had with so many people.  Perhaps those times she felt that our Lord wasn’t near, the many scriptures she knew by heart would come to mind.

Gram never lost her ability to pray; whether it was for a meal (her favorite thing) or right before she went to sleep. Gram always had a song on her lips and a verse ready to remind you of God’s goodness (or possibly make you feel a bit guilty for what you just did…)

Maybe Gram asked for healing but I know that my family definitely felt blessed to have her near and even though there was trials and frustrations, we never lost sight of the blessing of having her as our mother, grandmother, and friend.

There are too many memories to try and share but I’m so thankful that I have too many…I’m so thankful to our Lord that He chose to have rosemary be my gram.

I will never forget on my wedding day, the joy on grams face…the kiss on the hand, the dance, the presence of the one that I’ve looked up to my whole life. Thank you Jesus for allowing her to be there!

Grandma, thank you for instilling the things of Jesus in me, thank you for climbing trees with me, pointing out the clouds, sharing your zest for life and being the best grandma in the whole world! I miss you so much but I know you are freed from tears, pain, disappointments, trials and aching’s of this life….

New, new,new!

So I'm trying to diligently work on opening an etsy shop! It is a process of course and does involve having some products to sell but i'm making progress! 

My gram is in failing health so I've spent the past week at my parents. She's a fighter and still holding on but it has reminded me just how precious life is! My gram and I were always close so it's terrible seeing her slowly leave us but we have the great assurance just how much she loves the Lord!

Also through this time it has helped me finally pick a name for my shop! But that will be reveled on a later date :) 

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path!"

Tell someone how much you love them today.

Motivation...

So I'm in this crazy time of life where: 

1.I don't have a job

2.I'm learning how to be a wife

3.I'm missing my life in England

4.I'm searching for what God has for me

So, i'm trying to stay motivated! Trying to relish in this beautiful time I have where I can really concentrate (I never spell that word right and had to try spell check 3 times to get there...) Any who, concentrate (maybe if i type/write it enough it will stick in my head!)  on being a good wife and starting our home.

Some of the things I'm trying to enjoy and feel fulfilled and like I'm contributing to our marriage (there's more ways than just money!)

1.Ironing; i know most people struggle with this especially since most dryers have "wrinkle release"but I've trying to enjoy the fact that if something comes out of the dryer wrinkled, I have the time to iron it right then and there (I'm currently waiting for my last load to finish so i can iron and put the iron and board away!

2. Home cooked meals: I have time to do them, I even have time to make a plan for each weeks meals and in exchange not waste too much (still learning to cook for 2!) and keep our grocery bill down to a minimum!

3. Walks: I love walks, I love that I even get to stroll with all the local retirees (cause I'm blessed to live in a super nice area! Thanks God and my hubby!) who knows, maybe I'll make friends and in turn do their grocery shopping!

(brb, need to get the laundry!)

4. Stuff sorting: after about 7 years of coming and going from my parents house (4 of which was a different country!) I've accumulated a lot of stuff! So the past 9 months i've been getting rid of loads but the boxes keep magically appearing as my mum cleans out her old stuff ( I tell you, they're likes rabbits or something! Continually producing more!) so i feel like I've almost made it and almost have no more stuff to go through...

5. Devotion: I've never been very good at consistently spending time with God but this time in my life is allowing me to explore a bit with that.

6. Availability: So available :) (not in the "single type" of course, I'm taken with my husband and couldn't imagine a more perfect man for me!) I can open my home for lunches or parties or having people over to hang or endless other possibilities!

6 is a weird number to stop a list but I don't want to over do it or try to make something up so I'm gonna stick with that number :) 

As I was thinking about this post, I remembered a verse that will probably be a good reminder for me right now : Philippians 4:11 "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances"

Thank you God for this time!

Oh mondays....

Ok so I should slowly get to the process of actually writing about my wedding but I think I’m still processing it through in my head and my heart. And unpacking all the wedding stuff so it doesn’t overly motivate me to write about it yet.

I have thoroughly been enjoying being a wife and cooking and finding recipes to try and putting our house together.

Here’s a few things I’ve tried recently and they turned out great!

We’ve gone to 2 weddings since ours (both very different feels) and it’s been this weird kind of feeling for me…to know that my wedding is now in the past, my wedding has been planned, my wedding has taken place…it is exciting to see others stepping into this grand adventure but can I dare to admit that I’ve shed a tear or two? Can I admit that I miss “the wedding”?

MARRIED!

So I have the awesome joy of now being Mk's wife! I LOVE IT! It's amazing how much growing goes into marriage but with God's help we are embracing it!

I've been thinking a lot about blogging and the point in which I want to use it...so, I'm gonna start with recapping our wedding....I'm gonna go through the thoughts, the projects, the now memories, and the little bit of advice I feel I can give about planning a wedding. The trick is, how do I get it out there? That's where I'm a little lost. I don't want to purely just write things down and throw it into cyber world, so I guess I'm going to have to learn to be creative...

In other news, I'm currently working on an Esty shop and hope to launch that soon....hopefully it will take off and I'll be able to flow with my creative juices AND make some money in the process.

Well, this is a good start I guess. 

I'll leave you with some Antique finds from this weekend...my hubby is the greatest for enjoying antiques with me!