A Texan Odyssey

Serious Sparkle by valfox How fun it is to participate in Friday's Fancies again! There's still no HSI in the area where I live, (I haven't missed it as much as I thought I would actually) so I borrowed the net at my mom's house to work on this. I absolutely love the embellishment of the blazer and the understated gleam of the accessories. I matched the suede pumps to the color of the red sapphires in the cuff, but I can think of several other colors that would go as well. I might just have to wear something like this to the Christmas Eve service at my church this year! Linking up to Long Distance Loving !

We had a very low key Thanksgiving this year. It was the first time that we've ever celebrated the day with just immediate family rather than the whole set of local relatives + visiting ones. We missed everyone else, but still had a very enjoyable holiday with our loved ones. I have so many things to be thankful to God for this year...moving into a house rent-free, Ryan getting more hours at work, Sean's legs straightening out, my sister moving back to town... so many things!

We celebrated my niece's 2nd birthday with a costume party last month. My family didn't end up dressing as pirates, but instead went with more "home-made" costumes. My Grecian inspired dress was a five dollar find at Goodwill, (halter top dress that I wore backwards and twisted the collar in place with silver twisty ties) Ryan used his old tae-kwon-do garb, and Sean already had his train conductor stuff. We had a lot of fun and hope to make a costume party a tradition for one of the kiddo's birthday parties each year! I thought my sister and her husband were very cute as pilgrims and my mom made a lovely gypsy lady! The three little girlies were Snow White, Minnie Mouse and Rapunzel...and not one of them smiled for their picture!

Thunderstorms, falling leaves, soft light, fragrant coffee, cool breezes...my favorite time of year has arrived! Spending time outside is suddenly pleasant after months of intense heat, and plans for soccer matches with family, paintball with friends and cookouts with both are being made. Our weekends have been chock-full of fun lately and since Ryan's hours have been increased at work for the rest of the year we are enjoying a little more leeway with our budget. We also didn't have as big a fee as we expected from the apartment we moved out of! I am thankful for all God's blessings. Oh and we're planning a Fall Fest costume party in November and I can't wait to start shopping for costumes! Perhaps we'll be a family of pirates. ^_^

We moved into the A-Frame on August 25th and we have been so very happy there. Sean loves having his own room and we've loved not having to tip-toe around when he's asleep! (His crib was in our main living space in our old apartment.) I've had so much fun decorating, organizing, and making the house feel like a home. We do miss having internet, but we are spending more time together as a family and it just feels like a fresh new start for us! I can borrow my mom's internet from time to time to update here, read blogs, pay bills, etc., so it's not like I'm quitting the interwebs cold turkey! ;) Eventually I think it might be fun to go back to doing a few outfit posts here and there too!

We have been busy bees over here lately! I've been at the new place almost every day working on getting everything move-in-ready. My mom has been a huge help, and other friends and family have pitched in as well. Check out these before and after pics from the kitchen and bathroom of the A-Frame. We'll be moving in later this month and the days have just been flying by! I hope we can get everything done in time! Before: After: Before: After: Both spaces are still works in progress of course. We are lacking some sort of window covering in the kitchen (not to mention all of our stuff moved in as well), and still need to put decorative accents, towels, etc. in the bathroom. I knew I wanted a beachy, light feel to the house so I painted the cabinets in both rooms white, put some creamy taupe on the walls (Sandstorm by Valspar in the kitchen and Arabian Sands by Behr in the bathroom), and spray-painted the hardware silver. Both rooms got new faucets, and in the bathr...

Summer Wedding Guest by valfox Hello all! I'm just popping in to share a pretty dress that would be perfect to wear to a summer wedding! The look I put together is inspired by the TJMaxx dress I wore to my cousin's wedding last month. I can't get enough of nautical colors like navy and white together! The wedding was SO much fun. I mean seriously F.U.N. We all ended up dancing to old rock/pop classics and even doing the Macarena and the Cupid Shuffle. My mom can dance like nobody's business! Oh and my cousin and his bride make the most adorable couple ever! It is a blessing to see how much they love God and each other! They also cracked everyone up with the most amazing surprise first dance medley I've ever seen. I just wish it was on youtube so I could share the awesomeness! (Linking up to Long Distance Loving !)

A couple of days at the beach courtesy of Ryan's family? Just what the doctor ordered! It was heavenly!