Life & Love

All new.

2010-01-07T16:50:00.003-05:00

I love the feeling I get when a new year begins. 2009 was a tough year for me and for my marriage. It's nice to think back and see how far we've come and how far we are continuing to go and there are so many things to look forward to in 2010. It's not like every problem you may have will disappear with the start of a new year, but I always just find myself feeling like there's a fresh clean start. I have a list of some things I want to accomplish this year and it's nice to be able to say 2010 is finally here and I'm ready to tackle anything that comes my way.

I'm no good at this.

2009-11-18T15:45:00.009-05:00

There's a new blog theme, I really like it, it's clean and simple and maybe it will also give me some motivation to update more. I really am horrible at this whole blogging thing. I always want to blog, I love writing but my life is so routine and can be pretty boring at times, I just don't feel like I ever have anything worth writing about. I really should start taking post-its with me where ever I go so I can write down anything that might seem blog worthy.

Can you believe Thanksgiving is next Thursday? It literally snuck up on us. We are hosting dinner at our house again this year and I'm getting insanely excited for it. I absolutely love holidays! I love entertaining and cooking for people, it's so much fun. I can't wait, I've literally been counting down the days till my family will all be here together. We are having our Thanksgiving on Saturday the 28th so that my sister will be able to come, she has to work the day after Thanksgiving and lives in Mass so she wouldn't be able to come on Thursday. But as long as she can come, we don't mind having it a few days late!

Daylight savings time is evil. It's now getting dark by 4:30(ish) which is super depressing. Andrew and I have been going to bed by 7pm which is insanely ridiculous but sadly true. He falls asleep pretty quickly and I lay awake and read for a while, I try not to go to sleep till at least 8 which still seems pretty pathetic. We are officially an old married couple that happens to go to bed even earlier than our parents do. Oh, and you supposedly gain an hour of sleep, ummm no, not us. We are awake super early everyday because our bodies have not adjusted to the new time yet. Daylight savings time really and truly is EVIL.

Small Town USA

2009-10-09T22:48:00.005-04:00

This song is the perfect theme song for Andrew & I right now!

Small Town USA - Justin Moore

A lot of people called it prison when I was growin' up
But these are my roots and this is what I love
'Cause everybody knows me and I know them
And I believe that's the way we were supposed to live
I wouldn't trade one single day here in small town USA

Give me a Saturday night my baby by my side
A little Hank Jr. and a six pack of light
An old dirt road and I'll be just fine
Give me a Sunday morning that's full of grace
A simple life and I'll be okay
Here in small town USA

Around here we break our backs just to earn a buck
We never get ahead but we have enough
I watched people leave and they come right back
I never wanted any part of that
And I'm proud to say that I love this place
Good ole small town USA

Give me a Saturday night my baby by my side
David Allen Coe and a six pack of light
An old dirt road and I'll be just fine
Give me a Sunday morning that's full of grace
A simple life and I'll be okay
Here in small town USA
Oh yeah

I wouldn't trade one single day
I'm proud to say I love this place

Give me a Saturday night my baby by my side
Sweet home Alabama a six pack of light
Old dirt road and I'll be just fine
Give me a Sunday morning that's full of grace
A simple life and I'll be okay
Yeah, I'll be okay
Here in small town USA

Oh yeah
Small town USA
Watch the music video here! :)

One Year

2009-09-27T13:25:00.002-04:00

Today is Husband and I's one year wedding anniversary ♥
And something we think is pretty neat -
It rained last year on our wedding day
and it's raining today on our anniversary! :)

Here's a little note I wrote for Andrew;

"Dear Husband,
Today is our one year Wedding Anniversary!
It's definitely been a tough first year of marriage
and we have gone through so much,
but we made it and I have no doubt that our marriage
is going to last for the rest of our lives.
We are stronger now than we have ever been
and my love for you grows with every breath of each and every day!
You are not just my Husband but you are my Best Friend!
You are my rock and what completes me.
You always listen to and support me
and you're just always there for me whenever I need you.
I'm so thankful that God brought you into my life.
I love you with all of my heart and soul,
all the way to the moon and back and MORE!
Thank YOU for loving me! ;)"

Fall is here.

2009-09-25T14:45:00.008-04:00

Fall is here in Maine and I absolutely love it. I've been ready for fall to be here since July, I'm not even kidding... it's my most favorite season ever and if I could choose one season to have for a whole year I would totally choose fall. I love everything about it, the cooler weather, the beautiful changing of the leaves and raking them into piles to jump into, corn rides and corn mazes, the beautiful mums and other fall time flowers, hot apple cider and apple picking along with the baking with the apples after, pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns at Halloween time, the list just goes on and on.

[Photos from Getty Images]

I love this time of year.

2009-09-18T10:06:00.015-04:00

I don't know about anyone else but I always seem to slack in the house work/cooking/baking departments during the Summer because it's just TOO hot. So I'm always looking forward to Fall. Not only is it my favorite season but I love cooking & baking and can't wait to try out some new recipes. Allrecipes.com is one of my favorite websites and I find myself spending hours searching the website for all kinds of delicious new recipes.

Yesterday I baked us some homemade white bread in our bread machine. I kind of feel like I cheated cause I used the bread machine but it's just so much easier and quicker than doing the whole thing from scratch myself. Husband loved the bread so much he declared that I have to make us 4 to 5 loafs a week and we are not allowed to buy bread from the store anymore. I agree though, homemade bread is so much better so I won't mind making it every week. I can't wait to try other types of breads as well, I want to make cinnamon raison, pumpernickel, maple whole wheat, chocolate chip, sour dough, the list goes on... :)

[Photos by me]

A list...

2009-09-17T19:34:00.011-04:00

...of things I absolutely adore;
Long evening walks with Husband and our dog, Libby.
When Husband and I lay in bed at night talking and giggling till our bellys hurt.
Fall and absolutely EVERYTHING about it ♥
Fresh cut flowers in a vase on the counter in the kitchen.
The smell of a delicious burning candle.
Curling up on the couch with a hot cup of tea and a good book on a rainy afternoon.
Husband and I's never ending games of Sequence and Phase 10.
Long, hot bubble baths.
Movie nights in with Husband and a bottle of wine.
Our many car rides the past few weeks just exploring our little town.

[Photo by me]

Happiness :)

2009-09-14T13:22:00.010-04:00

And it's a great day to be alive
I know the sun's still shinin' when I close my eyes
There's some hard times in the neigborhood
But why can't every day be just this good?

[Photos from Getty Images]
[Lyrics: It's a Great Day to Be Alive - Travis Tritt]

My mind is filled with ideas.

2009-09-10T06:31:00.008-04:00

I'm going to try to start posting at least 5 times a week. I won't say 7 times a week because I highly doubt I will post at all on the Saturdays or Sundays, I usually try to spend as much time as possible with Husband and as little possible on the internet over the weekends. I have a list that keeps growing of different things I want to post about. I'm very excited and so glad to be back on the internet again!

For now I'm off to get ready to go spend the day with my Mom. I'm so glad and so blessed that she lives so close that I can see her WHENEVER I want to! =)

[Photo from Getty Images]

Well, I'm back!

2009-09-06T03:34:00.005-04:00

I took a long break from my blog and here is why...

Marriage is hard. I never really expected it to be easy but I always thought to myself how we've been together so long already (6 years in January) that it wouldn't be that much different and not that much harder. I was wrong. There's that saying about how "the first year of marriage is always the hardest", I laughed at that. I never thought it would be any harder. But things got extremely complicated after we got married. Sure, things were great for the first few months but they also got really stressful. We were married in September and bought our first house in October. Then Thanksgiving and Christmas were here, then before we knew it it was time for Spring layoff at Andrews work. Spring layoff is always very stressful but with our added mortgage it became so much more stressful than in past years. The stress along with other things put a huge strain on our relationship and we ending up separating for a few months. It was hard but we are back together again and working through all of our problems physically, mentally, emotionally and financially. We love each other very much. We have put way too much into our relationship not to try to make it work. We wouldn't have ever gotten married if we weren't going to make it last. It's been a tough year but we are rebuilding our relationship and I have all the confidence in the world that we will last and that we will be stronger than ever!