interior design, bad photos, and a sore elbow

Sunday was the best day.

D and I met Brandon, Molly, and the girls in the picturesque Senoia, Georgia [supposedly pronounced like suh-noy]. The little town is not only a great meeting place between Montgomery and Columbia, it is filled with beautiful historical homes, surprisingly great antique and gift shops, and the 2012 Southern Living Idea House. This being SL's first year to do a historical renovation instead of actually building the house, it felt like we were on a pilgrimage to the ultimate southern and antique interior design inspiration center of the world. Too dramatic?

Regardless, it was awesome. PLUS, I got to hold Anna nearly the entire time which is where the bad photos and sore elbow comes in. I was holding our little chunky monkey with one arm and trying to take pictures with the other. The good news is that I can finally straighten my elbow today. It was all very worth it.

I wanted to share a few of my [shaky] pictures of details you may not be able to see on their website.

[Ok, not a few. A lot.]

Being with M&B, loving on our nieces, and soaking up all kinds of ideas before this house-building venture made for the very best Sunday. If you're even decently near in the next week, I suggest you have your own little pilgrimage and make a visit!

christmas on king street

When it comes to Christmas decorations, I can completely lose my mind in aisles and aisles worth of glitter. Over the years, I've learned that I regret when I over-sparkle, but this can only be realized outside of the glitz trance.

Put down the 40% off Hobby Lobby coupon and walk to your car.

It's hard, y'all.

But by combining a little bit of glitter, D's rustic preferences, and yearly Shiny Brites from my mom, I think we've come out with a good balance this year.

The only things we actually purchased were a tree, a giant roll of brown paper, a little extra ribbon, a rosemary topiary, and two $5 fresh garlands at Lowes' Black Friday sale. But the most important part of our decorations this year was the trunk load worth of free tree clippings. After making a wreath and a swag, I shoved them in containers until I ran out of surfaces to put them on!

By the Christmas tree with a book is absolutely my favorite place to be, and, if you need me, you can find me there soaking it up before our Christmas in Louisiana tour begins.

Which I'll gladly say SAYONARA to our pretty little tree for the sake of Christmas at the moms' houses. Though I may combust from pure excitement before that happens.

Merry Official Christmas Season!

an advent guide

As a self pronounced lover-of-busy, this quote from a favorite author really stuck with me since last Christmas:

"You can show up with your perfectly wrapped grab bag gift & your perfectly baked cookies...and your perfectly resentful and frazzled self, ready to snap at the first family member you see." [Shauna Niequist]

This year does happen to be different. When you know less people and are involved in less than ever in your 23 years, you have less to cause that so-called frazzle. But I've realized that distractions remain, that there is always something to consume my mind. It's decorating the house or thinking about those that I miss or hoping for change. Regardless of what it is, I aim to not let them distract from this season that comes once and year and leaves all too quickly.

To help this problem, D went searching for Piper's advent guide and found that he suggested one from The Village Church. Week one runs from November 25th to December 1st [which I realize is today], but I wanted to share anyway. I promise not to tell if  you cheat a little on your advent guide.

You can find the .pdf here. 

I hope that this heightens our yearning for Christ - for His coming, for His will to be done. I know that my controlling lover-of-busy self needs to yearn less for those few extra Christmas parties we've grown accustom to and more for His peace and His purpose in our lives.

turkey for two

I had nervous anticipation for what turned out to be a beautiful Thanksgiving Day here in South Carolina. D was the engineer on-call for the holiday weekend which meant no Louisiana Thanksgiving for us this year. For the first time ever.

I get really attached to tradition, to sitting in the same chair at Mamaw's and watching the Rockettes in the parade. Which is always followed by Mom, Moll and I comparing that year's dance and costumes to the previous twenty-ish performances. Not crazy about the all silver this year, just in case you were wondering. And don't they know that they are all the more adorable with a head piece?

Anyway.

We unintentionally distracted ourselves by cooking all day long. D was bound and determined to grill a turkey. A whole turkey for two people. And I sure am glad he did! It set the stage for our hilarious amount of food we had for two people. We're talking leftovers for weeks!

I was thankful for D to share the day with and a roof over our heads and a grocery budget to afford food and families to miss being with that weekend and dear friends who sensitively checked on us all day long. And for the lessons and growth that come from living a little farther away. Though often stubbornly and tearfully grasped.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving from Cola Town. We hope 2012 was your best yet!

 

building our home

The question I've been asked the most since we've moved has been, "So do y'all think you'll be up there for a while?" Which is understandable seeing how we ask ourselves the same thing. All the time.

The conclusion we've come to is that we are in South Carolina right now (and are thankful for our new location!). We have no way to know when The Lord may choose to move us again. Though willing to go if called, we have decided to keep the mindset that this is where we are now and, in turn, this is where we will do our best to connect and plant ourselves.

So, we're going to build a house.

[My heart dropped a little when I typed that.]

For the last several months, we've had plans to go visit some of Lexington's many new build neighborhoods. Two days ago, we finally had a Saturday to be able to do just that. And the next day we signed the papers!

Being my aesthetically picky self, I knew I'd enjoy picking out all the elements from the ground up. But I woke up early early Sunday morning with all kinds of concerns. My grounded and prayerful husband suggested we go back again for another look. And I'm sure glad we did! Once we had another meeting on Sunday, saw our corner lot on the end if the cul de sac, and realized how every need had fallen into place, we were ready to move forward. We know that wasn't by chance.

The neighborhood stuffed full of young couples and families makes it an exciting transition. And I'm a big fan of the new craftsman style houses which make leaving our historical neighborhood a little more bearable. But the best change is that this will make D's commute to work a little easier. And he deserves that so much!

So this is to commemorate the beginning of the ultimate project! I'm going to do my best to not do three things: 1) Spend too much time on Pinterest, 2) Worry, 3) Drive the builders insane.

We're excited! And feeling way too grown up.

["Land, Katie Scarlett! ...because its the only thing that lasts."]

[The beginning of many, many decisions.]

[This is a similar, unfinished version of what our house will look like one day!]

P.S. Did you know that my friend Caitlyn is up and blogging again with her new little girl? I was able to help her with her blog design and had a blast doing it! Go check it out.