Hi there!

The next couple posts were originally going to be all jumbled into one giant, non cohesive mess. To make it a little easier to search for specific topics down the road, let’s go ahead and split them all up. The posts will include:

• What’s been going on with us lately
• How we got rid of mildew from our carpet
• A phone photo dump

First up –

House Updates:

Quick – I updated the House Projects page with our bathroom remodeling posts, as well as, the first year update.  To get to it – click on the right hand side of the screen under “Pages to check out!”

Although we’ve finished the bathroom and decided to take a brief break on another large home improvement projects, our minds can’t help but to start wandering. Among other things, we dream about putting an addition on our home, landscaping, a new entryway, and a back patio.

While our larger dreams may be a bit down the road, we are going to start painting the rest of the rooms in our house! Besides the basement , kitchen , hall bathroom, and (most recently) our master bath, the rest of our house hasn’t been touched by a paintbrush. Painting is really the easiest and most pain free update you can do. First up – our master bedroom and hallway! I’m exciting to keep you guys in the loop.

Here’s our inspiration (source):

Find more inspiration ideas by the same designer here.

Life Updates:

We’ve also been doing a lot of work to better ourselves lately. I know we’ve talked about this before, but getting married doesn’t wipe your slate clean and overnight make you a better partner, friend and person in general. While we have had a lot of stress in our life recently, we’ve been making a big effort to discuss these issues with each other. Too many times, we all find ourselves bottling our issues in. Additionally, we’ve had the opportunity to work on our patience, forgiveness and listening skills.

It’s easy to feel overcome by the mistakes we make and the stresses that we all feel each day. What’s even more difficult is to simply accept the mistakes you made yesterday and move forward the next. When you have one bad day, it seems nearly impossible to wake up the following day knowing that it’s in the past and its okay to move on. Subsequently, two bad days often leads to an entire bad week. However, once you realize that the person next to you is there to help you become more patient, forgiving or helpful (whatever you’re struggling with) and not simply point out your flaws, it’ll become easier to work together. Honestly, it’s a humbling experience to get over your pride and realize that you can be better.

It’s the journey of life, folks.

Moving on…

Random thought of the day:

There is a problem with Facebook.

For a few years now, I’ve contemplated deleting the ol’ book. Obviously, it’s not for a privacy reason – if it was, I surely wouldn’t write about my life in depth for the entire worldwide web to see.

One reason is that I believe it encourages you to waste a lot of time throughout the day. While I’m just as big as a procrastinator as the next person, I really don’t need yet another distraction in my life. Additionally, I think that spending time rummaging around other people lives takes away from your own family time. Alex and I try to have a lot of “us time” during the evening and something we hope to continue whenever we decide to grow our little family. Yes, we might be sitting next to each other on the couch, but if we’re both stalking other people’s lives, we’re certainly not spending quality time together.

However, I cannot say that this social media tool doesn’t have its benefits. Lately I’ve reconnected with a couple old friends just by spending a quick, “thinking of you message.” I also realize that a good majority of you find your way here by the posts that automatically go to my page. Most importantly, we have a lot of family and family friends that don’t live in the area. I love the idea that I get to share our day to day adventures with so many we care about.

While social media brings together people from all over the world, people you would never know without it, old and new friends, I find that it ultimately distances us from those we care about. I’m often the last to know any big news. “Did you hear that insert name here is engaged/married/pregnant?”

Um, no.

“Didn’t you see if on facebook?”

Yet again… um, no.

Don’t you think that such a big momentous occasion in your life prompts a phone call, a little note, an email, or even an “OMG, I’m engaged” text message?

Are you really keeping in touch with “good” friends by simply reading their status updates? Additionally — Are you really saying “Happy Birthday” to your close friends by dropping a quick line? Yes. And No.

I’m not sure. And unfortunately, I can’t say that I’ve been any better keeping in touch with my close friends. This issue is something that Alex and I discuss pretty often  – The longing for our old friends, the desire to find other coupley friends in our area. We often find ourselves saying something along the lines of… “well, when we have kids, we’ll meet other parents and find people that we have things in common with again.” This makes me sad.

Does this make anyone else sad? Or am I just slightly off?

Weekend plans

Happier news — Someone I know is getting a puppy tomorrow! You know us… we’re slightly biased with our doggie preference — another golden is coming into our lives, and I’m super excited! What I’m even happier about – that we get to play with a puppy whenever and not have to wake up in the middle of the night to use the potty, clean up accidents, AND send him home with his mom! Yippie!

Alex and I are hoping on the paint train this evening. Last night we picked up some paint samples and we’re both pretty pumped to get started! Once you start making changes to your lovely abode, it’s hard to stop! We also have some exciting plans to cut the grass and wash our cars. SO FUN.

Song lyric for the day…

“When nothing is owed or deserved or expected/And your life doesn’t change by the man that elected/If you’re loved by someone, you’re never rejected/Decide what to be and go be it” – Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise by The Avett Brothers

Next up – getting rid of mildew and a photo dump!