.The Joys of Power Washing.

Our house is covered with white siding and we love it--the bright white is welcoming and always feels clean..

..Until you look up close, eek! Over the past two weeks I have been slowly power washing the entire house siding (at least the parts I can reach, Adam takes care of the rest) and am thoroughly enjoying the process. It is instant gratification, take a look at a few 'before' and 'after' photos:

Our side deck is now clean and spider free (at least for now)--I killed about 5 or 6 of those suckers with my power washer, another joy I tell you. Washing this area of the house really made me feel like I own it and am in control..it is no longer a "mystery" area one of which I avoided for webs and who knows what else.

It's the little things friends, the little things :)

Have you been working on any exterior projects?

I'd love to hear about them!

.Oh IKEA, you get better with age.

While Adam and I were in Maryland for our friends' wedding, we had a free morning to spend in our happy place: IKEA!

We went with a game plan set and were thrilled to see everything looked as good, if not better, in person than online. In the next few weeks I'll be slowly showing you the great stuff we purchased as we, ahem Adam, builds the furniture and installs the lighting. We are excited!

I wanted to share some photos Adam and I took while in IKEA. I must say, I took advice from this pretty girl and tried my hand at her style. Just ignore the wrinkles, goofy excited expression, missing button and pretend I accessorized and posed really well ;) Here is a photo recap of our IKEA morning!

Top: Forever 21. Pants: Old Navy. Sandals: Charlotte Russe. Earrings: Forever 21.

If you look close, you can see steal some peeks at what we got! Stay tuned..

P.S. What did you think of my outfit? Did I pull off Sydney's recommendation well? Linking up here this morning :)

.Living Room Vignettes.

I received a few little things in the mail that have inspired me to play with vignettes. Adam built me a gorgeous sofa table but I have been a bit stumped as how to decorate it. We use the table/shelf everyday to hold our dishes on (guilty-we are those people who eat on the couch while watching movies) so we need it to be fairly empty. By keeping the middle section empty, Adam and I have the space we need while the ends of the table make a great place to set up some decor. In the past I have played around here and there, see this post for reference. This is what our couch and sofa table looked like for months:

I did enjoy the two vignettes but I needed a little change..remember it's the little things that bring smiles! Adam and I ordered a beautiful wooden puzzle from this shop, Dog Wood By: Dave. It is perfect and we absolutely love it! The detail work is fabulous and the dark contrast is perfect with the sofa table.

The other thing received in the mail were these beauties from this lovely shop, Faye Marie.

 I spent time this morning rearranging and trying a few different things. Like this set up:

 And this:

The "vase" is from our trip to Iceland and it is 100% cardboard :) You can also see it here in our dining room. The bottle inside is also from Iceland, it held Adam's favorite drink while there-a malt root beer! I wanted to keep the vignettes simple and as minimal as possible. I switched things up:

 Which vignette do you prefer for the "K" side?

  Which vignette do you prefer for the "A" side?

Here are my final choices, well at least for now :)

I chose to have the wooden puzzle opposite of the cardboard vase to have darker shades of brown on each side. The tree branches and dried flowers were also separated to have balanced height on each end of the sofa table. The end of the table closest to the window does not get as much light as the end furthest away from the window so I decided to use the bright bold yellow flowers in the darker area of the room. The dark puzzle and dark branches made that side of the room look dead versus the bright cheery flowers. The yellow from the framed fabric and flowers go together nicely and do add a pop of life to that end of the sofa table. I know I will change my mind a thousand more times but for now these little changes really make me smile!

I'd love to know which vignettes you prefer and any tips/hints/changes to help make this beautiful sofa table feel complete. 

Have you created any lovely spaces in your home recently? 

Happy Living--Happy Vignette Tweaking

and remember

--Little Things Bring Smiles--

.And I think to myself.

What a wonderful world..

..Oh yeah

Every second of this past weekend was enjoyable and an absolute delight! Adam and on had a lovely weekend getaway to Maryland to be a part of Kevin and Mandy's wedding. I am happy to report everything with the wedding ran smoothly and it was quite the celebration! The weather was bright and felt just right with a breeze under the big white tent..the music was relaxing and never too loud or annoying..the food, oh my word the food, it was the best BBQ I have ever had..and the bride was stunning! We are beyond excited for our friends as they begin this new journey and eager to see how the Lord uses them as one. Adam and I were both in the wedding party (Adam was the best man!) so I am afraid I did not capture many photos but please take a look at the ones I did! Enough with the chit chat, let's get on to the pictures!

Mandy and her father danced to this song as they both were fighting back tears..it killed me and I was crying along with them! There is something so dear about the father-daughter relationship..I really hope Adam can be a daddy to a little girl some day :) The next three pictures are simply to show off my amazing curls--thank you to Mandy's cousin Tiffany who did my hair and thanks Jake for taking a few candid shots!

The entire day was perfect and we felt privileged to be part of their families. A very sincere thank you to Kevin's parents who hosted a delicious rehearsal dinner and to Mandy's parents for throwing a beautiful wedding for two even more beautiful people. Adam and I love you Kevin and Mandy and cannot wait to see you after your honeymoon in JAMAICA is over!

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Welsch!

.Good Things Are Happening.

Adam and I have been working on quite a few different house projects and we are pumped about them!--I've been a bad blogger though and forgot to snap "before" pictures. We are still working on most projects so I will be sure to get "during" photos and of course, "after" pictures. There has been much to blog about but I've been busy actually completing things and living life that I haven't done the best job, please forgive.

Our work is put on hold this weekend for a very special reason. We are headed to Maryland to be in our dear friends Kevin and Mandy's wedding. Festivities begin tomorrow (as well as a trip to IKEA for Adam and I!) and the wedding will be on Sunday.

I cannot wait.

Adam and I love these two and are so thrilled to celebrate with them and to be in their wedding--Adam is even the best man! This is our first friend wedding Adam and I will be in the together and the second time he gets to walk me down the aisle.

Our bags are not packed, heck, laundry isn't even started. Good news--it's only 10am and we will not be leaving til 5pm..I have plenty of time ;)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend whether you are working on your yard, BBQ-ing with friends and family, or even just sleeping in and relaxing--ENJOY!

:)

.Little Brother Graduates.

I am the youngest in my family with one older brother. My wish of having a sister finally came true when my brother married back in 2006. Fast forward to 2009 when Adam and I were wed, and I got more than I could ever have hoped for..are you ready? I now have 3 sisters, 4 brothers, 4 nieces, and 2 nephews.

Life is good.

Adam's younger brother Alex graduated from Liberty University this May and I was thrilled to be a part of his special day. I first met Alex when he was 16 years old and was able to attend his high school plays, basketball games, and various fundraisers/school activities. It was all so fun! I always wanted a "little" brother (even though is he not so little) and truly feel blessed to have him in my life.

Throughout college, Adam and I watched first hand as Alex grew in maturity and in his talents, acting. Alex majored in Theatre and brought hours of entertainment to all who attended Liberty's plays as well as the community theaters. He really found his niche in acting and it is clearly comedy--that boy is not afraid to make himself look silly to get laughs and trust me, his facial expressions are priceless! Take a look:

Alex's college graduation was unique: it was short and sweet! LU's Theatre department only had 17 graduating seniors. This made the entire ceremony extremely personal and like I mentioned, short! I was happy, not only for Alex, but for his classmates because their professors were able to take the time to speak about each student.

It was nice.

Alex's graduation ceremony was celebrated with his loving parents, grandparents, and Adam and I. 

This last picture is precious to me--Alex and I on his high school graduation in 2008 and college graduation in 2012. Love having a "little" brother :)

Congratulations Alex, we are all so proud and love you! Enjoy your summer--we cannot wait to see your performances!

Happy Living--Happy Graduating

and remember

--Little Things Bring Smiles--

.Malaysia: Part Two.

As I mentioned in the first trip post, Adam and the rest of Envato had 2.5 days off of work--this was very exciting for me because I could have some good ol' quality time with my man, my absolute favorite!

Adam and I are both animal lovers, I'm a bit of a science nerd and proud of it, so planning our days off were easy:

World's Largest Free Flight Bird Park-check!-Aquarium-check!-Historic fort to see wild monkeys-check! I will let the photos speak for themselves except for this one comment..or maybe two:

It was steaming hot outside, beware of viewing sweat!
The animals of Malaysia LOVED Adam's hair--I swear every time I glanced over at him he had some sort of creature on top of his head!

Now the pictures:              

It was difficult taking good photos in the Aquarium so please use your imagination and picture sea turtles, otters, sharks, sting rays, and lots of tropical fish! :)

The aquarium was located next to Kuala's Lumpur Petronas Twin Towers. The architecture was truly stunning:

We spent an entire day off, 12 hours to be exact, with great friends exploring historic sites, hanging out with wild monkeys, hiking through the rainforest, enjoying boat rides to see eagles and again at night to see fire flies--it was an incredible day soaking in the beautiful country outside of the city!

The Envato team and spouses were also given a group activity day to get out of the city to visit an elephant sanctuary. We were able to feed baby elephants and ride adult elephants--it was so neat! The chance to bathe with the elephants was taken away due to heavy rain causing the river to be too high. I was relieved because I did not want to submerge myself in mucky brown river water in Malaysia, no thank you! I've watched one too many episodes of River Monsters and have only seen the trailer of Monsters Inside of Me to keep me away forever!! Enjoy:

Friends..I cannot believe how long this post is, I am so sorry! I just scrolled down to show Adam and he laughed at me. I'm going to let it slide because it is finished..it is almost midnight..and this post is mostly pictures..that's that :)

Now you have just seen our two week long trip to Malaysia in TWO posts! (I am pretty impressed with that fact even if each post is extremely long, hehe.)

Thank you for checking out our trip and a special big thank you goes to everyone who left me comments and emails about travel advice/what to do/what not to do--you really saved me on our flights and I am thankful for you.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!