This doesn't feel like summer.

Sorry for the absence.  Now that i'm back in school, my anatomy class has taken over my life.
This is what i've been up to.

This mega binder was just the material after the first exam.  It's as full as it would normally be at the end of the semester.  Madness.

Just. So. Tired.

I'm trying to stay positive and count my blessings to break up all this studying.  Just a few:

My sweet ballet girls.  I volunteer with an adaptive ballet class for little girls with special needs.  It has been my favorite thing to look forward to every week, and I always leave in a better mood because of them.  They just performed in the company recital and a city-wide talent show.  I'm so proud.  This is the class at our recital with their wonderful teacher, who also happens to be in the fabulous profession of OT.

David's birthday.  It was a low key day but we managed to both have the day off, which was quite a nice treat.  Ignore that the birthday pie is store bought.  That is just my life right now.

My crazy dog.  He's half husky/half lab, meaning he's normally fluffy and sheds a lot.  We had him shaved for the first time this week and I died laughing when I picked him up.  He looks like a skeleton!  At least a cute skeleton.

My hope is that your summer isn't as hectic as mine, but if it is, I hope you find the little things like these to break up your day and count it all joy :)

Remembering

Memorial day has come.

And although I'm so very thankful to the people who have served our country, this holiday I now spend remembering a different event.  This marks the time when we went through my miscarriage (previous posts here & here).

1 year ago when it happened, I never thought I'd be where I am now.  I never thought I'd get over the horribleness and traumatic complications of that day.  I didn't think I'd be able to go about life without dwelling on what happened.  I was looking into a black tunnel and could barely see light.

But now I feel like I can say that I've made it through to the other side of the tunnel.

God is gracious.  He has brought me to a place of peace that passes understanding...where I don't constantly question "why" anymore, but trust His better plan.  And He's opened my eyes the wonderful blessings this past year has brought us and I'm very thankful.  Some days still feel dark, especially on "anniversaries" like this.  I still have tears.  The memories of that day still cause me deep pain.  It hasn't been forgotten or swept under a rug.  But now there's hope in Him that brings me back, and there's nothing more comforting than that.

I don't mean to be depressing or draw your pity.  I write and bring it up because not only is it something impactful that happened to me, but I want to be an encouragement to others who are in my position.  I've heard the phrase that "your greatest ministries come from your deepest hurt," so that's what I want to do...share the light.  

I hope everyone spends time remembering this Memorial day.  Not just on our country or other things like mine, but on God's faithfulness to make beauty from the ashes.

Counting down the days...

Hello friends,
Although we feel busy, not a lot has been happening on our front.  After so much traveling earlier this Spring, it's been nice to stay home.

I've been enjoying the not-yet-hot weather on our new porch seat...

 Hosting parties for friends...

Admiring cute babies...

And of course chilling with my boys.

I'm trying to soak in these last few days of relaxation, because I start back to school again in a week!
For those of you who don't know, when I went through my pregnancy and miscarriage last year I had to take time off of school.  And because my Masters program is so fast-paced and structured, if you take any time off it has to be pretty much a year at a time.  Last year this time, starting back seemed so far away...but time has flown by and now it's here.  Looking back it's been a wonderful year "off" and i'm honestly so thankful for it.  As excited as I am to go back and finish OT school, i'm also nervous.  I'm joining a whole new class I don't know yet, and starting back with our most challenging semester.

Not gunna lie, this whole not studying and spending more time with my friends and family thing has been quite enjoyable.

But nothing is forever, it's just for a season.  And despite some anxiety I AM looking forward to finishing my degree, and meeting new people and opportunities.

I can't move on without remembering my "original" class I started with.  They all graduated this past weekend, and I was a little sad I wasn't in their position like I would have been.  But I'm happy for them and remember i'll be there before I know it.  They have been wonderful friends and helped me so much through my first year.

All this to say, I'm thankful for the memories i've had, where I am now, and what lies ahead.

Before + After: part 2

Here is a continuation of some of our house renovations.  This is what's been happening upstairs.

So this is our upstairs guest room before we bought it.  Really not bad from the photo, but again, this was her staging furniture so none of it stayed.  The walls look deceivingly mild, but don't be fooled.  They were in fact practically lime green. And what looks like a bed was the size of a bench. 

We now painted the walls a grayish purple.  We added navy and white accents with the curtains and bedding.  The twin beds were actually left in the house, so we cleaned the box springs and bought new mattresses and put them in this room...and they fit perfectly! The photo seems darker because all the windows are covered up at the time of the photo, but it still gets a ton of light.  

Little fun things:  The poster I found at a flea market in Charlotte and it's actually a map of Austin, TX (love), and the green wooden and iron table I found at a flea market in MS.  This room was definitely a home run for salvaged/reused finds.

Rug runner: West Elm

Curtains: West Elm

Paint color: Grape Creme by Behr

This is the other bedroom upstairs.  There was nothing terrible about this room before (other than how dirty it was), there really was just nothing in here...except for those twins beds we ended up putting in the other room.

Now we use it as an office/catch-all storage for my art supplies/textbooks, etc. We painted the walls a lighter color to brighten it up.  Added some colorful curtains and pillows.  Got a storage unit.  Pretty simple so far.

Curtains: Lowe's

Pillows: West Elm

Storage unit: Ikea

Paint color: Polished by Behr

This bathroom upstairs is almost the tiniest bathroom ever built, but somehow they fit everything in so fine by me.  Such is life in an old house.  The previous owner unfortunately though put in a green shower stall *cries.*  But it works and is rarely used, so for now we're not paying the money to change it.  However, the walls before were bright yellow and the floors were checkered linoleum.  Needless to say that made the green shower look even worse.  Unfortunately I lost my "before" picture of this.  Trust me, not pretty.  Anyway, since the shower will be with us a littler longer, we decided to try to neutralize everything else around it.  We painted the walls white and David so handily installed a nicer looking floor.

He also built these storage shelves that we stained dark brown.  We ended up also building a "frame" around the medicine cabinet and stained it the same color.

The bathroom is definitely the least special thing to show, but 1) knowing how bad it was before i'm so happy with how it is now, and 2) i'm really impressed by my husband that he put in the floor and shelves :)

I love having this blessing to slowly turn from house to home.  Even if it has a green shower.

Blue Ridge

While the Masters tournament was happening, we skipped town and spent the week at my parent's house in the mountains.  It was wonderful to be able to go up there longer then just a weekend.  We got to relax and see family and enjoy the scenery.  Also, friends of ours from Augusta (including their adorable 6 month old baby) met us up there later for the weekend.  It was simply so nice.

We got to eat dinner at night on the back porch with a pretty view...

We had beers after a hike with even bigger views...

We played a little golf...

We canned some yummy tomatoes...

We went to the park with the dogs...

We did "tummy time" with the dogs...

We got to go to a fancy schmancy wine tasting dinner...

But one of the neater things we did was go up to the top of Grandfather Mountain.  It's known as one of the higher elevations in the Appalachian mountains and has a "mile high" suspension bridge.  You can ask my friends...I was a weeny going across.  But I did it and gave myself a pat on the back.  It didn't help that the wind gusts got up to 50 mph that day!!!

I'm glad I brought my "real" camera though and got to capture some amazing shots...these pictures don't come close to doing justice to the panoramic views.

We also got to see a few animals at the mountain's wildlife habitat.

It's such a great park to go to if you're ever in the area!

Thankful for my gracious parents who live here and always open their doors and allows us to relax, and thankful to be able to admire such beautiful creation.