Happy 2014!

Well, it’s ten minutes until 2014 officially rolls in and instead of staying up to watch the ball drop, we found we were all too tired and I’m the last one standing (in my pjs, in bed, blogging).I never given a lot of sentiment to New Years, nothing necessarily feels different unless you make it a big deal. Most resolutions go to pot and the strenuous holiday season has left us with great fatigue.

But as I think on last year, looking on to the next, I find myself feeling very blessed & thankful—excited to continue in this adventure that God is leading my husband and I on. So much has changed from then to now, as is always the case with time.On this date last year, I was planning a wedding, moving home from a stay in SC, and preparing to celebrate my Pap’s life at his funeral in a few days. Now I find myself married, visiting PA from our home in WI, and looking on to a year of unknowns.

Our Christmas apartment.

Needless to say, Andrew and I are on a bit of a budget this year, with a big move in the next few months. The goal for Christmas this year was to make the place look Christmasy without getting a ton of things that we can’t take with us or breaking the bank.

I think our results turned out to be pretty decent given the situation.

Sure, the tree is a little scruffy and abnormal…it was free from Momma Nature. But with a little lovin’ it became our first Christmas tree.

We did visit the Dollar Tree, which I will probably utilize in the future even if we were to come into money. I got our little birds and gold, glittery ornaments there.

I got a little carried away with the baking...

I’ve had a little bit of extra time this week while Andrew is away working, so I planned to accomplish a lot of things that were on my “want-to-do-but-not-necessary-to-live” list.

Maybe the time alone made me a little ambitious, but today I woke up determined to bake. After one batch of cookies, I kept feeling like more (I think the smell and new cookie cutters had something to do with it).

Shortbread, spiced shortbread, sugar cookies, gingerbread cookies, and two loaves of pumpkin bread were the product of a long afternoon in the kitchen. The kitchen smelled amazing and I got to utilize all of the baking oriented wedding gifts that I’ve been salivating over.

Defining style.

As I organize Pinterest boards and decorate my home, I find myself being drawn to things that I wouldn’t have expected before. I’ve always chalked my design style up to “vintage chic.” However, I’m now finding this inevitably needs mixed into a combination of: simplistic, industrial, and natural elements.

When I envision my dream home, I see:

A Mixture of Neutrals...

The mentality behind decorating.

With another semester now under my belt—having experienced all of the emotions, joys, and stresses that come with being a working, newlywed student, I have discovered some truths (at least for myself personally).

But what I am thinking of right now has nothing to do with school, work, or even cleaning the house…instead, I am honing in on the factor of decorating.

This semester I have been wrestling through controlling myself when it comes to decorating our apartment—when we know that we will only be here until next May. We vowed to not make any large purchases and are saving it for the future when we are in a more permanent residence. This is logical—it makes sense.

Finality.

Well, here it is—the week of classes. In honor of finality, I feel as though I need to write something extremely compelling or fantastically wonderfully. But at the same time, my poor, frazzled brain feels no such desire. So we shall see where this particular post ends up in a few paragraphs.

There is so much emotion that goes into the last week of classes. For starters, everyone is extremely tired in all aspects (emotionally, mentally, and physically) and just wants a few more hours of sleep. On the other hand, everyone is driven by the dream of going home for Christmas—a dream filled with cookies, home-cooked meals, Christmas music, family traditions, crackling fires, and of course, adequate sleep. We find ourselves so driven by the latter that a hidden inner strength wells up within and allows us to give one last push to the finish line. It hurts, but it always happens. Sure, we all may not look that nice by the end of the week—circles under the eyes, disheveled hair, forgotten make-up and all. We may be a bit more dazed, grumpy, and confused (at least this is how I personally feel). But! The semester always comes to an end, one way or the other.

A week devoted to thankfulness.

Here I am again, sitting on one of my mismatching plaid couches contemplating another post. This time there is a pile of yarn at my feet (waiting to be knit into Christmas scarves), the strong scent of Cinnamon and Spice in the air, Thanksgiving leftovers filling my fridge, and the now “legal” Christmas music playing. This week has been exactly what I’ve needed—peace, quiet, rest, time to cook sentimental food, and most importantly extra time in the Word and with Drew. The last thing that I want to do is two more weeks of school after tasting what break is like—but I am encouraged knowing it will quick and painless. I’ll feel completely better once the poetry reading is over. I’ve never been too confident in my poetry writing skills.