Perfection is relative, I suppose

Sometimes I guess there are things that two people will never be able to agree upon fully.

Below is a picture that I consider to be perfect. So much so, that when I am lost in house work, or feel like I don't know where all of the house projects Travis and I are trying to do are going - I pull up this picture and it encourages me. I talk to Travis a lot about our "forever house." I think of it as the place where we will spend most of our lives -- you know; raise children, have dogs, and live out our lives. For me, our "forever house" is filled with baking, hot chocolate, and laughing. It is the place that is always wonderful.

And this is what it looks like.

So imagine my surprise when I show this picture to Travis and say "isn't it perfect?" He says "I don't like the wall paper. It looks like cotton balls, or pine cones." {I happen to think that this room would not be the same with any other wall paper}

The point of this is to ask for those of you who know us to help -- what do you think? Perfection? or Pine cones?

Reflection

Next Sunday Travis and I will have been married for one year!
I can't believe that our first year together has gone by so quickly! I thought that I would take some time to jot down the things I have learned while we are married:

1. Two really are better than one.
The author of Ecclesiastes really did know what he was talking about! Two are better than one in so many ways. First, in the way the verse was intended meaning that if you spiritually walk along side someone else they will keep you accountable and keep your eyes in the right direction. Also, in the day to day I have found how much I love having Travis to come home to! Its so much easier to do the things that I don't want to during the day when I know that I have Travis to see when I am done! Also, I never fully appreciated how wonderful it is to have someone to share the ups and downs of life with; I love knowing that Travis will support and help me now matter what is happening!

2. Boys make the bathroom messy.
I never really grew up much with boys in the house. Stephen and Michael were out of the house by the time I was seven, and so most of my life I lived either with my parents, with girls, or alone. Let me tell you; I did not know what I was in for! The one place that I can notice an appreciable difference in dirty-ness since Travis has moved in is in the bathroom. All of those tiny tiny hairs from shaving get ALL over our white bathroom and they are virtually impossible to clean up entirely! And I won't even talk about the change I have noticed in the toilet. Lets just say I'm needing my cleaning gloves much more frequently than I used to!

3. Being married makes you tired.
I don't know what it is about being married that makes you want to go to bed between 10 and 10.30 every night, but it seems inevitable. This didn't happen to me when I was single, but all of a sudden poof I got married and now I pumpkin at 10 pm. Travis has noticed no difference in his sleeping patterns because he has always preferred to sleep a good 10-12 hrs/night.

4. What a difference a year makes.
Travis and I have seen so much change and growth this past year. As a married couple you learn all of the good and bad about each other, and the trick is to love them through everything. Travis and I spent some time the other night talking about how different things were for us a year ago, about all of the things we have struggled with and how, ultimately, we have grown together because of it.Even though our conversation brought me to tears at times I was so happy to be looking back and to see how much we have changed and grown.

5. It really is about give and take.
When we first got married I wanted so badly to be the perfect wife. To me, I thought that meant looking perfect, having the house perfectly clean for my husband, and cooking healthy gourmet equivalent meals every night. If you haven't figured out, I learned quickly that all of those things weren't going to happen all of the time (who are we kidding, they didn't happen MOST of the time!) I remember a devotional that was in the brides bible Jim and Linda gave me as an engagement present that talked about how we all have a picture in our head of what it means to be a perfect spouse, but that it isn't about being what we considered to be perfect. Its about allowing God to mold us into the perfect fit for our spouse. I realize that I can never be the perfect wife, but I can be the perfect wife for Travis. And that doesn't really have very much to do with our house looking spotless or cooking the best meals in Lubbock. So now when Travis has to help me clean (like he did last night while I was at the hospital all night) I don't feel guilty that he had to help me; I just pray for an opportunity to be able to help him back!

Well that seems like enough for now, if I think of more then I will post Reflections 2.0

Surprise!

This year for my parents 60th birthday my brothers and I decided to give them a surprise birthday party. It was so much fun! My aunt volunteered her house (our 930 sq foot bungallow would have been tight) and we had over 40 of my parents friends and family there to celebrate!

A friend went around snapping some quick pics before the party started of the food and decorations. Later, I will post pictures of everyone having fun!


Our theme for the evening was black and white, in honor of their 60th birthday, with chalk and chalkboard details to keep it from being too stiff feeling.

We had black butcher paper runners and chalk so that the kids could draw and have funWe also pained chalk board paint stripes on the glasses so everyone could write their names on their glass and not get glasses confused.The food we had was wonderful! Prime rib sliders, tomato basil soup shots, asparagus rolls, caprese salad on a stick, and spicy sweet and sour chicken skewers!We had a dessert buffet with mini cupcakes, kettle corn, lemon bars, and rice krispie sticks for the kids!A year book picture of my Mother, she was voted "Most Beautiful" in high schoolTo drink we had an ice tea and coffee bar with peach, raspberry, hazelnut, and vanilla flavors!

The last thing we had was a place for guests to write a special note to Mom and Dad!

We had such a wonderful time getting to put this together for our parents, and we were so happy to see so many of our family and friends there to help us make this birthday special one!

When we aren't studying...

So, more weeks have passed than I care to admit since I've been able to post pics and update everyone on our lives, but I think that is the nature of life!

Travis and I are both doing well! Travis is working hard and studying a lot as well! I am about to finish my internal medicine rotation, and then we will both have off for Christmas break! Anyway, so the whole purpose of this post is to talk about what we are doing when we aren't studying.

We have quite a few projects that we are working on: we are reupholstering an old couch, repainting an old dresser, and working on other paining and buiding projects for our bedroom! I have promised pictures of the things we have going on now! So here we go:

This is the old couch we are reupholstering -with help from my Aunt. We have now taken off all of the fabric and our couch is getting the springs re-tied and the webbing restrung. We have ordered fabric that should be in soon, hopefully! So all that is left is to pain the couch and reupholster it (thats all, ha)!

This is the fabric that we are going to reupholster it in. Its really cool in person and not quite as dark looking!

This is the picture of the dresser that Travis and I are painting. We finally decided on Martha Stewarts, Weathervane, its a purple so dark it almost looks black. I think it will look great with our grey walls and shiny gunmetal bedspread!

This is the pictures of the mirror that Travis and I made back in September! I'm not able to describe it very well -- so here are the pictures finally! Anyway, I like this much more than most starburst mirrors that I've seen in catalogs and its much cheaper. Also, I'm not sure if you can tell, but this thing is HUGE! The mirror was 14" and the bamboo we cut ranged from 15" to 24" so it fits are large wall very well!

Here is the picture of the mirror on the wall! I think it looks great and I think it will look even better once we have the new couch with the funky fabric sitting below it!

Well; that is a quick update with some things that I have been wanting to share with ya'll!!