Summer to-do list activity---Landscape the front yard

Our house was the one on the block that had no landscaping. Well, that's not completely true. I had planted some forsythia bushes in a unique way, but the problem was, there was nothing else around it and they just looked weird.

So, Micah and I decided that we were going to do some landscaping. We picked a weekend and wouldn't you know it, we woke up to cloudy skies. :( Big bummer. We decided that afternoon to go ahead and visit the Home Depot and work on another summer-do-list activity--organize the garage. We walked around the garden section so that we could pick out things that we do like and Micah could come back on a day-off and get everything. Well, wouldn't you know it that it became beautiful and sunny when we were walking around there?!? So, we decided to get all our landscaping things and get to work.

We rented a tiller, tilled everything, and then began to put all of our purchases out in the front yard. It was a long, tiring process, but we are so pleased with our efforts. We worked so hard, we did it in an afternoon!

It makes the house look so beautiful. Now, we are working on the fantastic (hear the sarcasm!) weeds that are popping up.

**Pics are having trouble uploading, so I will add them later!

Overly Ambitious

I'm officially out of school until August 8th.

Now, does that mean I've been sitting at home, watching movies, and drinking margaritas? How I wish that was all true! I've been at workshops, down in Juncition City, up in Fayetteville, and working on my ever-growing 'summer to-do' list.

Why, oh why am I so ambitious in my abilities? All joking aside, I really do enjoying having a list of goals/things-I'd-like-to-get-done over the summer. I know there will be the time when someone asks me what I did over summer vacation and my answer will be, "Nothing" and I will be perfectly fine with that. However, this summer is NOT that summer.

A lot of things on my summer-to-do list are home-related. I have a feeling that this summer is THE summer to get a lot of things done. If it doesn't happen in summer 2011, then it's just not going to get done. How's that for a 'go-get-um attitude?' I'm already claiming defeat before I've even begun!

Truth is, I'm trying not to be so hard on myself. I sat one night, while Micah was working, texting a friend. I was being whiny and mopey. I was complaining how I did nothing on my list that I wanted to do that day, I was super behind, everything in the house was messy, etc. I couldn't stop being a negative person. My dear friend, Alicia, responded to my whiny mass of texts by saying, "Well, write down everything you DID do today onto a list, then cross it all out." I couldn't help it---I totally laughed out loud and then smiled. That's exactly what I needed to do. I just have this unrealistic idea of what I need to do to be 'good' or 'perfect'. I need to let go of those ideals and realize that I'm perfectly wonderful the way I am and the things I'm doing are all right.

Menu Planning

Ever since Micah and I started dating, I tried to cook great meals that he would like. I am proud to say that Micah really loves my cooking!

Now since we've been married, I really am trying to cook great meals, plan the meals, and get great deals at the store when I do so.

I have been scouring the web for great websites to help with all this and I've found some great ones. I planned out a great shopping trip and two weeks worth of meals. I'm pleased to say that this first week went wonderfully!

I saved about 20% of what I would have spent at the store if I hadn't shopped the sales and used coupons. I'm working on a better savings this next trip. My menu planning really helped me out. I didn't eat out any this week. None of my food has gone to waste and Micah and I tried some new recipes out!

I have been using http://www.southernsavers.com/ as a reference for my shopping/budgeting. She has some great tips, lists out the stores, and even provides some videos to help with everything. I really like it!

If anyone has any favorite recipes to share, please do! We love trying new things and I love the recipes that are simple, yet delicious.

What have we been up to?

It's been over 5 weeks from the wedding. Where does time go? I know now that the wedding is and will continue to be a specific point of reference in our life. Example: When did we take that trip? Oh yes, it was 2 years after the wedding, etc. One of the other life events that will take precedence over the wedding will be whenever we have children--which isn't happening right now, much to the dismay of one of my sisters.

We are trying to figure out our routines and make my house that I had before we were married, our house. I know I sound like a broken record, but I've been decluttering, etc. We are trying to get our schedules straight, spend time together, and just be newlyweds. It was hard for me to get back into the routine of work after being gone for a honeymoon for the entire week because as soon as I came back, we had snow days! It really threw off my schedule, but now we have had 3 weeks of school where we have gone all 5 days.

I'm working on finding new food items to cook, decorating the house in a way that we both like, not just my stuff with some pictures of my husband thrown in. :) If you have any favorite meals that are easy and yummy, please share! I am also looking for slow cooker meals, since we have a fabulous new slow cooker and I have yet to use it!

I haven't blogged about our honeymoon, which I will do. I do want to show you one of the biggest things I worked on over our 3 snow days when we had 8+ inches of snow, which is unheard of in central Arkansas. When Micah came home, he was shocked! He said, "Look how huge our house is when all the extra stuff is out of the way!" He is such a sweetheart to put up with me and my pack-rat ways. :) Now, I do not share these photos with you for you to pass judgement. If you have negative comments, keep moving. However, I do share them with you to show off my hard work and to let people know that it can be done. I worked super hard and I am pleased to report that the master bedroom is staying clean! It's just how we want it to be!

Now for some background with the room--I had moved all sorts of stuff in there and the couple of weeks before the wedding the room seemed to explode with the amount of stuff in there. This was by far the worst the room has ever looked.

Before:

I can't believe I'm sharing this!

Oh the horror!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This last one is absolutely horrible!!!!!!

AFTER:

This is my new prayer desk. I'm going to 'give up' the snooze button during Lent and I hope that it's going to lead me to more prayer time at my new prayer desk.

I'm so proud of my hard work! I'm going to tackle the other rooms in the house. We worked on the outside of the house about 3 weeks ago. Micah floored out the rest of the attic so we have more room up there and then we cleaned out the gutters. I use the term we lightly because Micah did most of the work. He climbed up on the 8 foot ladder and cleaned out the gutters that I've never cleaned out since I've lived here. I stood at the bottom of the ladder and kept it steady and talked to him so he wouldn't get bored.Then we had to take the hose and run water through the gutters to make sure nothing was clogged. Luckily, they were not. We cleaned off the back porch and swept some of the leaves of the roof and the house looks beautiful. This fall we will clean the gutters out again and it won't be half the chore it was this time!

So, little by little, the Fullertons are getting into the swing of this married life. It's amazing how different it can change your outlook on life. I used to want to make plans and fill up my life with all sorts of things so I always had something going on. Now, my  most favorite thing to do is spend a quiet evening with my husband and our little fur-baby, Bonnie
Blue.

It really is the simple things in life that matter the most.

Wedding Pictures

We have been married for 10 days and we couldn't be happier. We got out pictures back from our wonderful photographer, Meredith Melody Hubbell of Meredith Melody Photography. She did an amazing job and I can't stop looking at them. All 799 of our pictures!

I keep thinking about our wedding day and how wonderful it all was. Micah and I couldn't have asked for a better day and it just warms our heart that so many of our friends and family could be there with us. There were some friends and family that were not able to make, but we know that they would have done everything they could to be there.

Our day wouldn't have been possible without our parents and families. We also had some wonderful vendors that provided amazing services that made everything so awesome! We had a wonderful planner, Valerie Linker, of Valerie Linker Weddings. I cannot say enough great things about her. Our flowers were done by Fairytale Florals. Scott's vision was so perfect. I told him what I liked, what colors I wanted, and he created everything. Our cakes were done by Mickey's Special Affairs. Oh my goodness! Everyone knows I love me some cake and these cakes were to die for. Loved them! Our caterers were Simply the Best Catering. My family judges events by food--good food, good event. Let me just say that this event was one of my family's favorites (besides for the obvious reasons) because the food was sooooooooo good! The Cathedral of St. Andrew Choir sang and Jonathan Monroe played the trumpet for our processional and recessional. Central Arkansas Entertainment did our beautiful uplighting and Joe Snell was our DJ and kept our dance floor jam packed!

It was the wedding of our dreams, filled with family, friends, and love.

We are married!

Well, folks, we did it! We are officially married!

It's totally weird to think about it and it's totally awesome at the same time. Right now we are on our honeymoon at Big Cedar Resort. We have had snow on the ground 4 out of the 5 days we've been here. It has been really cool to be 'snowed' in with your husband (!) on your honeymoon.

We have been pretty lazy. We got here on Sunday. We woke up on Sunday morning, after a fabulous wedding, and had a great breakfast with all my relatives from California and Arizona. We came back to Conway and unpacked all the gifts we got at the wedding. My Dad had to follow us in his car! Craziness! We packed up and headed up to Ridgedale, Missouri. We stopped at Harrison to get some groceries, but we still went again on Monday to get some more since we were having lots of snow forecasted!

It snowed all day Monday and it's been below freezing for the rest of the week. We even got some more snow today! We are sad to leave our fantastic honeymoon spot, but we are ready to head back to our home and get it ready for our new chapter of our lives!

Welcome to our new blog!

Well, the new year is here. I have been so excited about 2011. I have a feeling that it's going to be a good year.

I am going to be doing some 'remodeling' here and I promise to be back with a more detailed post.

Until then.....

Happy New Year!!!!