feeling sentimental.

we've been out of virginia beach for over two months now, but we have only been in hamilton for three weeks. i am starting to like it here. and i sense that i will like it here. it has been fun exploring and just driving places just for the heck of it. because its all new and i like that. i like that i am not sick of driving the same roads over and over again. and it's gorgeous here. 

but today while i was scanning through some instagram pictures of friends, i saw one of virginia beach. of the beach. and i felt sad. not that i spent a ton of time on the actual beach. maybe went there 50x or less. when you are afraid of birds there are lots of reasons not to go to the beach. but it still made me sad. technology has made it easier to forget how far i am from everything i know well. skyping...talking on the phone...facebook...texting...i don't feel that far from people. but seeing a picture of the familiar beach at sunset just made me ache a little bit.

so many significant things happened there. philip and i met in virginia beach, technically we met at our friends' wedding, but we started dating in vb.

this is not an engagement photo. we were just doing some stupid pose philip suggested. 

then we got engaged in sandbridge...

photographer: peter j casey

we got married.

wedding was in blacksburg, but you get the idea

and moved into our first apartment together.

we bought a house there and turned it into a much more beautiful house (in my opinion).

and we got to finally lead young life together at princess anne. and it was so fun and good. 

we got lucy girl. and had our first serious snow in virginia beach. 

we got pregnant with jude. we had friends that loved us and were excited with us. 

the night before he was born

campaigner kids threw a baby shower for us

we had jude there.

first time home. in front of our house.

we got to love a lot of high school kids and share our house and lives with them.

philip's small group guys at the hospital

our dear friend, cindy

there were hard times, and there are also a lot of very sweet memories. and this is a new chapter. i am thankful for these last five years. virginia is just a place. and places are only so important. but people are  so important. i am thankful that 1 corinthians 9:23 is true. "i do all this for the sake of the gospel, that i may share in its blessings." we got to "grow up" in virginia beach together and share our lives and the gospel with kids in virginia beach, but we were blessed in return.

home tour {spring 2012}

If you haven't heard the scuttle-butt, we are moving...crazy...sad...exciting. I will post more on this soon & where we are headed, but first I thought I'd give a little update on our home since it is on the market and we soon will have a new home to fix up. Well...we hope to at least. 

Here is the front of our little 1960's split-level that we have grown to love. 

 View from the backyard.

...Finally finished the dining room. Here are the deets...
 Window frames are from Country Boy in Norfolk.
 B is from Hobby Lobby - I spray painted it teal.
 Burlap table runner - just stitched along the edges.
 Lampshade from target, rug from tjmaxx.

 Made the chalkboard from a thrift store framed picture with some chalkboard paint...

Window seat pillows: I made the burlap and chevron ones. The others were purchased on etsy and tjmaxx. 

Our master bedroom...

Necklace storage by the mirror - hooks from Hobby Lobby

IKEA bed & baskets & nightstands

 Guest Bedroom...

Mm love our kitchen. It is no longer the big bird kitchen (that I painted two shades too yellow and in semi-gloss paint). We went with a much classier tan - that matches the rest of the house. The stools are red now. too.

A little subway print I made for the kitchen - more on that soon. 

Crate and Barrel glass jars for flour & other sundry items. 

Our darling porch. I have loved this porch. It was one of the things that most drew me to this house in the first place. Virginia is a great place to have some outdoor living space because we sometimes have long spring & summers. For a little refresher on how terrible this place was when we first bought it. We have come a long way.

We got some steals on the porch.
Lights - target
Coffee table - found on the side of the road - painted it white and sanded it down to give it a rustic look
Dining Table - $10 craiglist
Chairs and bench - hand-me-downs from our parents
Chairs for the table - $10 for the set from the DAV thrift store (fav thrift store in town!)
Pillows - End of season Home depot outdoor pillows
Planter - Marshall's - $5

We'v come a long way from the pink prison (or what my mom called the bathroom designed while on drugs). And what can I say about it? I just love white subway tile. 

And our sweet baby boy's room...

thanks for touring our home! If you have any questions on what we did or where we got things, let me know. 

some new things in store...(or almost in store)

been busy busy this week. 

prepping for the great neck craft show (which was last night). sadly my house fell into disarray and thankfully no one complained. except for the one time philip said - have these strawberries been sitting on the counter all day? - the answer...yes....i think i have a little ADHD especially with housework. i'll start one thing and then notice something else that needs to get done and abandon the last. which is why after getting a snack that morning the strawberries sat out all day. #whoops. 

here's a quick snapshot from the great neck show with a few of the new items highlighted along with the awesome luggage from my g-ma that i turned into a display rack. 

thursday, i dropped a few things off at MOCA (museum of contemporary arts in VB), where i am being highlighted as a local artist. #yay. feel free to stop in and check out my wares there. 

(train case courtesy of meems again) 

last update. i have been working on a few new items. the only thing ready to share is my reversible headbands. hope they will make it up on my site in the next month or so, but for now, you can contact me if you are interested or stop by my big show next week at the VB convention center. 

i am in love with those top two fabrics...

happy saturday!! 

i want to race my dog

Don't judge me, but I decided that I want to race Lucy, our miniature dachshund. I don't know that this will ever be a dream realized, but I sometimes start thinking about weird things like that and then I get fixated on them. Like in high school when I was obsessed with Steve Prefontaine or in college I was fixated on mormonism (not that I was interested in converting, but was just fascinated with the development of it.)

I have always noticed that Lucy is more athletic than other dachshunds - she can jump really high! I am not just saying this because I'm her mother...the girl can jump. And you should see her roll over.

this is actually from november...i didn't  bring my camera last week...

So Philip and I took Lucy to the beach on Saturday because it was warmish. There weren't a lot of people on the bay so I decided to see what would happen if I let her go. She was perfect. She would stick with us and if she started to get ahead I would just call her and she would wait for us. Then she started to run a little bit and we decided it would be fun to run with her. I think this was the best day of Lucy's life. Seriously - when has she ever been able to run free? She is running so fas that I eventually am out of breath, but Philip keeps with her. Also, I note that she isn't running away from us, she is running beside us. (so cute).

Then I decided I should race her. Then I tell Stephanie, our friend, about it at dinner and she tells me that one of her friends that has a dachshund has already done so. It must be something about dachshund owners. Can't you see this though?

okay, i know i am crazy & i am ok with it...

stephanie + andrew engaged!

My friend Amie & I took pictures of our friends, Andrew & Stephanie, to celebrate their engagement a month or so ago. I am no engagement photographer or any kind of professional photographer for that matter, but I really enjoy taking pictures of people & things I love. This was pre-getting my new lens from Philip, but I am pleased with some of them...what do you think?