(Semi) Wordless Wednesday

3 years ago today I married my best friend. It hasn't been the easiest three years but it has been the BEST three years. We've had so much fun and I just keep falling more and more in love every day! Thank you Collin for being such a wonderful husband!
And like you said, if people get a chuckle out of our old married couple squabbles now, we'll definitely be touring comedy clubs when we ARE an old married couple. :) I look forward to the journey that will get us there. Because with you by my side it's going to be a fabulous journey!

Love, Cindy

Valentine Cards

I love making cards for people. In fact, I just really love making cards in general. It's so fun to be creative and see what kinds of things I can make! I will admit though that most of my cards are CASE cards. (Copy and Share Everything) Sometimes I don't feel very creative and so I look through Pinterest or Split Coast Stampers for ideas. Awesome website and resource. Anyway, I get the inspiration and then I make it my own!

Because I love to make cards for people and because I have lots of people to love, I really enjoy making Valentine's. This year I made a dozen cards and sent them to my close friends and family!

Most of the supplies I used are Stampin' Up, however a few of the embellishments I got at Michael's and Target. If you have any questions about any of the cards' specifics, please don't hesitate to ask! I'd be more than happy to give you an exact breakdown of what I used for each card! And feel free to CASE my cards and make them your own!

Cindy

Happy Valentine's Day!

The past two Valentine's Days I posted about love, Valentine's Day and what this day means to me. You can read that post here because it still all is very true. However, today I want to do something a little different. Today I am going to participate in a Valentine's Day Link Up where Collin and I each answer some questions to see how well we know each other. Or rather, how well Collin knows me. ;) Melissa at Life of a Not So Ordinary Wife is hosting this fun little link up!

How long have you been married?
Him: Working on three years.
Her: It will be 3 years on April 24!

Where was your first date?
Him: Chick-fil-a
Her: Chick-Fil-A and a walk around Target.

Where was your first kiss?
Him: I believe it was on her parent's living room couch, but I may be crossing wires between stories.
Her: I think it was on the couch at my parent's house.

Who first said, "I love you"?
Him: She did when I put on the score from Braveheart.
Her: I did. I just couldn't hold it in any longer. We'd only been back together for like 3 weeks but I just knew. I knew he was my future husband! He didn't reply then (I told him he didn't have to), but by the end of the week he realized he felt the same way!

What were your wedding colors?
Him: Blue and yellow.
Her: Blue and Yellow.

What is her most commonly used phrase?
Him: "Interesting"
Her: "I don't know." (What do you want to eat? - I don't know; What do you want to watch - I don't know. lol)

Who is her celebrity crush?
Him: Cuba Gooding Jr. *In his defense, I really do like Cuba!*
Her: I don't really have one, but if I had to pick, John Krasinski.

If she was ordering drinks for both of you what would you each get?
Him: Water for her and sweet tea for me. Both with no lemon.
Her: Water for me and Sweet Tea for him, both without lemon.

What is the best meal she has ever cooked you?
Him: Hmm... I have a bit of talent show syndrome here (where the more recently experienced things seem better) so I'm going to say the tamale dish she made a few weeks ago.
Her: Oh man. He seems to like almost everything I cook. I'll say, Chicken Club Brunch.

What is the worst meal she has ever cooked you?
Him: Something with long noodles that weren't cooked all the way and bad sauce. I forget what it was called. *Totally what I was talking about!*
Her: I have no idea. I block the bad things out. Oh! Probably this spinach and artichoke fettuccine one time. It was so gross we couldn't even take more than like two bites each.

What is the most-played song on her iPod?
Him: I wanna say... Embracing The Sunshine by BT
Her: I listen to my music on shuffle pretty much all the time. So everything gets a mostly equal play time. But I suppose "The Birds and the Bees" by Patrick and Eugene is up there.

What would she say is your most annoying habit?
Him: That I'm always trying to help or not helping. Whichever is the one she doesn't want at the time is what I'm doing usually.
Her: Not putting his pants in the drawer when he takes them off if he doesn't want them washed yet.

What is the last thing she does before she goes to bed?
Him: Before GOING to bed, she brushes her teeth and takes out her contacts. Before sleep, she puts Vaseline on her lips and lotion on her hands.
Her: My goopey stuff as I call it. Putting Vaseline on my lips and lotion on my hands.

If you could throw out one item of her clothing what would it be?
Him: Just one?... The yellow tights but I believe those got a hole in them so I don't have to worry about those anymore.
Her: He likes pretty much anything I wear. But he would definitely throw out my "jaundice-colored tights" as he calls them. (I thought they would be more mustard-colored when I bought them...)

What would you say is your favorite thing about her?
Him: Her love for music. *Totally not the direction I took this question...*
Her: My butt...

What's her go-to drink at Starbucks?
Him: If she ever even went to Starbucks, it'd probably be the pumpkin spice latte.
Her: I don't go to Starbucks (or really drink coffee) but when I do I usually get a chocolate chip creme based frappacino.

What's her blog's name?!
Him: This and That
Her: This and That

Wow! He did really well!! I knew he would though, sometimes I think he knows me better than I know myself! I just think marriage is so much fun. The fact that we can answer these questions so similarly and even agree on most stuff is just great! I love my sweet hubby and I can't wait to celebrate many more Valentine's Days together!

I hope that you guys enjoy your love day! Go love on those people in your life you just can't get enough of! Whether it be your spouse, children, parents, siblings, or even friends, go share some love!

Most importantly though, don't forget to show some love to the One who makes love possible! Tell God you love Him. You can't ever say it enough to Him!!

Love to you!

Cindy

(Semi) Wordless Wednesday

I love these guys so much I hardly have words to express it. I figured it was a great picture to share for Wordless Wednesday! Have a great middle of the week!

Cindy

The Weekend's Almost Here...

This past weekend was a lot of fun! We had lots of fun things planned but we also had some good downtime which was nice! As I said on Tuesday we spent time with friends, family and just the two of us!

I had lots of laundry to do. Because we were at VBS every night all week my laundry took a back burner. This was my pile of hang up clothes that I needed to put away.



Vacation Bible School was so much fun! We had a great group of children! And we had a carnival theme. So there were fun games and a bouncy house for the kids to play in at the end of the evening during carnival time! One night during craft time all the kids and helpers put their hand prints on the fabric as a memento of the week. Our group grew each night! Collin and I were the leaders of the oldest kids, 7-10. We had 12 our first night. On our last night we had 18! And our group kept growing each night. It was awesome!


After Bible School was over on Friday evening Collin and I went to dinner at Ruby Tuesday's for date night! The sky looked pretty ominous as we were driving to the restaurant. Fortunately it only rained while we were inside and was finished by the time we were done! And on the way home my husband was so silly listening to music. He cracks me up!




The weather on Saturday was gorgeous! The sky looked so cool and it was mild temperatured! I loved it! In the morning Megan and I went shopping and ran some errands. We both tried on some ridiculous glasses (first picture) and then I actually bought a new pair (second picture) because my old ones were kinda biting the dust! Later that evening Collin and I went with my parents to see our Summerstock's production of The Wizard of Oz and it was fantastic! I think it was one of the best plays I've seen from the Summerstock group. The music was fabulous and the acting was great, too! And the actors all had such great chemistry. It was wonderful! We had a delightful evening!

On Sunday I finally got to put my new quilt on the bed. I love it!! It's so pretty and it makes me happy to have a nice feminine bedding set. The one before was Collin's from before we got married and it was a plain blue quilt with red on the other side and as the trim and I hated it! Sunday after church we got to have lunch with our friends Jeff and Jeannie and that was so delightful! We had a great time with them. And then in the evening Collin and I drove up to Lanham, MD to attend a Love Worth Fighting For marriage conference featuring Kirk Cameron and Warren Barfield. It was incredible! We had the best time and it totally rejuvenated our love for each other. And it was so invigorating to be able to go and learn Biblical truths about marriage and how to protect and fireproof our marriage. We are so, so glad we went to the conference. If you ever get the chance (or if they're in your area) I HIGHLY recommend you attend the conference. You will NOT be disappointed.

So yes, we had a wonderful weekend! Now onto this weekend! It should be fun, too! Not much planned except for my company's picnic but we'll have fun nevertheless. I hope you enjoy your weekend!

Cindy

I'd Rather Be Married...

Two of our friends got engaged recently and one is currently ring shopping. I am so excited for them!! This is an absolutely wonderful time in their lives and I love seeing my friends preparing for and getting married!!

However, it got me thinking about our own proposal and engagement and how sweet and wonderful a time it was. And I got a little sad/nostalgic. Our proposal was so fun and sweet and I loved telling people the story! I remember how much fun we had in those days of being engaged. Getting to spread the news and planning for our wedding and for our future as a married couple. It was great and fun! Those were some very happy days and I look back on them fondly! But hearing about these friends getting engaged it brought me back to that time in our lives and I missed it.

But then I realized, I'm MARRIED to my best friend and love of my life! Sure we had fun in the "beginning" while we were planning for our future together but we're still having fun now! And when we were engaged I wanted so badly to just be married already. And now we are and have been for over two years! Being engaged is great but being married is SO MUCH BETTER! It's okay to look back on our engagement period with happy memories and fondness but I don't need to be sad that it's over because this period of my life (and the rest of the periods of my life) are great because we're married and living our happily ever after!

I can't wait for our friends to experience the wonderful blessings that come with marriage! And I can't wait to continue experiencing those blessings myself with my wonderful hubby by my side!

Photo by Tiffany Blackstone Photography

Cindy

Living for the Weekend

I told you guys last week that Collin and I were having a little mini in-town getaway this past weekend. It was great!! Friday afternoon when Collin got off work we packed an overnight bag and drove up the road to the La Quinta Inn and checked in for the evening. We ordered pizza, mozarella sticks, and buffalo wings from the local pizza place next door to the hotel and just relaxed all evening long.

The hotel was really nice and cozy!

Even though we were staying in all night I still wanted to look cute for my husband!

We played Phase 10 for a bit and Collin ended up winning. Such a fun game!
We watched a little bit of 30 Rock on Collin's computer, ate our dinner, played Phase 10, and just relaxed. It was so nice! And something really funny... it was getting kinda late, probably around 10 or so and the people that were in the adjoining room had just gotten to their room for the first time that evening. We could hear everything! But the funniest part was that during some nice relaxing snuggling one of the men starts sneezing. And not just quiet sneezes but LOUD and crazy sneezes. We began laughing and then calmed down until he let out this huge sneeze that sounded like he was starting a lawn mower or something and we lost it! We could NOT stop laughing. It was so, so funny!!

Saturday was great, too! I'm really sad I didn't take any pictures of anything but I was thoroughly enjoying myself! We actually woke up fairly early, around 7 and went to the hotel's complimentary breakfast. Then we just hung out in the hotel room until check out at noon. We then went to downtown Leonardtown (we've been many times before but it's just a neat place) and we decided to check out some places we've never ventured into before. We started out by getting some yummy milkshakes from the Comic Book store and then we went into all these neat shops. I ended up buying a new book and Collin got Rocketman on DVD at the used book store. We also got to try a new (to us) kind of wine at the cooking store. We walked in just curious about the cooking classes they offer and we ended up staying in there chatting with the lady at the counter for about a half hour! She was so informative. And the wine we tried was Cocoa Di Vine Chocolate Espresso Wine. Collin and I don't like wine. And honestly we don't drink that much at all. But that sounded interesting so we got to taste it and it was really good! It tasted like a mudslide! We'll definitely buy a bottle for ourselves at some point. And it was reasonably priced, too! Only $13 for a bottle. It was very thick and not necessarily something I would drink straight but it would be perfect for making mudslides or for drizzling over ice cream or the like. Have you ever tried chocolate wine? If so, what do you think? Anyway... it was a really great day roaming around downtown and experiencing new places and things!

This weekend I also got a belated birthday present! I got a new purple fleece jacket and scarf from my friend Denise. I love it!

And I couldn't not post this picture of my sweet, sweet boys. =)

Oh and guess what! It snowed this weekend! It wasn't very much. Maybe an inch to and inch and a half and it mostly snowed over night and melted early on yesterday, but it was nice! Very beautiful! I hope you had a great weekend! Did you get to do anything fun and exciting?

Cindy

Fill in the Blank Friday!

You guys, I haven't done a fill in the blank Friday in a long while!! Crazy! But what a better week to do one than Valentine's week when the theme is all about love! You can participate with Lauren or see other blogger's blanks by visiting the little things we do.

Image credit to Lauren

1. The love of my life is Jesus! And of course Collin, too!

2. Falling in love is not just a one time thing. Sure you fall in love with someone but you continually fall in love with that person. That's what keeps the relationship and the love alive. Deepening your love is such fun (but it can be work, too).

3. Marriage is wonderful! But it's not easy. It takes lots of hard work to make your marriage last. But it's oh so worth because the benefits of marriage far outweigh the work needed.

4. The longest relationship I've ever had was so far 4 years! 2 of dating and almost 2 of marriage so far! Here's to many, many more!

5. The key to a good relationship is communication, honesty and respect.

6. I feel loved when someone goes out of their way to make time for me. Quality time is very important to me.

7. My favorite quote about love is "Do you know that nothing you do in this life will ever matter, unless it is about loving God and loving the people He has made?" by Francis Chan.

I hope you guys have an awesome weekend! I'm so excited for my little romantic in-town getaway with my hubby tonight! See you all on Monday!

Cindy

Love Day Celebration!

Collin and I have praise team practice at 6:30 every Tuesday night. Because of that we couldn't celebrate Valentine's Day properly on the day itself so we had an early celebration on Monday evening! I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it here on my blog before but in case you all don't remember (and for the new followers) Collin and I had our first date at Chick-Fil-A. Romantic, right? But honestly, it was such a fun and memorable afternoon together so therefore Chick-Fil-A is "our" place. It doesn't hurt that the food is oh so yummy, too! Anyway, we had our Valentine's dinner at Chick-Fil-A and it was great! We got and ate our food and then sat in the booth next to each other just talking and planning for our romantic weekend! As a sort of continued Valentine's celebration Collin booked a room at a local hotel for tomorrow night just so we can "get away". And Collin amazingly enough has off work on Saturday so we're just going to do whatever we please and enjoy a NORMAL-person weekend! Hurray! My scrumdiddlyumptious original chicken sandwich. So, so good. We had a coupon from our Chick-Fil-A calendar so we got the new chicken tortilla soup. That stuff was spicy! But it has a good flavor!
This man makes my heart so happy!

Our actual Valentine's Day wasn't completely without celebration. We were able to have lunch together and that was very nice. And after praise team practice we made grilled cheese and tomato soup and watched some tv together while cuddling on the couch and it was just relaxing and nice.

I will say though, I had a meltdown in the afternoon. After work I went to Target to finish getting Collin's Valentine's gift together. I was planning on printing out a picture from our first Valentine's together and the picture of us from above where we're both smiling at the camera and I was going to put it into a notebook and begin a year-long journal where I write down what I love about Collin each day. I was going to give it to him with the two pictures and the first day filled out and then give it back to him next year completely filled. Heh. That did not work out so well. I spent an HOUR AND A HALF at the Kodak Picture Kiosk in Target. Never again will I use that machine. Anyway... I was literally so frustrated with it I was almost in tears standing there in the middle of Target. And it was not a user-error either. The dumb thing took 45 minutes to LOAD the pictures from my phone. And then once they were loaded it kept glitching and scrolling past the picture I needed. And then it wouldn't even let me select it if it would land on it. It was as if every time you touched the screen it would move the scroll bar even if you weren't touching the scroll bar. So yeah... after an hour and a half at the machine I gave up. I ended up getting home over an hour after I was planning to and Collin's gift wasn't complete and I was so frustrated with the picture kiosk that I just had a meltdown. But Collin was so sweet. He came into our bedroom and sat with me and let me blubber out what was wrong and then he of course told me that it was all okay and that he appreciated the thought. He told me he was sure what I did get him was great. And of course he loved it. I still gave him the journal sans pictures but I also bought him lots of Twizzler Nibs. They were the only thing he asked for so I got him lots! I'm so blessed to have such a sweet and understanding husband. Someone who loves me despite my meltdowns and takes the time to encourage me and love me even when I don't deserve to be loved. I thank God daily for my wonderful, wonderful husband.

Anyway, sorry for that rant. I'm quite pleased with my gift from Collin! I got a gigantic bag of Lindt chocolates!! Soo yummy!

How was your Valentine's Day? I hope you were able to spend it with the people you love most and that it was a day filled with love and sweet surprises!

Cindy

(Semi) Worldess Wednesday

Such a beautiful sunrise this morning. It was the perfect compliment to yesterday's day of love. This sunset reminded me of the unconditional love my God has for me. He knew I'm not feeling well this morning. He knew I was running late and a little flustered. And yet when I walked out the door He had this beautiful display for me. That's some true love right there. Doing little things just to make me feel better. =) Thank you God!

Cindy

P.S. Tomorrow I'll share with you about our Valentine's Day and how my husband also shows me true love on a daily basis! He never ceases to shine the light of God in his life!

Happy Love Day!!

I've always liked Valentine's Day. Even when I was single and yes, a little sad to be so, I still liked the day. Maybe it's because my parents always showered us with gifts and love, maybe it was because I was surrounded by lots of friends and family who loved me. But regardless of the reason, I think I've just always liked Valentine's Day because I love love. I have always loved the idea of love and seeing others in love. And not just romantic love either. This day is about loving all those close to you! And boy do I have lots of people close to me to love!

So today, whether you're celebrating this day with your spouse/signifcant other, or spending it with your friends, or even just spending it by yourself, know that you are loved. And share the love you have in your heart with those around you. Just tell your friends you love them. Call your family. Enjoy this day filled with love!

And I'm especially thankful for the gift of love given to me by my God and Savior. I know that in all things I have the greatest love ever surrounding me today and all days through!


1 John 4: 7-21
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
Love to you!
Cindy

DIY: Heart Garland

You guys probably don't remember this post where I talked about making a garland of hearts made out of paint samples. I attempted to get the supplies to make it the day I posted it but couldn't find everything I needed, so later that week I created it but I NEVER posted about it. Earlier this week my dear friend Kaitlin sent me a text message with a picture of her own heart garland she had made and told me I was her inspiration and that I need to post about my finished project. And I figure why not post about it now since it's the perfect Valentine's decoration!

To make them: You can use whatever color paint samples you want. For this one I used a wide variety of colors since it was going in our bedroom and I wanted some pizazz. But I am currently in the process of making another with various shades of purple/pink for a Valentine's themed one. Also, any heart punch will work. You can make it thin and long or fat and kinda short like I did. You just need the hearts to be large enough to thread string through. Basically once you punch out all the hearts, you thread your string into a needle and begin "sewing" the thread through each of your hearts. It's really quite simple and makes for a pretty wall decor item!

Ignore the extra holes in the wall. Collin's parents had some stuff up there and they didn't patch up the walls when we moved in. =/ So yeah... there you have a very simple and fun DIY Valentine's decoration project! Or any kind of DIY decoration, since I made it just for an everyday decoration. =) What do you guys think? Fun?

Cindy