Wedding Vows Print

So once upon a time I was wandering around HomeGoods and I saw this frame:

I loved it, so I bought it and brought it home. I ended up putting it on my nightstand, but it sat there for months without anything in it because I hadn't planned out what I was going to put in the pretty frame before I bought it (please tell me I'm not the only one who does that!). 

We're almost done with our master bedroom re-do (I know, I know... we're the slowest re-decorators ever), so I figured it was about time that I actually put something in the frame. The only problem was that by that time, I had become pretty attached to the little paper inside of the frame. The colors just complemented our bedding so nicely!

So I came up with a plan that would allow me to keep the pretty paper, but cover up the part with the brand name and "8 x 10." I printed out our wedding vows in a scripty blue font on some cream cardstock, then I cut out a little design and a little heart and strategically glued them onto the paper to cover up the words.

The whole "wedding vows art" thing is much more sentimental and sappy than I normally am, but I actually really love having our vows printed and displayed in our bedroom. When I was making this, I actually had to look up my blog post about our wedding ceremony because I couldn't remember exactly what our vows were. But now, I see them every day and I have them memorized and I think that's a wonderful thing. Easier to keep them if you remember what exactly you promised, right? :) 

Kappa Theta Beta Reunion

When I was in college at Texas A&M, I was part of a Catholic sorority called Kappa Theta Beta (KTB). KTB was (and continues to be) a huge blessing to me. Because of KTB, my faith was greatly strengthened during my college years, and I am so, so grateful for that. My best friends today are girls I met through Kappa Theta Beta, and my friendship with them means the world to me. They're the most supportive, prayerful women, and I thank God all the time for putting them in my life.

KTB celebrated its tenth anniversary this year, so we got to go back to College Station for a reunion. It was so amazing to spend time with old friends (with boyfriends and husbands and babies tagging along!), celebrate the beautiful sisterhood of KTB, and see how much the sorority has grown and developed since I graduated!

It was really special to be back at St. Mary's. We often go to Mass there when we're in town for football games, but it had been a really long time since I set foot in the Activity Center (where we had our weekly meetings).

This is five of KTB's former presidents. It was so fun to talk with these girls about what was going on in KTB during each of our years as president and take a walk down memory lane. 

My sweet friend Pilar is in med school, and between the craziness of med school and the craziness of law school, we haven't been able to see each other nearly as much as we would like during the past few years! We were absolutely thrilled to finally be in the same place at the same time for more than just a super-quick lunch!

And, of course, Jeff and Pilar's fiance were thrilled as well. 

Hehe. 

KTB hosts "The Hoedown" every year to raise money for the Good Samaritan Gabriel Project, and the reunion was planned for the same weekend, so we got to put on our cowboy boots and dance the night away for a great cause! We also got to take this awesome photo of us riding ostriches:

It did my heart so much good to spend a weekend celebrating something so near and dear to me. Jeff and I spent the entire drive home trying to figure out how we could get jobs in College Station and be there all the time. Probably not going to happen, but we sure do love it there!

Easy DIY Framed Corkboard

Y'all. My craft room/office is done! I mean... no room in our house is ever really done (I'm constantly tweaking things and changes up various items of home decor), but it's as done as it'll ever be, I think! 

I still need to go through the photos of it before I do a whole post on the craft room, so for now I'll just share a little DIY project from that room - a framed corkboard. This is one of those little projects that's super simple and easily finished in under an hour (my kind of DIY project!). 

I started with an open wall frame from Hobby Lobby:

Then, I cut a corkboard square to fit inside. You can buy corkboard squares or corkboard rolls (if your frame is bigger) at craft stores. I just cut it with a sharp pair of scissors - it doesn't matter if it isn't exactly even because the frame with cover the edges.

I covered that with a piece of cardboard (to make it nice and sturdy):

Then you just have to tape all the edges so it's nice and secure, and hang it on the wall!

I like to keep little Bible verse cards and a little burlap flower on mine!

Our 2013 Photobook

I finally got around to finishing and ordering (by "ordering," I mean waiting for a "free extra pages" sale and then ordering) our 2013 photobook from MyPublisher! I especially had fun making this year's book because (1) 2013 was my first full year with the dSLR camera, so the photos were a step up from prior years, and (2) we took some amazing vacations this year to really pretty places!

I was so happy with the glossy cover from our 2012 photobook that I re-ordered our 2011 photobook to match and did 2013 with the same format. Now they all go together quite nicely, and they're all in that super-durable glossy finish.

The books are mostly photos, but I like to put captions in with the month and the event title (and for things like vacations, a little list of all the places we went).

I don't normally take advantage of the full-page photo option very much, but this year we had all of these beautiful photos from our Alaskan cruise and Seattle trip, and I just had to make them big!

Each of our yearly books has a small photo and a Bible verse (something that seems to kind of sum up the year that just passed) on the back cover. 2011 was the year we bought our house, so we picked Joshua 24:15 (As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord) and used a photo of us at Jeff's Confirmation. 2012 was such a busy, busy year with law school, Jeff's job, so many family events and trips, etc., so the verse that year was Colossians 3:17 (And whatever you do, whether in word or in deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him).

For 2013, it was an easy choice to use a photo of both of us in our caps and gowns from graduation, and the verse we picked was Proverbs 16:3 (Entrust your works to the Lord, and your plans will succeed). I really like how it turned out. 

So now we have our last three years documented via photobook! I still toss around the idea of doing one for 2010, but we were only married for half of 2010 (so the first half is covered by our engagement and wedding albums), and I don't know if I'll ever actually make one. I do love the three we have though!

Jeff's 27th Birthday

Jeff turned 27 on April 9th, so we had a little party the next weekend with our families to celebrate! We all met for dinner at Tin Roof BBQ, home of the very best barbecue in northeast Houston (in our opinion) and live music on the weekends.

It was a lovely day weather-wise, so we had a great time hanging out with our parents and siblings. 

After dinner, we all came back to our house for dessert - strawberry rhubarb pie (Jeff's favorite, and the official dessert of his birthday). 

For whatever reason, Jeff turning 27 was a little surreal for me. It really seems like not that long ago that he turned 17... yet here we are getting closer and closer to thirty! There's no one else I'd rather grow up with though. :)

Last Year's Easter Decor

Last spring was so busy that I never got around to posting the photos of our house decorated for Easter, so I figured I'd kick off April by posting them this year! We hosted Easter dinner for Jeff's side of the family at our house, so I had a lot of fun decorating our dining room for the occasion! 


Here's our wine storage rack in the dining room:

And the console table in the dining room...



I used some doilies made by my great-grandma on the table!







I decorated a few other areas of the house too. Here's a table in our entryway:

Here's our kitchen table:


I particularly loved this arrangement because after Easter, I just switched the egg tree for some fresh flowers, and it was instantly a "spring" table instead of an "Easter" table!

Here's our powder room:

And, of course, here's our DIY Easter wreath! 

I can't wait to put out our Easter decorations for this year!