Merry Christmas!

I can't believe Christmas Eve is here! 

I hope you all have a wonderful time with your families and a beautiful day! Lee and I will be celebrating with family here for the next few days, and then heading to North Carolina for a few days to visit my extended family. So I might not be around for a little.. but I'll still try to pop in once and a while! 

I hope we all can remember that Christmas isn't about any of us, but about Jesus. 

Thank you Lord for sending Your Son so we could have life in You! 

Merry Christmas, friends! :) 

17 weeks!

I'm in shock that I'm already 17 weeks! It's weird... you'd think that you would feel all kinds of weird things going on inside with a baby the size of a ONION swimming around in you! But I'm feeling super great... I even feel perfectly normal! So crazy. The second trimester has been a breeze, really. Such a drastic change from the first! I just love being pregnant. It really has been and will continue to be the most exciting time in both of our lives. 

I can't stop thinking and talking about our baby! Sometimes I can't even believe that our little one is actually in there. 

Last week, I bought this adorable little snowsuit thing for baby:

I thought it could totally be for a boy or girl even though it was in the boy section. It's super soft and so so cute! The picture doesn't really give it justice. But the best part, it was on sale for $6! 

Hehe. It's so incredibly fun buying clothes for our little one! 

I definitely have a little bump... but still not big enough that anyone besides Lee or I would really notice TOO much. I'll have to put up bump pictures soon! It just feels silly because it still looks tiny! 

Anyways, you should all head over here and read this post. Every year at Christmas time (well really all the time), I think about how frustrated I am with how we have turned the birth of Christ into such a commercialized, self-centered time of year. We truly have lost the meaning, and its time I stop thinking about it and really do something to change it.

 I hope this post will encourage you, like it did me!

All moved in

Goodness. We've been moved in to our new apartment for awhile now.. but just yesterday we got our internet set up!

 I've missed you all :) 

Things have been a little crazy over here with setting up house, decorating for Christmas (not that we did too much), Christmas shopping, and work! We are both happy with the apartment. I'm thankful that we found a nice place that was a good price. 

Baby is still growing and happy as can be ;) I haven't felt any real movement yet... it should be happening soon though! We're so excited to feel our sweet one! 

I can't believe Christmas is only 5 days away! Time has definitely been flying lately. 

Hope you all are doing well! It's such a wonderful time of year, isn't it? 

We were shocked when our apartment complex told us no real Christmas trees. Such a bummer. But I wasn't going to let that stop us ;) So we found this sweet little potted Christmas tree. We thought it was super cute & its real! :) 

 Baby even got a little stocking! Next year, we'll actually get to put things in it! (I think we'll upgrade the size a little too) :)

Happy Tuesday!

A post about baby

Lee and I both realize that while most people are very happy for us during this exciting time, there are also people that are quick to judge.

So I just wanted to address a couple questions that people may be asking!

You're so young, why so soon? Don't you want to wait until your more settled in life? 

We realize that for a lot of people this may seem super quick. But for us, it was a long thought out process. Both of us are very ready to have a baby (well, as ready as you can be!! :) and have been for quite awhile now. Everyone is ready at a different time, and whether sooner or later... that is okay! 

Was this an accident unplanned?

NO. Much to some people's surprise, Lee and I had been trying to get pregnant for 5 months before we actually landed pregnant. We decided to keep it on the down low that we were trying just so we could enjoy that time together. I really liked Lee and I being the only ones to know for awhile.. it was a really special time between the two of us. It also made for a wonderful, shocking surprise to tell my family!! :)

I also want to say, that no matter if this child was planned or not planned he or she would be loved just the same. Life is such a gift! 

Lee and I feel blessed beyond words to be given this opportunity to be parents. Neither of us take this gift lightly. At times, I am overwhelmed that God has entrusted this sweet baby to us. I feel undeserving, but so so blessed. 

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Here are some random facts about baby right now:

Today I am 15 weeks! This is going so fast!

The baby is the size of a ORANGE! 

I am showing just a tiny bit. Although, I think sometimes I get bloating and the baby bump confused ha

I have been feeling pretty good lately. The second trimester is treating me well :) Besides some certain, occasional pregnancy discomforts... which I won't get into on here. ;)

 I am eagerly waiting to feel our sweet little one in there! I still have a few weeks to go, but I can only imagine how amazing it will be to feel him or her swimming around in there! 

We both LOVE our midwife and we've only met with her once. I feel so thankful that we found such a perfect match for our little family! 

Sometimes I am moved to tears just thinking about how much I love this baby. I can't even begin to describe how I feel about our little one. It's a love that is impossible to explain in words. 

We moved

It's been so crazy around here that I haven't even gotten to tell you guys that we MOVED last month! It was a pretty big move too. All the way from FL to PA! 

Most of you know that PA is where Lee and I both grew up and lived until we moved to FL last April. We decided to move back to our hometown during my pregnancy/birth just to be closer to family and such. We also have a good job set up here... so thats a major plus. 

It was hard leaving FL, we both really liked our little town and loved our apartment. But, I think this is a good place to be for now. I'm not sure that we'll be here for very long after the birth.. but were enjoying the time with family while we have it! 

This Friday were moving into our new apartment and were pretty excited about it! I'm excited to finally get a little Christmas tree and decorate too! 

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Anyways, I hope you all had a good weekend!

Our first appointment!

So yesterday was actually our first baby appointment! 

I was so excited for the day but I also had been freaking myself out a little about it for awhile before it. I feel like I was constantly having nightmares of not being able to find the heartbeat, or being told that I was never even pregnant. Haha... I know, ridiculous, but true! 

Anyway, Lee and I have decided to go with a midwife for various reasons (a post about that will be coming eventually!) So we headed over to her sweet little house/office in the country for our appointment. On our way there, she actually called and said that one of her amish clients was in labor and coming in at anytime to give birth! She said that it would be fine if we still came, as she has more then one room.  

Ha! Isn't that so cool?! Someone would possibly be giving birth while we were there?! 

So, when we got there, she took us back into the smaller room and we basically just talked about prenatal care, midwifes, and that sort of stuff. 

At this point, the amish family had come in and went into their room. 

During our conversation with the midwife, there was a knock on our door and sure enough the baby was coming! (they had just gotten there like 35 minutes before!!) So, she left us in there while she went to be with them. Lee and I were listening closely and then next thing we knew, there was a sweet baby crying! I can't even explain how I felt when I heard it. It was so so cool to be "there". 

So thats our awesome little experience with sort of being there for someone's birth. Haha.. I know sort of crazy for the first time, but a awesome story nonetheless! 

After the midwife was finished up with them, she came in and got out the doppler so we could hear the heartbeat. Like I said before, this was our very first appointment, so we hadn't ever heard the heartbeat. I'm sure you can imagine how excited we were for it! I tried to block out my fear of her not being able to find it. She looked for a little while on the right side, and was having trouble (I started to freak in my mind a little at this point) ...but when she moved over to the left side, we heard the most perfect beautiful sound! I can't even put into words that moment. It was like finally I knew, for sure, that our sweet baby really was growing inside of me. 

These past 3 months have felt like Christmas to me, despite all the sickness and throwing up, it's just so exciting to know that our little one is in there constantly!

Oh, how we love this little one so much already! 

Exciting news!

Well, friends... I have a pretty good reason for why I've been so absent around here for the past few months: 

Lee and I are having a baby!!! 

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Today, I am 13 weeks and 5 days. I'm into the second trimester and it's quite a relief to be finished (at least for now) with all the morning sickness that the first trimester brought me. 

I'll be back soon with more info!

 If any of you have any questions feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer :) 

Thank you all for sticking with me while I've been gone! 

Joy in trials

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James 1:2-4

This verse is so clear... yet so tough for me to actually live out. I want so bad to not get angry when things don't go my way.. but to find joy in the fact that Christ is strengthening my faith and making me more mature and complete in Him. 

So tough... but so worth it.

One year

So, Sunday marks one year of marriage for us! 

I really can't believe how quickly this year has gone by! We have been through so much together in just this short amount of time. Lots of beautiful things and lots of not so fun things too... but I'm so grateful for both. I love how trials bring you so much closer to one another. To me, its worth it to go through pain together if it's going to tighten your bond with each other.

I can honestly say, that waking up next to my hubby each and every morning brings me even more joy then it did the first morning we woke up next to each other. My heart is so full. God has blessed us with a love that is not found often in this world. I'm so grateful. 

I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for us for the next years to come. I can only imagine the adventures that are ahead of us. There's no one in the world I'd rather walk this road with then my hubby.  

So to the best man in the world... happy one year anniversary! I love you more than ever!

Were going to be going to a resort on Sunday to celebrate... so I won't be around for a little while. But I'll be back soon enough with some lovely pictures, I'm sure ;) 

Have a wonderful weekend, friends! And thank you so much for all your sweet comments on my last post! 

I'm his

I've been feeling overwhelmed with gratefulness for my hubby. Never have I been loved so well by anyone in all my life. I'm truly undeserving of the selfless love he shows me everyday. What a gift it is to have found the love of my life. The person that knows me when no one else seems to quite understand. The person that forgives me over and over again. The person that knows every little detail of my life and yet loves me more for it. 

There is really nothing that brings me more joy in this life then to know that I have found the one my soul loves. 

Giveaway Winner!

And the winner of the fabric button necklace is.......

Mary from Lily White!!!

Congrats girl! I'll be e-mailing you soon! :)

Happy Halloween!

So, Lee and I don't really have any plans for today. But, I'm like overly excited because Lee bought some candy yesterday!!! I can't even remember the last time we ate candy! I have been totally wanting those yummy suckers with the gum in the middle so bad, I think there called blow pops?... so I think today we'll just eat tons of candy, watch movies, and chill! Sounds like perfection to me ;) 

Hope you all have a fun night with whatever you're doing!! 

 PS: The fabric button necklace giveaway ends today at midnight, so if you haven't entered yet.. you should! :) 

I'll announce the winner tomorrow! 

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Pinterest lately...

Here's some of my favorites that I've found on Pinterest lately! 

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Caramel filled apples!

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Add a marble for heart shaped cupcakes! So cute and simple!

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Paper towel rolls and hot glue gun DIY!

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Mmmm. Pumpkin rolls.

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Lemon cupcakes with raspberry and blackberry butter cream frosting. Yum.

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Such a cool fall DIY!

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Cookies in a skillet. This is such a awesome idea! Can't wait to try it!

 

Hope you all are having a good week! Don't forget... there's still time to enter my giveaway! 

Go HERE to enter! :) 

My first EVER giveaway!

Good morning & happy Monday, friends! 

I am so excited to be hosting my first ever giveaway with a sweet girl and her super adorable shop! 

I love this fabric button necklace so much! Perfect for fall, isn't it?  

 Sarah has some seriously adorable stuff at her shop. Check out more of her lovelies HERE!

The winner will win the necklace pictured above! 

TO ENTER: (leave a separate comment for each entry that you do)

Follow on the brightside's blog!

Follow L&B's blog!

Tweet about the giveaway! 

Blog about the giveaway! (and leave me the URL)

Follow L&B on twitter!

That's a total of 5 possible entries!

The giveaway will end at midnight on Monday, October 31st.

And I will announce the winner on Tuesday, Nov 1st!

Good luck! :) 

love, love, love

Matthew 22:36-40

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

WOW. For these being the two most important commandments... I'm not doing so well. Jesus spelled it out so plainly yet I feel like so many of us are failing miserably at both of these commandments.. I know I am. 

First off, we are supposed to love the Lord with ALL of our hearts, souls, and minds. 

Think about a person that you love with your whole heart. You would do anything for them, right? You want to spend all of your time with them, right? 

Duh.. I mean that's obvious. 

But how come I can't seem to give the MAKER of the earth the time of day?

I am constantly shrugging Him off. 

It's actually devastating that time and time again I have thrown God under all of the people on this earth that I love. 

Second, were supposed to be loving our neighbor as ourselves. 

yikes. 

Quite honestly, there are people in my life that I don't really want to love. 

Well... guess what? IT DOESN'T MATTER if we want to love them or not. We have to. 

It is a command. The greatest. 

If we continue on with this... 'I'll only love the people that I want to love' stuff, then how are we any different then someone who isn't following Christ? 

We aren't! 

I really believe that we need to transform the way that we look at things. 

Christianity is not a feel good religion. 

So yes, that means loving the "christian" who acts nothing like a christian, 

that means loving the people that disgust you,

that means loving the people you don't understand,

that means loving those who have seriously wronged you, 

that means loving those who disrespect you over and over again, 

that means loving your worst enemy

Trust me, my flesh doesn't want to love the way that we are called to. It's easier and way more comfortable to just sit back and do nothing. But we are called to a higher standard then everyone else. 

So if were going to profess it, then lets live it.

Absent me

Goodness... I have to apologize for being such a awful blogger. I really have no good excuse for how absent I've been around this blog lately. But hopefully it will be fixed soon! I guess I've just been feeling blah lately... & anytime I would sit down to write, I just felt like I didn't have anything worth saying.

 I know, bad bad blogger.

So.. if any of you are still out there, thank you for sticking with me during my blahness! ;) 

I promise I'll be coming back soon! 

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Have a lovely Wednesday, friends! 

October

Wow! I can't believe its already October! 

Here in Florida... it is still HOT, but at night you can feel it is starting to get a little cooler! Pretty soon, I think we'll open up the windows at night and turn the AC down. Yay :) 

This is such a dreamy time of year.. isn't it?!

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I just wanted to take a minute and mention all of my lovely swap sponsors that I have for this month. 

I'd really encourage you all to check out these blogs if you haven't yet... they're great! 

This Road Called Vida

Finding Beauty in the Ordinary

Mrs. T Naturally

Al's Narratives

The Hinton Hook-Up

Mrs. Alana's Miscellany

Hannah J. Holmes

Sloanbook

My Unrehearsed Life

Hope you all have a great weekend. We don't have much planned... just relaxing! 

All you people who are starting to get beautiful, crisp fall weather... enjoy it for me ;) 

PS- this is my 100th post! wooo

Out my window

One of my favorite things about our little apartment is the big window that sits right in front of our kitchen table. 

Sometimes, when Lee is at work I just sit at our table with a warm drink and frequently gaze out of it.

I find a strange sense of happiness and peace whenever I do 

There is a great big tree that I can see when I look out that window. It might be silly, but it feels like its my tree. 

Sometimes you can see the rays of the very tip of the sun setting. It's beautiful

I love to watch the bikers, joggers, families with small children on evening strolls trotting along the sidewalk

I love to look at how different every person is. 

Different paces.

Different goals. 

Different ideas. 

Different people. 

Were so different, but were sort of the same.

It's comforting and encouraging to know that were all in this life together.

 Each and every one of us has feelings, has hurts, feels pain

I love looking out that window

It's one thing I will surely miss when our time here is over, but something I won't forget 

It's a comfort that I don't take for granted

Vows

You know, its easy to say vows when your standing at the alter on your wedding day. 

It's easy to say them, in all of the excitement, and not know fully what you are saying. 

I think, that it takes time to really understand the things that you are saying.

 To understand the extreme commitment that you are making.

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Am I being loving, kind, and respectful to my husband in good times as well as bad times? 

Am I being loving, kind, and respectful to my husband in wealthy times as well as in poor times?

Am I being loving, kind, and respectful to my husband in health as well as in sickness? 

When we are saying our vows, we are saying "yes, I will" to all of those questions. 

I want to be sure that I am honestly living out my vows each and every day. Vows aren't just a wedding day thing, they are each and every day for as long we live. In the greatest moments and in the crappiest moments. 

Think about it. Are you really living your vows? 

Crazy people

Ok.. so we all have weird things that we do. But I'm convinced this thing that Lee and I do is super ridiculous. And it's okay if you think were both crazy after hearing this. Because I think we are.

So... Lee and I both love pasta. We have it quite often for dinner. 

Want to know what you would see going on right before were about to eat our pasta? 

You would see Lee and I both, sitting at the table, counting each noodle on our plate to make sure we have the SAME EXACT amount of noodles. It doesn't matter if were having bowties, shells, rigatonis we have to count them. 

Because heaven forbid one of us has more pasta then the other.

   

I guess were just a little protective of our pasta? 

or just crazy :) 

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and no. we do not do this with spaghetti noodles. crazy but not that crazy.

Pausing

Lately I've been doing a lot of "mental pausing". Pausing and enjoying the little things.

 The things that I spent my childhood dreaming about.

I've been thoroughly enjoying this part of my life. Loving every moment with Lee. Smiling at people at the grocery store. Singing while washing the dishes. Having fun cleaning the house. Excitedly greeting Lee when he comes home from a long day of work. & Looking forward to our new little nightly movie and popcorn tradition.

I remember dreaming of the day that I would go grocery shopping for my own family. I remember thinking it would be so fun to have my own place. I remember dreaming about what it would be like to get to cook dinner for my family. And wash dishes..my own dishes. I remember dreaming about who I would marry and how it would feel to be married. I remember. 

And now... I'm living it. I refuse to spend all of my waking time dreaming of what will come later, but instead, I will relish in what I have right now. in what we have.

In the joys of cleaning our dishes, picking up our house, cooking meals for us 

I don't want to look back and see that all I did was dream about later. But I want to know that I lived.

For I am blessed right now, and to miss that is to miss out on life

september.eleventh

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Praying for all of the dear people that lost loved ones on that day. 

Their sacrifice is not taken lightly. 

We remember

Fall foods

Wow I've been awful at posting lately!

 Lee has had the past few days off from work so we've just been lounging around the house enjoying each other... and eating.

 I've been dreaming about Fall weather.. (like everyone one else in blog land ;) . Unfortunately, Fall has not made its way to southern Florida. I'll admit, it is so weird being some place HOT in September. Lee and I are both from Pennsylvania, which is like freezing for 8 months out of the year, and cold for the other 4 months ha. Definitely not my cup of tea. But I sure do love the change between summer and fall there... it's wonderful!

 Anywayyys, despite Fall not arriving quite yet here in Florida, I have decided that I am going to start baking all the yummy Fall foods... and maybe it will arrive a little sooner ;) 

So yesterday, we made our first pumpkin pie ever! I was super unsure of how it was going to turn out.

 one, because we don't have a hand mixer (something we should totally invest in).. you definitely needed one for this recipe.

and two, because neither of us have ever made a pumpkin pie!

but we made due with what we had, and I think it turned out pretty good for the first one! Lee really liked it. I think it seemed a little bit wetter then it should have but I think that was just because we didn't get it quite the right consistency without the hand mixer. But, thats okay, we have plenty of time to improve! I love how cooking pies instantly makes the house smell like Fall. 

We used this recipe. A lot of the reviews said that this recipe tasted more like a pumpkin cheesecake rather than the classic pumpkin pie recipe... which I do agree.

Do any of you have a great pumpkin pie recipe that you use every year??

SO loving the change of the seasons even if were not seeing it quite yet! And another thing, I just love being married during this time (ha.. of course I love being married all the time) but its so fun to bake yummy foods together, snuggle, and take walks at night as the weather starts to slowly cool off :)

PS thanks for all the feedback on the new layout! You all are too kind

A new look

So I'm trying out a new look for my little bloggy. What do you guys think?

I was getting sick of the last one... for really no reason in particular, I just like a good change once 'n awhile :) There may be some more little changes coming, but this is what I came up with for now. 

Anyways, I hope you all have a good weekend! 

We don't really have any plans... just hanging out at home. Lee was supposed to work all weekend, but he just found out today he has Saturday off. Yay! So I'm sure there will be some game-playing and lots of food-eating over here ;) 

love!

College

With everyone going back to school, I've been thinking about college a lot. I only went to school for one year, but it sure was a wonderful year. A year full of fun, learning, growing, and meeting some really beautiful people.

I remember my first few days at college. All that Lee and I had during that time was each other- thank goodness for that! We hardly knew anyone and it was our first time so far away from home. All of the things that were familiar to us for so long were gone instantly. I remember it being a exciting feeling but a pretty depressing one too.

I think it was during that time that Lee became "my home", if you will. Ever heard of that quote that says something like 'home is wherever my husband is'. Yeah... that's how I felt. But back then it would have been 'home is wherever my boyfriend is' ;) But really, I don't know how I would have managed without him! 

Remember the first day/night in your dorm room? Essentially, you're in a extremely SMALL space with a stranger that you hardly know. Everything about this is so awkward! Ha. I remember my roommate and I would be talking at night with the lights off and we wouldn't know when to stop the conversation and go to bed! Ha it's so funny to think about it. I remember feeling like I was the most awkward person ever...maybe because I was.

Thankfully, the weirdness only lasted for a little while ;) My roomie and I ended up having so much fun together that year. She was so sweet :) I really LOVED living with a bunch of girls. It seemed like every night we would all stay up sooo late just talking. It was like a sleepover all the time! 

Lee ended up meeting his BEST MAN in just that short year of college. He became our best friend. It was such a blessing to meet him!

I really only have good things to say about our year at school. I learned SO much. That was a year full of growth for both of us. Growth in knowledge, growth in the Lord, and growth in our relationship and our relationships with others. 

I am so thankful for that beautiful year. A year I will never forget :) 

our little bitty, yet loved dorm room :)

the girls dorms actually got sinks in their rooms, the boys dorms did not! ha!

 the desk that I spent much time at 

Anddd my sweet roommate :) 

And of course... my best bud through it all :) 

Hope you all had a happy Wednesday!

The Weekend

Our weekend was filled with paninis, frozen yo.gurt, a stroll downtown, window.shopping, a walk on the beach, falling asleep to Tangled (LOVE btw!), a good sermon at church, cleaning our little apartment, and making mini cherry and apple pies at midnight last night

 ha... can you tell which one is this girls?

yeah... you were right ;) 

These pies were delish and so fun to make! Check out the recipe here

Hope you all have a good Monday! 

It's a dreary, gray Monday here so I plan on staying inside today.

 Painting, music and hot tea sound super lovely for this fine day :)

2 Chronicles 7:14

"If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

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Monday

Lee is starting classes today! He's going online. This is the first time he's ever done classes online. So we shall see how it goes! I'm sort of excited about it... maybe I'll learn something from listening ;) 

Everyone is talking about returning to school on their blogs. I can't believe summer is nearly over! It went crazy fast! 

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This might be a fun DIY

Have a happy Monday, friends!