a wedding reception

[for my sister and her husband]

this was a labor of love and paper. so many of the ideas were found and catalogued on Pinterest. You can see my board here.

hi sam.

I miss you already.

Love, Billy

who knew payless had such amazing shoes?

Source: payless.com via Marissa on Pinterest

thanks bhldn

cats out of the bag, so i bought this:

Source: bhldn.com via Marissa on Pinterest

here's to friendship that runs deep

here's to the bucket list

here's to ikea trips and sara groves

here's to lil' cuties and silly emails

here's to bad tv and even worse Internet {perezhilton}

here's to friends that are family

here's to a journey that doesn't end just because of state lines.

_________________________________

five years ago, sam and i were an unlikely match.  we were acquaintances both needing a roommate.  what has developed is something for the history books. its something that i treasure. its something worth celebration. and celebrate we will.

i'm a glass case of emotion...

so august is quickly approaching and my life, as we know it, will be thrust into the great wide oregon outdoors. we've known about this transition for a while, but the countdown has begun. i'm having a hard time believing that it's actually happening.

as my time at my job is coming to the end, i'm becoming more emotional about this process than i care to be. i have started saying good bye to students, redistributing my work load, and i wasn't prepared for this to happen so soon. i was convinced i would wait until june 16, pack up my things in a small box, and it would just be over. boy was i wrong.

so, in order for my processing to continue i thought i'd document the top 10 things that i will miss about my job (one bad day and it's all downhill)

10. the flaky pastries at staff break every friday at 10am

9. having fridays off during the summer and almost 2 weeks at christmas

8. higher education

7. working in the admissions office - i wouldn't work anywhere else on campus

6. having my cell phone paid for

5. being a part of a family's journey

4. working with my student workers

3. my co-workers

2. working in THE125 & with one of my best friends (she has the cutest babies)

1. working at a place that strives to honor the Lord

so that's that. the countdown continues and soon enough i'll be starting a new adventure in a new place.

my favorite room in the house. my favorite time of day [10am]

so i'm just wondering: what does life look like after the modern, cool, glittery, perfectly-diyed, country, minimal, pink, jose villa photographed weddings are over?

weddings are a wonderful thing. marriage is something i believe in. it should be celebrated.

but come on.

__________________________________________________________________________________

i struggled all throughout my engagement.  i could feel the dissonance.  leaving my family and starting a new one almost seemed unbearable.  see there is a lot of hurt that happens growing up.  walls come up.  relationships are divided. grandmothers aren't who you thought they'd be. disappointments run rampant. i had decided while facing these hurts in my formative years, my relationships would be reconciled before i got married [became an 'adult'].  well they didn't.

i cried a lot. some people thought i didn't love jacob. anxiety disrupted my sleep. i was sad but i couldn't pin-point what was happening to me. i felt incredibly guilty that my engagement experience didn't reflect the lovely posts on oncewed or style me pretty.

so i held on to the tiny bits of truth that came straight from my gut. jacob was someone that i could trust. he was someone that i wanted to journey with. he wasn't afraid of seeing my shit.  i fought hard against the ugly lies in my head that made those truths silent. really, i still do.

reconciliation is still in the process. its been a point of struggle and intimacy in my marriage. its something that keeps my heart tender. its something worth working towards. i believe this is something i will continue to fight for. and that's ok. and that's what happens after engagement.

have a good saturday.

white doesn't take up a lot of space [in my home or my mind].  i like that very much. here's to creating in quiet, white spaces.

Source: bo-laget.se via Marissa on Pinterest

Source: thekitchn.com via Marissa on Pinterest

Source: seesawdesigns.blogspot.com via Marissa on Pinterest

Source: sfgirlbybay.com via Marissa on Pinterest

i finally made my own version of this cute, little garland.


maybe i should enroll myself into a few college classes. the only adjectives i know these days are cute, cutiest, and little cutie. what can i say? schools out for-eva.

Source: anthropologie.com via Marissa on Pinterest

pinterest is a wonderful thing. its my pretend shopping bag.

Source: stevemadden.com via Marissa on Pinterest

i'm pretty sure the office would love you this spring.

disneyland.

this past weekend i went to disneyland with 3 of my cousins - two are more like aunts, but that's neither here nor there.

we had a great time hanging out and just being family. there's nothing like being around people that just know you. you know, like changed your diaper and cleaned lice out of your hair, know you.

while we didn't get to ride space mountain and i only had 1 churro - my 2 favorite parts about disneyland - most of the fun was spent talking about old times or making up bizarre phrases like "i'd like to smother butter in her face" or watching vanessa make up dance moves after eating $25 room service dessert at 1am.

i cherish the time spent together and am so glad to have made so many memories.

'you were a million years of work,' said god and his angels with needle and thread.

- sleeping at last

where my money goes.

look what came today.....

...the "let them eat cake" prints by paul ferney! The cakes truly are wonderful.

I've had a great week thanks to ups. My anthro box came yesterday. Hip hip hooray! Here's to finding pants for gals with round booties and small waist lines.

Source: anthropologie.com via Marissa on Pinterest

Source: anthropologie.com via Marissa on Pinterest

daughters of the liberation is my favorite line anthro carries. they know how to sew for a lady.

the daily fight

They sure are cute.

little lady

Stella Rose is over a month old. She's a quick one. I couldn't be more excited to snuggle her this weekend. She lives at the Central Coast; 2.5 hours away from her auntie!

I had a really special relationship with my aunt when I was a little girl. What an amazing thing to be: an aunt. No really, it is.

I loved sleepovers, Mexican restaurants, and shopping with my aunt. I ate up everything she said. When the kids at school teased me for my 'baby's bike', she heard my cry and surprised me with a shopping trip to pick out a new bicycle. Was is overindulgence? Maybe. But she heard me in a way only an aunt could.

So, rest easy, Sis. You will be heard.

birthday cheer.

happy birthday to my sister, courtney.

i hope arkansas threw you a bangin' party.

here's to a fabulous 24!

xo.

p.s for your birthday,

i think you should ask for an

all-inclusive trip to ca. :)

start her young

listen here. anthropologie can really make my heart go pitter-patter but this baby girl sure takes it up a notch. this is our dear friends' daughter, emma. life is so much better with a baby around.

[way better than anthro]

for the record, she had all the anthro shoppers stopped dead in their tracks. no amount of material lovely around could distract from her beauty.

a good saturday peruse

gwyneth paltrow has a blog, goop.

if you have some time and the longing to be inspired, check it out.

i enjoyed this post. annette joseph fully renovated an industrial apartment for gwyneth's stay in nashville.  i think the results are really lovely.  oh, the renovation only took 10 days. wow.

check out the kids' room.  really great.

all images via goop

friday.

this is a picture i keep on my desk at work.

today i find myself looking at it more often than other days.

i miss him & family.

day 30.

not a lot of enthusiasm left for outfit numero 30.

now that we're finished i feel as though i have opened a giant present - one filled with clothes i have worn many-a-time, yet left very unappreciated.

so here's to you 30for30. you've challenged us take small risks. and we did it. you made us wash our clothes more often than we wanted. and we did it. you made us document the good/bad days. and we did that most of the time. you made us refrain from shopping for 30 whole days. and boy, did we do that.

thanks for the memories. three cheers for a trip to anthro.