One Love: February 2012

February 28, 2012

Jamie's Bridal Shower

We pulled it off - the first ever shower I've co-hosted! Saturday we celebrated Jamie and Kevin's upcoming wedding, which seems so close now! I'm so excited for Jamie to get married, and I'm so glad we were able to throw her a shower before I move out of town.

the banner I made! it looked good :)

mini banner over the dessert area

red velvet cupcakes with coffee frosting

mingling

Jennifer, Jamie's little sister

at Danielle's house

opening a thoughtful gift

drink flags and punch

Franklin and Jennifer

me with the bride!

February 27, 2012

Spontaneous Getaway

We have been feeling kinda burnt out lately. The jobs we are doing right now, while being part of our ministry and definitely Biblical, are not what we ultimately had in mind and are not the final goal. It's not the best for either of Whit's or my personalities/strengths, and we are close to the end but just growing a little weary. I'm sure everyone has felt this way, and while every job has its stresses, most don't come laden with spiritual attacks as well. After talking to Whit's parents about this stage we're in, they decided we needed a break.

They sent us off to Yorktown, VA to the little beach and small town to have a refreshing mental vacation. They had suggested we leave on Friday night, but since Whit needed to make phone calls and I needed to prepare for Jamie's bridal shower, at 8:30 Thursday night we suggested to each other that maybe we should leave that night. So an hour later we were on the road!

We arrived in the quiet town at 10:30 just in time to relax in the room and watch some Friends. The next morning we got ready and explored town. Everything is within walking distance, and it was the most beautiful day! We sat by the beach and talked, ate lunch in front of the water, browsed through some shops, and treated ourselves to Ben & Jerry's. It was just what we needed! We came home the next day feeling so relaxed and refreshed. Sometimes you just need a vacation!

the view from our room

relaxing on the beach

i NEED to be at the beach! seriously. it's a need.

what a great husband i have!

whit took this picture of me - i love it!

crabcake for lunch!

whit got jamaican jerk chicken (like our honeymoon :))

walking around

cute little historic town

ahh the water

after about 15 takes of trying to get a non-awkward, focused, correct-lighting picture of me, some stranger took this perfect photo of us! praise the Lord

chillin

giant driftwood

this is a great alternative to va beach if you live in richmond

trying to not stand awkwardly

February 24, 2012

How to Make Drink Flags

So I follow this awesome photographer, Lauryn Galloway. She's pretty cool, you should check out her blog. She features different series on handmade weddings, using different themes to make cute DIY projects. I found this idea on her garden wedding theme, and thought it would be perfect to add a little more color to Jamie's shower.

This is a great project to do along with the banner I wrote about earlier, because you can use the same ribbon so it matches and so you don't have to buy as much stuff!

What you need:

2 spools of ribbon (3 yards or less - you don't need much)

Wooden dowel rods - I used one pack of 3/16" (one pack contained 20 rods) - you can buy them at Michael's

Scissors

Saw, or other method of cutting wood (maybe some beast Cutco knives would work)

All you need to do is cut the rods to whatever length you prefer (suggested 8 inches), cut each ribbon to about 5 inch strands, and then tie the ribbon around the dowel rods. The method I used for that, from Lauryn's blog, was pretty simple. Take a ribbon, fold it over on top of itself, wrap one side of the folded ribbon around the rod, and then pull the ribbon through the loop you just created. Then, tug on the ribbon towards one side as you twist the dowel rod in the other direction to get it as tight as possible.

Then, add to a glass of water, limeade, or sparkling grape juice to add a pop of color to your party!

February 22, 2012

One!

A whole year ago Whit and I became an aunt and uncle for the first time! Now our adorable niece, Anna, is one! Last weekend we got to go down to Norfolk to celebrate her birthday with our family and some of their friends. I had fun photographring, my new verb for when I get to be a photographer for an event. :)

i love her shirt with the big 1 on it :)

Anna is so cute and is just the perfect little person! She was totally fine during the party, didn't freak out even though there were a lot of people, she didn't go crazy with her cupcake, and she played with the other kids. One of her presents was a stroller, which she walked around with constantly as soon as she got it. We figured she was close to taking her first steps so we all tried to trick her into walking by holding a shiny cell phone or toy in front of her, but no luck. Then guess what?? This past Sunday she took her first steps! Yay!