wedding Wednesday - family

Here are just a few of the family shots from our wedding.

Of course there are more but I'm not sure who all would care if I posted their

photo on my blog but I thought the ones below were safe. :)

my mom, sister-in-law, Mandy and myself

my beautiful mama

my wonderful mother-in-law and my husband-to-be

my brother Jeremy, escorting my mom down the aisle

all photos in this post: Rachel Debell Photography

Sweetie and Poppy, my grandparents

my parents and I

It was such a joy to celebrate our wedding with those we love most.

If you're reading this and you made the effort to come to our wedding

(or even tried because a few people just couldn't make it in the end),

thank you again! It meant a whole lot to us!

Travel Tuesdays - San Diego

Have you ever been to San Diego?

What do you like to do there?

Kelly

I'd love to know the answer to these questions and also the ones here.

Thanks.

mama-to-be Monday - closets

a caring and thoughtful co-worker put some of these sweet little

vintage-look baby hangars in my mailbox at school today

oh my!

such fun

they're so tiny!

so, here are a couple of questions for you mamas out there (and others who would like to chime in)

I am an "all one kind of hangar" girl. White plastic tube hangars happen to be my hangar of choice. I have a friend who had all red at one point. Neat.

I like the uniform look.

When we married, my closet expanded to two types of hangars, white plastic tube hangars and wooden hangars. I'm good with that. Each lives in it's own section. It's nice, organized, stream-lined, uniform . . .

so, I'm wondering, should I go out and get a supply of these same hangars to match because they're adorable or are there practical implications that I might not be considering?

'Cause I'll say this, I'm not sure if I've ever hung up a little baby outfit.

So, question #1, what's important to you in a hangar for baby's clothes?

(I know I can't be the only one with opinions about hangars, right? Let me hear 'em.)

Okay, second question kind of goes along with this theme.

Baby's closet . . .

what do you keep in the nursery closet besides clothes?

because, remember this post . . .

Glad I took advantage of that because everything is about to change in a wonderful way!

So, back to closets . . .

Well, here is the closet in the craft room nursery!

(okay, so you have to scroll down several pics to get to the closet but it's almost my bedtime and I'm trying to post while it's still Monday!)

I have wondered what in the world I would do with all of that stuff.

Then, Friday night, while hanging out with some great girls and talking through all the dilemmas of life, including but certainly not limited to nurseries, I had an aha!

What about an armoire?!

Shouldn't be too hard to find on craigslist or at a garage sale these days with people who had one for their tv wanting to get rid of it as they go to flat screen and such . . . and I could paint it

baby clothes should fit nicely inside, afterall they're not very long :)

is this a good idea?

then I could keep the craft closet as is.

now, to be honest, i don't want to hear "what am i going to do when the baby's napping and that is the only time I have to do something crafty and all of my craft stuff is in the same room as the baby?" we'll cross that bridge when we get to it or maybe i'll become super organized and neatly lay out all of the supplies i will need for the project *before* i lay the baby down - ha! :)

Best bet is I'll be grabbing a nap too, right?

okay, one final thing in this now forever post . . .

a prayer request . . .

I'm going to just lay it out there and be honest . . .

I am thrilled to be pregnant but i am struggling with the whole body image thing.

I did not expect this, not one bit.

I didn't think that my identity was wrapped up in what I look like, well, the temptation to compare and find myself falling short has hit, big time and I'm disappointed in myself and I want to stop. stop comparing, stop feeling like I don't look good. I want to start believing God's truth about me. I want to know, deep down, without the nagging doubts that not only is my sweet baby being wonderfully made, but I am wonderfully made! Today, yesterday, at 9 months pregnant, post-partem, when I'm forty, when I get wrinkles and on and on and on.

Psalm 127:3 (New American Standard Bible)

"Behold, children are a gift of the LORD,

The fruit of the womb is a reward."

Proverbs 16:31 (New International Version)

"Gray hair is a crown of splendor;
it is attained by a righteous life."

Thanks for "listening" and letting me be real and honest

and ask a bunch of crazy questions. :)

I hope you're having a good Monday.

Kelly

peaceful fall decor

a photo from my old apartment

The wreath is hanging on an old doorknob. I found the wooden bannister things at a community garage sale set up on a tennis court for $1 for the pair! I felt like I got a great deal and have used them many times and in many ways since then. At the same garage sale I got a really cute purse for a dime! I asked her if she was sure and she said, "I'm moving to Europe. Everything must go!" Okay.

What is one of your best steals ever?

more fall decor

ready for fall?

Pulling out all of my reds, oranges and browns makes me feel more fallish.
This was my shelf display several years ago - old luggage, high school mum, letter jacket, dried leaves, pumpkins, pinecones, dishes, baskets, books, an interesting wooden architectural piece . . . we'll have to see what comes together this year. So fun to feather one's nest.

Do you decorate for fall? Do you have any pictures? I'd love to see them. Kelly

wedding Wednesday - my dress

I got started on the dress shopping pretty quickly. My first shopping trip was with my mom, Mandy and Sweetie.

I also tried on my mom's dress.

It was then that I started thinking about wearing her veil

which I ended up doing for the ceremony. I loved the way it looked and

wearing the same thing she had worn when she walked down the aisle.

photo by my mom

I found my dress at a little shop called the Bridal Boutique and really, really liked it

a whole lot! Another bonus was that it was comfortable. A lot of people asked if it was

vintage which was fun. I always thought I would wear a big white poofy gown but when

I tried those on and this one on, I just knew this was what I wanted more.

photo by Rachel Debell photography

close up of the lace work on the dress

photo by me

Sweetie (my grandma) made a beautiful hangar for me to keep my dress on that

had one of my great-grandmother's doilies on it. That was very special to me.

Here is my dress hanging in the bathroom that I got to get ready in at the bed and breakfast.

photo by Rachel Debell

So here is my question now . . .

where is your wedding dress?

How is it stored?

I do not want to spend the money to get it "preserved". I would like to store it someplace somewhat out of the way and yet where it will not be damaged. So, I would just like to know where you put yours and how you have it stored. Maybe writing this post and getting your feedback will finally inspire me, nearly a year later to find a home for it.

Presently it is hanging here:

right in the entry of our closet . . .

It has been in the entry closet, the craft closet, etc.

It needs a good home.

Kelly

great post

If you have not read modgirl's lastest post

you should

it's really good and gave me some stuff to think about

Hope you're having a great Tuesday! Kelly

mama-to-be Monday

Thank you all so much for your many congrats and happy well-wishes. It has been so much fun and also a blessing to read all of your comments. If you missed the original post, it can be found here.

To be honest, I like the idea of maternity or as I'd like to call them, "mama-to-be Mondays" that were suggested and seconded in the comments but I don't really know what to say or where to begin. :)

I don't feel like a "mommy blogger" and as I think through the whole blog privacy thing from time to time, I'm not even sure how having a baby will affect my feelings on all of that. We will see.

Surely as time passes I will have more to say in this little space on Mondays but for now I just wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Have a great rest of your Monday! Kelly

a date to Fort Worth

a ticket on the Trinity Railway Express to take us to Fort Worth

plus unlimited use of the bus system once we were there: $3 a piece

tickets to the acclaimed Fort Worth Zoo to see these cute little guys

and flamingos

and a rhino

and this adorable giraffe: $11 a piece

cheese enchilada dinners at Joe T. Garcia's: $10.95 a piece

spending the whole day together and experiencing the uniqueness of Fort Worth: free

browsing Barnes and Noble: free

the knowledge that there are three people in this photo: priceless

is it ever too early for leaves?

more Alaskan beauty

photo by Betty

Wedding Wednesday - tying the knot party

After we got engaged it was so much fun to tell everyone

and celebrate this wonderful time in our lives with our friends.

Our friends Erin and Adam (pictured below) and their two sweet kiddos threw us a "tying the knot" party! We were greeted at the door by all of these fun knots of rope.

And inside was a handmade and hand colored sign especially for us!

Our wedding colors were evident, even on the mini blinds. :)

beautiful flowers in our wedding colors with more rope

were the centerpiece for our festive and fun dinner together

here are the four of us at our wedding and also Erin and I

What is something special that a friend has done for you?

Kelly

Speaking of weddings, I'd also like to send out a happy anniversary shout-out to Betty & Cliff today! Your love for each other is so fun to observe! love you guys!

coming up . . .

Wedding Wednesday tomorrow . . .

photo by Rachel Debell Photography