Painting Date Night – At Home!

I have recently gotten into watercolors!

It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while, so one day I bought a cheap Melissa & Doug watercolor paint set for kids & a pack of 15 pages of watercolor paper. It was like $11 total. I’ve seen so many blogs for ‘beginner’ watercolor painting that have a huge & expensive list of supplies. Seriously, the kids’ sets work just as well for learning, just get some watercolor paper & paint so you can see what it’s really about.

So several weeks ago after buying my supplies, I…did nothing. I let them sit there for another week or two. I didn’t know where to start. Eventually I started looking up some ‘how to’ videos on YouTube.

One Friday afternoon I came across a video that gave me an idea. #24 on my golden year bucket list was to go on a painting/activity date with my husband. I originally imagined us going out to one of those places where you drink wine & paint following some sort of prompt. But going on a date like that takes a little more planning when you have a toddler (a toddler?!? where has the time gone…) But at home, after Cupcake’s bedtime, with a bottle of wine…

I decided we could host a private painting date, courtesy of YouTube. It was so easy to set up! My husband poured the wine while I set up the art supplies. We used our laptop to play this how-to video & painted along with the artist. Note: I’m not affiliated with that artist or channel in any way, I am just linking it to give you your own jumping off point for a painting date!

The thing about watercolor is that you have to let the paint dryyyyyyy. I think that is why I haven’t ever attempted watercolor before. Motherhood is making me way more patient than I ever thought I was! But still, watching paint dry is as fun as it sounds. So what did we do between paint coats? We googled ‘married date night questions’ & had a good time sharing answers.

It was such a fun night! My husband isn’t usually the ‘creative’ type, but he enjoyed it, too. We got to have a special date without leaving the house & without spending much money.

We both liked the other person’s painting a little bit more than our own.

I think this is a great date night idea for any couple, but I definitely love that it’s budget friendly! Being a stay at home mom is my dream come true, & I try to creatively show my husband just how much I appreciate the sacrifices we make ❤

Ash Valentine’s

Focusing on things eternal, together.

“Memento, homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris.“

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This service was much needed in light of the recent news that hits home.

Thou the spring of all my comfort,
  More than life to me;
Whom have I on earth beside Thee?
  Whom in heaven but Thee?

Savior, Savior,
  Hear my humble cry…

1,000 Days Of Marriage

I always say it’s the little things that make the biggest difference in marriage.

Yesterday my husband & I celebrated 1,000 days of marriage.

I got the idea to celebrate a while ago, when we celebrated 100 days of marriage. I set a reminder on my phone & just kept it in mind to do a little something special for my hubby on 9/15.

Hurricane Irma hit Florida on 9/10. Thankfully, our home was spared from serious damage & our extended family is safe as well. Hundreds of trees were blown down. Several areas flooded. Many neighborhoods & traffic signals are still without power a week later. My parents stayed with us for 5 nights before their power was restored. It was scary during the storm & stressful after it.

The situation helped me see exactly what my husband is made of. I got to see how much love he has for Jesus as he suggested we pray together over our house before the storm hit. I got to see him selflessly help friends, fellow church goers, & family members put up shutters. He was my rock & comforted me as I got more nervous about the forecast. He was a saint & gave our bed to my parents while they were here. He is the best father, provider, & friend I could have ever hoped to marry.

So to celebrate our milestone, I used some of the cardstock from our wedding signs (yes, I still have tons) to make him this card (pictured with mason jars & cake topper from the wedding, too).

I put a $10 (1,000₵) giftcard inside for us to use together. It was just a small token to show him how much I appreciate our marriage.

I look forward to thousands more days with this amazing man!

We Love The Beach

I have had this post in my draft box for over a year, but today’s prompt from The Daily Post finally made me finish it & hit publish!

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We love the beach.

We don’t go as often as people from South Florida should, but nonetheless we love it.

We’ve had many special memories at the beach.

Going to Orange Beach, AL for Memorial Day has become a family tradition on my mother-in-law’s side & we look forward to it every year.

Going with our friends is always a fun time – even more so now with their baby!

The beach has a special meaning to us because we’ve had a lot of relationship milestones there:

First date October 2012.

2013

1 year dating anniversary beach weekend, October 2013.

It’s where we got engaged May 8, 2014.

(photo taken some time after engagement)

It’s where we ended our 1 year wedding anniversary date.

Isla Morada, December 2015.

The beach allows us to be silly together…

2015

…and it teaches us important life lessons (like sunscreen EXPIRES).

The beach is a place we feel comfortable. The smells, sights, & sounds are all very soothing. God really knows what he’s doing.

At our wedding we did a sand ceremony. Half of the sand we used was from Ft. Lauderdale beach, taken from right where we got engaged.

Maybe the beach holds a special place in our hearts because one of our first photos together was taken at the beach, at night, 8 or so years before we ever looked at each other as more than friends.

High School Homecoming, 2004.

I’m glad we live less than 30 minutes away from the beach.

Here’s to many, many more beach days & nights with my wonderful husband!

It’s The Little Things

I firmly believe that in any relationship it’s the little things that make the biggest difference.

Two years ago an amazing man took me out to a movie & then dinner on a Saturday night. Afterward, we went for a walk along Ft. Lauderdale beach. That’s where he asked me to marry him. Of course, I said yes.

Why did we watch Mr. Peabody & Sherman? He says it’s because it was the only one available that ended at a reasonable time for us to get to our (surprise to me at the time) reservation.

For our first real date back in 2012, he took me to Seasons 52. He took me back to that restaurant on March 8, 2014.

After dinner on our first date back in 2012, we went out to Ft. Lauderdale beach for a night time stroll. We did the same on March 8, 2014.

The movie was almost like a decoy. I enjoyed it! It was very cute & funny. We’ve been saying for the past 2 years that we should buy it & watch it again sometime.

I surprised him with it today 🙂

Just one of those little things to let him know that I love him.

Happy engage-aversary, mi amor!

March 8, 2014

One Year Of Marriage Down, One Lifetime To Go!

Happy 1st Anniversary to us!

In one year we:

• Joined the handbell choir at church
• Went to DC for the March For Life
• Attended the Honda Battle of the Bands in Atlanta
• Spent Valentine’s Day in Naples
• Attended two weddings of close friends
• Bought a house!
• Hosted Pastor Oscar from Cuba & took him to the Everglades
• Saw Imagine Dragons in concert for the 2nd time
• Threw a 4th of July party
• Turned 27
• Went camping in St. Augustine
• Attended college football games
• Hosted our first Thanksgiving
• Had lots of fun with family & friends
• Grew more & more in love with God, & with each other!

I love you so much!

Time to eat that wedding cake!

 Yum!

100 Days of Marriage

Today is our 100th day as husband & wife!

Somehow I got the idea that this should be celebrated & starting brain storming on exactly how I wanted to do this. So I came up with the idea of writing 100 things I love about my husband & surprising him.

I figured that if I couldn’t come up with 100 things I love about him, I was in trouble.

I’m not saying I immediately sat down & scribbled 100 things off of the top of my head like it was easy. It took me weeks to fill up the 100 sheet notebook I bought.

I actually learned a lot over the past couple of weeks. I started observing my husband so that I could adequately describe all of the little quirks and nuances I love about him. I know I love my husband entirely, but spelling out all of those little things wasn’t as obvious as I originally thought. So I found myself studying him closely as I filled up this notebook, unbeknownst to him. I actually though of several more things I could have written once I was done, which is wonderful.

Turns out I really do love him, like, A LOT.

We are going to 100 Montaditos tonight to celebrate We were going to go, but our local one closed down! We had tacos instead 🙂

I almost spoiled the surprise about a week ago when he told me he had trumpet practice for Easter on the 30th & I reacted in a way that made him ask me if I had plans. I forgot that the plans were only in my head! I spent the next 5 minutes giggling & trying to get him to drop the subject. I wanted to surprise him and do something nice for him. I wanted to put in all this effort for him & show him how much he means to me without him doing anything in return.

The best part about this notebook, though, is that if I ever doubt our marriage I can go back & read what I wrote in my own words about the man I married. If troubled times hit us & I waver, I will have a reminder of 100 reasons to hang on tight (there are many, many more than that).

We had a great morning looking through the notebook together. I loved watching his face light up as he was reading it; I could tell he was really touched. I married an amazing man ❤