as the year ends...

I always have a "resolution" to blog again as I truly do enjoy it.

So, 5ish months later, here I am again. and to try again in 2015.

 

I can't believe so many things have happened since July 16th.

Lots of ups and lots of downs.

 

 

I traveled to the Midwest and saw lots of states!

 

I celebrated my 26th birthday with everyone I love.





 

we were at my aunt's in Boone because my Gramps had a few heart attacks before I went to the wedding in Illinois but he bounced back (at 96 years old!!) and came home the day before my birthday. My whole family came to be with him. Those two days I spent there are memories I will always cherish.

 

 

a few days after that, right before we went on our annual beach vacation, that boy I was dating asked me to be his wife :)

best night of my life so far! this picture tells it all - this was around midnight after I had called basically everyone I knew and cried with joy and Josh was exhausted! I will probably do a separate post about it to capture those memories.

 

then we went to the beach. this year to outer banks.

 

 

after the beach trip it was back to school and we began searching for places to get married. still can't believe this is happening! we found the winner at a place in the mountains.

cannot wait to marry this cutie in June.

 

 

I had a much needed weekend where our best friends from Florida came up and all my friends and family got together to celebrate Josh and I. it was my favorite weekend.

 

we ended the second half of the year with some fabulous holiday celebrations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

this past year was a great one but we didn't make it through without a very difficult time. Gramps passed away in October. the day I found out he had gone downhill (basically comatose all of the sudden) I cried the entire way home from work and cried all evening. he then held on for almost a week after that but we got a call close to midnight on a Tuesday with the news. at this point I knew it was going to happen but it still felt like someone punched me in the chest.

 

probably the hardest thing I've had to go through ever.

miss you everyday, gramps.

 

 

I'll remember 2014 for lots of good times and I will keep the memories close, even if they were the last ones. I have a lot to be thankful for as this year ends and 2015 begins. For now I need to get to sleep because we are going to the gym early (sweating for the wedding!). In the next few days I will do an engagement post, bathroom update, and new years resolutions!

 

 

as always, I leave you with some Chili love! goodnight.

 

we're getting old.

happy birthday to my little laura-lou!

my sister is 24 today. woooo!

we were going to go out and celebrate this evening but plans kind of fell through so we're going to head out this weekend for some birthday fun.

my birthday is next weekend and I'll be 26. what? where is life going? it feels like I was just turning 25 in the mountains. this birthday I'll be riding home from illinois but at least I get to see new states all day!

this summer so far has been a pretty good one minus the long hours I've spent doing nothing (which actually is what I wish for during the school year, ha). I did a lot of painting for Jennifer's craft fair in west jefferson that was a couple weekends ago. it was quite the experience!

 

my dad painted this. and it sold. why did I not inherit his artistic abilities?

my view for a lot of the day. I already picked out some of my birthday gifts ;)

of course the humane society was there and of course we had to go hold puppies.

my sister has an online store and I'm going to try and help her get on etsy. can my job be to make wine crafts all day? will the world buy them and support my life? one can dream.

and the other 2 kiddos because they are just cute.

I also had a sleepover with my 8 year old BFF.

pure bliss.

and this pretty much sums up our 4th of july:

we also recently experienced eating at Luna's Living Kitchen which is the restaurant where my friend rachel works. it is vegan, all natural, raw, locally grown food. most of the stuff they literally make right in the restaurant! it was such a cute little place and was delicious! even josh, the carnivore, loved his whole meal. if it wasn't so pricey, I would eat it every single day.

the dessert I got was a coconut cacao pudding and it was seriously the best dessert I have ever eaten.

and has nothing artifical! mind blown.

I also have ventured to ikea 3 different times. we are in the process of getting a loan right now for renovations and joshua said we can do the kitchen!!! so excited. plus we had to get stuff for our all new bathroom.

this is kind of what our new sink will look like but wider and we got a dark brown/black base.

can't wait to get it up on the wall!

I love this kitchen. I think we're going to stick with either white or grey cabinets.

we liked both. but we looked at lowes and granite was the same price or cheaper than the quartz at ikea so I think we're going to be able to do granite because our kitchen is so small! whoop whoop!

this past sunday we spent all day working outside and creating a new walkway area (we also watched the world cup final and germany won - that made the US look pretty good seeing as we only lost 1-0 when we played them! 2018, here we come).

it is coming together slowly but surely!

we bought some more plants to finish it off - they are ones that do well in shade so fingers crossed I don't kill these ones. we also want to put up a boarder around it. oh and grow grass/get sod? our front yard is not very pretty.

josh had to drive to virginia and back today so he'll be home soon! :)

chili sends her love! xoxo

i believe...

I believe that we will win!

we may not have beat Germany today (lost 1-0) but the US men's national team is on to the next round of the World Cup! so proud! it is really cool to see the country have so much pride and spirit. we tried to go out to lunch and watch the 2nd half of the game (Josh's lunch break) but the place we tried to go was PACKED with everyone watching. 

I had lots of spirit from my nails (jamberry, my new obsession) to my morning running attire today :)

 

pumped for the game on Tuesday!

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I believe that we had too much fun in Cincy!

 it was a very cool city and we had a great time celebrating my friend's birthday and engagement :)

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I believe that I am ready to have my bathroom back! (which will be a while...)

as I explained before, we found termites in the bathroom. so we started ripping everything out.

injuries ;)

yeah, gross. I know.

all tile off.

Josh bought a new toy to take out the concrete board.

down to the studs.

then Roy came for the weekend to help us finish demo and begin the shower building.

my job was to take of these cuties while they did the bathroom. I was okay with that :) 

 

aaaand the nasty water/termite damage:

 

sink and tub gone.

cutting through the wall in the bedroom - scary moment!

we caught some snuggles :)

termite damage fixed (and luckily this was the only place!)

 

Kyro and Josh got in on the action.

 

looking from the shower into the bedroom and bedroom to what the shower looks like currently.

and this picture is just because it is absolutely adorable :)

hopefully this weekend we can get the plumbing connections finished, shower heads installed, and drywall up. then we have to pick out flooring, a vanity, and tile. oh and pour concrete in the base of the shower and put up concrete board on the inside. this will be quite the learning process!

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the NBA draft is on tonight which Josh is excited about.

we hope to make it to the gym and take the pups on a walk.

lots to do this weekend - glad tomorrow is Friday!