What to do with all of the wedding cards

Happy Wednesday :)  Today is my handsome hubby's 22nd birthday!!!  Here are some highlights from our celebration:

Birthday Brownies and candles in the shape of a "C" :)

I like this one of him blowing out the candles

Coffee and birthday brownies to celebrate :) A very chill and low key night at home to welcome his 22nd year.  I love nights like this and birthdays are a perfect time to make it a priority.

The second purpose for this post is to share a project that I did to make a keepsake of all the wedding cards we received.  The cards have been sitting in a box in the living room waiting for a project to use them with.  I didn't want to throw them away because I am overly sentimental and love reading through all of them, but I also knew that they could not stay in a box in my living room forever.  Then one day I stumbled across this brilliant idea on Pinterest:

From the blog Something Turquoise

What a clever way to save all of your wedding cards in a presentable format that you and guests to your home can enjoy!  Loved it right away and set out immediately making our cards into a book :)

I enlisted the help of the hubby to help hole punch the cards because some of them were super thick!  And once all of them were hole punched I sorted them into three books.  One book was just cards from our engagement and showers, and the other two books were from our wedding.  Once sorted I measured the largest card in each stack and made the front and back covers 1/2 inch larger on both sides to created a nice finished look.

Once the front and back covers were cut I attached ribbon to the back cover and made sure that it was long enought to wrap around the front and tie into a bow.  

The rest of the books were purely cosmetic, so I of course decorated them in our wedding colors and added some Lauren flair ;)

I excited that I finally came across a way to use our wedding cards and really enjoy them :)  

Also if I could ask all of you to say a little prayer for me I have a big opportunity tomorrow and I am really needing postive thoughts and prayers sent my way.  Thank you!

Deck the Halls

Hello All!  What a wonderful holiday weekend with family :)  Splitting time between the families was an interesting experience to work through, but I'm hoping that Thanksgiving helped us to see what works (and doesn't work) for the holidays so that we are better prepared for Christmas and are able to spend quality time with both of our families :)

As much as I love Thanksgiving, I ADORE Christmas!  This time of year is so special and hopeful, and I am really excited for our first Christmas as a married couple :)  One aspect of the holiday that I was really excited for was decorating our house, and after emerging from my turkey coma I set to work making a beautiful tree skirt for our tree.  I used these examples from Pinterest as inspiration:

DIY Tree Skirt

DIY No Sew Tree Skirt

I took tips from both ideas and forged ahead making my own.  I used about four yards of fabric total that was divided into five different kinds of fabric.

Here is the fabric breakdown:

*Largest Ring - 1 1/2 yards

*Second Ring - 1 yard

*Third Ring - 3/4 yard

*Fourth Ring - 1/2 yard

*Fifth/ Sixth Ring - 1/2 yard

I used a cheap $1 44" felt tree skirt from the dollar store and set to work.  I started by cutting the fabric into 4" wide strips (this takes a while so recruiting help is always good).

Once the strips were cut I loosely sewed one side and scrunched the fabric to create a pretty wave effect. When all of the strips had been sewn I began applying them to the felt tree skirt.  I measured three inches in from the edge of the tree skirt to mark the first place to attach the fabric strips.  I chose three inches because I wanted the fabric to hang off the edge of the felt tree skirt an inch.

I chose to go the no sew route of attaching the fabric strips and hot glued them to the existing tree skirt.  If you are handier with a sewing machine you could also attach the strips that way :)

When I got to the center of the skirt I chose to do two layers of the same fabric although you could choose one more fabric option.

I am THRILLED with how the skirt turned out and total my project came to around $23!  Cheaper and prettier (in my opinion) than any that I have seen at the stores this season :)

When we got home we went right to work setting up and decorating our tree so we put our tree skirt around the tree!

Here is the final product:

I am looking forward to a wonderful holiday season!

Why must marriage be anything but good?

Each day of my job I get to build relationships with the physicians and office staff that I call on, and because I only see them once every two weeks it is a slow process.  One of the easiest topics to talk about is the fact that I am a newlywed :)  Many of my offices remember me, because I got married and left for my honeymoon after only calling on them once!  Each time I go in I get the question of "how is married life?" and I happily reply "WONDERFUL!!!"  The response I get a lot of times is "Wait a bit, that will end" and I joke that I will be looking out for that.

Lately though I have been thinking, why do people place the expectation on marriage that at some time it will stop being wonderful?  I do not mean to say that marriage is not hard work or that there will not be days where arguements take place, but why do some feel that there is a point in every marriage where it stops being an amazing experience and becomes a burden?

I believe that there has to be a commitment to making your marriage be a place of love, acceptance, forgiveness, and growth.  At church on Sunday Pastor Mark shared a story of conjoined twins who were joined at the heart and he stated "Since separation is not an option cooperation becomes an obligation."  This is the mindset that we should enter into marriage with.  Marriage is not a temporary high that goes away, it is a committment to another person that should always be honored.  It is work and dedication, but at the same time it can be a place of great love and beauty.  In order to be at that place, we must work on our marriage diligently and not let separation enter our minds.

Matthew 12:25 states, "...Any kingdom at war with itsef is doomed.  A city or home divided against itself is doomed."  This is what stands to happen to marriage when both parties are not fully committed to cooperation and working to build a strong, loving bond between them that cannot be destroyed.  Marriage does not have to be a union that ends up bad no matter what, but our choices can lead it to that place or they can lead it in a healthy direction.

I apologize for the randomness of this entry, but it has been on my heart for a while and I wanted to share it :)  Happy Wednesday