Marriage year two

For the last two years, I have been one with my favorite human. Year two has been even better than year one.

Christmas Party 2015

As expected, each day I learn more about him, and more about myself in the beautiful gift of marriage. God gave us the gift of marriage to teach us to love as Jesus loves.  In Ephesians 5 we are asked to love one another as Christ loves the church and to give ourselves to one another just as Christ gave Himself for us. We are asked to feed and care for each other just as Jesus did for the church.

 

I am incredibly humbled to have found a partner in George. His constant support of my dreams, career, thoughts, and ramblings give me wind beneath my wings. His goofy smile brings joy to my days. His brilliant intellect keeps me sharp and grounded.  He is handy, funny, creative, and patient.

 

Year two has brought lots of great memories and sweet moments shared together.  (I am working on a year- in – review post to keep as a memory of all the fun we have had).

Keystone Feb 2015

It may sound insane, but my husband impresses me most when we disagree. Call it a fight, spat, argument, whatever the severity, he always catches me off guard by turning a heated moment into an ” I love you” , “I forgive you”, or “Will you forgive me?”  It is easy to love someone when things are bright and rosy, but its another story when the feathers are ruffled.   George loves me when I am hard to love. Heaven knows, I can be stubborn. Sometimes I just want to be angry, sometimes when I am hurt, I want others to feel the pain too. Never before has my anger, embarrassment, or hurt  been met with so much love, even when I don’t feel worthy of love.

 

When God asked us to love like Christ loves the church, I think this is the type of love He means. When we have sinned or don’t feel worthy of God’s love He meets us with open arms, begging us to come back to Him.

 

George loves me with this same love, and it fills my heart.  As he embraces me in his arms, its washes away my anger and hurt. When I try to walk away or say “leave me alone” he quickly responds with, “I will never leave you alone, you are mine”.

 

This is one way that God has used His gift of marriage to reveal His love for me.

 

Here is to many more years of marriage. I look forward to the adventures, memories, and growing with you. In this next year, may we learn more about each other, ourselves, and the Lord.

Surfside TX 2015

Memphis 2015

See What I learned about one year of Marriage

See wedding posts here

1 John 4: 7-19

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

19 We love because he first loved us.

Issues

This is a test post. looks like my site might be down.

My dad is cooler than your dad

Okay, let’s not get into a fight about it. I am sure your dad is cool too, but I just really like mine ok? ( Warning: Some dads may be embarrassed in the making of this post…well one dad ❤ payback)

Today is a special day. It is the birthday of my number one blog reader: my dad. Even though I haven’t been publishing much here lately, my dad checks in on the regular to see what’s going on in this head of mine. So here is to you!

A few things you might not know about my dad.

#1 he rocked the flat top

My dad is a great athlete, but an even better cheerleader.

Dad and I connected over sports growing up. He has a lot of great stories about his glory days. He uses these stories to teach lessons about life. He made me confident about my small size on a big field, and taught me that hard work can be greater than natural talent. In high school, I made field hockey my sport, and Dad searched the internet to become an expert in the sport. He drove me to tournaments, pep talked me, carried my equipment (the best!), cheered and embarrassed me the loudest, and then, reviewed the game on the drive home. My dad was not the type that “tried” to be there from my games. He WAS there. In fact, in four years of playing, I can remember the single time that he was NOT there. I remember that he tried to change his flights and apologized countless times. I know missing that game was harder for him than it was for me.

My dad is chill.

He is also good at chilling

Looking back, I am amazed at how patient and even tempered my Dad was with us kids growing up. He doesn’t loose his head over the small things, and is very intentional with his words and actions when he is upset. I am naturally rather high strung and a worry bug, but learned from Dad’s example to let some things go, and focus on the “now”.

My dad is strong.

Yes, physically my dad  very strong. If you can’t tell from the photo, I can vouch for him, he has helped me move probably over eight times in the last six years. But looking past those big muscles, my Dad has great strength in the inside. He stand up for the things he believes in.  He has been strong for our family as we went though tough loss. He has made lots of sacrifices for our family, and works hard to make sure we have all we need (+more).

My dad is fearless.

He is a tough guy, and I think he likes to show that side often. He hunts, fishes, rides ATVs, and has a handful of scars with though stories. Sure your dad might do that too, but were I think he is most fearless is with his feelings. He has never been to tough to tell me or show me that he loves me and that he is proud of me. I hear a lot of girls talk about how they “know” their dad loves them, but he doesn’t use the words very often. Well my dad is tougher than your dad. On many occasions, he has pulled me aside, very intentionally to look me in the eye and tell me “I want to tell you that I love you”.

My dad is smart.

Dad in one of his many years in college

Maybe it is because he want to college for a few extra years, or maybe it is because he completes the crossword and Sudoku puzzle every night after dinner WHILE schooling the contestants on the Wheel of Fortune. Regardless, my dad could school your dad in trivia anytime. He values the benefits of reading for pleasure and knowledge, and I am so thankful he shared this with us.

My dad is sensitive.

As per family tradition, on  my 10th birthday, my dad gave me my very first pocket knife. I was so excited to have this “adult” gift, but looking back now I treasure the note that came along with the gift much more. I still have the letter, and I treasure the words you wrote and keep them in a special place.

“When tough little boys grow up to be dads They turn into big babies again” Yup he cried like a baby when we danced. Sorry Dad, secret is out.

My Dad is a bomb husband.

Love birds

Dad, thank you for loving my mom. Your love has been an example to me. So many of my friends parents are no longer together. You and mom have shown me that marriage isn’t always easy, but it is worth the fight. Thank you for fighting through the hard times for Shannon, Will, and me. Thank you for showing us that love is more than flowers and hugs, it is a selfless commitment, and working as a team.

My dad is selfless.

He gets up at the crack of dawn every morning (so early the stoplights are still blinking yellow), so that he can put in his hours at work and be back to spend as much time with us after school as possible. Without doubt, Dad’s truck pulled in the drive way by 4:00 to ensure plenty of time to help with play with us, help with homework, eat, and then take us to sports practice, or cut the grass or take care of the house before dark…then he gets up and does it again.

When a guy is insensitive, or forgetful, or lazy, people often throw out the excuse “it’s because he is a man” or “you know how men are”.  Well sorry boys, that excuse does not work for me, because I grew up with a man who strives to do his best for our family.  He is not always perfect, but he always tries, and best of all, admits and apologies when he sees he hasn’t lived up to the high standards he set for himself.  I am so lucky to have a great relationship with him. My dad has set a great example of what a father and husband should look like and for that I am so thankful.

Happy Birthday Dad!  I love you old man!

Oh and he kills it on the dance floor.

Weekly Ramblings: Donkey Kong and Post- Wedding Blues Edition

Monday:

This ramble got to long…must make separate post.

Monday Tuesday (psych! Labor day off..don’t you just love that feeling when you realize the weekend is one day closer):

As I pull on to the highway I check my rear view for a safe merge, I spot some commotion behind me. Squealing breaks, speeding up, slowing down, rapid lane change.  I clearly missed the start to the road rage I witnessed this morning, but I have never seen anything like it.  This was full blown chuck -your breakfast- out- the -window rage.(That is not some kind of hip phrase the kids are saying.) There was literal breakfast thrown out the window. One car had clearly ticked off the driver of the other and they were playing dangerous highway games trying to pass one another and then get into the other’s way and slow down. It reminded me of game I would play with my brother if we were in bumper cars. I was torn between keeping my distance to avoid an accident and desperately trying to keep up with the cars to see how this feud would end.  Right before they sped out of my view, I saw one car get even with the other and chuck something out of the window. I am pretty sure a hand gesture (and likely choice words) were exchanged. As I came up on the tossed object,  I saw a peeled, but not yet eaten banana. As I zoomed past, I checked my rear view mirror half expecting to see a car donkey-kong spin behind me.
Wednesday:

I am having post wedding depression. I hear this is a thing. Once all the excitement leading up to the big day is over the feeling of “it’s over, what do I do now” kicks in.

I didn’t experience this after my own wedding. I was too excited for George to move in and start a life together. We never lived together and this really was a new beginning to look forward to each day.

I do however know quite a few brides who did have post wedding blues. (Jennifer, I am looking at you 🙂

Well I am having the sister of the bride/maid of honor post wedding blues. I miss the anticipation of seeing all our family and friends. I miss the shopping. I miss the spreadsheet and to do lists.  More than anything, I am desperately missing the obvious excuse to call my sister and my mom to discuss wedding details.  And I miss the mid day g-chats about the guest list or hair appointments.

Wedding planning=tons of time with these two beauties!

Good thing work is keeping me busy or I might just start planning my second wedding anniversary celebration. That’s a thing right? Like having a 2 year vow-renewal party? My grandparents had one for their 50th anniversary so why can’t I every few years. I just like a party okay?

That’s all for now folks.

Hey. What’s Up? Hello. Wedding Edition

Hey. What’s Up? Hello.

Remember me?

Yeah its me. Turns out when you stop blogging for a bit it can be overwhelming to come back. “Where did I leave off” “Should I start with this or that?” then I just give up and skip it all together. Well I’ve decided to go ahead with it this time. Maybe it will be like two old friends and we will just pick up right where we left off. Or maybe you will be really confused about my life. Who’s to say. Typically I over explain things anyways, so I think we’ll be okay 😉

Last weekend was my big sister’s wedding. She wrote a bit about it here.

Isn’t she gorgeous? (He’s handsome too)

The whole day was very “Shannon” (and Josh too). Black and gold, wildflower, packed dance floor, 300+ closest friends.

Shannon was a relaxed and beautiful bride. She brought her vision to fruition and didn’t even have to use a spreadsheet to organize her spreadsheets !GASP! My wedding was spreadsheet overload, and I loved each and every cell 😀 Remember it here.

We had a blast celebrating the happy couple.

Whitney love!

There was even an impromptu Meatloaf  sing off.

They say there is always sometime that goes “wrong” at a wedding. Our “disaster” had to do with the not-so-sunny sunflowers that were delivered.

See what I mean?!

Aunt Lynn and I were able locate 100 perky stems just in time.

You cold pretty much say we saved the day here.

I LOVED being a part of this special day with Shannon and Josh! Weddings are the best.

And dancing too 🙂

What I Learned from 1 Year of Marriage

At the beginning of this month, George and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. This makes me a marriage pro….NOT. I know I still have a TON to learn about marriage. However, after reflecting on the past year, I have jotted down 10 things I have learned about being married. This past year has really been an incredible ride. Some days it feels like we have been together forever, and some days it seems like the wedding was just yesterday.

So if you are looking for a little marriage advice from a newlywed, or just want a glimpse into my dream. Here goes!

 Every day is  like being on a date

I have had 365 (plus a few) date nights in a row. And it rocks. Every day, every night I get to spend with my favorite person. We have found that if we want to go out, we need to make an effort to make Friday night plans in advance. If we don’t, it will always be a pizza, a Redbox, and sweats. Here’s the catch though, I love Friday night’s like that 🙂 Don’t worry we are not hermits, we get out plenty, its just that I used to have a bad case of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) that has totally vanished.

Before: A Friday night in your jammies watching Netflix by yourself = lame

After: A Friday night in your jammies watching Netflix with your husband = a date night of relaxing bliss to look forward to all week long

If I want something done, I can’t be picky about it

I’m a control freak. I am particular about the little things. I have learned if I want the dishes (or enter any other chore here) done I can’t be picky or I end up doing them myself.  So what if he uses a little too much soap, I am not the one scrubbing, soaking, and rinsing after dinner.

If you don’t want to live in a battlefield, don’t start a battle.

Some things don’t matter in the big picture. If I got upset every time the toilet seat was left up, I would spend more time chasing him down to yell at him than it was worth. I can choose to get angry, find him, yell at him, ORRR I could put the seat down and go. (Middle of the night exception…if I fall in, you bet I’m gonna wake him up and let him know haha).

Also don’t miss understand me, its not about bottling up the anger, or becoming a push over. If something really does bother me, I try my best to have a sit down conversation about it.  The angry, heat- of-the moment, conversations usually don’t go as well.

Forgive quickly

I admit, this is one is very much a work in progress. One huge difference between a room mate and a husband, is after a fight, you know he still loves you. A fight with a room mate could potentially, hopefully not, but potentially, ruin the relationship forever. When the lease is over, you can move out, life moves on, and never see them again. Moving out/divorce is NOT an option in my marriage. So why stay angry? Anger is hard work, and the longer it goes on, the harder it is to get rid of. Take a few minutes, cool down, think about the situation and what needs to be changed in the future, then forgive and move on. Heck, making up is the best part. Get there as soon as possible!

You catch more flies with honey

Some times when I am feeling like I haven’t been getting the love/appreciation I want/ deserve, I tend to get bitter and crabby.  I can really start to feel down when he doesn’t seem to notice me, appreciate something I’ve done, or hasn’t been particularity affectionate. I can either begin to sulk, snap at him or I look at myself and the way I have been treating him lately.  Getting angry sure won’t make him want to love on me. These things tend to go in cycles (he wasn’t feeling appreciated so he didn’t seem to appreciate me etc.). When I step back, I almost always see something I wish I was doing better in the relationship. Then I am honest and explain myself and my feelings, and bring up the items I want to work on along with those I wish he would pay more attention to. It’s kind of like  the saying,   “If you want to be treasured, be treasure.”  Work on yourself first before you point out the other’s flaws.

Love is not a feeling

In marriage, some days you don’t feel the giddy “puppy love” you felt on the wedding day. That’s okay. Love is not a feeling, it’s a commitment. No matter how I might be “feeling” inside, I made a promise to love, respect and honor him. He might not seem so “loveable” at all times, but its my job to love him, and his job to love me. Those moments (or days…maybe even weeks or months) pass, and uncover new amazing reasons to fall more and more in love with one another.

Respect

I read a book before I got married that talked a lot about how men yearn for respect in the same way women yearn to be loved. Of course it works vice versa, but something in men’s wiring associates respect deeply with being loved.

“Each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.” – Ephesians 5:33

It doesn’t mean that women don’t need to be respected or men don’t need to be loved. Its simply drawing attention to some ways that God made men and women different and therefore

have different needs. This is something that I have kept in mind throughout  the first year of marriage. Poking fun of my husband or correcting him in public are big signs of disrespect. If something bothers me, its best to address it in private.

 Team work

“The goal in marriage is not to think alike, but to think together”.    – Robert C Dodds

Such a great quote!  We are not the same person. We do not always agree, but we can come to a compromise. We often say to each other “Can you be on my team here?”. We might not totally understand each other all the time, but we do work to stand together. Looking at each other’s point of view, discussing the situation broadens our perspectives.  We are not that couple that does EVERYTHING together.   We both have our own activities, some of our own friends, and enjoy alone time.  I think this is really important in all relationships (dating and married).  We can exist without one another, but we are better versions of our selves when we are together and/or have each other’s support.

 Blow money is essential

 I am a budget nerd. George and I have some lofty goals for our finances and savings, as a result, we keep a tight budget. I really think  having this “blow money” would help anyone who argues about finances even if you don’t keep a formal budget. In our budget we have a section for each of us that is called “blow” money (Dave Ramsey FPU Term). This is kind of similar to an allowance. This is a set amount that we have each month to spend on whatever we choose. As long as you stay in the limit, no arguments are allowed. It can be saved up over the months for something big, or blown on little items here and there. For example… I have a lot of cute boots. Do I need more boots? No. Does George want me to spend our money on boots I don’t  need? No. BUTTTTTTT. If I find  a pair I really want, and have enough in my budget for them, he can’t complain that I spend too much money on shoes.  If George decides to spend his blow money on remote control helicopters, or silly phone apps, I can’t get on his back (if he keeps it in his limit). The rest of our budget money is generally used on stuff we need, or purchases we decide on together.  We have some rules on determining what is considered a “blow” purchase, but I could write an entire post on that. (Comment or message me if you have questions on this). Overall, it really keeps us from having financial arguments.

It’s great to start off every day with a hug, kiss, and a smoothie.

My favorite place in the entire world is snuggled up my face in his chest for my morning hug before I leave for work. It’s hard to have a bad day when I start it off feeling loved, protected, and provided for by my man.

Here is to many many more years of marriage to my favorite husband and to many many more life lessons to come. I pray that I remember these lessons years down the road and remember this feeling of love, gratitude, and excitement I have towards my husband. This year has been an amazing adventure and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I am so thankful for the family and friends that have been there as support to our relationship and as an example of love in our lives.

Do you have any advice for year two? Comment or message me please!

Life Update/Random Rants

Happy New Year!

Thought I would pop in for a little random life update.

1. Cuties are the bomb. George and I are doing another sugar detox/whole30/get in shape challenge. This means I have been going hard on these sweet snacks….cough3or4adaycough… Yum! I hope there is no such thing as too much vitamin C or potassium intake (George has been going hard on the bananas) 2. Thick/full/bushy eyebrows are in. It’s a thing people. Unfortunately thin, blonde, nonexistent eyebrows run in the family.  Want proof? This insta pic  my sister took showing off the “Whitney Wrinkle” aka ” forehead hotdogs” also shows off the family brow (or lack there of).

You can see we don’t have a lot in the brow department except for the 3 young boys…well see how long those last ha! Oh but check out mine (top left). This brings me to my point. I got a brow tint and LOVE it!

This is what my eyebrows looked like before (you can see the after in the shot above).

See the blonde, thin, and patchy?

Most places that wax eyebrows will also tint them. It’s a very mild hair dye that is semi permanent. Before tinting, I had been drawing them on most days which can be hard getting them to match :/.  Now I don’t need too! When I am wanting to look fancy, I still fill in the gaps with either this or this . I would recommend starting with this Maybelline define-a-brow gelish pencil (I used light brown) to try it out. The color doesn’t have a red tint to it (like most eyebrow products do), and goes on much more natural than a regular pencil.  If you love it (and I am sure you will), you will find that it goes fast and in that case, this Tarte product (I use taupe) is worth the investment. It comes with a brush to “paint” them in. It’s called a mousse, but really goes on in a similar consistency as they gelish pencil above. The pencil is great but I found I could go through one each month. The little pot of Tarte mousse has lasted me wayyyy longer. I think it will get me past a year for sure.

I think when my eye brows are full it frames my eyes best and helps me look more complete and awake… [eyebrow tangent complete]

3. George and I celebrated the 1st anniversary of our marriage. It has been an AMAZING year. I love him even more today than I did one year ago. I think I tell me like 10000 times a day too. I hope to post next week what I have learned so far from marriage. I could probably do 10 post on this, but overall, marriage has been absolutely wonderful. Sharing my life with this man has been better than I could ever imagine.

Remember this day? Can you believe it’s been a year?

On a semi-related note, I am toying with the idea of selling my wedding dress. I just feel like its too pretty to just sit in a box. If you know of anyone that would love it as much as I do let me know!

4. Christmas was great this year! I was so glad to host my mother and sister- in -law at our home and then head to STL to celebrate with all the Krystopa Whitney Clan.  I stunk it up on the picture taking but here are a few I snagged on Facebook.

Christmas cookies with the Terlep’s
Kathy and Anna have incredible artictic talent, George has an incredible sweet tooth for cookies and cupcakes, and well I just have a lot of fun haha.The Krystopa crew (missing a few). We have grown so much that there is not one place in the house were we can all [safely] fit with enough room to take a picture. Thank goodness it wasn’t too cold out.

Girl cousins (and some little ones)!

The reindeer team for some family feud. Love my cousins!
5. We grew up reading a lot in the Whitney house.  As adults, we have started a great tradition for Christmas: The Whitney Book Exchange. I am sure Shannon will do a great post about this years books soon. In the meantime, I wanted to throw a shout out to the two books I have read/reading.  I choose “Unbroken” . A movie just came out based on the book. Read it. Soooooooo goood.  The movie is good too, but there is so much more detail in the book.  This unbelievably true story is worth the read.

Now, I am currently about half way though my dad’s pick “One Second After”.  This one is really blowing my mind. This fiction novel sheds light on our society’s dependence on electronics and the scary tendencies of human nature. Apocalyptic /post- apocalyptic stories  seem to be a trend right now, but this one has really got me thinking.

Here I am bundled up with a book and my new heated blanket (the hubby gives me the best gifts)!

In case you missed our Christmas card, here were are!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Friday to you 🙂

Christmas Traditions & Ornaments Part II

Last week I posted on some favorite ornaments on my mom and dad’s tree. If you missed it, you can read it here.

This year, as the weather began getting colder, I started painting a picture in my head of our first Christmas together as a little family in our own home. I was brain storming of great holiday traditions that I wanted to start that we could one day tell our kids about and carry on with them.

Our friends have an elf on the shelf that they take turns setting up for each other every night. They have the cutest and funniest ideas. I wanted to make this a tradition for us too.

I bought an elf last year.

I got the elf out this year.

She has moved once…. and it was because she was in my way.

Fail.

I wanted to decorate a beautiful gingerbread house.

Did we decorate a ginger bread house? Yes.

Is it beautiful? I will leave that up to your interpretation. ha ha

It turns out someone was a little bossy when it came to the creative vision… so we ended up each decorating one face of the house and sharing the roof.  Ill let you guess who did each side. 

Hint. The snow must have been blowing at a fierce angle, only hitting George’s side.

This is our first Christmas (married and) in our first house. I wanted to decorate our home perfectly. I think I succeed on this goal for the most part. Butttttttt, because I love a good deal, I plan to get most of our Christmas decor on sale December 26th, so this year, our decorations are minimal 🙂 They are still oh so beautiful and I LOVE our tree. Pictures of the tree will come soon, but I am waiting for our Christmas cards to go out first so I don’t spoil the surprise.

In the meantime, I will highlight a few ornaments we have together (and those I snatched from Mom and Dads collection and brought to our tree in KC).

We received a package from our real estate agents last week. Inside was this sweet ornament commemorating our new home. I love these types of ornaments because years down the road when this house is no longer new and exiting, we will pull out our Christmas tubs and for just a minute be reminded of the feeling our house give us now. This little ornament carries the feelings of excitement, accomplishment, and family.

We have a set of these reflective diamond ornaments that were originally my grandpa’s when he was a kid. These puppies have been around for three generations of Christmas morning smiles!

George and I each have our own graduation cap and gown to commemorate hours upon hours of studying.

We painted ornaments as our own “Sips and Splatters” craft last weekend. Not too shabby aye?

Mom  got me this one. Back in middle school I was nicknamed (by my family of course) as the “baby tamer”. I had baby sitting jobs lined up every weekend and could handle even the wild kids my sister refused.

When I travel, I always like to snag an ornament to remind me of my adventure. Here are South Africa and Ireland.

My oldest friend, Sarah home-made me this beauty in 2004. Love it!

Next up a handful of memories of the days of CJA. The beloved itchy plaid skit, pole vaulting, and field hockey.

Last year, my mom and dad gave me this Cinderella ornament for my last Christmas before I got married. 

Now we have a little collection of engagement and wedding ornaments as well!

I still have a few more fun activities that I wanted to do this year in the holiday season. We still have a week left to make some memories. 🙂 Whether  they are planed or unplanned traditions, I am sure they will develop over time. I am just excited for the upcoming family time with the ones I love!

What are your favorite traditions?

Christmas Ornament Classics

Merry (almost) Christmas! I was so glad I had the chance to head back to St. Louis this past weekend for some long over due family time. In just the 58 hours back home, we squeezed in a LOT of fun. We starting off the weekend we celebratory drinks and pinterest fest for my newly engaged sister, and ended the weekend with the Garth Brooks/Trisha Yearwood concert (which was AMAZING btw!)

We celebrated Garth’s Dad’s Birthday. He’s much to handsome to be this damn old. 😉

Dad labeled us with our alter egos.

In between we celebrated my cousins 30th birthday, showered her with diapers for her soon to arrive twin boys, girl talked with the cousins  and aunts, and loved up on some sweet babies.

The night was complete with our version of sips and splatters ornament painting and twin trivia.

Sunday started off right with some Jesus and Jack.

Then we decorated Fort Whitney with some Christmas spirit.

Every year at Christmas I am in aww of the beautifully decorated trees on pinterest. Or how about the trees at the mall? You know, were all the ribbons, and lights, and ornaments match perfectly. Well I can’t speak for you, but the Whitney tree is still the most beautiful tree I have ever seen. It’s not because it matches, to be honest. its really a hodgepodge of colors and shapes crammed on to every branch. I love our tree because it is FULL of wonderful memories. Each year we add a memory (or two or three) to the tree. I absolutely love digging out the ornaments each year and laughing at the funny memories and reminiscing of years past. I snapped a few photos this to share some Whitney classics.

First off, Mom was kind enough to hand-me-down the Asian santas to George (remember how he has trouble keeping his eyes open for photos?)  These squinty eyed santas will be a perfect addition to our KC Christmas.

This Christmas will be our first spent with out Zorro.  He used to love the festivities, you could tell my his extra long naps. He especially loved when we put the blow up deer antlers on this head.

Up next, Shannon’s personal favorite: Julie “the brace face”. Shannon was the only Whitney child who never wore braces, which also means she is the only Whitney child that does not have an embarrassing ornament to remember  the awkward middle age years with a mouth full of metal. Mom wanted to make sure we remember ALL the big events in our lives no matter how embarrassing.

The cheer squad. Not only did mom shop for memorable ornaments, but some times the relatives joined in on the fun. I guess cheerleader ornaments are easy to find, because we have a whole squad on the tree. I think we counted 6? I brought a few of the cheerleaders to KC this year too. Below is a personal favorite, we call her DD Cheerleader, due to her large…um…pom poms.

Next up are the photo ornaments. It seems like we made one every year at school. Here are the highlights.

Chubby santa baby 🙂

About 3 years old I think.It’d hard to tell because I wore this christmas dress a few years…then I wore Shannon’s matching dress for a few years after. #littlesisterlove

Christmas Brownie (1st grade?)

1999 was a good year for me. Denim dress, striped turtle neck and sleep in foam rollers. Oh the price of beauty.

I call this one my “Mona Lisa smile”. This was 5th grade I think. I was very self conscious of my pre-braces smile, and tried to smile without showing my crooked teeth. I swear I was not this serious all the time.

Skipping a few years to high school graduation, oh the memories.

Each year it is tradition to get a god-child ornament from my god mother. This little bear for my third Christmas has always been my favorite.

What a nerd!

Seeing my field hockey ornaments and photos in my room really have me missing my CJA team.

Simba and Nala are some long time favorites. We used to play barbies with the Nativity set. Baribe and friends would travel from afar to see their Aunt Mary and new baby cousin Jesus. Sometimes Simba and Nala would come too.

And well close it out with a Mizzou Tiger.We are looking forward to the citrus bowl!  

George Turns 24!

Today is my husband’s 24th birthday! Whoooo!!!  Here is a little tribute to him. Below are some some well known bits, and some best kept secrets about my handsome husband, favorite person, and love of my life: George Austin Terlep.

• Starting with the obvious: He LOVES Dr. Pepper. If it came in human form, he would have married it. He swears he can taste all 23 flavors of deliciousness.

  

  Dr. Pepper toast at the wedding

   He has a definitive ranking of  which restaurants and fast food joints have the best Dr. Pepper. If you think that a Dr. Pepper taste the same no matter where you go, you would most definitely be WRONG! (if you are wondering, straight from the can is the best)

  

  We were Doctor+Pepper for Halloween. Get it?

• I’d like to start off the second item by mentioning that George and I have a very trusting and committed relationship. BUT. There is one person I fear that some day my husband may run off with. It’s not some ex girl friend from his past. It’s Trent Raines.

These two have a love affair that can not be put into words. They are two peas in a pod that have SO much in common (including their  passion for the  Lord and their obsession for Dr. Pepper, the latest tech gadgets, and marrying  beautiful women ha). Luckily Trent’s wife, Katie,  is awesome and we can bond while the boys are off getting their bro time in. George didn’t grow up with a brother,  but there is no doubt that God gave George a brother in Trent.

Oh and a little bonus story: I do not kid. On our honeymoon we were relaxing on the beach with pina coladas in hand, and my brand new husband looks at me and says. “Wow this is paradise. The only thing that could make this better is if Trent were here too”.  ON OUR HONEYMOON! My jaw dropped and he quickly added, “…and Katie too of  course. You guys could paint each others nails or something”.

We could get Trent a coozie that says “Mr.’s Best Man”

Looks like we may need to plan a  double date vacation sometime.

Just imagine Trent jumping in on this honeymoon selfie.

• He is a true Royals fan. I’m not sure why a kid who lives about half way between KC and Cardinal Nation would pick the Royals, but George did. Even when they loose  (aka the last 35 years) he wears his blue proud. This October was a VERY exciting time in our house. 

• George is a night owl. In college staying up until 4am then sleeping in until noon was his normal. His big-boy job puts a little damper on that schedule, but some times he is still a little hard to wake up in the mornings.

  

  George in the mornings 🙂

• I do most of the cooking in the house, but every morning George makes a healthy breakfast . Green smoothies for the win!

  

  Green, or brown, or purple smoothies depending on the veggies!

• He also has become a pro griller. His specialties are Hawaiian chicken kabobs and the most mouth watering salmon known to man kind. I don’t know how he does it, but you should come over and try it for yourself.

  

  Remember that time he made ALL the hot dogs.

  (oh and chocolate covered strawberries for desert!)

• George started the duck face
• To his family, he is known as George Austin or GA…sometimes when his is being silly I call him Austin George. His camp friends know him as just Austin. Sometimes it can get confusing.

  

  “Austin” at his favorite place.

• He’s handy. Since we’ve moved he has replaced/installed all kinds of things in the house. He has also changed a lot of tires and batteries since I’ve known him.

• He’s a nerd. We met at engineering school so it’s to be expected. When I say nerd, I mean really really smart…and a total nerd 🙂

  

  Spring breaking with engineering friends

• He can dance. He’s got to be in a good mood, and surrounded by people that make him feel comfortable, but when he is, he can really cut a rug. Remember this? He learned this dance in just 1 day!
• He like games. Playing sports, video games, backgammon, yard games, you name it. He is pretty competitive and likes to win. Good thing he usually does. He  thinks he’s good at corn hole, but we all know I carry the team.
• He claims he doesn’t like to cuddle, but sometimes (when it’s cold) I wake up like this (and I love it).

  

  love me some cuddles!

• He likes Pretty Little Liars. He claims he just watches it with me, but we all know he wants to find out who A is just as much as all the other teen age girls.

  

  George channeling his teenage girl…hes going to kill me for this!

• A kid at Chuckie cheese = George at Dave and busters. And the best prize? Giant slinkies!
• He has a hard time keeping his eyes open in pictures. 

All funny things aside, I am so lucky to have George in my life. He is a brilliant man who is slow to anger and full of love and understanding. Above all, George challenges me to be a better person through his honestly, patience, commitment, and strength.  I have the privilege to spend my life with him.

Honeymoon

Dunn River Falls

    

Our first real date. The one that changed my life 🙂

Here’s to many more!