Some improvements!

 I finally bought some euro pillows to go with our set!

It's nice to have it look complete now.

 I used pictures we printed for the wedding and put them under the glass on my desk

I am very excited to have our laundry sorter!

I labeled it so Josh knows where to put different kinds of clothes. =)

Shower dispenser - yay!

 Corner shower caddy - I love not having everything

piled up on the window sill.

 Do I see some bare floor appearing in this room at last???

 Frame on the right by Danielle, frame on the left by Jan

Cross from Josh for the first birthday we were dating

Wall votive holders from Nate for Christmas a couple years ago

 I rearranged the kitchen, it's much more functional and open!

 New fun shelves!

 Wall decal

I exchanged the shower curtain rod that I had inside the window frame

with the curtains on it for an actual valance! It's so much better and functional.

 This window became...

So much better!

A little bit of life

We had a wild storm on July third. The first of the monsoon season!

Within minutes we had standing water in our parking lot and had to close

the back windows because debris was getting pounded against the screens.

Just another nice(ish) dinner with Josh for an evening at home!

I had a frame that I wanted to hang that didn't have the appropriate hardware

 Thank you Pinterest!

I've been wanting a little show shelf but didn't want to spend $15 for one at Target.

 So I used two extra shelves from a cabinet and made my own!

Thank you, Josh, for helping me do the cutting. =)

Home...

I want to share some pictures of my new life here in Las Cruces, specifically our apartment. I've really enjoyed unpacking and arranging all the wedding gifts in our house!

The bathroom - by far the easiest

room to decorate and organize!

This is the "spare room"

Currently the "junk room"

 Living room

Kitchen(ish)

The whole house is much more clean and functional at this point and those who know me will not doubt how much I compulsively clean! I love having my own home, it's so much fun!

June

Here's my monthly blog! =)

We got back to Las Cruces on June 10, the day before Josh and I both had to go back to work. This is always a challenge coming from California because we're already an hour earlier here and when we have to work early it's like getting up that much earlier than we're already used to. But I think it was good to jump right back into things. It helped me get up early and be productive especially that first week. Within the first week I had a LOT of things done. Many gifts unpacked and put in their places.

I just have to say that I am so grateful Josh and I are in a two bedroom apartment. Because it is wonderful to have that extra room. Eventually I plan on in being a guest room, but right now I would really describe it as a "junk" room! From the day we go back we decided not to bring anything into our room because we didn't want to deal with the mess so we just took everything into that room and brought it out as we knew where it was going to be.

My kitchen is looking especially good now that I rearranged it just the other day. I had some ill-placed cupboards that were making the operation inconvenient. So I think I now have everything in the most logical and practical places. I'm also excited about the living room because it's pretty much done and looking the way I want it to.

I would love to post pictures because I have taken some of the progress we've made but I forgot to bring my camera. We don't have internet at our apartment and I rarely get on with my computer at a different location. But I will try to post some pictures soon to give an idea of our new home!

If anyone would be willing to pray for me I'd really appreciate it right now. There are some adjustments that are difficult for me right now. One is just the difference between here and where I am from. The heat is sometimes unbearable, and the town is so limited in available activities. (Pray for Josh, he's having a lot of trouble sleeping and I'd blame a lot of that on the heat.) I also still feel in a kind of limbo here and I'm hesitant to try and make many real friends here. I don't see it as a place I want to be tied down to since we do not plan on staying longer than a year as Josh graduates next spring. Anyway prayers would be appreciated!

MAY, 2012

The past month has got to be one of the best in my entire life. I had such a wonderful time going home for my wedding and getting to be with my favourite people in the whole world! My bestie was there from Utah for three weeks, Nate was home from Cuba for two weeks, and family from all over came into town. It was just a blast to see everyone and be doing stuff all the time!


The wedding itself was so much fun. I had anticipated being very nervous and emotional especially during the ceremony. But I wasn't at all! I think seeing Josh beforehand helped a lot because I didn't have that anxiety about seeing him for the first time when I walked down the isle. We did all of our pictures that afternoon and had lots of time to spare for that. We got to pray before the ceremony started, and that was very nice. It was such a special ceremony and everything went perfectly! I am so excited to see all the pictures and the video.


I had a really good time during the reception but it WAS exhausting. It was fun to see and talk to everybody, but I wish I could have done that over like...a week. Seeing all the people who mean so much to me and only having about 30 seconds per person/group was so frustrating, I just wanted to sit down and have a nice long visit with everyone there.


Our honeymoon was wonderful - two nights at a hotel in Costa Mesa and 4 nights at a little cabin near Lake Arrowhead. It was relaxing and very nice time to have just with Josh! After that we stayed with my parents for a week. We got to see Nate and Rebecca off that the airport when they each left and spent a lot of good time with my family as well as getting a lot of packing and stuff done. We got to spend a day and night with my family in Peoria and that was fun! We went swimming and played volleyball on Saturday and went to church with them before heading out. We had lunch with Josh's grandparents on the way home and then have been pretty busy trying to unpack and organize all the wedding presents in our apartment! All I can say is I am SO grateful for our extra bedroom right now.


I am looking forward to getting back into a routine and seeing all our Cruces friends. There will be a reception for us on Saturday and that should be fun! Anyone from this area is welcome to come, it's at the church from 2-4 pm. I am always excited to get off work and head back to the apartment to work work work!

Registries and Website

The wedding approaches! So many people at church asked me today about the wedding preparations and if I was stressed. I hadn't really thought about it but I realised that I'm really not very stressed right now. I'm very tired even though I haven't been very active from all the thinking I've had to do. Just mentally worn out I guess. But I just don't think about wedding stuff when I'm not DOING wedding stuff so I'm not really worrying about it and thinking about it all the time. This is a huge blessing and making it all easier on me, but there's still a lot to do!

Josh and I have a website for our wedding information. If you have any questions, refer to the website and it will probably answer your questions. You can find that website HERE.

We are registered at Crate & Barrel, Bed Bath & Beyond, CUTCO, and Target.

I'd encourage you to look online for a gift as buying online has many good options and often times you cannot find what you want in the store. Shipping directly to us would be great so we don't have to take it home with us in my car. Also giftcards are welcome! Please don't feel like it's an "easy" gift, they are very useful to us in the coming months!

All we've been given!

March was a very good month! I was able to go home at the end of February, which I talked about in my last post, and again in the middle of March with Josh and his sisters during their spring break! We had a good trip - very busy. We did a lot, but I missed spending time with my family. I wish I had gotten to see my parents more and do things with them, but I am grateful that I had gotten to spend so much time with them on my previous trip.

I am so excited that they are coming out here in less than two weeks! They will be driving here for the shower that Josh's mom is throwing for me and I am very excited to show them my new home. It will only be for a couple days but I intend to make the most of it. =)

This past Tuesday I went to work and noticed a cupboard and a box spring mattress along with it's metal frame out on the curb at my employer's house. I asked Sarah about it and said if they were just getting rid of it Josh and I would love to take them! She said the mattress was in perfect condition, they just didn't need it anymore since they got a new bed that didn't require a box spring. So Josh and I borrowed Bryan's truck that evening and came for the mattress! This was a total answer to prayer because Josh had bought a used mattress set but the top was queen and the bottom was king. So we have had our eye out for a deal on a queen box spring and here we were able to get one for free!

After that my boss told me there was some more furniture they were going to throw out and they wanted us to have first pick if we wanted it. So on Friday afternoon Josh and I went over and Randy showed us some of the things they didn't have room for anymore including another cupboard (We are all for more storage solutions right now since his apartment has very little storage space!), some chairs which will be wonderful for extra seating or just putting outside the door for warm summer evenings, and two hip height narrow tables that we have put in the kitchen for some extra counter space. I am SO thankful to them because it is helping to make that apartment more functional. Josh's room finally looks like a bedroom since the bed is off the floor and looking nice. The kitchen is looking great too! Oh and also the rug that we got from the Wak's kind of pulls everything together making it look like a home.

God has been very good to have people in our lives to graciously give us so much! I'm also very glad that Josh and I have both been raised by parents who have taught us frugality, and how to be sensible. We don't need new or perfect things, and we're more than happy to use second hand household items. I hope to look back on this time of our lives and remember all the provision and never forget how blessed we are to have much more than we need to get by.