"Decorganizing"

Since a week or so before the wedding I began the never-ending process of cleaning, moving, unpacking, organizing, and decorating. Although cleaning really never ends, I've gotten the majority of the initial cleaning done. I've worked hard to convert the house from bachelor pad to cozy and comfortable, not to mention home-y. I still have some organizing to take care of, but, for the most part, the house is coming together nicely. Last night my mom came over and helped me finish a few decorating dilemmas. She helped me hang my ledger shelves in the kitchen [pictured at the end of this post along with a few other kitchen photos]. I love them! I still need to find some affordable kitchen chairs at a thrift store. I really want a vintage/ shabby chic style buffet table for my kitchen. I would prefer a teal/ turquoise color. Then my kitchen would be complete. As for the living room, I still need to complete my gallery picture wall. I just need to choose an evening with nothing going on to go through some family photographs to put on my wall.

This is the color of buffet table I would prefer:

While searching for a buffet table, I found this helpful site which tells how to paint furniture to look shabby chic!

How to Create Shabby Chic Painted Furniture | eHow.com

I think I like this style of table, only in turquoise

Here are a few photos of my kitchen: The pot rack has been a lifesaver to my cabinet space! There are many cabinets, however each has 3 shorter shelves opposed to two taller ones so it is difficult to fit taller items in them.

The retro linoleum floor is a nice touch, don't you think?

We still need some chairs for our table... the corner and wall to the right of the table is the one I want a buffet table for.

You cannot see my curtains or runner very well, but if you could you would be

able to see that there is a lot of turquoise in it. Therefore, the turquoise buffet would fit in nicely.

Say No To Kids

Only a little over a month has passed wince the wedding and already the topic of children has come up. However, not in the way one might think. We both used to love kids and eagerly anticipated the day when we would have our own. Now that we have been married, we both are not sure if we even want children, period. It might just be the phase that we are in since we are enjoying life with just the two of us. We want to travel and be able to go to concerts and nice dinners without finding a sitter or paying for overly priced kids meals.

I feel like I'm in the movie Father of the Bride II when George and Nina have just found out they are expecting and are driving back from the doctors. While Nina is gazing out the window admiring mothers and children lovingly strolling by, George is seeing mini terrors being chased by their parents. Whenever I go out and am around children, I feel like George. I see kids screaming or whining or simply even hear them talking to their parents and I cringe. I want none of that. Having kids is constant stress, a depletion of money, and a decrease in free time. Maybe I should just enjoy other people's children? There is a small part of me that wants my own children someday. I want to see if they will have Travis' eyes or my hair of if they will be a combination of both of us.

I think one recent deterrent is the fact that I work at a disorganized daycare facility that takes advantage of its teachers. It is an overwhelming job with little enjoyable moments. It is full of constant discipline and correction. My job is to sit around and wait until the kids break a rule or annoy me then I instruct them to behave. Talk about frustrating Maybe it is all of the negatives I have been experiencing that have caused me to feel the way I do. I believe that one day I will get past this and eventually want kids as I have in the past. I used to want 1 boy and 2 girls. I have never been good at coming up with boy names, but girl-wise I am set on the names Avarie (Ava) and Laila. So maybe someday when the newlywed feeling has lessened and we are settled in and have our finances under control, we will consider the possibility of expanding our family. However, as of now, I believe I have awhile before my biological clock starts ticking!

Here are some photos of our nieces and nephews! As you can see we have more than enough children in the family to keep us busy for a few years!

Joah, 1 year old

Ambrie, 3 years old

Garrett, 9 years old

Josh, 6 years old, Kyle, 6 years old

Azariah, 3 years old

Anonya, 8 years old

Travis teaching the kids how to play Operation

Browsing, Not Buying

The only negative side of getting married is the dreaded combination of finances. I can no longer go shopping on a whim and nonchalantly decide to buy that cute pair of flats or that adorable summer dress on clearance. I have to answer to the King of Saving. Don't get me wrong, I love his financial responsibilities and need that balance, but it definitely takes some getting used to when shopping was a favored hobby of mine!

Since my shopping trips have been cut off I have resorted to online browsing. Because it is too tempting to browse in stores, online I can appreciate cute pieces and resist the urge to purchase them!

Here are some adorable things I found at Anthropologie

I love florals, frills, and girly pieces. I would love to have these pieces to add to my closet...

These are from Mod Cloth

This looks so comfortable and would be perfect for fall

Love this girly floral summer dress

Post Wedding Thoughts

They say that once your wedding is over you get "Post Wedding Blues" and wish to do it over again. However, I cannot imagine ever wanting to re-do it. It was a wonderful day with minor flaws, but I am so happy that it is over. It was completely exhausting! The honeymoon was a blast. We spent the wedding night at the Radisson Hotel in Cincinnati. It was amazing. We had a balcony that overlooked the Ohio River and the Cincinnati skyline, which was a beautiful morning site. Then we disappeared for a week in Danville, Kentucky at Travis' family's lake house along Lake Herrington. It was glorious. Zero interruptions and nowhere to be. Some may view our simple honeymoon as boring, but I wouldn't have done it any other way. We were so exhausted after our big day that we slept most of the first two days of the honeymoon. It was great to not feel obligated to explore and site-see.

Married life has been a blast so far. Of course there have been minor and major adjustments that have had to be made. It's strange cooking and cleaning all of the time. We have finally been able to get our house together this past week. It is so refreshing for things to have a place. I do not consider myself OCD, but I definitely like to keep a clean and organized house. Boxes and clutter are things that drive me up a wall. Now that we are living together it allows Travis and I to spend a lot more time together. I love it! It's like a continuous slumber party. I've never laughed more in my life. We have so much fun together. This is the life I have always dreamed of for the two of us and now it is a reality and I could not be happier.

Here are some candid and professional photos from our wedding day :)

Professional photos taken by Linnealiz Photography