{Amanda Mera...She Rocks!}

Yeah...so Alex and I got more pictures taken! 

What can I say...we really love pictures! 

But the real reason for getting these photos is because our most favorite and amazing wedding photographer Amanda Mera with Sunny Studios might be moving away from us...and I'm sad...

Seriously though! I've imagined her taking my maternity photos and our baby's newborn photos. 

Maybe we'll just have to take a little trip to see her :)

But you might remember her from here, here, here, or here.   

So we got some fall/winter pictures with her and her lovely assistant at the Cincinnati Nature Center. 

If you're in the Greater Cincinnati Area, you need to check this place out! It's so beautiful and would be a great hiking/picnic-ing place!

Anyhoo...here are some of our favorites!

I'm just a little excited about Christmas...can you tell?

I just think this is funny...

This totally describes our relationship...

Thank you Amanda! You're amazing!

I swear I have some house updates to share! I just need to get on them! I'll try...I promise! 

{Real Life}

Wow...I'm a terrible blogger! It's been way too long...and I'll be honest...

I'm giving myself a break! 

There are so many times through out the week when I think

"Hm...I should probably blog this."

But this whole blog thing is supposed to be fun for me. 

Not an obligation. 

So I'm giving myself a break! 

However, I do miss blogging :)

It's a slippery slope this whole blogging thing is! 

I'll try to be back soon! I have to update on my birthday, the master bedroom, the carpeting, and Christmas decorating {I also meant to do a Thanksgiving decorating post and totally forgot...too late probably...oh well!}

So I'll be back! I promise! 

But since it's a few days until Thanksgiving...here are 10 more things that I'm thankful for the holiday season! {See my first list here}

1. Days Off. Oh thank God for Thanksgiving break! Love my kiddos, but they wear me out! 

2. Our view at night. The lights are gorgeous, and with the leave gone, it is just beautiful! 

3. My friends. I totally left this important one off my first list {to which my friends made sure I knew...love you guys!} But I really have been blessed with wonderful friends! They are supportive, forgiving, loving, and hilarious! I just wish we were all closer together! 

4. My crock pot. This puppy has gotten so much use this winter, and I love it! 

5. Our church. Crossroads does some amazing things, and we feel so blessed to be apart of such a huge community that is changing lives in our city, and around the world. 

6. Christmas...Eeeeee....Christmas! 

7. Hot Chocolate. There is nothing like cuddling up on the couch with a cup of coco to make you feel warm inside. Mmm...hot chocolate! 

8. Target. This place has given me so much information and awesomeness! I do have a complaint though...why does it all add up so fast? 

9. The color yellow. Because it just makes me feel happy. 

10. Each one of you! Thank you for reading my blog! For lifting me up. For encouraging me. And for listen while I blab on and on about useless stuff! I truly am thankful for each of you! 

Oh...and here are some pictures from a recent photo shoot with the family. Well...recent as in they happened in early October. And we already have new photos that we'll share soon. What can I say? We really love photos in this family :) Enjoy!

Meet my siblings! My brother lives in San Fran and works for GoPro, so we did a little techie picture for him! Just thought this picture was cool! 

Catch ya later! 

{Hardwood Floors...Check}

Our hardwood floors are done!! Eeeeeek! 

If you can remember, this is where we started...

And this is what we were left with after pulling the carpet up...

Notice anything else different? Yes...our wall color changed...

Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore color matched by Lowes with Valspar in Satin. 

There floors didn't look too bad right? But with all of the tiny holes and normal wear and tear, they needed to be sanded! 

See all of the staples in the floor?  Yeah they were EVERYWHERE and it took hours for 5 people to remove them from throughout the living/dining/hallway/three bedrooms! 

So, we moved out for a week {to the in-laws} but came back the next day to pick a color! 

{Sorry the shadows were killing me in this picture! So hard to tell!}

Now ya'll know that our inspiration is a darker shade. As much as we ADORE the top left color, it was just too dark in case we want to sell down the road. So we went with the bottom right color. 

We love how it pulls out the natural wood grains! 

So two days later...we came home to this! 

GORGEOUS!!!

The person who did our hardwoods with a quarter-round { I think haha} at the bottom, stained the same color. I was a little skeptical...I wanted white...but I love it! 

The steps need some work {still...hopefully this weekend!} 

We're going to paint the risers a crisp, bright, white. 

So next we started the fun of touching up all of the molding. So I taped off, sanded {to get rid of the line from where the paint and carpet met} and wiped down the baseboards before painting them a crisp white in semi gloss so they are very wipe-able.  

The risers had LOTS of holes in them, so we filled them with some wood glue as well! 

You can see a lot have been filled, with one more in the middle to go! 

And how we're moving things back...very slowly...but it's happening! 

I'll be sharing new pictures next week with things in place, and hopefully a rug or two! 

Have a great weekend! I had a WONDERFUL Birthweek and can't wait to share all of the details next week! 

{Birthweek: B&B Pillow and Paddock}

Happy Tuesday Everyone! 

This week is an exciting one for me, because it is my "Birthweek"...my birthday is Thursday! 

So, Alex started this super fun tradition last year, where we celebrate our birth for an entire week! 

Amazing right? 

It can be anything from going to get a Starbucks coffee, to picking out a new shirt for my actual birthday, to a fancy dinner out. But he plans it all, and sends me a cute e-mail daily to go with it! 

Love that man! So I did it for his birthday in March, and of course...he's out-doing himself again this year for me! 

We started out my birthday week with a trip to our very first Bed and Breakfast 

{Enter major squealing from the dorky girl with the computer!}

We bought a Living Social Deal for a place called Pillow and Paddock in LaGrange, KY. 

If you're in the Kentucky/Tennessee/Indiana area...we HIGHLY recommend this amazing place! 

How precious is this? And this was a picture I took...not a picture from their website...it really looks this cute in person! 

We headed for the hour and a half drive when Wendel got off work on Friday, and we were so excited for a nice, much needed, relaxing weekend. 

We got to the house to see this...and I Eeeek'd with excitement! 

Hadn't even walked into the door yet and I was thrilled. 

Here I am...I had to hold my hands down to control myself! 

Here was our cute little room! There are 5 rooms at Pillow and Paddock, and each room is themed. Ours was the "Gatsby Room" so it was very swanky and fun.  

Every room had their own bathroom {a requirement for us} and it was so nice!  

Our view...country gorgeousness! 

When we got there, we had wine with some of the other guests, and then headed into downtown LaGrange for dinner. 

We found an authentic Irish Pub {the owner is from Ireland} so we stuffed ourselves with comfort food...and Alex enjoyed his favorite...Guiness. 

And when we got back, our bed was all turned down and there was chocolates on the bedside table...more squeals might have happened with the cuteness! 

The next morning {after a beyond delicious breakfast by the owner, Francesca} we headed to Woodford County, near Frankfort, to the Woodford Reserve Distillery.

Woodford is Alex's favorite bourbon, so he was really excited to hear abo ut how it was made. 

Slightly annoyed I made him take this picture...he's pretty cute though! 

The distillery was gorgeous! I felt like I was in Revolutionary War days. 

A few of the buildings where everything is made!

The tour was really nice, and we learned a lot about how bourbon is made and what makes bourbon, bourbon. 

This is one of the first steps, and it smelled...very pungent...to say the least.  

These are the copper kettle looking things that made the alcohol the proof that it is. 

Lots and lots of barrels. 

For just $10,000 your name can be up there...along with MGM Grand and The Palms hotel...no big deal. 

He's so cute! 

We made it home with a few things. The shot glasses came with the tour...with some bourbon in it...that I smelled and almost threw up. Don't know why he likes that stuff! I couldn't even eat the bourbon balls...which are candy...nasty! 

But we also got a cute little Woodford boubon barrel ornament for our Christmas tree, and a butter knife...because it was $3.00 and too cute to pass up! 

And for $5.00 you could get your bottle personalized...so there you have it! 

After a quick lunch, we leaded into Frankfort to the Capitol Building! It was rainy, so no one was around and we felt like we were in a movie walking around with our umbrella with the drizzling rain! 

On our way back into LaGrange, we stopped by The Cherry House which is a yearly thing that my mom and I usually do together. They decorate for Christmas on October 1st, so it was filled with Christmas excitement...and I was in heaven. 

Before our gourmet 4 course dinner {Mmmm...so delicious... Francesca sure can cook!} we played a pretty intense game of Uno. The Bed and Breakfast has a little common area with a stocked complementary fridge, games, movies, snacks, and magazines. 

The next morning, we had another amazing breakfast before we headed home. I loved all of the cute dinnerware. It was different every time we ate, and it was always in twos, so each couple had their own set of dinnerware. 

We also had our own salt and pepper shakers...I was in love! 

And little tiny bowls of jam...again...such amazing food! 

Before breakfast in the dining room. 

On our way out the door, the owner gave us this cute little Kentucky Whiskey set! 

The moral of the story is, we had a blast, it was such a great way to start my "Birthweek" and we would highly recommend this B&B to anyone! 

I'll share more of my birthweek fun soon, and tomorrow I'll be showing pictures of our new flooring and some shots from our Halloween party! 

Side Note...Get Out And Vote!