Wow, this month flew by! I swear I say this every month but the months are zooming on by. I can't believe it! I can't even begin to comprehend the amount of busy I've been. There has been so much to do with moving and transferring utilities and all that good stuff. Anyway, let's see how I did this month!

1. Get rid of any junk and all clothes Shae and I no longer wear - We rocked this out a couple weeks ago and we got rid of SO much stuff. I love the feeling of cleaning out clutter and things I don't need. There was some that absolutely needed to be thrown away but we donated the rest!

2.  Do not settle on a house we both do not love  - Passed this goal with flying colors! We found a house we really love and WE MOVE IN A COUPLE DAYS.

3. Drink more water - I think this is the only goal I failed this month. I was really slacking on my water intake this month. Shame on me.

4. Finish out spring term exceptionally - I most definitely finished out spring term exceptionally. My lowest grade was a 97% in an extremely difficult (for me) writing/research class. I also got new that I got accepted into the surgical technology program as a candidate A and this is awesome news!

This month was a great month, and while we had some car trouble, spent a ton of money (moving, transferring, car, misc. fees, etc), I know things will fall back into place and the world will feel grounded again.

Hey everyone! I made a video of me doing the Get to Know Me Tag! As well as answer a couple questions I was asked. I hope you enjoy!

Our love story is a little different than most, but I suppose not everyone's is the same. I guess what I mean is that for us it was not love at first sight or anything like you see in the movies. But what we have now is beyond anything I could have ever dreamed of.



Shae and I first met at the boat docks when we were under the age of ten in a small little town called Westport, Oregon. I grew up in this tiny town and he was the step brother of my childhood best friend. The funny joke between our families is that everyone thought I would marry my childhood best friend (his step brother) and it ended up being Shae. Anyway, we re-met again in high school in the middle of our junior year. Truthfully, it took awhile for us to connect. But when we did, it was all over from there. It all began after I tutored him during the end of the school year, which then lead to a one-on-one basketball game which was much less basketball and far more touching, haha! Anyway, that summer (August 2010) was when Shae finally asked me to be his girlfriend (almost 6 months after re-meeting him). From there, we were battling some high school fling of a relationship we thought we were getting in, and falling in love (which we did not think we were getting in). It was scary and it tested us a lot. We spent our senior year making so many wonderful memories though. We were always getting yelled at for making out in the hallways at school, we went to lots of parties together, I went to every single one of his football games and cheered him on, and he went to my band concerts and screamed louder than anyone in the audience. Being with Shae for our last year of high school was perfect and it made it a year to remember.

We fell in love and it was scary because while I was off applying for college, taking SAT's, and preparing for my future, Shae was stuck in his youthful days of partying. We both were preparing for a messy ending, but when it came down to it we couldn't end it. We rocked the long distance thing for the most part. I went to college 8 hours away from home and he did his thing in our home town and we just made it work.

I moved back home after freshman year and went to school closer to our home town. We were no longer long distance, but we were preparing for something even harder. Shae was joining the Army in April 2013. So we rocked the long distance for almost 8 1/2 months and when he came home, he proposed to me and we got married on December 12, 2014. It was a perfect day.. A month later in January 2014, I moved to North Carolina where he was stationed and he have been here ever since.



Today, we have been together for over 4 1/2 years and married for almost a year and a half. We are two weeks away from moving into a new house and we couldn't be happier. Our relationship has been a lot of trial and error, lots of tears and messy moments, but I wouldn't change a thing. I feel so lucky and grateful to have married my high school sweetheart, to have found love so early on in my life.

Disclaimer: This is NOT my dream home house inspiration. This is real life realistic house inspiration for our new home we are renting for the next couple years.

Living Room

All images found on pinterest

Kitchen

I adore a grey, yellow and white color scheme for a living room. A darling grey couch with some different patterned chairs, and pastel yellow pillows. Seriously to die for. We aren't going to be getting new couches all that soon (possibly a sectional), but I am definitely shooting for grey in color. I also love the bright white furniture. I used to be enjoy dark furniture and colors more but have recently fell in love with the way light colors brighten up a room and make it look open and roomy.



All images found on pinterest
The kitchen in our new house has me so stumped. It isn't what I had in mind but I will have to manage. The one thing I am so excited about is having a pantry so I want to do something like the above photo. We also have limited counter space so I was thinking about purchasing an island and putting in our very big dining room area and having a little coffee station where we can put our keurig, k-cups, cute coffee mugs, etc. It would be darling. I am at a loss on what to do with the ever-so fair color scheme. The cabinets are very light brown, and the appliances are an off white. I feel like the kitchen needs some darkness to it. I was thinking about doing black and grey accents (hand towels, kitchen rugs, etc), or dark brown. I can't decide. Like I said, the kitchen has me stumped!

Beauty Room/Office

All images found on pinterest

Obviously I am so excited about having my own office/beauty room. It's always been a dream! I'm still unsure if we can paint the walls in our new home (I am expecting we won't be able to), but it would be awesome if we could. I would have so much fun with this room. I am so torn between going extremely simple, or going all out and making it girly, cute and fun. I love the simplicity but I know I will want lots of storage and that is why I am a huge fan of the second photo I posted. It is so cute and I would love having all my stuff in the corner like that. Book shelves are a must and while this may look expensive, I feel like I could pull it off pretty cheap. The last photo kills me. It is so damn cute! I am obsessed with mint and white together.

Man, today was a big day. Shae ended up having 24 hour duty and got home early this morning, and I slept horribly last night without him. Not only because I missed him but also because I was so anxious about today. We signed the lease to our new house today and our move in day is actually April 3rd instead of the 4th! I have a list a mile long of things to do. The stressfulness of moving is actually pretty damn bad, but I feel like it will all be worth it. There are no words to tell you happy and excited both Shae and I are for this step in our lives. A house means so much to us.

Besides that, we have been enjoying this beautiful weather. I wish it would stay and not get miserably hot within the next few months. I am NOT looking forward to the sticky, humid, miserable heat that is to come. Hopefully I will be in Oregon or Alaska for the worst of it (fingers crossed)!

Something else coming up that is exciting is our pictures being taken not this Friday but the next! On Black Friday a ton of photographers post package deals for photo shoots and I went ahead and bought a portrait package for the two of us. We haven't had professional pictures done since our wedding so I am really excited to get some more. I have been stressing about what to wear though and Shae said I could go shopping so I need a good luck with that. I swear I have horrible luck shopping for clothes. It is ridiculous.

I suppose I should end this rambling post and lay down for the night. I am so tired and have been all day. Stay tuned for many more moving posts to come!

St. Patrick's Day is next week on Wednesday, March 17th! Since I have red hair, am pale, am full of freckles, and my maiden name is Odell, everyone assumes I am full Irish. People sure are shocked to hear that I hardly have any Irish in me at all, and are even more shocked that my red hair is not even from the Irish side of my family in the first place. Anyway, St. Patty's Day has never been a huge celebration for my family but I love holidays so I am wanting to bake, decorate and craft! Here are a few pins I have been collecting for the occasion.



Lucky Leprechaun Cookie Bark
I'm not a fan of chocolate but I have a husband who would love this!


Shamrock Chips
Now this is more like it! I'm all about some chips and dip!
(& I already have the spinach wraps)


St. Patty's Rag Wreath
With packing, moving and being busy I probably won't have the time
to make this but you can bet I will be making it next year!


Irish Mojito


Irish Cream Sugar Scrub
This is probably my favorite of all! I love me a good scrub & I bet it smells delicious!

I hope you all have a great St. Patrick's Day! We might be going to Myrtle Beach this coming weekend with some friends for a fun weekend.

I had some yummy food this past week. The picture on the left was my breakfast this morning. I had iced coffee and overnight oats. I figured I would share the recipe I tried! I tend to just throw in whatever I can find in my cupboards when I make overnight oats and this was delicious so I here we go:
1/2 cup oats of your choice (I just use quick oats because that's what I have)
1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
2tbsp chia seeds
2 tbsp pb2
1 tbsp nutella
1/2 banana
Stir it all together and throw it in the refrigerator over night, and enjoy in the morning!

The next picture is of my lunch at chipotle. I could seriously eat chipotle every. single. day.


Haven't posted a selfie in awhile so here's a snapchat selfie. ;) Shae and I snapped a picture because we were about to go look at another house. Plus, my hair and makeup were on point this day. It's funny because I was rocking yoga pants and a sweatshirt too. Haha!


Can't end a blog post without the two best things in my life. ;) Seriously how cute are they!? Thanks for reading!

What is your favorite overnight oats recipe?

As you guys already know, Shae and I have been house hunting. We had looked at 3 or 4 houses and the last one we looked at ended up being the one! It was between this house and the very first one we looked at and ultimately it came down to commute being shorter for the both of us when it came to work and school. This house is 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, has a huge garage, has a security system, a wood-burning fire place (yay!), TONS of storage space, ceramic tile flooring throughout, a huge fenced in back yard, and is just perfect for us.


The outside of our cute house!


My cute car in our driveway and a little glimpse at our neighborhood. I hate the brown grass here. Take me back to Oregon where it's green everywhere!


The view of our front patio, outdoor table set and our front door. I love the brick. Makes me want to hang up white lights and make it look magical out here!


This is our kitchen and is the only con of the entire place. But I had to compromise. I can live with an old stove and smaller kitchen. The great thing is, we have storage space in the garage as well as a pantry. I was way too excited about the pantry you guys. Also, I love that we have an island.


This is our dining room. Our kitchen, dining room and living room all have ceramic tile flooring. Which I am excited about. This dining room is much bigger then the picture lets it off to be.


Here is Shae in the living room. He was checking out the fireplace and mantel. Omg, so excited to hang stockings up over the fireplace for the holidays (can you tell I love the holidays?).


I'm not sure what you call this sort of floor plan, but our sink is in a hallway in our master bedroom and then our shower and toilet are their own room. I actually really like how it set up in our HUGE room.    I am a crazy person and didn't get any pictures of the bedrooms or backyard. Seriously who am I? Anyway, the master bedroom is huge and has also has a huge walk in closet (my eyes were full of hearts when I saw it) and has a huge regular closet as well. The second spare bedroom is just as ginormous as the master bedroom (minus the master bathroom), with a huge closet it in. The third spare bedroom is about half the size as the other two but also has the huge closet it.

Shae and I love this house. It's almost 1400sq feet and that is a perfect size for us considering it is just the two of us. As soon as we left we went and applied for it and found out two days later we were approved. We sign our lease for it this coming week and move in April 4th (Easter weekend). We were both doing a happy dance when I got the email. :)

Some plans I have in mind for the house are:
2nd spare bedroom:Shae's mancave as well as guest room. We plan on getting a futon for guests to sleep if need be. Shae has his own plans for this room and I'm letting him tackle it how he wants, as long as he can store the crap ton of army stuff in there, I will be happy. If it so happens we have kids during the time we are here this will probably turn into a nursery.

3rd spare bedroom: This will be my office. I have so many plans for this. I'm trying to decide on getting a vanity or getting a regular computer desk and just using the ginormous gold mirror I have. I'm also trying to decide on a pink, gold and white color scheme, or a mint, gold and white color scheme. 

Hanging lights outside. I might not do this outside in the front just because it might look funny but I am definitely doing it right outside our side door. There is a small patio with brick and we plan on putting a BBQ out there and I am most definitely hanging some fairy lights out there.

Grey and yellow color scheme in the living room. I'm not sure if we can paint the interior at all, and if we can't then so be it but if we can oh man, I'm going to go HAM with the painting. Haha.

We plan on getting a new kitchen table, possible an island for the kitchen and a sectional for the living room. I can't wait to move in and get started on our new home. We are really hoping to live there for the rest of the time we are here at Fort Bragg.

I figured I would share with you all a simple DIY project. This was the very first DIY I did when I moved here. I had been determined to get going on decorating our apartment and making it more us so I figured I would start my first project with something small.


I got all of my supplies from Michael's
You will need:
Mason Jars - Size and quantity to your liking
Twine
Paint (I got Pond, and Cloud by Martha Stewart, and Medium Grey by FolkArt)
Paint Brushes
Flower Decals (optional)
Something to fill your mason jars (I got pink daisies)
Newspaper

First you want to lay out the newspaper you have so you don't make a mess. I put my paint colors on a paper plate and had them ready to go and placed my left hand inside the mason jar upside down to start painting. The most difficult part is setting the mason jar back down but this was the easiest way for me to paint them. I only painted one coat on each of the jars because I was going to sand them down and make them look more worn and rustic eventually. It only took about twenty minutes to paint them and then I let them dry for a couple hours. I screwed the metal piece back on keeping the lid off and took the twine and wrapped it around the neck about eight times on each jar before tying it in a knot at the end.


Here is the finished product!
These particular mason jars were made to be put in our bathroom. You can use them for storage (I put our toothbrushes in one and q-tips in another) or for decoration (I put pink daises is one). You can even make these into soap dispensers, which I plan on doing soon. There is an endless amount of things you can use them for and they are so dang cute and easy!


What are some of your favorite DIY projects you have done?

One day when we get a nice camera, I will film tons of videos with Shae. But in the mean time, I thought this would be fun. Basically I found a bunch of questions for us to ask each other and these are the answers he gave!

1. Where did we meet? That's tricky cause I could say Westport at the boat docks when we were kids, or again in high school.
2. Where was our first date? Ummm bowling at Splits on my 17th birthday. That was an interesting time!
3. First thing you noticed about me? Oh I don't know. First thing I remember from school is looking at your underwear hanging out of your pants, hahaha!
4. When did you meet my parents? The first time I went to your house before we were even dating I met your mom and I think I met your dad at a basketball game.
5. Weird habit of each other? Uh everything we do is weird.
6. How long have we been together? 4 1/2 years and married for almost a year and 3 months.
7. An animal that resembles me? A lioness because you're so fierce, smart and beautiful.
8. What was our first road trip? To OIT when we dropped you off at college.
9. What pisses me off? Me. Haha, just kidding. Certain things I do... When I pay attention to the TV and not you. Also when people talk shit about your family that pisses you off a lot.
10. Favorite feature about me? Favorite feature about me? Your mind because it covers everything. That or your eyes. I love your eyes.
11. 3 things I'm good at: Cooking, being a wife and someday you're going to be a great mother.
12. What do we argue about the most? Stupid shit.
13. Do I have PMS? Yes sometimes.
14. Who wears the paints in the relationship? I feel as if we each wear one leg. ;)
15. Nicknames for me? Lover, strawberry, wife, babe, baby, baby doll.
16. What is my favorite restaurant? Olive Garden. (Me: Uh no! Try again) El Cazador then.
17. If I am watching TV, what am I watching? Either vampire diaries, anything on the food network, Grey's Anatomy, Total Divas, etc.
18. What is one food I do not like? Eggs, cheeseburgers, chocolate. Still can't get over it.
19. What drink do I order when we go out to eat? Water. Always.
20. What size of shoe do I wear? Like a 6.
21. My favorite kind of sandwich? Spicy Italian or a Shae made tuna melt. :)
22. What is one talent I have? Playing the clarinet!
23. What could I eat everyday if I could? Grapefruits, lemons, limes, anything acidic. Oh don't forget salt!!! (Side note: I do eat these things every single day haha).
24. My favorite kind of music? I would say alternative rock.
25. My favorite sports team? The Packers because they are my favorite.
26. Who is my best friend? Nikki. Duh.
27. What is my eye color? That is a tricky one cause they are multicolored. The inside is like a goldish red and then a silver and then blue.
28. Something you do I wish you didn't do? Chew.
29. Where am I from? Born in Alaska and grew up in many places in the pacific north west.
30. Do I or did I play any sports? You were a cheerleaders and played volleyball. (Me: Aaaaand? You forget basketball and track).
31. What could I spend hours doing? Homework. And cuddling with me. :)

This blog doesn't feel complete without some wedding pictures. Enjoy!
PS. Be prepared for wedding posts coming up!