minus & plus

- working out at our creepy complex gym on friday night.

+ husby joining me because it gives me the skeevies.

- no parking at the williamsburg grand illumination last night

+  precious & impromptu time with amelia & allison & jared watching fireworks & eating toffee.

-  leaving my nsync christmas c.d. at work over the weekend. this was a big deal. & a bad one, too.

+  remembering that andrew burned me the elf soundtrack & it was in my car!!!

(+) working in an office where I can listen to nsync christmas & break for sing-a-longs with my boss every now & then.

-  meanies in traffic on the drive in to work this morning.

+  sitting at a stoplight next to a car with a big ol' scruffy dog staring at me from the passenger seat.

-  our tree doesn't smell nearly as christmas tree-y as I'd like it to when I walk in the door...

+  but it sure is pretty. & jared had all the christmas lights on when I got home. christmas cheer!

-  I've been given a less than simple piano accompaniment to play at our church's christmas program. it's sorta kicking my butt, actually.

+  it's so great to have a piece to PRACTICE. butt kicking an' e'rything.

- cramps.

+  ibuprofen. x3.

- giving myself a curling iron hickey this morning in my cramp-induced fog

+ letting people think it's a real one, high-school styyyyle. (or whatever aged kids do that? errr...)

-  the wind tunnel I have to walk through to get into our office every day. totes did not miss that this spring/summer.

+  having all of 1 voicemail once I was blown through the wind tunnel & into my office today. welcome back, off-season.

- addressing christmas cards. boo hiss.

+ our first christmas cards! even if it's just the two of us, we're still a little family.

- office holiday gift exchange.

+ office holiday gift exchange.

- remembering just now that I have to cook food for that tomorrow night.

+ at least I remembered?

husband just jumped off the couch & plopped down on the floor so that I can't see his computer screen.

pretty sure that means some christmas purchasing is going doooowwwwnnnnnn.

he's wearing his new reading glasses = yummmmm.

I'd absolutely risk ruining a christmas present surprise to get a smackaroo from clark kent bethune.

xo, kelsey

it's emily's turn!

see that lady up there?

that's emily, my childhood-next-door-neighbor-turned-maid-of-honor.

this is us dancing to "the luckiest" at my wedding,

something we promised we'd do waaaay before we had someones to make us lucky girls.

as of today, the hand I'm holding is now wearing a big (really, BIG) diamond ring,

& soon, she'll be wearing the white dress.

[HUGE fan of december engagements, by the way... ;)]

I am so thrilled for her & trent.

for the engagement whirlwind they've just begun,

for the beautiful wedding they'll dance their way through,

& for the wedded bliss they'll enter into.

okay, & a little thrilled for an excuse to see a whole ton of emily next year.

emily.

you are such a sweet soul, & a beautiful friend.

I haven't met trent yet, but I know that God has given you a true love in him

that somehow, miraculously, makes you an even better you.

I am so excited for you to jump into this utterly dreamy part of your relationship & your life.

you will be such a stunning bride.

& I will be bringing the popcorn bowl with me. oh yes, I will.

oh, love.

you are a wondrous thing.

xo, kelsey

mustaches & snores

had to laugh, going through the outtakes from our christmas card fauxto shoot.
this photo pretty accurately describes this week, really.

me climbing barbed wire fences into property that I don't own...

& jared giving me a smile & a helping hand to get me back where I belong.

he's snoring next to me right now, as I sit in bed finishing some music stuff for church.

the foot twitch is in full effect, so I know he's toooootally out.

cutie pie.

he shaved his november 'stache today & I kinda just wanna kiss that soft-as-a-baby's-bottom face...

but you don't disturb a man in foot twitch mode.

it's not going to be much of a weekend.

my first full saturday off since march is booked up until the afternoon...

when he goes in to work until close.

stupid work. 

alright.
as annoying as the snoring is, it sounds like deep sleep, & I want in on that action.

happy weekend!

xo, kelsey

first anniversary

wanna jump back to october? good, me too.

it's my favorite.

I was so grateful that we'd taken our big anniversary trip to new york city back at the beginning of the month.

our anniversary snuck up so fast, just like we knew it would.

miraculously, october 23rd was event-free at work,

which allowed us to frolic in the beautiful weather & enjoy each other ... + some friends ;)

we spent the morning at church,

& where I felt obligated to sloooowly walk down the aisle.

after church, we went home & ate lunch on our back patio,

where we listened to our reception playlist

(still too emotionally fragile to listen to the ceremony music, thank-you)

& made our first "23 Things I Love about You" lists,

which we hope to continue every year for, well, forever.

the lovely allison came over, & our plan was an afternoon in colonial williamsburg,

but the first stop was our reception site, where I mostly just wanted to ooo & ahh & reminisce.

we quickly realized that the women's club was occupied by another wedding,

deterring my hope of dreamily traipsing around the property on the husby's arm.

don't worry - we definitely thought about crashing the wedding & bestowing some wisdom as an old married couple of a whole year...

but in the end, allison convinced us to get back on the road.

[but not before snappin' some photos - preview of the reception post still to come!]

we made it to williamsburg & met up with logan.

oh, such glorious weather.

good thing we live in southern virginia where it can be 63 degress on december 1st, right??
[wrong. it should be snowing. I digress.]

we enjoyed a tasty dinner & headed home for some year old cake & honeymoon wine.

I've heard from so many people that their cake was delicious even after it had been frozen for a year,
so we were pretty excited to taste it.

the catch? I'm really not a cake person.

like, had the bite that jared shoved in my mouth at the wedding, & that was it.

but if I liked cake, I'd like this cake.

the good news was that I was on a diet for the entire month of october,

& this was my big binge. 

all that I was thinking was hello, sweet cake. welcome to my mouth, tasty wine.

it was nearly impossible to disappoint taste buds that had been eating veggies & grilled chicken for 23 days straight.

we were given our bottle of wine by the restaurant we frequented while on our honeymoon in st. croix,

& I all but demanded that we keep it for our first anniversary.

it was delicious. but again - easily impressed at that point...

[this just in: jared says that they were both delicious, forrealz. so it wasn't just the diet talking.]

it was a sweet day.

& a lovely memory.

I'm so glad we were able to spend the day free from responsibilities & to-do lists,

& I have jared to thank for that.

he knows when to slow me down & shower me with sweet love.

he's pretty perfect.

& by God's grace, our love just keeps getting bigger. & better. 

& love-ier.

xo, kelsey

our second thanksgivin'

i'm a little amazed that it's 15 minutes into december as i type.

i'm not sure where november went, but it certainly didn't lend itself to internet activity.

but let's pretend that it's still november so that it makes sense for me to share thanksgiving photos.

baby sisters spent the night at our place on thanksgiving eve, & it may very well be the best new tradition yet.

chinese food, pie baking & star wars - can't really beat that ;)

by the time we got to my parents the next morning,
(after the mr. made breakfast with mimosas for the big kids. winnnnn)
most of the food was already up & going, so i set to decorating.

momma's backyard lends itself nicely to table decor, so i didn't spend a dime...

well, except on a gold paint pen & paper for the place cards.

it was such a joyful dinner, spent with friends from church... followed by watching Elf to ring in the Christmas season, of course.

there's so much to be grateful for.

life has slowed down enough to process all the wonders that have been sent our way this year.

the growth, the lessons, the strengthening, the hard times.

second married thanksgiving was just as great as first married thanksgiving,

with a billion trillion bagillion wonderful moments in between.

i spent my evening decorating our apartment with christmas here & there...

& it's somehow midnight thirty.

oh, christmas. you fiend. 

just kidding. i'm not even mad.

xo, kelsey