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What A Weekend…

Oh. My. Goodness. This weekend was absolutely crazy…but everything ended up working out for the absolute best…Praise the Lord. Literally. I just can’t believe I actually made it back to my desk at work today. I should actually be curled up in bed with Daisy, getting the rest I never got…

Friday, before leaving the office, I heard a tiny thud and saw a blue stone on a printed out e-mail at my desk…Lo’ and behold, it was a sapphire from my wedding band…Never a good way to begin the weekend…Luckily, my sweet husband is working with the guy who made my engagement ring from Craig’s design to re-design my band and fix it all up. After it is all said and done, the ring will be much more structurally sound and just as beautiful as ever.

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After work, I began my 42 mile trek home…Yes. My commute is 42 miles each way, and each leg takes me about an hour and a half. Gotta love it…ANYWAY, I rushed home as quickly as I could so Craig and I could enjoy dinner together before he flew to Dulles for the evening…I got home, said hi to sweet Daisy and my amazing husband, and enjoyed a much needed glass of wine as he finished cooking my a delicious, from-scratch, meal of Gluten-Free Chile Rellenos, with the poblano peppers we grew in our own little garden. It was a delicious meal, and before I knew it, it was time for Craig to fly away…So, he left, I did a blog post about our new sofa and then went upstairs to change out of work clothes and slip into my comfy sweats…I came downstairs and watched a great movie, enjoyed another glass of wine and our extra comfortable new sectional…And then decided, since I had a hair appointment in LaGrange the next morning at 9:45am, I should probably head to bed…Well, usually when I get into bed, Daisy is right on my heels…But not this time…And then I realized I hadn’t seen her since Craig left much earlier… I called her multiple times (she answers to her name), to no avail… I looked ALL over the house…No Daisy…Around 11:30, I put on warm clothes and walked all over the neighborhood crying like a baby and calling for my sweet kitty…At 1:30am, I was all cried out, and I went inside to go to sleep with no happy thoughts in my mind…Craig was very worried too and he assured me I should go to my hair appointment the next morning and he would begin to search for her as soon as he got home…Tearily and with a heavy heart, I agreed…I cried the entire hour and a half drive, until Craig called to tell me he’d found her!!!!!! My poor sweet girl had been underneath the ground-floor deck at the neighbors’ house the entire night…She was cold and covered in cobwebs and grass, but her sweet father had rescued her and brought her back inside. Whew.

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Daisy was safely at home, so I enjoyed the rest of my hair appointment and visiting with Ralph & Cynthia, but I was concerned about my mother. She had not been feeling well all week…I’d called on Thursday night and woken her up around 9pm…That was unlike her…I had called Friday night to see if she felt any better and my Dad had answered the phone and said she was still not well…Then that morning, I had called to let them know Daisy was lost – before Craig found her – and I spoke with my Dad the whole time because she was so sick…

Well, I got home and Craig and I went to pick out our pumpkin as we had planned to do before, since Daisy was now safe and sound…We went to the grocery store to get dinner ingredients for Sunday evening, and to Target to buy throw pillows and a few throw blankets I had seen on sale. We stopped by Blockbuster to pick up a scary movie (my fave: The Shining), and while we were waiting in line, my Dad texted to let us know he had taken my mother to the emergency room and would keep us posted!!!!! Of course, I was very concerned. My mother hates doctor visits as much as I do, so I knew this was serious…but all I could do was wait. Dad said not to worry about coming down until he knew more… So Craig and I went to dinner at our sushi place, and while we were eating my mother called to let us know they were taking her into surgery around 10pm for an Appendectomy. We were so relieved to hear her voice and know that they had figured it out and she would be fine by the next morning!!!!!!!

With that relief, and the promise of a phone call from my Dad when all was said and done, we went to Folklore – a haunted house in Dallas. Let me tell you. I have been to my share of haunted houses and this one was well worth the price of admission! Extremely creepy and entertaining!! If you live anywhere nearby, this is definitely a must-do for the Halloween season!

When we had heard my mother was safely in recovery, we set to work on carving our pumpkin… Whom we had dubbed “Nerdkin”… So cute! We worked hard on this one, but in the end, I think it was worth it:

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ImageI think it turned out really well…and you should SEE all the seeds we got from the Nerdkin! Goodness gracious! An entire mixing bowl full!! We are roasting them with butter, sugar and cinnamon this evening and I am sure they’ll be delicious!!

Sunday we went to early Mass at 8am, met with a man via Craigslist about purchasing our old coffee and end tables (which he did – YAY!!!), and then headed to LaGrange to see my mother! Oh my goodness she looked fabulous! Seriously, like she had had surgery less than 12 hours prior, and looked better than I did. Unfair! 🙂 But such an absolute blessing!!

In all seriousness, we are truly blessed and although this weekend was a whirlwind, and complete insanity, throughout the entire time we prayed and prayed and prayed…Prayers of pleading for help and of thanking God for his mercy! So much happened, but God led us through all of it victoriously! Praise Him!

Please continue to pray for healing for my mother, and for Craig and I as a couple – that we maintain the strength to get through the good and the bad. 🙂 Thank you for all of your kind comments and your love and for reading our blog!! We are sooooo lucky! 🙂

Much Love,

Pier & Craig

PS – You’re all in for a treat…My dear husband told me last week he plans to do a blog post here on his own about our almost-complete bedroom, with pictures of our new bed, bedding, and the nightstands he built. 🙂 Stay tuned! xoxo

 

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Finally, A Place of OUR OWN to Sit!

It’s here; it’s here!!!

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Well, I guess y’all have now had the full 360 of our family room! 😊 Once the art is up on the walls, we may finally be done!

We LOVE the new sectional and it is OH SO PLUSH AND COMFY!!!! I can’t wait to curl up with my glass of wine tonight and watch a scary movie since Craig’s out of town! He and Daisy got to enjoy it this afternoon while I was at work! 😉

Have a good night all and God bless!
Love,
Pier and Craig

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Happy Birthday, Daddy Dee!

My late Daddy Dee, with my mother and uncle standing in front of him.

Today, October 17th, would have been his birthday! I remember him oh so fondly, and miss him all the time! So sad Craig never got the chance to meet him…He and Daddy Dee would have LOVED having long conversations about how things work, tractors, motors, and both of their favorite topic: God.

Rest in Peace, Daddy Dee, and Happy Birthday!

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Time Is Love: Our One Month Re-Cap

Our first month as a married couple has come and gone! Yesterday, October 15th, marked our 1 Month Wedding Anniversary – and I would like to thank my sweet mother, and Craig’s mother-in-law, for her sweet Happy Anniversary e-mail! It made our day, and we both had the same response to it – mine to her when she sent it, and Craig to me when I forwarded it to him: Best Month of My Life!!!

We celebrated last night with dinner at a new mexican restaurant in town, a respective glass of chardonnay and a brandy, an episode of our guilty pleasure – Teen Mom 2 – and ended the night with a prayer of thanksgiving for being led to one another and celebrating such an amazing month together! It may not have been anything fancy, but it was so US and just perfect.

This past Saturday we had the pleasure of being guests at some of our best friends’ engagement party, Ashley & JW – hosted by some of our other best friends, Randall & Lauren (who could actually beat the ever-living snot out of Martha Stewart in a creativity competition!). It was gorgeous and a wonderful occasion to celebrate the happiness and love A & J have found! We are so excited for them and can’t wait for all the upcoming showers and parties, and most especially their Wedding Weekend! True love is certainly something to celebrate!

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We spent Sunday afternoon shopping for a new dryer – which was MUCH needed!! Our old and decrepit dryer from my sweet husband’s bachelor days was DONE. Oh my goodness. It can take as many as THREE cycles on HIGH heat to dryer a normal load of laundry!!! So we were super excited to purchase a new dryer on Sunday which is being delivered today! Yay!

And to round things off, Craig got a call this morning our long-awaited RH sectional will be delivered on Friday! Another YAY! Cannot wait to post pictures of our completed living room, minus the painting I am currently working on for above the sectional on the long wall. 🙂 98% completed!

Seriously, this really has been the best month ever. C & I couldn’t be more complementary to each other’s personalities, and I don’t know how it’s possible to love him more and more each day – but I do. I wish all of you the same happiness, joy and love we share, and thank all of you who had a hand in ours!

Lots of Love,

Pier & Craig

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Nesting Into Autumn

After nagging asking Craig to shop for Autumn/Halloween decorations with me for a few weeks, we planned to meet at Michael’s last night and then go out to dinner after I finished at the office. I got to Michael’s around 6:15pm and waited and waited and waited and waited… My sweet husband had stopped on the way to help 3 elderly women load an entertainment center and tv into a truck. He then made a scheduled stop at AutoZone to replace the battery in my car (in which he had already changed the oil that afternoon)… So, there was no way I could complain about shopping alone…BUT I was a little bit sad we weren’t able to shop together 😦 Don’t worry, Craig, there’s always CHRISTMAS! 🙂

Anyway, once we finally were able to get together, we had a great evening – culminating in my decorating and Craig’s replacing my car battery and changing our door locks. Yep, we are an old married couple now! 🙂

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Our Transitional Fireplace Decorations, which I plan to keep up through Thanksgiving with a few additions.

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Note the “L” Pumpkin, Made by Me: Martha Stew… Pier 🙂

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Front Porch, with Halloween Wreath & Raven Display (Again, I made both!)

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Raven Display – You’ll have to ask Craig about his first encounter with the Raven. Let’s just say I had it on the kitchen table while I was making the wreath and he saw it and since he hadn’t been with me when I was shopping… LOL

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Zombie Cameo Halloween Wreath  – I am in love with this ribbon!

Well, that’s it so far! Craig was sweet enough to take pictures for me this afternoon so I could go ahead and do the post during some (unheard of) downtime at work.

Love Y’all!

P & C

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Cannot Get This Song Out of My Head!

This song reminds me of roadtrips when I was a child…We had the Jim Croce Greatest Hits cassette tape, and I loved the whole thing! Have no clue how, but this one has been stuck in my head on repeat for 2 days now – so I had to share!

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Watch for another post this evening! Craig and I decorated for Autumn/Halloween last night and I have pictures to share! 🙂 Have a great Wednesday all!

XOXO,

Pier & Craig

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We’re Still Here!

Not much new to report, but wanted all of you to know we are still out there! As we have settled into daily life as a married couple, no new earth shattering news has come about to blog about, but things have been GREAT!

For those of you who have seen our master bedroom, WE GOT A REAL BED!! Yay! A queen-size sleigh bed, at that! I can’t even begin to tell you how much more restful my sleep has been now that I don’t feel like I’m sleeping in my college dorm room! 🙂 Small news for y’all, very very exciting for us!

We also sold our old sofa and loveseat on Craigslist…This was cause for celebration in our book, and opens the space up for our sectional, which should be completed and in our home by the end of the month! Again, perhaps not very excited for those of you who read our blog, but we certainly toasted to this accomplishment!!

We have a very exciting next few weekends coming up, so I am sure there will be pictures and interesting tales to tell very soon!

Happy Monday everyone!

Love To All,

Pier & Craig

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Freedom From Facebook

“When you make a sacrifice in marriage, you’re sacrificing not to each other but to unity in a relationship.” – Joseph Campbell

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Well, it’s official – We deactivated our Facebook accounts last night! I must say, it’s a little bit disconcerting to not have a news feed to check first thing in the morning, but how FREEING it is to live a life not ruled by social media and what other people are doing!! We began this blog and released ourselves from the Facebook world in order to focus on our marriage, build our relationship in Christ, and have the ability to share our lives with family and friends.

The above quote is so true – and while leaving Facebook is not a ‘sacrifice’, it is certainly not the social norm and is something we did for US. We know it will only strengthen our bond, as writing this blog together does.

We love y’all!

XOXO,

Craig & Pier

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The Couple Who Prays Together…

“For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:20, Douay-Rheims

Praying together as a married couple was a goal of ours after attending our Marriage Retreat at the end of June. A Christian marriage should be between not just the couple, but include God in everything – Hence, the name of the retreat “Three To Get Married”. We learned so much from the couple and priest who led the weekend, and one of the most important things we came away with was that praying together, as a couple, should be the backbone of your marriage, keeping Christ in the center of your relationship.

As we all know, it’s easier said than done when ‘real life’ enters the picture, but this is something Craig and I are striving to keep at the forefront. We have SO VERY MUCH to be thankful for, and always need to continually ask for God’s wisdom in our lives.

So in your daily prayer lives, I ask for you to pray for us as we build our marriage and try to keep Christ as the cornerstone. We will be happy to pray for you, as well, and certainly continually ask for your safety, well-being, and happiness everyday.

Much Love,

Pier & Craig

*PS* If you’ve never read from the Douay-Rheims translation of the Bible, oh how you should! It’s my favorite translation because I feel like it makes the Word of God come alive like beautiful poetry – as it should!! When Craig and I first began dating, we were sitting on the sofa and he reached down for his Bible. I remember thinking to myself, if by some strange coincidence he pulls out a Douay-Rheims version, I know he is meant for me, God!!! Well, lo’ and behold…What translation of the Bible does Craig have??? 🙂 God has an amazing plan for each of us, doesn’t He?

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Our New Ottoman Arrives Today!

Our New Ottoman Arrives Today!

The next to last piece of our living room furniture – our burlap ottoman – will be here this afternoon! Yay! We have really transformed the house into OUR home, and with each little step it feels more and more like a home and speaks to both of our personalities.

First the ottoman, then our new sectional will arrive at the end of October, and finally, we can complete our bedroom – Would anyone like to help us find greyish barnwood to create a headboard??? 🙂

P&C