Vintage Love

This past weekend the parents and I took a trip up to the lake.  It was the annual car show in Conroe that Dad, Pop, and I go to (this being my second time now).  Its more like a car + junk meet.  There are no limits to what you might find.  There are car guts laid out everywhere.  Anything from small metal pieces that go to who knows what, to car seats, steering wheels, mirrors, fenders...ANYTHING you could possibly need for a car.  Dad and Pop of course could name EVERY vintage car and would automatically name the year.  Half the cars Pop pointed out he has owned at some point in the past.  That was one of his businesses when he was younger.  He'd buy cars for about $30, fix them up, and then sell them for $100.  Dad remembers there being cars always around the house that Pop was working on. Hence Dad's endless knowledge of cars.  But along with car parts, theres any where from bicycles, traffic lights, dishes, clocks, fire hose, etc etc. A thrifter's dream :)

Anyway, after having dinner at the Catfish King in Livingston, I asked Grandma what their wedding was like.  She told me all about it.  There really wasn't much to it.  Grandma and Pop had a drive by wedding.  THey didn't even have to get out of the car!  She said they had a couple friends with them, drove on up, the preacher came out and did his thing, and they became husband and wife just like that.  Because this was Pop's third marriage (the first 2 being to his same ex-wife), Pop told the preacher that he was not going to pay him unless this marriage lasted longer than 10 years.  Needless to say, he still owes him $10. 

I admire Grandma and Pop so much. They are a beautiful couple and have lived happy, honest lives full of hard work.  Pop repeatedly tells me times were rough back then.  Regardless though, you can tell through their stories that they made the most out of life.    Things were simpler back then.  Friendships and family were cherished more.  Little luxuries were treasured.  Hard work had a higher value.  And through it all they have kept a sense of humor about everything.  They definitely have their differences, but as long as I can remember, every night they end it with a goodnight kiss.  They just make me smile :)

Anyway, I was just thinking about them today because I gathered all my stories theyve told and compiled them together finally.  Every time I go to visit them, they tell endless stories about "the good old days," and because my brain isn't as absorbent as theirs, I write them down at night before going to bed.  Anyway that's it for today.  As I tell Matt, Im done wasting my life away on the computer for now.  Buuut of course I will be back soooon :)

grey+yellow+pink

I don't know if I'm taking this whole DIY thing out of control, but my wedding preparations list seems to grow every day and I love it!  I love party planning!  It was always so much fun planning our fun little get togethers back in Arizona, but planning for a wedding is like planning a patio party on steroids.  I want to plan EVERYONE'S wedding!  

Anyway, to start off, here's an idea of what my colors are.  They basically are Grey and Yellow with some pink thrown in there.  I love these flowers by the way.  They are called Billy Ball flowers AKA Craspedias, billy buttons or woolly heads.  They originate from Australia and New Zealand and I am so much in love with them.  They are on my DIY list and am actually waiting on some wool I purchased from Lithuania to experiment with. 

I'm Matt, and I'm lucky!

Hi friends and family. I haven't met very many of you and Margie and Ismari asked if I would do a getting to know you blog post. That's a pretty good idea, so here it is. I am sure you have heard the story of how we met and got engaged. All I am going to say about that is I couldn't be happier with how things have worked out. So here I come, your new brother-in-law, son-in-law, or obligatory friend, whatever it may be.
I'm from Idaho, lived in the same house all growing up. I was kind of an oblivious kid, I can remember in high school we were on a soccer team and I never knew the score. Most people had grown out of that by the time they were in high school and were playing sports for a purpose, not just because they wanted something to do with their friends. Not me, I stuck with the more simple pleasures of the game, like orange slices at half time and running just to run around, no matter where the ball was. I think it's so funny when little kids do that....but I was not so much a little kid, I wonder what my coach thought...
I served a mission in Baltimore Maryland. For a while I served in the inner city ghettos and saw a lot of ugly situations that people live in there. I served in other areas where you couldn't go make house visits because there were gates and key pad entrances to neighborhoods with tons of money. I made some really great friends and I learned a lot about the gospel and life. It was a great experience.
I went to school in Rexburg where I met my Allison (although we wouldn't get engaged for another 5 years). But like the soccer stuff in high school, I was just running around still, not caring about anything but orange slices, playing in bands, snowboarding, working at the boy's ranch, and I really sucked at dating. I was Brett's room mate for about two years until he got married. I got a degree in exercise science since I loved running around so much and picked out a career in medicine.
I moved to Arizona at the end of Summer 2010 about the same time Allison did and after a while we both let out our little secret crushes we have had on each other for all of those years. Things worked out perfectly and we were so happy with how everything was going. So....why make it longer than it has to be? We got engaged.
So now my life is mostly school, I will be in med school studying podiatry for the next three and a half years, then residency training stuff, another three years. School has been tougher than I expected it would be but I am really enjoying it. I have learned in the past six months about the same amount of material that I learned in 2 years in my undergrad it feels like. And one day I'll be a doctor and I can make everybody's feet feel good and cut off moles on your legs if you want and tell you to change your socks more often so that stuff between your toes stops growing.
I like italian food, tomato sauces and cheese.....could there be a better combo? Allison and I love a lot of the same music and music has always been a big part of my life. I play guitar and bought a banjo a little while back that I am still trying to figure out. I love the outdoors, hiking and running....Hope you aren't too bored right now or crying for Allison. Oh, and don't ask Brett about me, he's still mad at me for stealing his belt four years ago...oh, wait....that's me, Brett stole my belt four years ago.
Well. I don't really know what you would want to know about me, but there's a little bit. I am looking forward to getting all of these new friends and family and most of all a dream girl wife! (90 days!!!)

i heart valentines

its been a good day.  ill give you 10 reasons why.


1 this picture

                                                 www.cutchens.com

2 conversation hearts  (thanks margie:)

3 Home made valentines 

4 madilyn’s valentine concoction: rice crispies, marshmallows, 1 red hot, and water. 

good to the very last bite.

 

5 Mom and dad’s big date to dairy queen for some eats and treats (or treats and eats) :)

6 Mark &Caleb’s gourmet dinner to the ‘Principessa’s Party Room Ristarante’ for the girlies

7 red hot rice crispy treats

8 Anthropologie’s wedding line release

Ismari and I have been anticipating this one

9 our music playlist

10.  100 love notes :))))

hello!

Wow! what an exciting past few months it has been!  Sometimes I sit and think of everything thats happened and just think..WOW!!!  Is this for re-als?!  And then I get a huge ear to ear grin instantly glued to my face.  Yeah..its fo real!!

We couldn’t wait to start our blog together!  We “secretly” created it soon after we were engaged actually.  WE COULDN’T WAIT!!  So here it is.  No turning back now Matt.. we have a blog together.  This is the point of no return.  

So me being a thousand miles away from the dear boy, I have had a LOT of time to plan for the whole wedding thing.  I’ll share a few things so everyone knows what kind of party is going to go down in 98 days.  (the countdown began 47 days ago) Its goiing to be a good time.. just you wait and see.  I’ll give you a couple of ideas we’ve been dancing around with.. helium,singing, and icecream..  you do the math! 

until next time, 

peace out