xoxo-Kimberly
Jul 19, 2010
Jul 16, 2010
Jul 15, 2010
devastating reminder
I'm sorry to post twice so quickly in a row but I had to comment on how shocked and saddened I am to just find out that Marija, the writer of a blog I frequented often for inspiration, is gone. Please read the heartfelt message from her husband left on her blog.
I've been reminded several times in my life how quickly and unexpectantly our time can be taken from us. Please go hug the ones you love and never let a day go by without telling them how important they are to you. You never know when your time, or theirs, will be up.
xoxo-Kimberly
I've been reminded several times in my life how quickly and unexpectantly our time can be taken from us. Please go hug the ones you love and never let a day go by without telling them how important they are to you. You never know when your time, or theirs, will be up.
xoxo-Kimberly
making pretty things
I've been crafting for the wedding....
and having loads of fun in the process!
xoxo-Kimberly
and having loads of fun in the process!
xoxo-Kimberly
Just thinking back
Kim's posts over on Perfectly Cursed Life about her experiences with their new boat got me reminiscing a little.
Two summers ago Andy and I went on vacation to Hawaii with a couple of our friends. We had never been there before so we were really excited.
One of the days we were there we decided to rent kayaks. Neither of us are really water people, but we were in Hawaii and we both thought it would be fun to try, so we went for it.
It was relatively painless to get the kayak's in the water and start paddling. It was kind of fun too! As we paddled we developed a rhythm and I thought "We're doing it! We're totally in sync."
I was so excited that we were paddling as a team and working together. As we picked up speed and settled into a leisurely pace, we felt the wind through our hair and heard the rush of the water running past us.
About a mile out from the beach there was an island. We were determined to make it there. At this point, I could feel that we were starting to get tired and were running out of steam. But stopping before we'd made it to the island wasn't an option. When we pulled up on the beach we felt great. I had this feeling of accomplishment. The feeling that we had accomplished this together.
We spent some time on the island exploring and taking pictures before deciding to head back. At first, it was great. We were rested and ready to paddle again. However, after getting a ways out from the island we started to feel the exhaustion of paddling again. But we had felt that on the way out there and had managed to conquer it. There was no way that we couldn't conquer it on the way back. That's when everything suddenly all went wrong.
One of the paddles literally snapped in half. We both cursed and then sat there miserably for a few seconds. I could tell this had made Andy a little cross and in my mind I was panicking a little. I have a bad habit of assuming that tiny little problems are the end of the world.
So I was thinking about how this was going to put us both in bad moods for the rest of the day, eventually make us argue, ruin the rest of the vacation and ultimately lead in a breakup as soon as we got home from the vacation. But I still hadn't learned how great Andy is at handling problems and from past relationship experiences, these kind of things had led to really bad places.
While I was sitting there bobbing up and down in the water, imagining all worst case scenarios and trying not to cry, Andy picked up the broken ore and begin to paddle as best he could. It kind of took me off guard. But I picked up my ore and began to paddle with him. We took turns with the broken ore and Andy would paddle alone when I was too tired. It took a painfully long time, but we finally limped our way back to the mainland.
After pulling the kayak up on the beach, I looked at Andy in amazement. Sure we were tired and not in the best of moods, but it wasn't the end of the world as I had imagined. We hadn't started screaming at each other at all. We had just paddled and grumbled a little.
I had been so used to life's little problems leading to huge conflicts and long drawn out fights or silences, that the way Andy handled it completely surprised me. I thought, "Holy crap. This guy is a really good guy! And I'm dating him!"
It was a new experience for me and one that taught me a lot. There have been several instances since then where we've had small problems that we've been able to easily work through. All because of Andy's unselfish attitude toward life and our relationship.
Andy has taught me a lot about not sweating the small stuff, not placing blame on each other, and treating each other with love and respect.
It's amazing what you can accomplish when you've learned these things!
xoxo-Kimberly
Two summers ago Andy and I went on vacation to Hawaii with a couple of our friends. We had never been there before so we were really excited.
One of the days we were there we decided to rent kayaks. Neither of us are really water people, but we were in Hawaii and we both thought it would be fun to try, so we went for it.
It was relatively painless to get the kayak's in the water and start paddling. It was kind of fun too! As we paddled we developed a rhythm and I thought "We're doing it! We're totally in sync."
I was so excited that we were paddling as a team and working together. As we picked up speed and settled into a leisurely pace, we felt the wind through our hair and heard the rush of the water running past us.
About a mile out from the beach there was an island. We were determined to make it there. At this point, I could feel that we were starting to get tired and were running out of steam. But stopping before we'd made it to the island wasn't an option. When we pulled up on the beach we felt great. I had this feeling of accomplishment. The feeling that we had accomplished this together.
We spent some time on the island exploring and taking pictures before deciding to head back. At first, it was great. We were rested and ready to paddle again. However, after getting a ways out from the island we started to feel the exhaustion of paddling again. But we had felt that on the way out there and had managed to conquer it. There was no way that we couldn't conquer it on the way back. That's when everything suddenly all went wrong.
One of the paddles literally snapped in half. We both cursed and then sat there miserably for a few seconds. I could tell this had made Andy a little cross and in my mind I was panicking a little. I have a bad habit of assuming that tiny little problems are the end of the world.
So I was thinking about how this was going to put us both in bad moods for the rest of the day, eventually make us argue, ruin the rest of the vacation and ultimately lead in a breakup as soon as we got home from the vacation. But I still hadn't learned how great Andy is at handling problems and from past relationship experiences, these kind of things had led to really bad places.
While I was sitting there bobbing up and down in the water, imagining all worst case scenarios and trying not to cry, Andy picked up the broken ore and begin to paddle as best he could. It kind of took me off guard. But I picked up my ore and began to paddle with him. We took turns with the broken ore and Andy would paddle alone when I was too tired. It took a painfully long time, but we finally limped our way back to the mainland.
After pulling the kayak up on the beach, I looked at Andy in amazement. Sure we were tired and not in the best of moods, but it wasn't the end of the world as I had imagined. We hadn't started screaming at each other at all. We had just paddled and grumbled a little.
I had been so used to life's little problems leading to huge conflicts and long drawn out fights or silences, that the way Andy handled it completely surprised me. I thought, "Holy crap. This guy is a really good guy! And I'm dating him!"
It was a new experience for me and one that taught me a lot. There have been several instances since then where we've had small problems that we've been able to easily work through. All because of Andy's unselfish attitude toward life and our relationship.
Andy has taught me a lot about not sweating the small stuff, not placing blame on each other, and treating each other with love and respect.
It's amazing what you can accomplish when you've learned these things!
xoxo-Kimberly
Jul 14, 2010
Kitchen Progress-Part Five
We had a couple more cupboards to hang the other day.
I could barely wait for Andy to get them on the wall before I was filling them up with stuff. I had all sorts of fun organizing them!
I'd been waiting for the perfect place to stash my cookbooks.
As you can see, the top of the lower countertops is nonexistent. But that's okay, we are planning on using the same tile that we used for the backsplash as the countertop for this little area. We had just enough leftover that we thought we could put it to use here, rather than go through the whole concrete process again.
I like the idea because it will define the area as something other than food preparation. I plan to put up a cork board and set out some cubbies for bills and mails and such.
But we're not finished yet!!
Over the next few months we hope to change out the doors to the patio...
paint the walls...
and lay down wood flooring.
What it looks like right now:
It's all finally coming together!
xoxo-Kimberly
I could barely wait for Andy to get them on the wall before I was filling them up with stuff. I had all sorts of fun organizing them!
I'd been waiting for the perfect place to stash my cookbooks.
As you can see, the top of the lower countertops is nonexistent. But that's okay, we are planning on using the same tile that we used for the backsplash as the countertop for this little area. We had just enough leftover that we thought we could put it to use here, rather than go through the whole concrete process again.
I like the idea because it will define the area as something other than food preparation. I plan to put up a cork board and set out some cubbies for bills and mails and such.
But we're not finished yet!!
Over the next few months we hope to change out the doors to the patio...
paint the walls...
and lay down wood flooring.
What it looks like right now:
It's all finally coming together!
xoxo-Kimberly
Jul 12, 2010
Kitchen Progress- Part 4
Just a heads up**** Photobucket is messing up a bunch of my pictures. I'm not sure why a bunch of them have disappeared from my blog. I'm working on the problem. Sorry!
The backsplash!! Finally!!
It only took us about six months to actually decide on the tile we wanted. But that's okay. This kitchen thing is teaching me patience. It's a hard lesson to learn.
We settled on 4x4 travertine and a border. The border is 1x1 tiles-both travertine and glass. I was originally drawn to the glass tile because I thought their caramel and black color would bring the 'caramel' cabinets together with the black countertops. And all would reside peacefully in my mind. :)
It actually does look quite smashing. At first we were worried because the grout we used made the travertine look flat. Luckily, the sealer gave it back it's dimension.
Progress:
Before and Afters:
This next image is my favorite part of the whole kitchen.
Isn't it loverly?!
Andy's dad made us that butcher's block and I am in love with it!
I get awfully cranky when anyone gets food on it. I know it's supposed to be a functional space in the kitchen, but I can't bring myself to prepare food over there for fear that I'll ruin it!
Anyway, I still have a little more to show you and then I'll give you a break from our kitchen for awhile ;)
xoxo-Kimberly
The backsplash!! Finally!!
It only took us about six months to actually decide on the tile we wanted. But that's okay. This kitchen thing is teaching me patience. It's a hard lesson to learn.
We settled on 4x4 travertine and a border. The border is 1x1 tiles-both travertine and glass. I was originally drawn to the glass tile because I thought their caramel and black color would bring the 'caramel' cabinets together with the black countertops. And all would reside peacefully in my mind. :)
It actually does look quite smashing. At first we were worried because the grout we used made the travertine look flat. Luckily, the sealer gave it back it's dimension.
Progress:
Before and Afters:
This next image is my favorite part of the whole kitchen.
Isn't it loverly?!
Andy's dad made us that butcher's block and I am in love with it!
I get awfully cranky when anyone gets food on it. I know it's supposed to be a functional space in the kitchen, but I can't bring myself to prepare food over there for fear that I'll ruin it!
Anyway, I still have a little more to show you and then I'll give you a break from our kitchen for awhile ;)
xoxo-Kimberly
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
