Halloween at Home

Happy Halloween from Oak Harbor! 

We started the festivities off here early with a Ward Hillbilly Harvest Hoedown! We all dressed up like cowboys and cowgirls and had ourselves a hoot n' hollarin' good time!

I was on the committe, so I designed the backdrop for our photobooth - as hillbilly as I could make it, of course.  It was fun to feel like I was living in the wild, wild west with a handsome cowboy to protect me!

Caroline, Taylor & Eli

Eli doesn't like his photo taken.

Of course, it was a lot of work, but these events are always worth the extra effort to make them special.  I also designed the invitation and we had a bigger turn out than expected.  We were asked to invite our friends and neighbors to the activity, so I brought Caroline, Taylor and Eli Phan, as well as Sarah & Don Cameron and their two sons Markus and Jonah (we didn't get a picture, sadly!).  Everyone enjoyed eating, but shied away from the dancing!

Brecken holds tight! 

Folks enjoyed the photobooth a lot.  I saw a lot of families get their photo taken, but my favorite was little Brecken (Dano & Jeremiah Church's son). Dano and I did a lot of thrift shopping for the event and she found him the cutest outfit!  He was the most captivating cowboy there!

My favorite part of the night was the country dancing.  We did some fun line dances and even learned some really cool hoe-down moves from a real caller.  I'm so blessed to have a husband who loves to dance with me.  I hope it's something we do together for the rest of our lives.

 


 

Laura & Henry Campbell

We both have felt welcomed in our ward here.  It seems like we get to know people better at every event and find even more joy in sharing the gospel with these fine folks.  My neighbor and friend, Laura Campbell has already helped me out more than once!

Pumpkin Pina Colada

After the excitement of the Hoedown, I decorated the house for fall and made a DELICIOUS pumpkin pina colada drink. It was soooo good, that it may need to become a family tradition!

We also had our inaugural Nederhand Pumpkin carving.  I love being newlywed because everything we do together for the first year is NEW (and a sign of many wonderful years to come!)  So far, we established that Anthonie is more patient at pumpkin carving than I am (no surprise there!)  He was so meticulous and took his time to make our pumpkin perfect.

Pumpkin guts are yucky!

Our owl pumpkin is coming to life!

I also have spent a lot of time working on my chalkboard art while working at the Purple Moon. Couldn't resist sharing on the blog as well!

 

When we got the pumpkins all lit, I decided to throw together a last minute costume -- just for fun!  I really am sad that the yellow duck costume has not survived all the family moves, but at least I have a picture!  

Then & Now Halloween Costumes

Don't miss out on hearing our funny voices!

Insta Halloween Art

Happy Spooking everyone!

My Baby is Coming Home!

 I went and paid for the couch on Monday.  But our friends Dano and Jeremiah were not free to help us get it home until Thursday.  It's been the longest wait of my life.  Every day I just kept dreaming about lounging in my comfy sofa.  I was so excited that it was coming home that I took a million pictures of the process.

Anthonie, Jeremiah and the warehouse guys loading my baby up.  Dano's as excited as I am!

Did I mention it was raining?  Our friends are the best!!!

Sofa waiting for the feet!

 I wanted to get home and set it up IMMEDIATELY.  But we had made plans to play racquetball with Dano and Jer in exchange for hauling our sofa.  So we unloaded it at home, then headed to the Navy gym. 

Dano and I played a game, in which I lost horribly (but I'll get better, maybe?)  Then we watched and played with cute baby Breken the rest of the time.  After the boys played several games (and Anthonie lost them all--which serves him right for bragging!), we headed to Pita Pit for dinner. Yummmm...

By the time we got home, it was really late.  I was still excited about getting the feet on our sofa, but Anthonie wasn't too thrilled.  He was a good sport though and did all the hard parts.  I'm so lucky to have him!

Finally put together!

It feels so good to have a sofa!

Fashion Fun and Friends

Black bubble necklace

Checking out my booty

I'm totes digging my new blue pants.  Ok, let's be honest, I'm obsessed!  Last time I wore them, my adorable husband said, "Who is the lady wearing the hot pants?  Oh yeah!  It's my wife!" This comment immediately turned me on (we're newlyweds... it's to be expected!)

Since I've had more free time in the last five weeks than I have in the past five years, I'm really having fun experimenting with styles.  Lest you think, "But it's June!  Why are you wearing a sweater?" let me explain.  It's cold here in Washington!!  There's not even been a clear enough day for me to wear short sleeves yet!  Yesterday, I wore a sweater on a bike ride!  I am not used to this weather and I am terrified that I will miss out on my HOTT summer.  So I'm wearing hot clothes instead!  

Also, before someone rains on my parade about sock buns being "so last season" let me say, just say, this the easiest hair do I've ever had!  Please don't ruin it for me.  Yes, I've read that they can look "matronly" in the words of Elle magazine, but seriously -- what's matronly about a bright orange-red sweater with flowers?  Or my cute, young and adorable face?  If you think "matronly" while looking at these photos, I may have to punch you in the face.


Besides overanalyzing my closet, I've also spent a lot of time skyping/face-timing my lovely friends around the world!  My day is always brighter when I get to talk to my Mom or Sister (who live in Abu Dhabi, UAE). And if Courtney calls me from Alpine, I can be sure that no house tasks will be done for the next two hours (or three, or five...)  Viewers beware; we spend most of that time making faces at each other.  As shown here:

 And of course we laugh together afterwords about how weird we look.

Recently, I've discovered a new friend in Oak Harbor who has a beautiful view off her back porch.  The best part is that we're related! My great-aunt-Wanda is the aunt to my uncle!  It really is a small world (and Wanda's world is the prettiest of them all!)  I'm looking forward to grilling some hot dogs and enjoying the view this summer!

Wanda's backyard view

Joy in the Journey

Today we went for a walk along the beach on the base.  I cannot put into words how relaxing it is to walk hand in hand with my love and reflect on the beauty of this island.  I feel so blessed to be here, next to my sweetheart.  We are finding joy in the journey every day.  Married life is just the best.  This time is so precious for us because we know that soon enough we will be joined with little ones who will take more time and attention.  So for now, we are happy to just be together and to be in love.

We are also extremely grateful for good friends.  Anthonie tells me all the time that he feels more calm about his deployment knowing that I will be surrounded by great friends here.  One of my insta-best-friends was Caroline.  She has such a giving heart and is so kind to me.  She stopped by with her family to welcome us home and brought me these beautiful sun flowers!  Then, the next day, she gave me this awesome planter because I happened to mention that I liked it on her front door step.  She is so generous with her love and a true example to me of the Christian spirit.  I can always count on Caroline to be there for me and is helping me to feel like I belong here in Oak Harbor.

Gifts from a good friend make my heart happy