Colorado Bound!

Today we are traveling to Winter Park, Colo., for a ski trip! We're excited to go, and hope we don't drive into bad weather. Some friends from our church organized the trip last fall, and we decided to go. We'll be driving out there with another couple from our church, and staying in the condo with them, also. The plan is to ski the 25-27 and head back home on the 28. I'll post more about it and share pictures when we're back home.

Happy Birthday Trevor!

Today my nephew, Trevor Herndon, is 9 years old! I still remember the day he was born. I received a call at work from my mom saying Stephanie was at the hospital and she was not going home without a baby. This was exciting and surprising - she was not due until March 11, I believe. I had one more class left that day and then planned to drive down to Joplin after wards to meet my first nephew. That was a busy week at school, as I had three tests in one week. I was so thankful that all the tests were over with my last class that Thursday, and I could enjoy the weekend in Joplin.

Stephanie and Nathan did not find out what they were having, so when I got there it was so much fun finding out I had a nephew. I have so enjoyed watching Trevor grow up and can't wait to see what the future brings for him. Happy Birthday Trevor! Ross and I love you lots!

Pictures - Part 5

This is a continuation of the blog series about the pictures I have on display in my house. Enjoy!

I have the picture frames below hanging in our family room. These are some of my favorite wedding pictures - some from our ceremony and some from outside at our reception venue.

Ceremony frame: The two top pictures are the best! The top left is when Ross walked in the door to the sanctuary as the ceremony started. I love the look on his face! The picture of me is when I was waiting in the lobby to walk down the aisle. I love the middle picture (okay I love them ALL!) taken during our ceremony. I love how it shows off my oh so pretty dress! The bottom left picture is one of my absolute favorites. We were walking back up the aisle as Mr. and Mrs. Wiseman, and as we neared my parents, my dad held out his hand for a high-five, and I said "I'm married now!" The bottom right is in the lobby after the ceremony - love this one, too! Oh our wedding day was such a fun, fun, fun day! I truly hope everyone's wedding day is as happy and wonderful as ours was!

Reception frame: These pictures are great! We had such a beautiful wedding day - the weather cooperated with us and we were able to get lots of outside shots. I love all of these, especially the one of us walking together!

Happy Birthday Aunt Linda!

Happy Birthday to my Aunt Linda!! I hope you have a great day!

From left to right: my sister, Stephanie Herndon, my mom, Wanda Ward, Me :), my Aunt Linda Shallberg

Pictures - Part 4

This is a continuation of the blog series about the pictures I have on display in my house. Enjoy!

This post is more about a picture frame than a picture. I gave this picture frame to Ross on his 30th birthday, and I think it's safe to say this is definitely a gift I loved way more than him. And that's okay!

The saying on this frame "It doesn't matter what we're doing really, I just enjoy being with you" is what Ross emailed me after our "first kind of date" in December 2008. You can read about it here! I wish I can take credit for the design of this frame, but I can't. My original plan was to paint it myself at Firehouse Pottery, but I am in no way an artist, and I wanted it to look good, not like a 5-year-old painted it! I had it custom designed for me and love it! The statement sums up our relationship perfectly - we just enjoy being together, no matter what!

The picture in this frame was taken on our 5-month dating anniversary in April 2009. I took Ross to a park very close to my house and we had a picnic. It was such a great evening! Right now I have this frame on our kitchen counter. Sometime I think that's a really odd spot for this frame ... oh well!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Ross and I went out to dinner and a movie for our Valentine's date over the weekend, and tonight will have a nice dinner at home. Since the weather is fairly warm today, we're going to grill fillet mignons for dinner. I plan for us to eat dinner in our dining room (which we only do on special occasions) and eat off of our china plates!

One year ago on Valentine's Day, Ross and I went to dinner and a movie, and then spent the weekend in Kansas City for a couples wedding shower his parent's friends had for us.  My parents, aunt and uncle, sister and brother-in-law were there, too.


Two years ago on Valentine's Day (our first Valentine's Day together) Ross met me at my door with one dozen red roses and then took me to a very good Italian restaurant for dinner. We then went back to his place where he had set up several candles all around his basement floor and we danced together. It was so nice and so romantic. We exchanged gifts - both DVDs to each other - and just had a nice evening.

I love Ross and am so happy to have him as my Valentine!

Pictures - Part 3

This is a continuation of the blog series about the pictures I have on display in my house. Enjoy!

Today I'm featuring (okay, that wording makes me feel a little snobby, but oh well!) the pictures I have on the wall in our bedroom. The pictures below are hanging right above our bed, and got the idea from my very good friend (and Premier Jewelry Lady, if you're interested), Christina Jenkins.

I registered for the "All because two people fell in love" frame for our wedding and received it as a shower gift. I had it on display at our reception, along with our parents' and grandparents' wedding pictures. It looked so good at the reception and I thought it would be perfect for what I wanted to accomplish in our bedroom.

I wanted to decorate our bedroom, but didn't want to do flowers or landscapes, so decided on pictures. Pictures of Ross and I and all the fun times we have had together. The pictures below are some of my favorite pictures of us. The picture in the middle of the center frame was taken at my BBQ in April 2008. Ross and I were just friends, but when he put his arm around me to take the picture, I felt butterflies in my stomach and had the thought, "Oh, I like him!" I then went back and forth with my feelings for him...and now we're married! Read more about it here.

Top left side: This picture was taken about 1 1/2 months after we started dating. I didn't have very many pictures of the two of us together and decided we needed some. We sat on my couch and took about 20 pictures (thank God for digital!) and ended up with a few good ones. This one isn't so much the greatest picture, but I love our faces! It pretty much sums us up - fun!!

Middle left side: Ross is proposing to me in this picture "Libby, I love you so much and want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?" I am SO happy to have this picture!

Bottom left side: This was taken on Easter Sunday 2010, just about one week before we were married. There isn't anything super special about this picture, other than we look really good!

Top right side: This was taken right after we walked up the aisle after our wedding. Love this!!

Middle right side: This was at XPLOR - the excursion we did on our honeymoon in Cancun. The place was definitely not what we thought it would be and we like to joke about it. I'm sure 50 years from now we'll still be laughing about it!

Bottom right side: This picture was taken the night we moved into our new house!

I plan to hang more significant pictures like these as the years go by. I think it would be so neat to have that entire wall filled with pictures of us and our memories!

Pictures - Part 2

This is a continuation of the blog series about the pictures I have on display in my house. Enjoy!

When we moved into our house there was already one piece of furniture in place - a piano! The previous owners of our house asked if we'd be interested in buying their piano and we said yes. I had actually been looking on Craigslist for a piano at the time, so this was perfect!  I took piano lessons from 1st-8th grade, and enjoy playing every now and then. I asked my Mom for her baby grand piano, but she quickly said NO! I was thrilled with the piano we purchased! The body is in great condition and the sound is great, too.

I decided to display our family pictures on top of the piano. I've seen this done in other homes before, and really liked it. I have some of Ross' side of the family and my side of the family represented here. From left to right: Gramma Schaffer (Ross' maternal grandmother), Matt, Jennifer, Conner, and Tucker Wiseman (Ross' brother and family), Gramma and Grampa Wiseman (Ross' paternal grandparents), Larry & Wanda Wiseman (Ross' parents), Terry & Wanda Ward (my parents), Nathan, Stephanie, Trevor, and Cody Herndon (my sister and family), Aunt Linda and Uncle Dale Shallberg (my mom's sister and husband), and Gramma and Grampa Ward (my paternal grandparents).

Pictures - Part 1

I love pictures! I love taking pictures, looking at picture, printing them off and displaying them. I just flat out love pictures. I'd say, though, that it's probably a toss-up as to what I like more - pictures or a cute pair of shoes! I remember my Gramma Peterson ALWAYS taking pictures, and I mean ALWAYS taking pictures! Maybe that's where I get it from. {Side note: My Gramma was 91 years old when she died. I often think about all the changes she saw in cameras throughout her lifetime - sitting still for the old-time cameras, 35mm, Polariod, disposable, underwater, digital cameras! Aiyie, aiyie, aiyie, aiyie, aiyie she would say!}

I think I do a pretty good job, too, of displaying all my pictures in frames throughout our house. In fact, sometimes I laugh at myself when I look around and see ALL the framed pictures of Ross and I. I wonder what people think when they come to our house and see us everywhere! I also like to periodically update the pictures in the frames, too. Some, though, I do like to leave, even though they are pretty old.

I thought I'd share with you some of the pictures I have displayed around our house through a series of Pictures posts. Enjoy!

The picture below is my newest frame. My Aunt Linda gave it to me for Christmas and I love it. It says "May our home know joy, each room hold laughter, every window open to great possibilities." I love how it talks about our home, and I have it hanging inside our entryway. A very fitting place, given the message on the frame. The picture of Ross and I sitting down together and the picture of Ross unlocking the front door are from the day we closed on our house. Right after we were done with closing we went "home" to our new house. Of course I had to take a picture of him unlocking our door for the first time! We had dinner together that night for the first time in our new house - the picture of us in front of the windows is dinner. (Oh how I love the self-timer feature!) And the last picture of us standing together by the front door is the day we moved in. Love it!

My Room

We have four bedrooms in our house. One is our master bedroom, one is Ross' Man Cave, one is the guest bedroom, and now one is MY room!

When we moved into our house we decided to put both of our old beds upstairs and have two guest rooms. Sometime in the fall I decided I wanted to have my own space, like Ross has his own space, so we decided to put the bed that was in the second guest room downstairs and turn that room into my room. I was very excited for this, as I planned on making it a sitting/reading/sewing/scrapbooking/and everything else room. My mom even loaned me her rocking chair so I have a nice comfy chair for reading.

Before I "moved in" the walls were plain white with a light pink and green wallpaper border - very 90s, very not me. Ross and I tore down the border (Ross doing most of the work) and painted the room purple! I love purple and am so happy with the way this room turned out. I will so enjoy using this room. Someday when we have kids this room will be turned into the nursery. Hopefully we'll have a little girl first so we won't have to repaint!

I just had to share a picture of this room's closet - I love it! The shelves are built in and there are three different places to hang up clothes. All the closets in our house resemble this one, love that!

Surprise Notes, Again!

Ross is so good about leaving me surprise flowers, or notes in my car or on our bed with my teddy bear.  He left me several notes before we were married on my kitchen doorstep, and I love that he still does this now that we're married!

A few days before our first Valentine's Day together in 2009, I came home from work to find that he had left a white teddy bear setting on my doorstep with a card inviting me on a Valentine's Day date. This was the best! I love surprises, especially surprises from Ross! I have slept with that teddy bear (who we named Steve - Ross and his dad both had a best friend named Steve when they were growing up, so we decided Steve would be my bear's name) ever since the first day I received it, and still do today, even though we're married!

Over the past 9 1/2 months that we've been married, Ross has placed notes, flowers, cereal, candy bars, and other miscellaneous items that he knows I will enjoy, right next to Steve for me to find when I got home from work. I love walking into our room each night and looking over at our bed, wondering if I'll find a surprise or not.

This past Wednesday we were both home all day due to the snow and I didn't find my surprise until around 10pm when we went to bed. Ross left a Valentine card setting on Steve's lap. The card said "Best Friends" on the front. I LOVE this card! It is so sweet and just warmed my heart. Ross certainly does know what makes me happy! Thank you, Ross!

Welcome Home

A few weeks ago we had the entryway, stairway, and hallway to the kitchen painted. Our house is a two-story house, and the entry way is open, all the way to the ceiling. Given the height of our walls, we decided it would be best for us to just hire this job out. A friend recommended a painter who was able to get everything painted and back in place in one day! 

The pictures below are taken from the front door and looking into the kitchen and the upstairs. The lighting is bad, making it hard to tell exactly what color the walls are, but they are an off-white, very light cream in the pictures below.

The two pictures below show the area right as you come in from the porch and from the upstairs landing area. The color we used is called Bagel, and it is just a nice, neutral, warm color. I love it! I also love the table and lamp in the picture below. We did a lot of searching for a table to fit this small area, and finally found one online. It arrived the day the entryway was painted, so Ross put it together and had it all set up when I came home from work that day. I found the lamp and HOME sign (which I love and think it goes perfectly there) at Gordman's, and received the picture frame as a wedding gift. I love this little area and think it is the perfect way to welcome people into our home.

Back To Work

I'm back at work today. I so would have loved another snow day, but I am thankful for the two I received. Here are some pictures and a video from our view of Blizzard 2011.

Snow Day #2

Today is my second "snow day" this week! Monday around 4:15pm, we received an email saying our offices would be closed on Tuesday, February 1, due to the blizzard that was heading our way. This was such exciting news! It did seem kind of odd, though, to call off work so early, especially considering it was only about 40 degrees outside and no winter precipitation was falling.

But I am so glad they did call off work! I woke up Tuesday morning around 4am to the sound of sleet hitting our windows. I was in and out of sleep for another three hours, and then Ross and I finally woke up at 7am to see a covering of sleet on the ground. The sleet quickly turned over to snow, and I enjoyed looking out our front door all day long to see how deep the snow was. It sure was pretty to watch, and lasted all day long!

Since about 9$0% of Ross' job involves traveling around the city and surrounding areas, he was stuck at home yesterday. He did a little bit of paperwork, and then turned his computer off for the day around 11am. We were quite productive with our day and painted our guest bedroom. We also shoveled half of our driveway (which was covered with snow just as soon as we were inside and had our snow clothes hanging to dry), and caught up on some of our recorded shows.

My work is closed again today and Ross is doing more paperwork at home. This morning we shoveled the rest of our driveway and took a walk up our street to see what the road conditions were like. As of 11am this morning, the main thoroughfare by our neighborhood had not been cleared off. I sure hope they get to it, and our neighborhood (the city said they would be plowing the neighborhoods due to the large amount of snow we recevived). But, I hope more that I will have another snow day tomorrow!

The Intentional Bible

One of my goals this year, like every year, is to read my Bible on a daily basis. I often let too much time go by between my readings and I'm determined to change that this year.

I shared this with a very good friend and she gave me The Intentional Bible to aid in my reading. It's the Bible sectioned out into a 365-day reading plan, so at the end of the year I will have read the entire Bible. I've thought about doing this a lot, and have heard others talk about it. It always seemed like such a daunting task to me, especially when I think of reading some of the Old Testament books that are less than exciting! But it is now February 1, one month into the new year, and I am happy to say I am completely caught up on my reading. I have done very good at reading each day. I have missed a day or two here and there, but instead of quitting, I just double up the next day and am caught up again.

It really doesn't take long at all, maybe 10-15 minutes to read. I read two OT chapters, a few verses from the Psalms, a few verses from Proverbs and one-two NT chapters a day. I'll admit, though, some days I feel like I read just to get it checked off my list. But other days when I read, I don't want to stop. I get so engrossed in the story, that I want to continue on.

I can't remember everything I've read, but I can tell a difference in myself and I chalk it all up to the reading. How could one not feel changed, feel happier, feel more joyous when they are reading GOD's word every day?!