the little things

Random :)

I always love reading what people recommend on their blogs, so I thought I'd post a couple of my own today!

First, if you love christian music-here's a new favorite band I am loving right now!  Mikeschair.

Nate picked up their CD last week & he let me borrow it this morning & I cannot stop listening to it. SUCH great, inspirational songs!

Second-on the hunt for some fun buttons for your projects at a low price & awesome service?!

Then, ddeforest is your gal! (ps-I am not affiliated with her in any way, just passing along another great seller on etsy :))

Look how cute my package was all wrapped up!

I purchased some button sets from her early last week (like the one above) & got them over the weekend. Awesome service & she even included a few extra goodies!  Gotta love that!

I love that Etsy! ;)  Who are some of your favorite Etsy sellers?  I know I'm not really spending money on "non-essentials", but I still love to window shop! :)

In other news...I scrapped a bit over the weekend!  I created a page for AC & even a couple cards!

The little birdie (from Hero Arts) was actually a scrap piece I had found where I had stamped him for something else & he got pushed aside, so I thought he'd be perfect on a lil' card! And how YUM is that woodgrain ribbon from American Crafts?! The other is all American Crafts.  I have been itching to use that stamp & that aqua Zing! embossing powder & it was a lot of fun!

After a fun, fun night out with Tricia Saturday night, we decided to have a garage sale here at the end of August! Oh. good Lord what are we thinking?!  I'm excited for it tho.  Tricia will make it a blast, so I know I'll be a-okay! :)  

With the garage sale approaching, Nate & I got cracking at purging the attic & around the house Sunday after church.  And purged we did!  LOTS of stuff we have no use for.  And the pack-rat in me was about to die putting it all in the sale pile, but I am doing much, much better letting go of stuff, so I think I should get a gold star! ;)

In the midst of all the purging, I found this-

the tiara I wore on our wedding day!  I wore it allll day Sunday! The little things that truly make your day grand! ;)

Hope your week is grand, too! :) I'm off to scrap!

Moving Forward

Nate & I have been married nearly 3 years & have never had a savings account.  We saved money here at home for things like vacation & our new living room suit, but never for anything more or for a "rainy day." 

Of course, that was extremely nerve wracking, especially with the terrible economy the way it is.

All that changed today tho!  What a great feeling it is to have a GOAL!!

God has been so good to us & it's time we take better watch of our spending & how we spend HIS money.

This past Tuesday we met with a very nice man at our current bank to talk with him about all the fundamentals of getting pre-approved for a mortgage.  Nate & I have been researching things online for nearly a year, but wanted to sit down with someone & get this information first hand.  I am so grateful for what we learned.  It helped us so much in moving forward!

We are both very goal-oriented people & now we officially know what we need/would like to have saved for a down payment/house fund (for all the little things that could possibly pop up after home ownership!). Our short term goal is 12 months from now to see what we have saved & go from there.

We have agreed to nix most of the unnecessary spending that we do all too often & scale way back on gifts for ourselves & others.  We still plan on a few things, but we know our families & friends will understand & be more than willing to help in our savings by less gift giving/extra expenses.  

We know this will all be worth it when we have a home of our own that we worked & saved very hard for!

I'm so excited to see what God has in store for us in these next several months!  

So, that's most of what we've been up to!

I've been creating a bit here & there.  Anxious to see if I'm picked up again for the American Crafts DT! *fingers crossed* :)  

I officially turn 25 in less than 2 weeks.  I am dreading it! haha. Something about being closer to 30 than 20 scares me!! ;) Nate has been teasing me about a surprise he has had planned for me for months!  I love surprises, but this one is seriously has me stumped!  I have no idea.  I usually some kind of idea, but not this time.  I keep asking if it's the Rascal Flatts concert since they'll be in Cleveland on my birthday, but he says unfortunately no.  I believe he's telling the truth, but I'd still love to see them! haha!

Here's a share of a few of the things I've created recently!

who doesn't love a good mix of random mirror photos every once in a while? ;)

our sweet friends, the Barco's at their wedding last Saturday!

I've had that white, embossed cardstock for 6 years! No joke!

Hope you're having a GREAT weekend!  I'm off to tend to my farm in Farmville before Tricia & I hang out! :)

Meet My Mom!

Her name is Leah & she enjoys playing on the playground! ;)

These photos crack me up!  Monday night, we drove into Wooster to walk & midway, stopped at a school because my mom had the urge to pretend she was 5 all over again!  (this is where I get my craziness, by the way! ;))

Swinging & sliding were high on the to-do list!

I am so, so blessed to have such an awesome mom! :)

It's been a bit busy around here lately, I'll have more updates later!  Thanks so much for all the great purging tips!  Nate & I are in full House Fund Savings mode & purging for a potential yard sale is on the agenda, so we appreciate it!

Hope all is well where you are!

Purging.

around the house...not body! ;) 

So, it's hit me that Nate & I have accumulated A. LOT. of stuff in just nearly 3 years of marriage. TOO much.  How in the world did this happen?

Oh, wait.

Back up.

It just may have something to do with my love of collecting things? Or it could be my hesitation to get rid of just about anything? It might also be that we (eh hem, ok...*i*) just like stuff?!

But, the time has come to purge.  To only keep the stuff we USE & treasure.  Then again, if you ask me, I treasure everything!  Hence, the Duenke's little problem!

From scrapbooking stuff, to kitchen stuff, to clothes that I haven't been able to fit in for years, to books

& papers...well, the list really could go on & on! We have too much! So, after this break I'm taking between cleaning 

the whole house (it looks & smells wonderful!) & eating dinner...I plan on starting The Big Purge Project

of O9. Where?  I dunno. But somewhere.

We simply have too much stuff!

I'm hoping to find some inexpensive storage boxes/baskets to load the important stuff up, but away.  Other stuff I think is going to find its way to Goodwill, although I am contemplating having a garage sale early fall.  

What do you suggest?  Have you purged recently & have some tips for me? I'd love to hear them!

Here's a page before I go!  Craemer!! :)

Pearly Whites

What is it about going to the dentist for a cleaning that makes you feel so "glowy?!"

Free teeth cleanings every 6 months are the bomb dot com! ;)

Yey for Friday tomorrow!  I can't wait to come home & create a bit & give our house a good scrub down!  I think I look forward to cleaning more now that I have that handy little Magic Eraser! haha. I'm a nerd!

Have a great weekend!

going back a bit...

Sunday I had a bridal shower for my sweet, sweet cousin, Rachel & her happiness is so contagious!

 

(She's the 3rd one from the right, tucked behind my mom! ;))

Rach is another, "meet a guy, fall in love, get engaged, get married all within a year" kinda gal too! :) I adore her & her fiance is super sweet & reminds me sooo much of Nate!

Her shower was wonderful & it made me think of mine that was 3 years ago already!

(look how long my hair was! Craziness!)

Food, family, friends & fun. What more could you ask for?!

Rachel just glows (& makes funny faces!)  I am sooo excited for her wedding in August!

This is the summer of weddings for us.  We had last Friday's, we have another one this Saturday for this girlie & her fiance, Brian...

My sweet friend, Kate-lynn!

& then Rachel's in August!  Busy, busy, but I love it!

I've managed to scrap a few pages the last few days, I'll share soon!  For now, I'm off to chat with Nate about some newness that may be happening with us soon!

My Love, My Life

This has been such a good weekend!  3 days off does the body good :)

It started with a trip to the dentist morning. Fun. haha.

Then,we ventured to Findlay to visit with family, before heading to Bowling Green where we staying for a friend's wedding.  It was nice seeing Nate's mom.  We went to lunch at Cheddar's & did some shopping since the hubs waited til' the last minute to buy new dress shoes! ;)

He found some & my mother in law bought me the cutest purse!  I think she's starting to like me! hehe :)

Once we got to the hotel we got all gussied up for the wedding. It was fun!  

We took some silly mirror photos before we left (which actually made us a tid bit later than we would have liked, but thank goodness we were just in time for the cermony! ha!) :)

On the way, I caught a glimpse of this goodness:

The clutch worked perfectly! :)

The wedding was beautiful!  The photos didn't turn out the greatest, but here's a few!

Some things I wish we would have thought of when we got married?

Sparklers for the send off! How cool are those?!

A vintage car. Love that!

We just bought one of those very same Carafe jars yesterday at Target! Love.

The couple adopted a panda at the Memphis Zoo & will be visiting him on their honeymoon. Hence, the panda cupcakes!  Nate said the actual wedding cake was delicious. I was lucky to have been given this cute little guy, which I had a hard time eating because of the cuteness, so I didn't have the other cake!

Favorites from the night?

The Big Band music that played all night.

Seeing friends so in love. So happy.

Meeting new friends at our table-a fun, sweet couple who I felt like we had known forever!

Nate asking me to dance. I love that he loves to dance!

The laughter in the car all the way back to the hotel. I have a funny husband. :)

A beautiful night.  A good day today. 

My very favorite part of the trip?

The ride home where I finally made a very important decision that has been on my heart & mind for years! I am so, so blessed to have a husband who talks things out with me, especially when I am hurting the most.

I leave with a page I did last week.  I love hand stitching lately & these Basic Grey buttons were begging to become little flowers! :)

Enjoy your weekend!

Somewhere in the middle.

Oh, what a day this has been!

I need to figure out what I want to do career wise. Work stinks!

BUT, on to happier things!

Like.

Shabby Chic Crafts! :)

Veronica, the owner of Shabby Chic Crafts asked me to guest design for her & hubby, Albert this month!  And how stoked was I?!!

I love their tags. Totally cute & fun!  I love how easy they are to work with. Lots of themes!

I am so blessed for the fun opportunity!  Thank you, Veronica & Albert! :)

Here's a couple of pages I did with some of their tags!

How cute are those summer tickets?!

And my favorite of the bunch...

Seriously. the "patchwork" look using some patterned papers & these tags make me happy!

Last night we had a fun, furry guest! 

 This dude stayed with us all last night & we had a blast!  He cracks me up & I miss him all the time!  I love when mom & Phil go out of town! :)

I have one more day of work this week & then another 3 day weekend! Praise. The. Lord. Looking forward to some time with Nate on Friday before a friend's wedding out of town. Should be a good time!

Taking Time to be Silly :)

It's time to start putting the large stack of finished layouts I have in albums so as I was organizing I found this one I did last weekend after our trip to amish country. It just might be a new favorite! :)

 

I am loving all things scallop lately. I used some of the yellow trim I found while thrifting last weekend & even branched out & cut out the flowers! haha. First time ever for that! :)

I'm anxious to show some more layouts for something I'm excited about, but not quite yet...but soon! :)

Nate didn't have to work tonight, so I'm off to scrap while he plays the Sims 3! :)

A Weekend in Photos

And what a lovely weekend it has been!

It started with a day off on Friday.  Nate & I did a bit of shopping & had a yumm-o breakfast at Chik-fil-a! We had never had their breakfast before, but boy, it didn't disappoint!

 

We then stopped by Archiver's where I was excited to find the new Basic Grey.Also, Michael's has a wonderful new line from 

Making Memories for those who love some vintage in their albums! :)

Friday was also my gramcracker's birthday, who every year I think is 54 :)  She loves it & we all disregard that I've been totally wrong for the last 14 years! ;)

To celebrate, my cousin Steph drove up from Columbus & we had ice cream! Mmm! It was wonderful spending that time with family.

 

 

We had a wonderful Independence Day, too!

Nate had the WHOLE day off & we were so grateful! We went on a date yesterday afternoon, finally saw Transformers 2 (I actually liked it!).

In the evening, mom & Phil & Tana & Zeb met at our house to walk down to the park for the evenings festivities (which entailed of pizza, surprises, lots of people watching & fireworks!) We had a. Blast!

Here, let me show you...

I love cute delivery boys! :)

And surprising wonderful, wonderful people :)

Happy 8 Year Anniversary!  Now, go & stay at a wonderful, magical place for the night! :)

I allowed myself one Lerch's donut. (Tana didn't like it?! ha.) It wasn't the best weight-friendly weekend. Shhh. Don't tell Weight Watchers! ;)

People watching. Of course! :)

We're so weird! :)

 

Sparklers!!

 

Such a great show! Almost 40 minutes long! 

Bottom line: I am blessed. Good days, bad days. Happy, sad. I. AM. BLESSED.

& I love the U.S.A!

Hope you had an enjoyable holiday weekend! :)