vacation in grand rapids

j. and i spent 8 days on vacation with old friends and various members of his family. we visited his bro in cincinnati where we tried lots of delicious food, watched the phillies lose to the reds and hung out with hundreds of animals at the zoo. we also went to the beach [lake michigan!] on a gorgeous clear day,
watched really good fireworks, took walks, ate fam dinners, explored downtown grand rapids a little, talked, relaxed, and had our first wedding shower!

the trip included 15 hours in the car just the 2 of us. we still loved each other after all that driving... good sign, i'd say...

i decided that i could get used to seeing j. all day every day. good thing, huh? since that will be reality starting november 20th!!* last night i went to bed without saying goodnight. and this morning i ate breakfast without him. this could be a long long week; i think i'll try to stay busy.

new house #2

j's all moved in and it's starting to look so so good! plus i've started a couple projects this week.

1. the mirror i got at new life thrift is now painted light blue. i need to do another coat sometime soon, but here are some pics. i chose the color simply because it was leftover in the basement and it wasn't white, off-white, or tan. haha.
2. i've been waiting to buy some drawer/cupboard liner so i could put everything away in the kitchen. i mapped out all the drawers and made a mini layout of where i would place things. j. said i could choose but i don't think he realized how OCD i would be about it all... anyway, i covered most of the drawers & it looks a lot better. [p.s. see the pot rack in the next photo?! i really really really wanted them to leave that for me!!!]
i haven't done any projects in the guest room or office yet, but we put up a lot of j's medals, plaques and country flags. we plan to re-do both rooms sometime this winter so i'm not gonna decorate anything too extensively.

new house #1

i have a feeling that a season of busy-ness is about to set in! i've had three interviews in the last week. we're leaving for michigan in 5 days. joel moved into his/our house on saturday and i've been there every day organizing, cleaning & decorating. our awesome friends helped load and unload all his stuff. i didn't take any real pics of the house yet, although now i'm sad i don't have "before" photos... oh well.
[i took this pic from the kitchen sink. the fact that there are shutters on a window from the kitchen to the living area is perhaps one of my favorite things about this house!!]

yesterday we went to the thrift store and had some great finds. i really really wanted a mirror to hang in the living room between the two big windows. i wasn't expecting to find exactly what i wanted on the first try, but as i flipped through the stack at the thrift store, j. said "don't forget that if it's not the color you like, you can paint it"

and i remembered: i am gonna marry a man who knows how to paint. and who is a teacher. so will likely teach me how to be more do-it-yourself-y. totally rad!

sooooo i found an oval mirror that's in nearly perfect shape. we got sandpaper and wall hooks. j. picked out a set of paintbrushes and a little baby paint dish. i'm gonna check out all the leftover paint in the basement and make that oval mirror perfect! tonight!

daddio

father's day nearly got lost in moving weekend/rebecca's graduation yesterday. but i have been thinking all weekend long about my dad and how to best dedicate this post to him.

my dad is hilarious. he remembers funny lines/stories like no other. i can tell he's thinking of a zinger when i see the corners of his mouth start to turn up or twitch. my favorite is when he's driving a car, i'm sitting behind him, & i can look at his face in the rearview mirror and know that he's about to say something funny.

my dad is very wise and very intentional. he's careful about his planning. he thinks about his words and how to use them well. he has lots of good insight and is very encouraging.

even though we're similiar and often clash, i'm so grateful for my dad and his influence in my life. i am the kelly ann nelson i am today because he has loved me well, taught me firmly, and taught me to be independent [remember that 1st time you let me drive on the highway? yep, major milestone!].

thanks, daddio. i love you.

shopping together

last night we went to target to get tons of stuff for the house [broom, furniture polish, garbage can, drawer liners, paper towels, etc.] we had the most hilarious conversation with our check-out lady.

lady: hi, how are you? happy fathers day, i dunno if you're a father.
joel: nope, i'm not a father. hopefully someday.
lady: well thats great, i can tell y'all are so in love.
kelly: yup, we are!
j: we're getting married in november
l: really? that's awesome! congratulations! you're doin things right! that's the way! none of this living together crap?!
k: nope
l: good, that's good! you're doin things right! do things right they'll work out. not like me. i've been married three times already and still didn't get it right!
k: [super awkward pause where i look at j. helplessly] ......... um...... well, keep looking....
l: no, i'm done lookin'! i'm just kidding ya. i'm on my third marriage but i'm still in it!
j: well that's good.
l: well congratulations again! have a good night y'all!
k/j: you too
................
k: well that was hilarious. we've been getting funny check-out ladies lately. like the girl at men's warehouse last weekend.
j: yeah, like you said, we should invite her to our wedding!

[p.s. we went to target again two days later & j. said to me: our friend from the other day is working customer service now. wanna go talk to her?!" :)]

as i type this...

...my fiance is buying us a house.

he has the walk-through right now. then closing/signing papers. then shaking hands & collecting the keys. then moving in a couple of things so he feels it's his own place. [i told him to at least use the bathroom or wash his hands or something to make it his own! haha]

hooray!!!!!!

i forgot my camera this morning but may stop @ home to get it before i go see the new place. i'm so dang excited*

i broke down

please don't judge me. please just celebrate my quirkiness/ridiculousness.

i

created

a

wedding

blog.