I have news……..

I’M ENGAGED!!!

I’ll post the whole story complete with many more photos later, but for now I thought I would share the outline with you!

Wednesday evening I went to SWITCH (the youth group at LifeChurch.tv) as I do every Wednesday.  When I got home, I knew Bethany wasn’t there, but I was surprised to find all the lights off (we usually leave a light on for each other so we can find the keyhole!).  While I was trying to find my house key in the dark, I caught a glimpse of candles in the living room.  From that point on, it was a bit of an out-of-body experience.

In the middle of all the candles were pictures of Colin and I from the very beginning of our relationship and a letter.  After reading the letter (which was lovely, of course), I followed the instructions in the PS which said “now go to the backyard!”

I followed the tunnel of twinkle lights (which had photos of Colin and me hanging from them) to my backyard where he was waiting with more candles.  Of course he looked extra handsome in his nice clothes, and you can see from these photos that I looked the opposite…I won’t tell you how long it had been since I showered.  He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!!

I said yes (obviously) and we went to look at all the photos from our relationship that Colin had hung on the twinkle lights.  Oh, and I forgot to mention that Jillian Edwards was playing the whole time–magic.

I later found out that our dear friend, Brian Lawes, was hiding the whole time and taking photos.  You may have guessed that he took all the photos you see here, for more of his work (he’s a videographer) you can look here.  We were so blessed to have him there to capture everything!!

Brian wanted to take some more photos of us, which turned out lovely if you ask me.

If you read all of this, you get ten points from me, remind me later

I never dreamed you would be so interesting, educational, and lovely all in one.  You were so kind to us, making it easy to camp and explore for the short time we were there.  Thanks for that.

Maybe I’m done with finals, and maybe I’m not (I am) so I have plenty of time to be writing this blog post–don’t worry.  This is the end of our home tour for awhile, especially since we’ll be leaving this home for a new one in just a few weeks.  If I’m lucky, I’ll capture a bit of our bedrooms (because they’re pretty cute, if I do say so myself), but packing may inhibit those opportunities.

Regardless, here is a peek into our living room.  Here is where we love to watch movies, have extra long conversations, lay on the couch and watch the morning sun pour in, and spend time with our lovely friends who come visit us.

The window situation in this house has spoiled me for sure, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to have a place without abundant natural light pouring in from as many directions as possible.  It’s so lovely.

Just in case you’re thinking “Hm, I wonder who Johnny Stimson, Ty Mayfield, and Brad Cooper are?”–They are our dear dear friends who also happen to be very talented musicians.  Here are links to their youtube channels/websites.  Believe me, you need their music.  (link for Johnny, Ty, and Brad)  They did a house concert at our house early this semester, and let me tell you, it was amazing!  Here’s a shot of Johnny singing his little heart out.

Ok, end of my shameless plug Haha

I’m back to bring you a little more of our home that we will be leaving all too soon (we are so so sad)!  Today you get to see our dining room.  When we first moved in, we decided that the dining room would have a coffee shop/adventure feel, and I’d say we were pretty successful in creating that environment.  This may be my favorite room in the house, but let’s be real, I love every room!

Yes, I’m supposed to be doing work, but I’ve been working all morning and now I’m taking a break to bring you the beginning of the tour of our lovely little house.

Being in college, it can be hard to really find time and money to decorate like you may want to, but luckily we don’t make decorating a priority in our lives (and we probably never will).  Beth, Chels, and I just wanted our house to feel like home.  It really has become our home, and I will be sad to leave it in May for sure!

Nevertheless,  I wanted to share some photos of our quirky house for my memory’s sake and for your inspiration.  Feel free to pin anything you like (we would be quite honored if you did)!

Let’s start with the kitchen:  Here is our sink (“oooohhhh, a sink!” I know right?) and the lovely windows that allow for so much natural light in our house every morning (my favorite part)

We have this little shelf on the end of the peninsula that is perfect for holding our tea and coffee (don’t be fooled by the above containers, those are just pretty to look at)

There’s an even cooler shelf by the oven that allows us to display our (well, mostly my…let’s be honest) coffee mug collections!  This may be the main reason why we chose this house–I’m not kidding.

If you’re wondering what that burlap is in the background, I’ll show you later (that’s the dining room).  But as you can see, I started storing most of my food in jars on these dividing shelves.  I’ve loved it, because not only is it a way of opening up space in the pantry, but it’s pretty to look at too.

So this may be the longest break of blogging I have ever taken.  Ever.

I am so sorry!!  To be fair, my blogs have been messing up significantly these past few months, but I also haven’t been very focused on photography or blogging at all for that matter.

 Anyway, some exciting things are coming around in my life soon despite the crazy academic world, so I’m pretty pumped about them.

Like I said, I have a ton of work I need to be doing right now, but I wanted to share a few pictures from my roommates’ birthday for your enjoyment (or my record-keeping…whichever this blog is actually for).  So, here we go!

A few weeks ago, Bethany and Chelsea turned 21, and Colin turned 22.  I turned 22 last week, and CO and I are starting to feel a little old–and even old people agree with us on that (ok, not really).  Seriously, I go to sleep earlier, eat less junk food, have creaking joints and everything.  Can anybody say Senile?

Beth, Chels and I went shopping all over Tulsa for their birthday, we dressed up pretty, then the 3 of us, CO, and our friend Blake went to the Needtobreathe and Ben Rector concert.  I will not even begin to describe how cool that concert was–definitely too cool for school.

Sometime (hopefully soon) I’ll share photos of our recent trip to Robber’s Cave, OK and maybe I’ll also finish my photos of our trip this summer….yes.

Oh!! I’m also working on a home tour for you all, even though we’re about to move out of our house (so sad).

That’s all for now though, thanks for reading!

love,

m

oops.

Sometimes you get to have coffee with a friend you only see every 6 months, but not always.

Sometimes your favorite person goes to another country, and you can’t communicate for days, but not always.

Sometimes you tackle your goals and make new ones, but not always.

I’m thankful for the sometimes, and I’m thankful for the always.

In the meantime, changes are coming.  I can’t promise they’ll be big or fast (because we all know how that ends), but I can promise they will happen.

Thanks for sticking with me!

love,

m

Thank you for grey days, delicious coffee, and some of the best people watching I’ve done in awhile.

I miss that lovely view of yours.  Hopefully this finds you well, and hopefully we can meet again soon!

Ever-yours. love,

m

Well thanks!  I do too {if I do say so myself}.  I’m here to inform you that if you would like to purchase prints of these photos and more, you now CAN!

Try to contain your excitement.  You can purchase the photos here.  Please let me know how it goes [via comment or email] if you do since this is a new process for me as well.

Thank you for all of your love and support!  You are near and dear to my heart simply for reading this blog.

love,

Mary

Or maybe it’s because you felt a little like home.

Regardless, you are great.  I think we’ll be friends for quite awhile.

Thank you for making us feel welcome.  Thank you for sweet Uncles and Aunts that feed us too well and give us warm places to sleep.  Thank you for cousins who are too much fun, and for being 45 minutes away from RMNP.

Love you, miss you, hope to see you again soon,

m