one year anniversary!

yay!!! we made it to our one year anniversary!! what a crazy, awesome, refining, blessed first year of marriage we have had! of course, as in every marriage - there are the wonderful times and then there are the times of struggle. but we made it! :) we are SO grateful and soo excited to see what the Lord has in store for us for year number two!

if you're just joining us - welcome! i'm so happy you're here!

if you're interested in reading all about our love story - you can read [part one], [part two], [part three], [part four], [part five], [part six] and [part seven] to catch up on it all and reminise over our relationship and how we got to where we are today! :)

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so you might think i'm crazy for planning my entire wedding under budget and doing everything myself with the wonderful wonderful help of my family and friends.

it was definitely a lot of work - i wish i would have documented more of it.. i have some stuff and maybe i'll do some more in depth posts on that another time :)

our engagement was just shy of 6 months. 5 months and 21 days to be exact.

there was one month in there that i didn't have anything going on.. i had just graduated college.. and hadn't started my job yet. my momma encouraged me to get started and i thought.. nahh i've got plenty of time.

well, let me tell you.. 

she was right.

so right.

i wish i wouldn't have taken almost a month off from everything. [i seriously was probably the laziest person you've ever met and filled my time with naps, relaxing with friends, flipping through magazine pages and not a whole lot more.]

the rest of those months got so busy.

i was training and traveling for my job.

taking licensing exams. [that i ended up having to re-take both of them again because i failed them both the first time. talk about pride squasher].

planning and crafting our [my] dream wedding. you will be able to see a lot more hand crafted stuff in these photos :)

and trying to get our new yet temporary home painted, moved into and situated so we had a home to live in once we got back from our honeymoon.

what a ride it was!

but, we're here and we made it!

i wanted to share with you some [a lot.. get ready] of our wedding photos as well as some highlights from our first year of marriage :)

this was my dress before [on the left] and we took of the rhinestones and gave me some pearls instead [on the left!] :)

highlights and favorites from our first year.

- our wedding day

- our wedding night ;)

- flash mob [yes, it's true! we had a flash mob at our wedding. if you're lucky i'll hunt down the youtube video and share with you :)]

- our first holidays together and new traditions we're making

- movie nights

- figuring out how to live together :)

- growing in selflessness

- falling asleep and waking up next to each other [bad breath and all!]

- honeymoon in the bahamas

- sex [blunt, but oh so true!]

- cooking for mr. b

- outdoor adventures

- making our house our home and doing fun projects together

- watch so many different friend couples of our get engaged!

- road trips

- dance parties in our living room. alone. sometimes with no music. :)

- watching some of our friends get married!!

- pillow talk

- hosting friends and guests in our own home

- laughing together and making each other laugh 

- christmas vacation in mexico

- doing ministry with each other hand in hand 

this list could go on and on.. but i'll spare you cause there are still lots more photos to be seen!

especially this next one... ;) 

yes.. this is part of the flash mob. and yes, our flower girls and ring bear were definitely part of it!!!

reflecting on our wedding day gives me the butterflies.

it was such an amazing day.

it's been an amazing first year!

i can't thank and praise God enough for what he's done and what he's doing in us, our marriage and our futures!

thanks for reading along! you all are so sweet! :)

treasures.

good afternoon, friends!

can you believe it's already the last day in july? so crazy! yesterday we celebrated my little [big] brother's birthday - but i will share more of that tomorrow because today, i want to show off my treasures from this weekend!

as i mentioned last week, i went to an antique fair at the end of june and found my gorgeous farmhouse dining room table. i also found some amazing antique [matching] french doors that i will soon get photos of and show you what i did with them :)

well this past weekend my momma and i went again! look at the wonderful things i found!!!

here is my wonderful momma and me! we have so much fun together! :) i love her dearly! she is such a strong and kind hearted woman and i pray that i am as strong and kind hearted as she is one day. i have also never met someone as selfless as her. boy oh boy she rocks my world! i tear up just thinking of the woman she is for all she's gone through, all she's done for others and who she is today. love her!

and here are my.. what i like to call treasures.

to my husband - it's junk.

until i give it a makeover. then he thinks it awesome and wants me to sell it and make money.

two letters for him. n-o. they are my treasures.

the only problem.. we need a bigger house.. i'm running out of room!

this is my chicken something basket. i don't remember what she called it.. but it was used for chickens. maybe their eggs? well now it's used for my potatoes and onions :) those can be by each other right?

these are my new iron plates i got! they have little leg things on the bottom to hold them above the surface. i want to hang them up in my laundry/ironing room with a fun saying above!

this is my new chest! i snagged her for $30! mr. b really likes this! it's army green with the wood and it's pretty tall! it's in rough condition, but with a little and i mean little tlc, she'll be a beaut! i like the 'damaged' look so i wont do too much to it, but the top does have a little damage that i need to give some attention to. after this i will turn it into our coffee table! we currently have one as our coffee table, but it's my mommas - and she would like it back at some point.

and last but surely not least.. my favorite pieces of the day!!!..................

so, i have been looking for a drafting table to revamp - and i saw several ones and i almost.. and i mean almost bought one that someone was asking $175 for. i wasn't willing to pay that much - i was going to start working him down cause that's what i'm good at ;) but i told my mom no and decided to keep looking at other options. literally.. and i mean literally [just like the almost] the next booth had this desk! i saw it, pulled my mom over and we started looking at it. ohhh it's got some work to be done, but i could envision it already and wanted the price. my mom found the price. it was $99.. i debated on this thing for like.. 20 minutes. no joke. we talked to the girl and i showed her how it works [there is a knob missing on this side - i'm going to my art supply store to see if i can get a new one] i knew more than her.. she was amazed. i also know how expensive they are up front. i almost bought one back in the day when i was in school for it. anyways.. i kept talking and then finally asked the big question: 'what is the lowest you would go on it..?' their response almost every time: 'what do i have on it...?' well we talked, and i got him to knock it down to $80. i took it! what a steal!

i was so excited!

 i called mr. b up and had him come down with his truck and when he saw it... oh boy his face was priceless.

this is how the conversation went...

first comment 'you got another table...?'

second comment 'what is this for?'

third comment 'do you need this?'

i told him i got this awesome vision for it and for the whole room.

he looked at me with shocked eyes when i shared and said '.....alright.....'

well - as soon as we got home we ran to menards and picked up some supplies and i went at it. i can't wait to show you all how it's turning out! and mr. b is now shocked and thinks it's awesome - yeaaaaa, that's what i thought!

well to make things better - i found this chair at the NEXT booth and needed to have it!

needless to say.. i love my treasures and am so excited to find homes for each piece!

[and show you the final product of course!]

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one last thing.. then i'll shut up. satruday.. i worked. i got a text message from a friend of mine [who lives in another state far, far away] and she said 'what are you doing this weekend?' i told her what i was up to.. she said 'well what if we hung out this afternoon?' this got me excited, but knowing she's in another state.. did i mention far, far away? i assumed she meant skype - cause that's what we do. i told her i got excited thinking about seeing her in person... then she laughed at me and asked what time worked best. i told her we could skype at 1pm. 1pm rolled around and i was on the sofa on skype waiting for her to get on.. about 10 minutes later i hear a car pull into the driveway. i knew it wasn't mr. b [he was out mountain biking and he is usually gone for a long time ;)] well.. it was this lovely lady!!!!

what an amazing surprise!! we spent the afternoon chatting it up and i loved every minute of it! can't wait to see her again soon! :)

have a terrific tuesday!



artwork.

so as some of you know i went to school for interior design.. i didn't end up with my degree in that.. i was like between 1/2-1 year away from finishing. sometimes i think i'm crazy for not finishing. i still think the change i made at that time was the right thing for me. none the less.. my passion for interior design is still there. if you want to know more about me you can look back at [this] post.

i have always said if some day i can design and decorate my own home, that would be worth all the schooling and debt the program brought me into. [it's an expensive program... let me tell you!]. the house mr. b and i are in right now is definitely not our final home.. this morning was a pain trying to get ready when we only have 1 bathroom and too many people. but it's been fun trying to make things our own in this home.

you can see [here] where i updated the bathroom and i promise the walls are not that bright. one of the photos just about blinded me.. it's bright.. but definitely not like the photos.

i even attempted to create a [craft room] out of a scary basement area.. that is STILL a work in progress - like most of my crafts are.. who am i kidding.. that's my life - a constate work in progess!

our home is very very very small.. it's a perfect beginner home though.. [this] is the big change i made to the dining area and then i added [this] farm table just a couple weeks ago!

if you look at one thing that i haven't done yet.. [other than in one spot in the bathroom] there is no art work! i have nothing on the walls in our home! it's horrible. i am so scared to hang things up.. why? becuase i change my mind often. i like to keep things fresh and move stuff around. i know i will be so much happier with the home if i just hang things up.

so recently i made a bold move.. you know what groupon is right? well i found a groupon for canvas photos of all different sizes. the biggest size [24"x36"] was the biggest bang for my buck. have i ever mentioned that i am dutch? i like saving as much as possible. and i thought i would make a bold statement with them.

well - i waited until the VERY last minute to place my order and the pictures i really really wanted were either too big of a file for they didn't crop right. so i was nervous. found some wedding photos that would fit and placed the order. i was seriously so nervous how they would turn out.. i've been waiting for over a week and they arrived last night!! friends, i couldn't be MORE happy with how they turned out! seriously!!!!

here they are before i hung them up.. and here is after!

and they are SUCH great quality too!!!! i should take a photo of our entire living room with them so you can see how great they look and how they just make this room pop! :) i was so excited i called my mom and made her come over with her friends to check them out!! :)

i posted these photos on instagram and facebook last night and have gotten lots of questions about them so here is the deets:

- i found them through groupon

- the company is called picture it on canvas

- i have seen this deal a total of 3 times [the first time i missed the deadline and was so upset, but then i saw it again and made sure to purchase them :). and then it was there again just recently actually..]

- you can only get one per person - another great bonus from being married ;) now i can use 2 people for every time there's an offer out there.

if you have any other questions you can comment or email me at onefourthreeblog[at]gmail[dot]com!

hope you all have a wonderful saturday :)

- jennifer.

making progress.

so we've been living in our home now for about 6 months.. we're slowly making progress on making this feel like 'our home'. we don't want to put  lot of money into this house because we know we wont be here for probably more than 3 years max. so i'm doing and making things affordable and inexpensive as possible to save up for my dream house!

here are some progress photos of the bathroom i've been working on! this is pretty much as far as i will go for this room.

here is the before:


the biggest issue with this bathroom... the teeny tiny doorway [seriously.. it's like 21 inches wide.... that is a problem] and only having one sink. now.. you probably wouldn't think this would be an issue with only 2 of us. but it is, a really big issue. for some reason we're always trying to get ready and get in there at the same time. our future home WILL have two sinks in our bathroom.
ahh.. i can already see life getting much easier when that happens.

this is in progress.. still some things needed adding. we added a new mirror along with a frame i got from hobby lobby on clearance to put around it. i loved being able to use bold colors because it's temporary and fun for us now while we are young and enjoying our first home together! :) adding some shelves on the wall and a fun shower curtain is an easy way to change the room up at minimal cost!

and here are my new shelves!! I love how they turned out! :) now i feel like my bathroom has a complete finish (well.. for now in this home :)).

hope you enjoy my little humble abode and find some inexpensive ways to spice up your home!!

what are some ways you've added a personal touch without the designer costs?

- jennifer -