I've been TAGGEDDDDDD!!!!! AAAAAHHHHH!!!

this is a pic from our honeymoon... we ate Carraba's on the beach this evening!! so fun!

I tag Liz, Kate, Jap, Mag, Luke 

(Thanks Reagan for tagging me!!) 

October family fun

A couple family nights ago, it was Jap's turn to make the meal...well, she had a little more than that planned!! Even with a busy schedule, working full time, she put much thought into the evening by buying pumpkins for us to carve after dinner!! it was such a blast making memories with the fam! (sorry the evening is in backwards order, I'm too lazy to try and move all the pictures)

Dad and mom invited this weird orange guy to our family night...so, in order to make him feel more comfortable, Jackie got some pumpkins to carve so he'd have some friends that look like him.

 

Kate's with the smug smile

Jap's "phantom of the opera"

Dad's shrek dude with carrot ears

Jap was a little embarrassed cause mine kept winking at her...that is so dumb I know, but I had to put it

Clay's catch

A serious moment

sissies...

kissies

our lovely hostess

Thanks Jap for making such a yummy meal for all of us... Philly cheese steak sandwiches... they were so delicious. then we ate homemade caramel apples with mini chocolate chips on them!!!

Pa and Ma!!! they are so cute together!!!!!

you may wonder...where are Jord and Liz....well, Jord was doing homework inside on the couch (thanks, Cutie for being so diligent even though you would have liked to carve!!)and Liz...well, yunno, she had to talk with her boyfriend!! HE HE HE!! we miss you Luke!!

when the bridge closes...well, we kiss

the bridge closed on us after lunch a few Sundays ago.....

so, we kissed!

little chugga choo

you probably can't imagine how excited we are til we get to see little baby chugga choo (as jap calls baby Van). i just had to post this pick of Clay n Kate!!! This is a pic of them when they hung out at our crib recently!!! we love you guys! (soon it will be 5 of us when we double date)

baseball bat and a movie about a rat

yes indeed...we had a double date with Matt 'n Mag! it was so fun. we went to a tides game with some free tickets that we had been blessed with...They watched the game... while i watched people. (guessing from this picture, the guy in the background had resorted to watching people too after the game turned into a typical Tides game.) We laughed a lot in the car, and the two in the front talked and talked and talked!!!! ;) then we went to the Smith's and watched Ratatouille...

Jord crackin up about something...he is always joyful!

Thanks kids for goin out with us. Lets do it again soon!!!

love language

can you guess what myboy's love language is???

gifts!!!!:)

A tune that only caged birds know...

a precious sister in the Lord went to heaven this morning after a hard, caging battle with cancer. I am so sad she is not with us anymore, so sad...but, she is wrapped in the arms of the Lover of her soul... she has fought the good fight and has finished the race with vigilance and joy. She rejoiced in the midst of thick trials, leaned on the Savior as if her husband, loved her son sweetly, trusted God's word, surrounded herself with godly friends, and truly laughed at the days to come. This is what I remember her like...She knew the song of a caged bird as a disease overtook her body....now she knows a song only the throng in heaven can know fully...

anniversurprises

myboy and i have been married one whole year!!it was the best year of my life, and went so fast... here's how we celebrated!

The festivities began Thursday night when we ate one of our fave meals together... chicken Marsala and mashed potatoes! MMM! Friday morning we had a yummy breakfast together, and chewed our fave gum that we chewed on our honeymoon. We worked 1/2 a day (thanks boss!!!),Jord surprised me with my fave...lemonade! then headed home to get our things together for the beach! here's where it gets interesting...(jord had asked me what I wanted to do for our Anni so, I had told him I wanted adventure and PF Changs:)... He told me to pack whatever I wanted to wear to dinner, like some make up and hair stuff...and we were off!!! while we laid out on the beach, jord told me we could change in this family bathroom on floor 9 of some hotel... he kept telling me "you said you wanted 'adventure'"...so, I didn't buck the plan, just smiled nervously and kept laughing at the thought of us washing off our oil with a boardwalk shower, then lugging my hair straightener, high heels and everything up to a random bathroom and try to look decent for dinner...so, as we headed to a REALLY NICE hotel with our stuff, I was gettin nervous, "Jord, let's go to 7-eleven!!!Please!!!!! how are we gonna get past the guys at the door?? i feel like we're gonna get caught or something!"...I had Kate's floppy straw hat hanging way low over my eyes so i didn't have to look people in the eye...then we got to floor 9.........and Jord pulls out a key to room 908!!!! can you beleive it! I was SHOCKED!!!!!!! he had this whole thing planned! the room was perfect and cheerful! our view of the beach was so fantastic that it didn't feel like we were at home! we got all ready, and he told me that there was another adventure! YAY...he led me to the boardwalk....it felt like he was gonna propose to me again or something :) and shocked me again with a pair of beach cruisers!!! we love to ride bikes together! Then we went to dinner MMMMM! then rode bikes on the boardwalk till really late!!! It was such a fun and romantic getaway! 

our bikes are on the left

our fortunes

my hot  boy

Thank you cutie, for your thoughtfulness on our anniversary. It was the best! Most of all thank you for your faithful friendship, zealous love, passion for God, humble leadership and for providing for us so well!! I am so thankful to God for allowing us to be married one whole year so far and for His provision for this weekend. His Grace is amazing! I look forward to years more of anniversaries and adventures:) ....and thanks to "everyone" who helped make our adventure very special;)

our little square in this world

Welcome to the Smith Square! Our little apartment wears whatever I want it to as long as Jord approves! So, i have about 10 projects going, to hang on the walls (I'll post pix as I finish the projects...don't hold your breath)! I would like to call my style a mix of Hollister/Pottery Barn/Urban Outfitters/Grandma's sigh-worthy house (minus the pink knitted tissue box covers)...but, i think it is still a bit bareboned! It lacks color and pictures on the walls...but, as i said I am slowly progressing in that...plus, i'm decortating on a dime, if you will! So, enjoy the tour of our wonderful home that God has entrusted us with!!! 

The living room viewed from the kitchen... the marble table was a gracious gift from Mom Smith! I love it. Projects for this room include:  paint the end tables, paint a picture for above the couch and love seat, cover the pillows, and make curtains! until then... we love to eat, have quiet times, watch American Idol when it was on, and hang out with friends in here...Oh yeah spy on the neighborhood..hahaha:) 

Kitchen viewed from the living room... the walls used to be pumkin orange, but are now a lovely green/grey color titled "squirrel"! The table and chairs were from Tim and Lisa Hulme...what a blessing! I do most of my painting projects on this table so it is covered in bright multi-colored right angles...i hope to paint or stain it down the road so we don't really care. The paintings on the walls are originals, except the one on the far right...Jacquelyn painted that for us as a wedding gift! This wall will eventually serve as the gallery spot in the house covered in paintings! The basket seats need covering and i store a lot in them. Kate and I made our "kitchen thing" (dishes holder) out of a dresser. I just figured out where to hang that wreath!

The view of the laundry area from the kitchen! Jord, Dad Smith and Pa Korday helped us so much with finding and installing the washer and dryer!!! I spend a lot of time in that odiously undecorated corner!!!

simply the bathroom...

if i ever paint it, the shade will be called "cairo blue" :)

Ahh, our repose! I failed to mention earlier that my 5 sisters, brother Clay, and friend Matt painted our living room and our bedroom while we were away on our honeymoon!!! it was the best surprise and just the colors we wanted (well, i wanted:)... this is my main priority! 

As most of you know...Katy made, yes, MADE the lovely and comfy quilt on our bed, it has this fine patchwork on the one side and an Urban Outfitters cover on the other side!We Love it!!! Jap found the corner dresser in someone's trash!!! My love hung everything in our room but the curtains. project's include: blown up photo above the bed, a sheer bed veil hung over the bed from my dear sis Liz, more photos!

this is our music room/library...we have so much fun in here!!! Jord rules in the music department! His own and borrowed guitars are in one corner and the great keyboard he gave me for Christmas has been such a blessing, and relief for my itching fingers to dance upon!!! Our projects for this room include: read some of the books we own HAHA, try to keep our music quiet after 10:00 PM,  glorify God with what talents he has blessed us with, and record songs to post on the blog and hopefully bless others with in the coming years! It seems that our dream to write and play and record music together has come true!!! 

Best for last...our quaint coo-coo clock from mom and dad Korday above the stove...i love the tiny "tick-tock, tick-tock"

So, there you have it!!! I would be remiss to end our tour without thanking God for our warm-in-the-winter, cold-in-the-summer (jord likes it refrigerator cool), cozy, happy Smith Square home!!! And everyone who had even a small part to helping us get started and settled! We are so grateful! We can't wait to invite more people physically into our home... have more dinners and ice cream nights with the Smith and Korday family...boys nights with Dowling boys, Joey and beau...more girls' game nights... and so on..

We Love being home, and at home is where we have most of our fights and most of our happiest times together! At home is where we are most ourselves and where the "working out our faith with fear and trembling" takes place... it is a place, if not THE PLACE of loving refinement that God works in and through His children... I will leave you with these words...

"But, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" Joshua 24:15

and these...    "Think about the last time you took a little time to count each blessing one by one, for makin your lunch in the little kitchen, while the sound system bump boogie root drum".... from: boogie root