81 Months = Building Inside and Out

Monday was our 81st monthiversary! Wasn't it so helpful that our own holiday fell on a holiday? Well, it was nice, except Ryan worked and I went shopping, so it didn't really feel like a holiday.

My friend Amber had the day off work and planned to go to IKEA, so she asked if I wanted to go along and keep her company. Well, of course I wanted to go, but I didn't want to miss too much time with Ryan since he only had to work part of the day. He told me to go, have a great time, enjoy a shopping fix, and not worry about a thing.

So I did!

I had it in my head that the salted caramel mochas at Starbucks were part of the holiday menu, not the fall menu. But either they changed it or I was wrong, because they were selling them and you better know I got one! Delicious. I really do love those.

Next stop? IKEA!!! I didn't really have a shopping list, but I knew I would know what I needed when I saw it. And I did. (More on that another day.)

We decided not to go for these...

Sneaking into Amber's loading-the-car photo!

She and I really did have a great time, and I was able to find a few things for the house that I hope will make it feel even more like a home. That's one of my greatest joys as a wife: getting to consistently transform our house into a home for Ryan. So while it was a shopping day, it was more than that to me. It was a home-transformation day that brought my heart so much happiness.

Meanwhile, Ryan was home working on the porch. All of our cement work is done, so we were able to reassemble what had been torn apart. (We had to move all our potted plants out of the way while they worked, and we had taken down all the porch decorations, so we were able to put all that back up. We also repainted the trim, which was about a year overdue for an additional coat of paint.)

Ryan started before I got home. Braeya "helped."

Is it bad when our official monthiversary photo is taken while we're crouched down in the driveway working on projects? I felt it was representative of the day and that worked for me!

Ryan painted a crate for me. We didn't have quite enough paint in the can, so we just tried to make it look purposefully distressed. ;)

And as a reward for all our work, we grilled chicken and had home-grown sweet corn. Yummy!!

It was a full day, and we were both a bit exhausted by the end, but it was a day of making (or in some cases, remaking) our house into a home, and that is representative of what we try to do in our hearts every single day. We worked together as a team, we celebrated what we were able to accomplish, and we called monthiversary #81 a win!