Christmas around

neighborhood lighting up

gifts already sent to far off and unmet family members

taking notes from edgy santa

trusted with the secret family christmas cranberry-nut bread recipe

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here, the kind where baking and family and wrapping of gifts are involved. the parts i like. away from malls and christmas music and old men with white beards.  i'm not biggest christmas fan, but maybe more on that later once i find my misplaced soap box.

christmas decorating at our house

christmas tree at the in laws

a weekend

it's been a gorgeously snowy past couple of days, filled with all of kinds of 'the weekend before the weekend before' Christmas activities.
people going about setting up trees and sending off last minute but on time parcels, baking somethings, making other things, driving to find eagles, looking for the 'right' kind of wrapping paper.
and yet the heartbreaking news of friday morning can not be easily shaken, nor should it.  i can not stop thinking about the newtown families. it feels like more than just the simple and enough of a fact that it's the most heartbreaking reality that a family and community can face here in the free world. i don't know if it's because i'm here, alone during the day, away from most of my loved ones or what. i just feel so deeply for this tragedy.  i know we all do.  it's not that i want to add my own 2cents on the subject, i just can't seem to write to you today about anything else.

2 months

that awesome moment when you realize you're married to the funniest person you know.

happy 2 month anniversary! you so are my favorite!



ps- again, all photo's here from Ingrid Marais

that time i diy'ed my wedding

...i know "diy'ed" isn't a word.

so today, let's step away from the snow and walking everywhere posts and go back in time to honestly the best day of my life. how grateful i feel even to say that.

remember those diy posts? no?

...what do you mean no?

like this one? about how to make easy cheap bunting?

well here is how it turned out on the day:

note, i posted that in May, and was sewing my little heart out till about two weeks before the wedding. but i loved doing it. would i spend another 6-7months sewing and making things for something that will be used/appreciated for 6 hours? YES!

then there was the post about making the name tags if you care to recall?

here is that:

the brown paper bag was for the guests to fill up at the sweet station. edible favors!

i also spent a lot of time collecting any kind of jar, this might have sparked a horder in me, even now, i can't seem to through any away...

as seen on my instagram

anyway, my family and friends and i collected a few boxes full of jars that i laced and handed over to be fillled with all kind of glorious 'veld' flowers. one of my favorite parts of the wedding decor:

then of course there was the personal touches to my dress as well as the seating chart and table names that i'd love to share with you another chilly day this week.

i love to diy, love the idea of making something and saying i made that.  having had such a great excuse and the time to do the projects was just one of the million little things i was thankful for! that and of course this dude showing up...

 ps- all photo's here were taken by our amazing photographer Ingrid Marais.

sunsets and more on my park crush

the last two days have been filled with rain and snow.

this is not the kind of weather they show us (we non snow experiencing people of the world) in the movies by the way. it's miserable...

 not a winter wonder land...   at all. just winter.

so, to cheer myself up, let me post some picture of our recent walk through Manito park. i could not stop myself from whipping out the ol iphone every two minutes to take another picture of the gorgeous sky, it was getting a little ridiculous.

 

free stuff, to keep.. for three weeks

 a few facts you need to know to fully appreciate this next post:

fact: i live in Spokane, i'm new here, i know 5 people.
fact: i married a gorgeous man.
fact: he is also very funny and happens to be my best friend.
fact: this means i'm in the process of getting a green card (note, these things are pricey) 
the actual fact: we are newlyweds.
another fact: i'm unemployed ...uhm, wait, i think i can call myself a housewife now?
which basically brings us to this fact: we are on a major budget. 
another fact: it's winter here, the sun sets at like 4 or something of that ridiculous nature.

with that in mind i think you'll believe the pure excitement of discovering the local library.

remember those?

it's this magical place where free information and entertainment awaits anybody from students to homeless people to newlyweds.  with photo id at hand you can check out up to 60 books. 60!!! Not only books but dvds. music, magazines, newspapers... imagine that. (well photo id and proof of residence if you're wanting to get technical here)

it might also be a little weird just how big of a deal it was to me that the city of Spokane trusted me enough to give me a library card... what ever green card, now i'm really getting the hang of this whole american dream/freedom/life something something.  feeling so official right now.   ....60!!?!!

and! AND! this is the view from the library... amazing. .....60!

a favorite: walking

i don't know how clear i have made myself on this subject here, but in case you don't get it by now, i love to walk. man i freaking love it.

i love that it's a walk friendly place (i'm sure New Yorkers would disagree, but i'm from' drive your car 100m Jo'burg'), it's safe for me to walk (i'm sure Europeans would disagree, but i'm from 'take of all your valuables off, leave your phone, take the dog Jo'burg'), i love that there are places for me to walk to, and oh the places i have walked so far (getting to that), i love the therapy that walking has on a 'new housewife, in a new country, far from many lovely things (despite the no walk, dangerous Jo'burg i've just mentioned).

simply, walking does me all kinds of good and all kinds of good come of it.

last friday, going a little crazy from spending so much time in our wonderful apartment, i took a stroll, and tourist style met some more of Spokane, my, er, home.

correct me if i'm worng, but this has something to do with the bloomsdale race? which apparently is a real big deal here, hence these running figures with the weird asses. (totally going to run bloomsdale to fit in by the way)

ah this river, i've never really lived close to anything this beautiful, and it's walking distance. the rush of the water and quietness of going during a weeks day is about as therapeutic as it sounds

look mom, walking under  a bridge by myself without pepper spray.

#booradley seems to be quite the Spokane gem of a store. I spent more time in here than i care to admit

#atticus gift shop and cafe an instant favorite ... not that i've been able to buy anything at said stores yet. #newlywedbudgetingistricky