The past 6 years, to the day

~June 10, 2006~

This is the day 6 years ago that I married this guy, Matt. It was a good, good day. A day that the Lord blessed in the obvious ways, (good weather, everything ran smoothly, we had a blast, etc).

But, Matt's not just any guy. And our gracious Father has used our union to bless us far more than we could ever imagine, hope for or dream. But, let me start at the beginning.

We met in college when we were just babies:)

First thoughts: He is kind, selfless and has a huge heart. He has awesome friends who respect him so much. He's brilliantly funny. So handsome. He loves the Lord and desires to be know Him.

In October of our senior year at James Madison University he proposed on Skyline Drive in front of the rainbow of leaves on the trees and a beautiful sunset.

After our wedding we lived in Virginia Beach for several years where we truly had the blessing of time together. We got to explore a bit and enjoy the world together at our own, easy pace, (thanks to our families!)

 (London Eye in London)

(Brilliant Eiffel Tower glowing in Paris)

(Summer trip to Boston)

(Visiting my adventurous in-laws in Bogota, Colombia)

After a little while we got the news of our lives when we were expecting boy-girl twins!

It was a difficult pregnancy that was deemed high risk from the very beginning. At 28 weeks we moved several hours north to be closer to family. At 30 weeks I was admitted to the hospital for pre-term labor. I would remain there until the babies came. After he got off work, Matt came right over to spend every evening with me for 4 weeks. These hospital visits were our last times together before our family doubled in size.

Wow.

Colin Joshua and Shire Grace came into our lives on October 29, 2009

~We love because He first loved us.~

Matt is the only one in the world who shares with me the exact joy....

....and exhaustion of parenting these two sweet things.

Just like that, we went from the two of us to the whole LOT of us. Our arms were stretched!

Or so we thought ;) When our babies were 8 months old, this happened:

Mason James was born on March 26, 2011. Matt was so cool and calm during the labor. I had been nervous about trying a vbac but Matt was so strong and confident that I forgot all about my fears! Praise Jesus!

(3 babies in 16 months and 27 days)

Yes, we have had a whirlwind of 6 years. Our marriage is still so young, but so much has happened! I am grateful for this man who has let me fly and be myself. I feel like I really 'bloomed' after marrying him.

We are who we are

I am grateful for this man who supports my dreams and wants to help me however he can to achieve them.

(Chelsea's Garage Opening February 11, 2012)

Without his support and encouragement these dreams would never turn into reality.

This is why God gave him such a big heart...and arms long enough to hold us all!

I love my life with him. Absolutely love it.

And I am so excited for the rest of our life together.

Happy Anniversary, Matt.

~Your Chelsea

Whatta wedding weekend!

It feels like a long time since I last posted but I think that's just because we had a long and full weekend! We made the trip up north to PA for a beautiful wedding for one of our dear family members, JMB! The sizzling temps and off and on rain couldn't take away from the bliss of being around family, some of whom we haven't seen in quite some time. Colin and Shire, our 2.5yr old twins, were both in the wedding so they got to dress up extra fancy for this special event.

3 of my 4 dates :)

My heart.

The studs. Don't they look handsome?!

One wedding down, two more to go this summer. I LOVE wedding season! Do you have any special events coming up?

~Chelsea

~Before/After~ Small Bathroom #1

You may remember this post a couple weeks ago about some cute ideas for revamping a couple of our itty bitty bathrooms. Well, I got to work last Friday on one of them and am so excited to show you a now finished product! This is our basement bathroom before:

Medicine cabinet mirror, pedestal sink, painters yellow on the walls, ill fitted switch covers - we are grateful for the full bath in our basement but it was pretty sad looking and had nowhere for overnight guests to settle in with their toiletries.

~After~

Project A: Drawer Shelf - see bottom for details

Project B: Framing the mirror - see bottom for details

Project C: Drawer face-turned towel rack - see bottom for details

Project D: Bleaching old rug - see bottom for details

So refreshing now, don't ya think? This may not be your particular taste, but here is how I approached each piece of this bathroom in case you want to try any out yourself!

First off, I purchased the shower curtain last week at Walmart just because of the colors! I had recently decided to paint the walls white and play with color elsewhere, so when I spotted this shower curtain it really started giving me ideas for what other colors I wanted to pull into the room. ($9.99)

Project A: Drawer shelf - I had saved this drawer from a large dresser that is currently getting remade into a TV console. The sheer depth of it and the fun news print floor gave me a feeling I'd be able to use it for something else. Turns out when I was brainstorming some different ideas for storage for this little bathroom, I knew I wanted to keep 'stuff' off the floor. There is hardly enough floor space for a waste basket, so a shelving unit on the floor or a basket was just out of the question. This drawer, hung on it's underside, works perfectly for holding fresh guest towels, extra tissue, toiletries, etc. I painted it a custom teal color and kept the original drawer pull to hang our monogrammed hand towel from.

(free since I already had the supplies)

Project B: Framing the mirror - I had envisioned removing this medicine cabinet mirror and hanging something oval with a scalloped frame....til I realized this cabinet was set inside the wall and I wasn't interested in any major demo for this room. So, I went to Home Depot and found some pretty 1" trim, painted it in a very soft gray, my Husband cut the proper angles, and then I used Liquid Nails to glue it to the edge of the mirror.

($5 for the trim - but you can find decent 1" trim for as little as 50cents, which I did, but this one really caught my eye and since I was saving so much money elsewhere I splurged)

Project C: Drawer face-turned towel rack - This piece is actually an old face of a drawer that belonged on another dresser turned TV console, (don't ever throw 'parts' of a piece away, they may come in handy!). Husband removed it from the drawer, I painted it the same custom teal to match the hanging shelf and then he attached a single double hook unit which straddles the middle knob.

($2 for the hook)

Project D: Bleaching old rug - This rug used to be a dusty blue, (if my memory serves me right - it's old!), and I bleached it a long time ago into a very creamy peach. I think I had it sitting in a sink full of bleach, stirring occasionally, for at least 3 or 4 hours. We didn't have any immediate use for it in this house right away so it's been in storage for over a year, but it's so soft I didn't want to throw it out. Glad I didn't! I really love how this soft color contrasts with the cool gray floor, the teal shelf and rack, the orange on the shower curtain - and it just feels good under the feet. Bonus :)

So, that's how I fixed up a once dingy bathroom into something functional, colorful, and inviting. Do you have any transformations or unique storage ideas to share?

~Chelsea