That time again... 

my happies from days 21-30!
& goodbye May, you were nice!!!

21// hot tea on a sick day

22// chips and salsa

23// first summer storm for 2014

24// at home manicure

25// more chips and salsa, we clearly have a problem.

26// lime water is my favorite

27// hot tea and a slice of homemade baklava

28// eight months of marriage
29// a little apple for a little snack

30// black coffee & the banana bread Larabar

pt.1 // pt.2

Friday Five

Holiday weeks are always the best, especially when you have Monday off after a busy weekend!! I'm also very happy to see that today is already Friday, this week has flown by. I can't wait for a busy weekend ahead full of parties and yardwork. I feel like a true adult saying that, but with the three parties over the weekend, at least I feel like a fun adult!! Summer is defintiely upon us and I love it. Here are a few of the things that made me smile this week...

1// Peter's fun Birthday cookout on Sunday was a great way to start the week.
plus, having my first collaboration with tinyprints was so much fun!!

more about the party HERE.

2// having the day off on Monday so we could get the house back in order after the party was wonderful.
We also enjoyed a busy but relaxing day. It was nice to spend some time in the garden and with the chicks!

3// the delicious meal from Monday night when we cooked a birthday dinner for Peter's Mom's birthday, it was so good!

4// finally sharing my new "Sipping Series" on the blog yesterday!

more details HERE.

5// enjoying Les Miserables at The Greenville Little Theatre with the girls!
It was amazing, love that play so much!!

Hope everyone has a happy weekend!

Sipping Sour.

Let me just start with this fact, my beer loving husband came up with this awesome idea, so I can't take credit for any of it. He even thought of the name, "Sipping on Cloud Nine" for this new series that we can work on together. Beer is most definitely a big love of our life. We love the complexity of all the different flavors and how making beer can be a true art. There are so many different kinds of beers and that is one of the most fun parts of drinking beer. A couple years ago Peter fell in love with sour beers. At first I was not a fan, it tasted like the beer had gone bad or something, but after a few tries over a few occasions I became hooked.

I'm not sure if we will only write about sours or even only write about beers? This is just a little baby series and I'm not sure what it may grow up to become. But, for right now we will start with a sour!

Beer // Zoetzurr

 Flemish Ale, Flanders Red Ale 

brewed with Cherry Juice, 7%

Notes // front notes of caramel malts and some fruity sweetness. 

Slightly tart finish and crisp.

Ratings, out of 10 

Sour // 4.5

Drinkability // 8

Peter's overall // 6.5

Cassie's overall // 7

Any of you tried sour beers?? What is your favorite? 

Any recommendations for another sipping post?

A Backyard Cookout.

On Sunday we celebrated Peter's Birthday and kicked off the summer with a cookout! It was so much fun to be surrounded by so many people we love and intertwine the many areas of our lives. Family, old friends, new friends, church friends, even our sweet neighbors walked over, and joined us for the cookout. It was a great day to celebrate the best man I know and thankfully the rain held off all day, so we gladly welcomed the thunderstorm after dessert. 

the beautiful invitations!

This product is c/o Tinyprints

All opinions are honest & my own.

The only photo that the two of us have together, Ha! 

I'm learning that it is really hard to host a party and also make sure we have photos together. We were happy to entertain all of those we love and make sure they have a great time and this photo captures that. Making sure everyone had a cold beverage to drink, that is important! 

^^^ of course the chicks got some major attention and they were happy to meet everyone! 

^^^ my aunties! love them so much!! 

^^^ new friends are so wonderful! 

A big thank you to all of our favorite people that came out to celebrate with us!!

You make our life so much sweeter and we love you!

In The Word // John 4:24

Worship. One of my favorite things about praising God. I recently saw something on the wonderful world of Pinterest that said, "let your worship be your witness" and I believe that is so true. We all go through highs and lows in life but when you can turn your energy toward worshiping HIM then we find true happiness. 

We can witness in so many ways but how we worship on a daily basis is such a strong display of our love. The happiness we carry inside and share with others (even when it is hard!) is a way to worship the King of kindness. Sharing His love in every way.

There are always moments when I want to be lazy in a situation. Not show His love, just be Cassie, and sometimes I listen to my own heart. I gossip, I stay angry, I listen to the enemy. But those times when I shut him out and listen to my true heart, the one that belongs to my Savior, I overflow with grace and kindness. Even in the hard moments when I think I will be weak and sin, He guides me to be strong. Worshiping His beautiful love.

It is all in Spirit & Truth. All because of Him. 

What ways do you worship our Maker every day?

Join us in sharing what God is doing in your heart!

Grab the button and share your link below. There are no rules or guidelines,

we just want to share His love and we welcome you to share it with us. 

The other Cassie & I love to read what you all have on your heart!

 

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Peter's Birthday.

As I mentioned on Friday, we celebrated Peter's birthday with a date night at one of our favorite places, Rare. We typically save this spot for Birthdays or special date nights so we always look forward to a visit! After trying many steakhouses in the area we always go back to this one. The food is delicious and very well priced which is a plus in our book. We are both steak lovers, I normally go for the filet and Peter likes the T-Bone steak which could not work out any better. He eats the strip portion and cuts out the filet portion for me. See, perfection. I have to be honest though, the one thing that constantly brings us back to this restaurant is the Horseradish Mashed Potatoes. Oh my, heavenly!!! They are so creamy and smooth with the perfect amount of horseradish spicy, and we always want to lick the bowl. Add in a bottle of red wine and you have a perfect meal. I'm so glad that we like to celebrate our birthdays the same way. It is nice to know that we will enjoy this amazing meal at least twice a year!!

^^^ delicious soft shell crab appetizer

**all photos were taken and edited with my iPhone.

I'm starting to realize it is worth taking out my nice camera... lesson learned! 

Hope you all have a BEAUTIFUL Memorial Day!

Birthdays.

This guy turned 31 today & I can't wait to celebrate with him all weekend!

^^^ Last year's Birthday Dinner when we went to Rare for the first time.
So happy this is now our "Birthday Dinner Spot" and will be going again tonight!!

I'm so thankful to celebrate his birthday with him forever but I have a feeling this year will be the best so far! 

Happy Birthday, Babe!! Love you!

Sometimes.

There are always those moments of simple and expected but sometimes the "if only" moments can creep in. They aren't terrible, sad moments, just moments when you want to smack yourself on the forehead and go back to bed and wish to wake up from a dream. Start over again and begin the day fresh and prepared. Over the weekend I had a lot of these moments. 

Leaving my purse in the restaurant on Friday night after we had walked halfway to our car, and of course the car keys were in my purse so Peter couldn't continue walking and swing by to pick me up. A few huffs where exhaled between the both of us but it was humorous to realize that Peter had also forgotten his wallet when we returned. On Sunday we were excited to have some lamb that we had defrosted for dinner only to realize that the meat had gone bad somehow so we had nothing to prepare for dinner. I normally do the shopping for groceries on Monday or Tuesday so we were out of everything. We decided some take out would give us a happy solution so while Peter showered after a day in the yard I drove to Joy of Tokyo to pick up a plate of chicken and steak with some rice and veggies to share while watching a movie only to realize I heard Peter wrong and he wanted shrimp and steak. A wife should know that their husband doesn't like chicken teriyaki, right? Wrong, who knew, definitely not me. 

All of these events were followed with "I'm Sorry" and "it's okay" from the both of us but it is in moments like these when we are given a gift. A gift of showing grace - grace for each other and grace for ourselves, trying our best to learn every day in this adventure called marriage. Growing more thankful everyday for the grace that our Lord has given us and trying our hardest to mirror the selfless love He has also given us. At the end of the day, forgotten purses and wallets or lamb, steak, or even chicken teriyaki, heaven forbid isn't even a big deal. This relationship isn't founded on those sometimes moments, no, it is founded on something much deeper. Something that makes our hearts beat and lungs breath, something so much more than this marriage at all. 

100 Days of Happy // pt.2

Time for some more happies....

here are days 11-20.

11// love notes from Peter with our nephew's toys

12// first homemade salad with our own arugula from our garden

13// a little office field trip at the Greenville Drive

14// the cozyness of our bedroom 

15// pretty nails and hot tea

16// double date night with sweet friends

17// beautiful day for a bridal shower for a friend

18// lazy & rainy Sunday

19// red wine with red nails

20// perfecting the topknot

*Also check out my pt.1 post  here*

In The Word // James 1:17

First of all, James is my favorite book in the Bible. I absolutely love it. I have studied it so many times and it kept me smiling during a really hard time in my life. So, James and I are close. Another thing that I really love is All Sons and Daughters. Their music is so beautiful and listening to it while I get ready in the morning is my favorite way to start my day. 

Recently a friend mentioned that the YouVersion app has a seven day study plan written by All Sons and Daughters. What could be better than reading through the study every day and listening to their music...? Having James 1:17 a part of the study on the first day! 

He Never Changes. That is my favorite part of that verse. 

He is always the same. How reliable is His love? In a world that is always changing it is so comforting to find peace in the One that never changes. The most constant part of this life is the One who created it after all. That is something wonderful. 

As I'm writing this post right now I'm listening to All Sons and Daughters and their song You Will Remain just came on. Of course it matches up perfectly with this study. 

.....

so unchanging
Your promise is sure
never ending
Your love will endure
You were, You will be
You always are the Great I Am

.....

When things like this happen I know it is not by chance. His hand is all in this moment and every other moment during this life. Every day. His love is unchanging and I know that His promise is sure. It is so amazing to have the Great I Am guide my days. Sitting in His safety is the best feeling I've ever known and I'm so thankful that safety is never ending. 

Join us in sharing what God is doing in your heart!

Grab the button and share your link below. There are no rules or guidelines,

we just want to share His love and we welcome you to share it with us. 

The other Cassie & I love to read what you all have on your heart! :)

 

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1,460.9688 Days.

That is how long I have been a blogger. Crazy! I honestly can't believe it has been four years that I have been sharing my heart and my life here in this space. I feel so much passion about what I do here and there are times when I let it consume me. Most of the time I think about my life experiences by the way I will blog about them later. It can drive Peter crazy sometimes (sorry, babe!!) but I think it is a huge gift to keep all of my special memories here.

I love that I have this outlet to share things and look back on them later. I can't tell you how many times I have looked through all the posts about our honeymoon and remembered all the fun memories we created.

When I think of my little blog world I feel thankful for so many different reasons.

I'm thankful for the pieces of my life that I have here forever, for the connections that I have made because to the words I've shared & I'm thankful to have this outlet so I can share my faith and dependence on God, because He will never fail me. This space has been such a blessing to me and I have Him to thank for all of it.

Today I thought I would do a little throwback to a few of my favorite posts over the past few years. There have been some happy moments that I really loved and I'd love to share them again.

 Snowshoe Weekend (when I knew I wanted to marry Peter) // Girls Trip to Wilmington 

Crazy Love // Forgiving  //Green Thumb // That Tuesday Morning
 Trip to St. Maarten // & Trip to ACL (when Peter proposed!!)
 My Favorite Salad // Finding Our Home // Thankfulness // Papa Blanket
 Post for Mom // My First Post as a Wife // Christmas Party // That Dream 

Hope you enjoyed this little walk down memory lane and my sappy thoughts about my Cloud 9. Most of all I want to say thank you to everyone who reads these words that I write. Thank you for all the comments. Thank you for the sweet words of encouragement and support. Thank you for being here. It really means the world to me!!

Friday Five

For most of this week I felt very overwhelmed and exhausted which only made me more tired. It is a tricky thing, trying to keep up with a busy life and stay positive sometimes. I have my days where I just want to stay in bed all day and sleep away the stress. That is how I handle any kind of problem, sleeping it off. I guess that makes me lazy? I don't know, but this week I've wanted to hibernate like a bear but that isn't possible. Life moves on and I have to keep moving with it. I'm looking forward to the weekend & I'm praying for balance and some relaxation!!

1// work field trip to the Drive Game!

2// sharing my favorite corner in our home.

3// getting in some good cardio four days this week!
This Stairmill and I definitely have a love/hate relationship.

4// dinner at my Mom's house with our friend Whitney and Peter.

Grilled Chicken with Caprese Salad, Spaghetti Squash, Grilled Asparagus & Red Peppers!

5// ordering a birthday gift for Peter this week!! I can't wait to give it to him!

He makes me so giddy!!

Hope you all have a beautiful weekend!!