It's definitely not perfect, but for our first project like this, we are so happy with it! The bright white planks are gorgeous in our papaya mud room.

We followed this tutorial from Stone Gable - an awesome blog for farmhouse living.




We had to invest in a few tools for the project, the nail gun & jig saw, but these could also be borrowed or rented if you didn't want to buy them. The tutorial says you can use a hammer or a nail gun to hammer the boards into the wall, but using the nail gun is so much faster & easier. We tried just using a hammer at first, and it only took us trying to get one nail in the wall to go out and get the nail gun. One more useful tool that the tutorial doesn't mention is a mallet. When "snapping" the tongue-in-groove boards together, it definitely takes more than just pushing them together with your hands. Using a mallet to hammer the the tongue-in-groove boards together is much more practical, especially when the boards are different sizes to begin with.

We made the project a bit harder on ourselves by cutting the boards all different lengths to get a not so clean-cut look, but it was worth the extra time! It took us longer and made it harder to fit the boards together, but we both love the character this gives the wall. If you're not up for the extra work, just leave the boards as they are!




This project took us about four days - getting all of the materials, measuring & cutting the boards, nailing them to the wall, filling nail holes and adding two coats of paint. I didn't think I'd be able to contribute much at first, having never used power tools any kind of tools before, but after a quick power saw and nail gun lesson, I was able to do as much as Brandon! So if you're intimidated by using the power tools, trust me if I can do it, you can! (My parents were terrified when I sent them a picture of me using the power saw, if that tells you anything).

It can get tedious at times, especially if you tackle a big wall like we did, but overall we had a lot of fun doing this project! Is there a wall on your home that could use some shiplap? Maybe a whole room? Send us pictures of your shiplap space if you try this!

-Breezy

• 6 ripe avocados
• 2 limes juiced
• 2 Roma tomatoes
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 - 1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt (depending on how salty you like things)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 3 tsp hot sauce (I use Cholula)

How to make the deliciousness:

• Mash your peeled & pitted avocados, fresh squeezed lime juice, garlic powder, and sea salt together.





• Tip: The mashing is easiest and the guac will taste better when you use ripe avocados! Not sure how to pick the ripe ones? First, check the color- they should be very dark, almost black. Second, push down near the stem of the avocado, it should give a little. If it's too hard, it still has awhile to go before it's ripe. If it squishes too easily, it's no good! You can always buy avocados a few days before you plan on using them and put them in a paper bag on the counter to speed up ripening. Once they're ripe, put them in the fridge until you're ready to use them.
• Tip: You can peel & pit avocados using a sharp knife, but I have found it so much easier (and faster) using an avocado tool! I love this one from OXO.

• Stir in chopped Romas, onion, cilantro, and hot sauce.

• Store in an air tight container, let sit in the fridge for a few hours, then enjoy!

At the beginning of wedding planning, I was set on doing nearly everything myself. If I could have found a way to plant my own flowers to use I would have. (I was am pretty psycho when it comes to this stuff). I had been looking forward to planning my wedding for pretty much forever, so when the time came, I got a little too excited, and this insane-control-freak beast came erupting out of me. It took me a bit, but after realizing how much work a wedding of nearly 300 guests takes, I had no choice but to ask for help from anyone who I could get it from! Now I've realized that it's all of the people involved in my big day that are what make this incredible day even more special.

I may just be lucky when it comes to wedding vendors, but I have a lot of special people in my life providing some big things & some sweet little details for the wedding. 

Although those words seem so beautiful and like such a good mentality to have while going through life, I can't say that I fully agree with them any more. While the person with purest, sweetest heart can do amazing things in life, without something bigger in it, giving it purpose, can there be true happiness? 

I have always had faith in Jesus, but up until a few years ago, I had not been truly striving to walk with the Lord and to surrender my life to him. I was following my own heart and selfish desires. For example: dance. I have danced my whole life and have always loved doing it. But I was never the best, and this upset me and affected my self confidence for almost my whole life. No matter how much I improved or how hard I worked, there were always dancers so much better than me, with so much talent that they just blew me out of the water. What did they have that I didn't!? Was that it? Just pure natural talent? I wondered about this for the longest time. When I got to college, I took a break from dance for a year. Then I transferred to Lindenwood University AKA the place where really freakin' good dancers go. I couldn't resist the amazing dance program, so I tried to get involved. This was one of the best and worst things I could have done. I got to dance every single day of the week which I loved, but I was always surrounded by these beautiful dancers who made me feel like a child dancing next to them. The next year, I joined the dance team. Again, I absolutely loved my time dancing with those girls and made some of the best memories of my life with them, but there were times where I still felt like I didn't belong on the floor with them. Like I wasn't worthy as a dancer. 

So I asked myself the question again, "Why can't I dance like them?" "Do I need to work even harder?" "Why can't God have given me the natural ability some of these girls seem to have?" Well, I was getting closer to what he wanted me to see.

I stopped dancing after nationals last spring to study abroad in Spain. I felt more compelled to go abroad and to master the language than to stay and dance for another year. That didn't mean my love for dance (or the pressure to be an amazing dancer) left me. Watching dance videos and seeing my teammates pictures from football games and their posts about nationals choreography just increased my desire for dance. It all looked so inviting. But then I  would remember how it made me feel. So freeing when it was just me on the floor, but invisible when I looked at others. After awhile, it all started to dawn on me… maybe God's plan for me isn't dance. Maybe he has something better for me in store. It was then that I realized a lot of the dancers I envied so much had completely thrown their lives into dance; that was their purpose. But my life hadn't. I chose to quit studio and devote more time to school and my friends. I found other things I loved doing like studying Spanish, crafting, writing, & giving more time to my future husband. It took me awhile, but now I see that this is OK! It's ok for me to not be the greatest dancer in the world! I still love to do it, and I will happily take class whenever I get the opportunity, because now I can dance freely knowing that dance isn't my life, it's just something I love to do. I don't need the pressure to be the best. Because right now, God wants me to be the best Spanish (almost) teacher & best wife in the world. These are His desires for my life, and I am finding them so much more fulfilling than my selfish to desire to try to be a perfect dancer. 

Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." This verse has been so special to me this past year, because I am finding that as I grow closer with God, his desires fill my heart with the desire to follow him. So I can say that I am continuing to follow my heart, my heart is just following some thing else way bigger now.

-Breezy

However, the more time I spent time in Spain and the more I fell in love with it, the more I wanted to give Madrid another chance. The more places I travelled to and the more comfortable I felt getting around on my own & with speaking the language, the more adventurous I felt. And I remembered that the Prado was there waiting for me… The thing that was at the very top of my list of things to do in Spain. So when one of my best friends asked me to go with her for a weekend, I tried to let go of my old feelings towards Madrid… Now I am so thankful she asked me to go with her! 

Everyone always talks about Barcelona, but now I'm all about Madrid. The city is so vibrantly Spanish, unlike any other place I've been to in Spain. The art, the plazas, the streets, the history, the parks, and of course Real Madrid - It's a place you have to experience to understand. I could go on for hours about how much I love it and all the things to do there. Our weekend was completely packed trying to fit in all of these beautiful things, but it some how felt so relaxed. Everything we did that weekend, I would consider a must-do for Madrid, but there are still a few more things on my Madrid bucket-list. Here's what made Madrid so amazing for me.

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium

When you think Spain, you think fútbol. And when you think fútbol, you think Real Madrid. Well, at least after seeing the stadium and going on the tour you will. Even though my first fútbol game was a Barcelona game, after seeing the stadium and going on the kick ass tour, I knew my heart belonged to Real Madrid. I know it sounds kind of boring, but it is so cool! All of their trophies, old uniforms, pictures, interactive screens, and even a room with sounds of memorable moments & games are there waiting to be explored. I still can't get over how cool it is. Not to mention you get to go on the field! This was definitely one of our favorite stops of the weekend. Although I consider Madrid a very walkable city, this is one place you're going to want to take the metro to as it's a bit far outside of the center. 

• There's always someone there for you. Just like your parents, your family will want you to be comfortable and to succeed. When I first arrived in Granada, it was after my rough couple days in Madrid, I was experiencing culture shock, I was home sick (and literally sick), I hadn't met any one yet - I was just miserable. After a few days my poor host mom noticed this. I'll never forget when she came into my room to ask me how I was doing and just let me cry with her. She understood completely and told me she wanted to do anything to make me happy, and to always tell her when I needed something because she was my mom in Spain. It still makes me tear up when I think about it. These are the kinds of special things that come with living with a family.

Looking back, I'm sure I could have had a great time living in a residencia or apartment with other students, but I am so happy I chose to live with a host family, and so thankful for the family I was blessed to live with and become apart of.