What I Wore No. 301

No. 1

YMI utility vest, Costco sweater, American Eagle jeans, Trend Shoes booties

No. 2 

Target dress, Old Navy cardigan, Trend Shoes booties, gifted necklace, Nickel & Suede earrings

No. 3 

YMI utility vest (again!), Maurice's blouse, American Eagle jeans, Mayari Birkenstocks, Nickel & Suede leather cuff & earrings

Yes, I love my new vest! Happy Wednesday :)

Awkward and Awesome

Awkward:
- When you spot an old friend walking by who you haven't seen for a while, and you take a few seconds to double check to make sure it's them before waving and calling out their name (because you've gone down that road before), only to have them turn and stare at you blankly because nope, you were still wrong. Darn it.

- When your husband sends you a more-than-flirty text message that would be highly innappropriate for your children to read, or anyone else for that matter, while two of your children are actually playing games on your phone. This is discovered when your husband calls your phone to see why you're not responding, and your children answer it. They may claim no knowledge of said text message but you all know that text messages pop up on the screen in front of whatever app you're using, and there's no way that it wasn't seen, and it's all very AWKWARD, AWKWARD, AWKWARD.

- The fact that the above scenario could have been avoided if your husband had just walked 10 feet into the next room to flirt with you in person instead of texting you from the living room, because you were both home. Husband fail.

Awesome:
- Reconnecting with an uncle you've only seen once in the past 23 years and discovering that he hasn't changed a single bit from the fun-loving and hilarious favorite uncle of your youth. We all miss you already, Uncle Andrew!

(Our last night with him before he headed home to NZ... checking out the back of our property with my and Russ's parents, and relaxing around the firepit.)

- Booking tickets for yourself and your daughter to travel back to New Zealand to visit family after a 14 year absence. 14 YEARS! It's been too long and I can't wait to reconnect with family and experience it all with Kendall. And eat nothing but fish and chips and meat pies and custard squares and ALL THE THINGS.

- Annndddd... (this is awesome enough for it's own bullet point) finally getting to go to the South Island while you're there! Woohoo! (We never travelled down there once during my childhood.)

- Husbands who make it a priority to get you back to visit your grandparents, and are willing to take time off work to stay with the boys when you'll be gone during spring break, and in general make up for their TERRIBLE texting decision-making by making your biggest dreams come true ;)

What I Wore No. 300

The deliquent blogger returns. Life, guys. Apparently mine is busy. Orrrrr... I've just been prioritizing my time a little better. Orrrrrr... I have no self control with my Netflix binging. We all know which is the most likely scenario. 

Regardless, I have a few outfits to share! 

No. 1

Maurice's shirt and skirt, Trend Shoes booties, Nickel & Suede leather earrings and cuff

No. 2

YMI vest (from Burlington Coats), TJ Maxx top, American Eagle jeans, Fred Meyer sandals, gifted necklace, Nickel & Suede leather cuff

No. 3 

Ross top, Maurice's jeans, Fossil purse, Birkenstock sandals

No. 4 

Target tank top, Old Navy cardigan, Eddie Bauer jeans, Birkenstock sandals, Maurice's necklace, Nickel & Suede earrings

No. 5 

Ross dress, borrowed shoes, Burlington Coats jewelry and clutch 

(head to toe wedding ensemble: $57.00)

No. 6 

Ross cardigan and top, American Eagle jeans, Fred Meyer sandals, Burlington Coats bracelet

Apparently I'm dressing very neutrally these days. Where has all the color gone?!

(This is the question I ask myself never, except when looking at outfit pictures I've taken.)

Happy Wednesday :)

Hitched! {Jamin & Christine get married}

Words can not describe how breathtaking my brother's wedding was last Saturday. It was a magical, amazing evening and I've just been floating in a cloud of happiness ever since. 

My little brother finally got married! And I LOVE my new sister-in-law, Christine!

And it was such a special, thoughtful, family-centered occasion, with so many precious moments that I don't think I'll ever forget. 

Plus, check out that view. Breathtaking. 

The wedding was held at Youngberg Hill Vinyard in McMinnville and their venue was impressive.

Our Uncle Andrew (a pastor) flew over from New Zealand to perform the ceremony and did an excellent job. 

The Wilson family

First dance

Mother and son dance

My parents

It was a no-kids event, but Kendall and Cooper were invited as niece and nephew of the groom, and Kendall actually performed the wedding processional, singing and playing "One Thousand Years" on the piano as Christine walked down the aisle. It was beautiful! The rest of the evening I just introduced myself as the mother of the young lady who played the piano, haha.

My beautiful Nanna. I love her so!

Kelly and I being just a little ecstatic to finally have a new sister, and one that couldn't be more perfect for our beloved baby brother.

I didn't take too many pictures after this because I was too busy dancing! We had a blast out on the dance floor! 

Youngberg Hill has a beautiful inn and we were invited to stay there the night of the wedding and enjoy brunch with the newlyweds the next morning. I felt like I could have been in Italy looking out the window on Sunday morning! 

I loved this part of the wedding weekend - it was the perfect way to end the celebration, talking about all our favorite moments from the night before and enjoying extra time with Jay and Christine before they leave on their honeymoon.

Oh, weddings are my favorite! 

Life Lately {extended edition}

Oh boy, I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do. Life! It gets so full and moves so fast! Here's a few things that have been going on, from the entire last month...

Kendall turned 15 and promptly got her drivers permit. We're taking it slowly on the lessons but I've learned I'm not a horrible teacher, and I only grip the dash or my seat about half the time so, really, things are going well!

Russ took Kendall out on a special date as part of her birthday celebrations and gave her a beautiful purity ring, one of her birthday requests.

They had a great conversation about what the ring stands for (to us)... not a binding vow of abstinance that would lead to shame or a broken relationship with us if broken (even though abstinance till marriage is our goal), but rather a daily reminder to live purely in thought and action, and to trust God (and her daddy) to help protect her heart as she gets older and eventually dates and falls in love. Russ put a lot of thought into how he wanted to present it and I could tell when they came home later that evening that they were both very pleased with their talk and time together :) 

Blake got to go on his first overnight backpack trip with his Grandma Wilson and had a TON of fun.

We ate a lot of fresh Oregon berries. A LOT.

My sister and I helped celebrate Christine's upcoming wedding to my brother with a bachelorette party totally up my alley... a private painting lesson followed by a dressy night out! 

This included a wine tasting where I finally confirmed the long-suspected fact that no, there is not a single wine on the planet that I like! Which is fine because: more money for white mochas, hehe ;)

We helped Kendall throw an end-of-summer class party for her classmates about to enter the 10th grade, and LOVED having our place full of fun teenagers. They swam in the river, had a water balloon fight, played volleyball and basketball, ate pizza and roasted s'mores, and all called their parents at the end of the evening to see if they could stay an hour longer :)

Russ left town on a hunting trip and wasn't home to celebrate my birthday at the end of August so it was extra fun to come home the day before my birthday to find this on my bed from my sister... a little hunting widows care package! 

And then my best friend picked me up that evening for a fun dinner out with a side of shopping, and had my fave drink waiting for me, and my heart was full and happy :)

Kendall's first time driving into town. She took me to my favorite coffee drive-thru and bought me a drink for my birthday (which I didn't dare touch until we were safely back home in our driveway, haha.)

Kendall serving at her first home volleyball game of the year! She is co-captain of the JV team and swinging up for varsity and is SO fun to watch. 

Blake the proud tooth-puller lost another tooth and is currently sporting a spectacularly lopsided grin.

We went camping over Labor Day Weekend and had a wonderfully relaxing time, playing games and kayaking, and playing so many rounds of corn hole that I actually got a sore arm and had to stop throwing! (Tricia and I were a pretty good team together though!)

The kids went back to school... 10th, 7th, and 3rd grade, and my house is now sad and lonely and I miss summer already. although shockingly, I find it amazingly easier to keep clean! ;)

Christine getting her nails done for the big day... it's tomorrow!!!

Christine's mom and aunt with me and Kelly and our mom. Nothing like a girls day of pampering to help break up the hectic chaos that is last minute wedding-prep!

And last but not least, yesterday was Cooper's first cross country race, a 3-man sprint relay, and his team came second! He ran 2 miles in 14 minutes flat and definitely deserved those cookies that were his prize :)

Happy Friday!