On Being A Better Wife

How can I be a better wife?  This question has been pressing on my heart as of late. I want to not just be a good wife, but one that supports, loves, and encourages my husband in the way he needs. In a marriage it's so easy to believe that we are doing enough. We tell ourselves we are; we tell ourselves that I'm doing the best I can, giving it my all. But when you pause, look at the little moments, and truly think am I? sometimes you see a little room to give a little more. 

How can I give a little more? How can I be a better wife? Big questions. With not just one good answer.

My words. "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." Ephesians 4:29  I truly believe there is great power in our words. We can build each other up or really tear one another down. And not just what we say but how we say it. We need to encourage our husbands with affirming words, kind words. Spoken in a tone that spews love. I support you. I love you. You do [blank] so well! Thank you for working so hard. Little sentences that mean a lot to our men. Let's not complain either. Complaining brings ourselves into a negative attitude and won't help him feel better about any situation. 

My actions. I can say anything and everything under the sun to make my husband feel more loved and appreciated, but if I don't do what he needs me to do, there is a big part missing. 1 John 3:18 says " ..let us not merely say that we love one another; let us show the truth by our actions". Show the truth by our actions. Meaning, let's back up how much we love/appreciate/support/etc. by showing him. My husband appreciates when I keep the house clean and when I do the home chores without complaining. Big one here! Like I said before, not complaining is a big thing and one he will notice. Whether it's dressing up more, packing his lunch in the morning, or giving him a bit more cookie at the end of the day, figure out what actions he wants more from you and do them, with love. They could be little or they could be big. They could seem trivial or "why is that a big deal?" but they are important to him, so they should be important to me. Also, if your having a hard time with something just ask him! Have him explain why those actions are important to him. That will let us understand our husbands a little more and help us to want to do such actions a little more. 

 I asked my husband what are ways I could love him, support, and encourage him better. We talked about it and it gave him a chance to tell me what I'm doing well as a wife and how I can be a bit better. It felt so good to pause and talk about this. Something I don't think we've talked about in great detail since before we got married. 

 I am an imperfect person, trying to love another imperfect person. I'm going to stumble, I'm going to fail, [we are both going to stumble] but that's the beauty of a marriage. We have to help each other out and we have time to figure it out. Marriage to us is definitely a two way street. I can't just be a better wife and him not try at all. We work on things together by talking and praying. But right now I think it's my turn to do a little more; be a little better and see where and how I can love him more. 

xo // leah

Photos by Pamela Montanez

Easter Celebration

“Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

- Isaiah 25:9, ESV

This last Easter was so special. My sister and her boyfriend came down for the weekend. My parents hosted it along with some family friends, and it ended up being a pretty big celebration. After the 22 seats were set we celebrated all together how wonderful our Savior is. 

We definitely took the opportunity to take some family pics as well. 

How wonderful it is to know Jesus. To be able to know the One who lived and died to give us life. He loves us, everyone of us, so much to have given his life so we could have ours. I feel so overjoyed to know that I have a Saviour who loves me for who I am; not who I'm supposed to be, but who I am now. It is something to rejoice over, every single day. Amen that He lives!

He has risen // leah

Sunriver Hangs

For the second part of Cory's Birthday Adventure, we headed to Sunriver for a weekend away with some really great people. We have this solid group of friends that we have met over the last two years and we've all become as close as family. These are the people we do life with. We laugh, cry, talk about our marriages, our struggles our successes. We have never been on a trip with all of us before and we thought it was about time. We headed to Sunriver for a long weekend of fun!

The Guys

The Girls

We went on walks, talked in the hot tub, went into Bend and had happy hour at Deschutes Brewery; we stayed up late to play mancala and had many rounds of ping-pong tournaments. Each couple made a different meal and we all just hung out. The dogs even came along and had some fun of their own. 

This time was so special and one I won't forget. One of the couples is moving to the Midwest in June, and having all of us together, really enjoying each others company, was something priceless. 

To memories with friends // leah

Cory's Birthday Adventure

My main squeeze just turned 28 (!!) He's like a good bottle of whiskey, just gets better with age. We took the week of his birthday off and did some projects around the house (read: paint the whole upstairs and do about 15 hrs worth of yard work). We planned the week really well by having our relaxing, adventurous time at the end. On wednesday we headed up north to Seattle. I had a couple things planned for his birthday and was only able to keep one thing as a surprise. I'm terrible at surprises and he loves them. Good thing I have many years to practice my secret keeping. 

First stop, iFly Seattle. 

We spent the next two hours learning how and taking our first "flights".  I've never been actual sky diving and from what the instructors said it feels pretty realistic. I was surprised by a couple things. We both did pretty well keeping our flight-position. The instructors are in the flight room the whole time and help to fix your position if you are not doing it quite right. One thing I was surprised with was how easily you could move with just a small adjustment of your body. Keeping your chin up helped you not fall so fast, moving your arm in towards your body made you turn one way or the other. We only flew for about 3 minutes each, but it was well worth the price! Such a fun experience and really great for people like me who have that inner want to go sky diving but will never, never actually go.  

We met up with my sister that evening in Seattle and went out to celebrate with some great food and drinks. We stayed the night in downtown and then headed to our next stop. 

Tree House Point

The unique overnight stay was one we will never forget. Something I would considered glamping, we decided to stay in a tree house for our last night up north. Nestled away in some trees, not far at all from downtown Seattle, were these beautifully built tree houses. We stayed in the Nest. A cozy thing that lived up to it's name. 

This place was right off a main road leading out of Fall City, Wa. Which by the way have some of the friendliest people I've met. 

We only stayed a night and would have loved if we were there a bit longer. They served a home-cooked breakfast in the morning and had a main lodge with a fire to make smores that night.  The fact that there were only 6 tree houses to stay in made it a little community of visitors. We all communed in the main lodge and talked about how we got there and what our tree houses looked like. 

We will definitely be back and will be trying a different house each time. Next one, maybe the Bonbibi (as shown below). 

Happy birthday my love! Birthday adventures are so much fun, and I'm so blessed to be able to celebrate my man. He is a special one. 

To Adventures  and birthdays // leah

Seattle

Stay: Courtyard Seattle Downtown/Lake Union - close to some great eats and the Space Needle. Nice Lake view too. 

Eat: Crow , Roux , Quoin

East-Ward

Stay: Tree House Point

Eat: Finaghty's Pub , Fall City Bistro

A Birthday Hike: Angel's Rest

My Dad has always loved being outside. Hiking, biking, walking, whatever it was to get us kids outside, that is where we would be. With him. So it wasn't a surprise that for his birthday he wanted to go for a hike. We all piled into the family mini-van, all 6 of us + 3 dogs and headed to the Columbia Gorge. He chose Angel's Rest for the hike and some other popular views around there. So great celebrating my dad amongst such beauty!

 

The views were stunning. I've done lots of hikes before, especially in the Gorge, and everytime they cease to amaze me. How much land we have here in Oregon. Uninterrupted green. The day was perfect too. It had been calling for rain all week but sunshine was all to be had. It was like this place was waiting for us to come and see it in all it's glory. It was also so wonderful to have my sister, her boyfriend and our brother all along on this hike. My mom was at home prepping the dinner..and the Easter lunch that was to be had the next day.

 

So fun for a birthday day!

 

To hikes and birthdays // leah

 

How-To: Simple Flower Crown

 

 

What you'll need: 

1. Flowers 2. Floral tape 3. Floral Wire 4. Scissors 5. Wire cutter 

1. Measure the wire around your head to see what size you'll need to cut. I measured mine a little smaller than all the way around my head. Use some pliers to cut the wire and wrap the ends around the circled wire.

2. Cut sprigs of your flowers that you will be using. Mine varied from 3-5 inches long.

3. Place the branch of your flowers flush with the wire and wrap the floral tape around. This tape doesn't need to be wet, it sticks to itself. Wrap the heavier flowers with a few peices of tape.

4.  Continue doing this until you have completed the crown. Fill in as necessary.

 

And voila!

 

Can't help but feel like a princess whenever I am wearing these crowns.

 

For some different tutorials on how to make floral crowns, see here or here.

 

Have fun! xo / leah

A Sweet and Simple Galentine's Brunch

My friend Stephie and I hosted a little Galentine's Brunch this past weekend. This was the first time I've heard of the term Galentine and I was so excited to have a little brunch with our friends. We had been planning for a little while, with the help of Pinterest, as to what we wanted the space to look like and what we wanted to do for our friends. I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out. 

We made everyone little flower crowns to wear. Those were not only a blast to make but so pretty on all the girls.  

We had a mimosa bar and served heart-shaped pancakes, fruit, and doughnuts. 

We chatted, sipped, and laughed the morning away.  All the girls that were able to attend were so sweet, so beautiful, and so wonderful to be around. 

A Galentine's brunch is not complete without a little photo-booth action. 

Every gal left with a flower crown on her head and a little goody bag filled with some sweet little gifts. 

See here, here, or here for some of the little gifts that were given. 

 

Friends that brunch together, stay together // xo leah

Photos taken by my ever talented friend, Pamela. See her work here.