Tag Archives: love

Cactus Love on Etsy

It’s no secret that Ray and I are slightly obsessed with our house plants, which are made up primarily of cacti and succulents. We do a pretty good job of keeping them alive AND they’re nice to look at. I mean, have you seen our sunroom?
Below are 5 of my favorite cactus themed etsy finds! I want them all! cactus love 1. Cactus Pillow – How perfect is this? I love the blue, but you can also purchase this pillow in green.
2. Cactus Pouch – Because my hand sanitizer and lipstick belong in a cactus pouch, obviously.
3. Prickly Pear Print – Isn’t this print cute? I think this would work well in our bathroom and help tie in our retro pink tile.
4. Watercolor Wall Mural – I know wall murals/wall paper trends come and go, but I feel like this particular print has some staying power. I love the watercolor look and I think this would look great on an accent wall or even used as a backdrop for a party or photo shoot.
5. Wooden Plant Stand – Lately, I’ve been browsing different types of plant stands to use in our living room. I’m really digging this simple wooden look.

Do you love cacti as much as we do? What are you currently loving on etsy?

anniversary day date according to our iphones

photo 3 (3)Last weekend we were finally able to spend some time together celebrating our 3 year anniversary. We took a day trip to St. Augustine, which is only about an hour and a half from our home.
When we arrived we had breakfast treats and day cocktails.photo (10)

We walked around the oldest city in America, window shopping and people watching. We visited Wolf’s Museum of Mystery. It was, well, everything I expected. Strange art and artifacts, horror movie props, photographs and other oddities. Upstairs is a mini theater (more like a Halloween decorated living room) where you can watch horror movies and eat popcorn at your leisure. If you’re into Butch Anthony style art, this is the place for you.photo 1 (15)

After the museum, we went to San Sebastian Winery for a wine tasting. San Sebastian specializes in wine made from muscadine grapes, which are native to Florida. I only liked one wine I tasted which was the Vinters White.photo (12)

Next we headed to a comic shop, which was super boring to me but Ray loved it.
We drove over to the island to smell the beach air before heading to The Columbia for dinner. 1905 salad + champagne sangria = YES PLEASE
We finished the night drinking coffee and walking around historical downtown.photo 2 (15)We had such a nice day celebrating our marriage!

Thoughts on Marriage

marriage 2Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot on marriage. Everyone always says marriage is hard, and it definitely can be. When I was younger I always assumed that hard was a bad thing. Hard was equated with bad, while easy was equated with good. In actuality the hard parts of marriage, or rather the sanctifying and edifying parts have been some of the greatest.
Overall, living my life with Ray Hancock came easy, but that’s not to say there weren’t any adjustments. I had to forego my habits and wants and put him before myself, which is still hard for me. BUT, I get to live life with someone who passionately loves the lost, is strong and determined, encouraging, who isn’t a quitter and who is cautious with decision making (none of which really apply to me). My life was awesome before Ray and I were married and despite being super poor, 3 broken cars in 1 year, job loss and a tree breaking our house, my life is even better with him.
I don’t have an agenda or anything for this post, I just wanted to share a little of what’s happening in my brain. =)

love and soup

soup1I’m not sure if I’ve ever discussed this on the blog, but I don’t cook… unless you could that one time I sort of made homemade pizza on Valentines day with heart shaped pepperonis. I say I “sort of” made it because after 2 failed attempts at rolling the dough I called a local pizza place (Pizza Boy shout out!) and asked them to roll it out for me on my own pan. Anyway, I like the idea of cooking and I do own like 27 aprons, it’s just not my thing. Growing up, my mom cooked dinner (and lots of times lunch and breakfast) most days of the week. Other than her asking me to turn on the oven or maybe butter up some garlic bread, I didn’t participate much in the cooking/meal preparation department. When I moved out, I ate a lot of sandwiches, yogurt, hummus + crackers, and ice cream. So, mostly things I could just grab and eat because I was/am lazy.soup2When I got married all of that changed. Ray cooks and he cook well. Last night he made kale, potato and spicy sausage soup and it was SO delicious. We generally have a lot of things going on during the week nights and it’s so nice to come home, sit at the table and have a home cooked meal with the person you love the most.ice cream 1I also had an ice cream sandwich, made with my mom’s homemade chocolate chip cookies, after dinner which was the perfect ending to a delicious meal.

Alliray: Why we’re the same

photo.JPG7We both think Black Cat is the weirdest cat we’ve ever met.
We both love lime popsicles.
We both wanted wooden wedding bands instead of gold and diamonds.
We both have a tiny freckle on our right feet in the same place.
We both have a soft spot for late 90s/early 2000s christian jams.
We’re both ok with listening to the same song 239047230948 times in a row.
We’re both a little bit more analog than digital.
Apparently, we both take open mouth pictures like 16 year old girls. Haha.
We love each other a whole lot. =)