Tag: lifestyle family blog

13 things to do unplugged with your spouse

Published on by Jamie Shugart1 Comment

Is your love language quality time?  Is your spouse’s love language quality time?  Do you hate how much time we spend staring at our phones instead of being present with one another and fully invested in the moment?  Friend, I am here for you!  

But first thing’s first—if you want to follow along with our adventures of newlywed life, turning a house into a home, and all of the highs and lows of everyday life, click the subscribe button on the right (or at the bottom if you’re on mobile).  It doesn’t send you crazy stuff or give your information to anyone—it just sends blog updates directly to you!

Friend, today I have 13 fun and unique things to do together with your spouse that do not involve social media, computers, or screen time of any kind.  Put those phones away and stare into each others eyeballs for a sec, okay?

Let’s get started.

#1. Make something together.  Whether you just picked up a new piece of furniture that has much assembly required or you want to repaint a dresser you picked up at a garage sale, get to work together!

#2. Have a picnic in your backyard.  Spring is springing, the grass is greening, and the sun is shining.  Break out your biggest floppy hat, spread a quilt on the driest patch of grass you can find, and have no fear of drinking wine outdoors.  It’s your private property, after all!  And no one has to drive!  Don’t forget the sunscreen, though.  Winter has left you pale and vulnerable.

#3. Break out the instruments and have your own concert.  Will and I play piano, guitar, and all manner of brass instruments.  I love having worship nights together.  Print those chord charts or piano music ahead of time and put those phones away.  This is time for just you two.

#4. Bake something!  Make banana bread, cheesecake, or all manner of unhealthy treats.  You can share them with friends, or be greedy and enjoy the whole thing together.  Bonus points if you enjoy the fruits of you labor by candlelight.  

#5. Prayer time.  Write a list of prayer requests and pray over them together.  Pray over your marriage, your spouse, your family, your house, your dog, your cat, your jobs, etc.

#6. Create a vision board for your marriage.  This is about your vision, your goals, your mission statement, and your desires that you create together for your marriage.  Like I desire regular date nights with each other, no matter what season of life we are in.  Side note: if you are NOT crafty—like me—you can just create a fancy list or excel spreadsheet.  It’s basically the same, right?

#7. Go on a leisurely walk (don’t forget to bring the dog).  Whether around your neighborhood or a nice nearby park, pick a sunny day and take a long walk together.  If you’re on the east coast, don’t forget that bug spray.  The mosquitoes are coming!

#8. Have a double date and go try a new local restaurant or ask your friends where their favorite place in town is.  Don’t forget to splurge on dessert.  It’s the little things.

#9. Have a bonfire, roast s’mores, and tell ghost stories.  Bonus points if you camp out in the backyard afterwards.

#10. Game night!  Whether you play Nertz, Monopoly (not suggested for sensitive/competitive souls such as myself), or some crazy deck building game, make sure there’s a prize for the winner.  

#11. Couples who work out together stay together.  If you’re both active, create a workout plan that combines both of your favorite moves and techniques that you can do at home.  You could go on a run, or complete a squat and pushups pyramid challenge.  Will and I enjoy showing off our best ab moves to each other.

#12. Go out to the ball game.  Eat a hot dog and cheer on your local team.  Make sure to dress in team colors but watch out for the kiss cam.  

#13. Have a coffee date on your front porch.  Watch the world go by and just enjoy the moment with each other.

The world is so busy and fast!  We sometimes forget to just slow the heck down and enjoy the little things.  Even if you literally need to schedule a block of time to be with each other and enjoy each other, DO IT.  It is so very important.

Do you have any ideas that I didn’t mention?  Leave them in the comments below!  If you enjoyed this post, please give it a like and don’t forget to join the family and subscribe if you haven’t already.

Until next time,
Jamie out

refurnishing our home was a nightmare

Published on by Jamie ShugartLeave a comment

Wamie house update!

In this cozy place we call home, we have been working hard to make it everything we want it to be.  We have added pantry shelves, gone through countless paint samples to find The One, installed a fence and gutters, and so many other odds and ends that we are so excited to share with you in future posts.

But first thing’s first, if you want to follow along with our adventures of newlywed life, turning a house into a home, and all of the highs and lows of everyday life, click the subscribe button on the right (or at the bottom if you’re on mobile).  It doesn’t send you crazy stuff or give your information to anyone—it just sends blog updates directly to you!

Okay, let’s be real for a second. 

Some of us only dream about fully refurnishing our home, but rarely get to do it.  Especially not all at one time.  Usually we painstakingly save up for that new couch.  We stalk Black Friday sales for our new flatscreen.  We refinish cheap furniture that we find at an estate sale.  Refurnishing from scratch only happens in our dreams.

Well friends, let me break it down for you.  I’m not sure that it should be a dream.  I would call it more of a nightmare.  

If you want to read all about how we lost all of our furniture in Hurricane Florence, click here.  If not, here’s a quick breakdown. 

We searched for and put an offer in on a home in North Carolina while we were living in Arizona.  The day we left for North Carolina, my car was rear ended in a tiny town in New Mexico and we found out it was a total loss (read about that here).  Because we were under contract for a home we would be financing, we couldn’t replace my car until we closed on the house.  Luckily, everyone we worked with was a rockstar and we closed just a few days after we got into town.  The following day, we emptied our storage unit and found out that we had lost a LOT due to water damage.

On some level we were expecting some damage.  But to lose all of our furniture?  We literally kept our kitchen table and two chairs, a tiny desk, a drink cart, and our bed frame.  Those were the only furniture items that survived.  

Luckily we had insurance and had saved some money while in Arizona.  Through our own savings and the generosity of others, we have been able to mostly refurnish our home and are loving everything.  Here’s a breakdown of everything we have so far:

Couch

We found this beauty at Ashely Furniture, which is actually where be purchased almost everything for our new home. We found that the value and quality met exactly what we wanted at a price we could afford. This three seater is soft to the touch, firm, and perfect for our living room.

Chairs

These chairs are one of our favorite things. We bought them the same day we got our couch and the sectional we put in the bonus room. They are a similar fabric to the couch above but are not from the same collection. They are situated right next to our window and are perfect for afternoon book reading sessions with a big mug of tea, or for a late night blogger who may or may not writing this from one of these chairs.

Bookcase

If you are ever in need of anything for your home, Wayfair is like the Amazon of furniture. We have been so excited to find some great pieces on their website.

We actually purchased two of these bookshelves, intending to put them both in our office. However, while arranging our living room, we found that putting the bookshelf here tied the whole room together and made it exactly how we wanted it. It’s a grey wash finish and we only put very specific and limited books here so that we wouldn’t overwhelm the space.

Bonus: my parents were getting rid of their coffee table and end table and we were able to snatch them!

Nightstand

We got our bedroom pieces from Ashley Furniture on Black Friday. We were blessed with some very generous friends who gifted us a mattress and therefore only had to replace our nightstands and dresser in the master. I wasn’t so sure about the arrangement of this nightstand initially, to be honest—with the shelf on top and the drawer on the bottom—but it has actually been great for this bookworm who adores reading before bed.

Dresser

The dresser is from the same collection as the night stand, and like the bookshelves is a grey wash. It is a good size dresser—not too deep or gargantuan, but has great drawers that offer a lot of storage space. Bonus: being a newlywed and learning to share space for clothes is teaching me how to declutter and get rid of things I don’t need. Also, having your storage unit flood will do that to you too.

Mirror

So funny story. I put this mirror on my amazon wishlist (linked here if you want one!) and got two of them for Christmas! I am putting the second one in our guest bedroom.

Sectional

This stunner is from Ashley Furniture. It is a four piece sectional that we specifically chose so that it could fit upstairs in our bonus room. Our bonus room is the the only room in the house with a TV so we have to be intentional about any time spent watching shows or movies. We are so excited about this space, and this sectional has been perfect!

Side tables

The sweetest girl who I used to work with gifted us their old end tables that fit perfectly in this space. We have loved them!

TV Stand

Yet another gem we found on Wayfair. Our TV stand is our newest piece and I absolutely adore it. Again, it is a grey wash modern farm house furniture item and I can’t stop ogling it. God bless my William for putting it all together (some assembly required!).

Really this nightmare of refurnishing our home is a blessing in disguise.  We get to choose everything we want and build a cohesive home.  We get to start from scratch with items we picked together and can build our marriage in the comfort of new beginnings. 

While the stress and time spent on insurance and trips to the dump was overwhelming, and the time spent in stores and online searching for what we need was only lessened by the fact that I love shopping—while all of this is real and hard, we can find joy in our time spent with one another. Our lives in this home will be much more enriched because of everything we have been through.

What do you think of our progress so far? Let me know in the comments! If you enjoyed this post, please give it a like and don’t forget to join the family and subscribe if you haven’t already!

Until next time,
Jamie out.

#everydaymoments

Published on by Jamie ShugartLeave a comment

Are you living in your everyday, or are you living for the weekends?  

It is our daily lives that make up who we are, and our everyday moments that make this life worth living.  Find the beauty in your ordinary.  Take some photos and build some memories.  We remember the big things, but the little things are everything.

A Thursday in February. Valentine’s Day//

Until next time,
Jamie out.

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December

puppy’s first walk (+ teething)

Published on by Jamie ShugartLeave a comment

Blue update—4 months old!

In the past month, Blue has continued to grow and learn, we took her on her very first walk, and she had a couple vet visits.

My favorite things about the past month:

  • How much she still loves snuggling
  • How joyful she was after her first walk

My least favorite things about the past month:

  • Her rabies vaccine & how sore she was afterward
  • The occasional accidents inside (there’s a lot more pee now!)

Things I have learned:

  • Teething seems awful

Our girl Blue is still a puppy and it is hard to remember that sometimes!  She is growing so much and learning every day.  I have to remind myself that if I am consistent, she will get it—right from wrong, how to behave, etc.  The occasional accidents still happen inside and I just have to remain consistent in reminding her where it is appropriate and how to ask to go outside.  Comparing her now to her tiny self at eight weeks old is crazy, even though I know she still has a lot more growing to do.  She has come such a long way!

We had two vet visits in her fourth month where she got her rabies vaccine and lyme vaccine.  Poor thing was super sore and sleepy after her rabies vaccine and we had to warn all of our New Years Eve guests to be gentle when petting her.  Her next vet visit finished up her shots and we opted to go for the lyme vaccine as well because we plan on camping and hiking with her.

Riding in the car is still one of her least favorite things.  We are trying to associate it with positive destinations and take her to my parents’ or my sister’s regularly.  She gets extra love, snuggles, and play time at their houses and you can tell she is growing attached to my family.

She isn’t napping as much as she used to and is still a little needy when she is awake.  I often find it difficult to get things done at home when she is awake because she wants to play or snuggle and be involved in some way.  Chores are easier—it’s when I sit down to write or edit that she gets bored.  Luckily, the day after she turned four months old we put in a fence (watch out for our next update!) and this has gotten a lot better because she can run and explore outside.

Her very first walk was adorable.  It seemed a little overwhelming for her, with all of the smells, noises, cars, and people.  Once we got home, though, it was obvious that she ultimately had a great time and we’re excited to go on a lot more walks in the future.

At the end of the month Blue began teething.  One day I looked down and one of her front teeth was HUGE compared to the rest of her mouth.  It. Was. Adorable.  She began chewing on her toys in earnest and it seems to me that teething must be an awful business because there was hardly a time when she was awake when she wasn’t chewing something.  So far she is doing great and only chewing on the things she is supposed to chew on.  Knock on wood!

Over the next month we plan on more walks, getting acquainted with the outdoors, and lots of social time with other dogs.  We are looking into obedience training and got her a big girl collar in preparation for her next growth spurt.

Until next time,
Jamie out