Happy Sunday/new buttons

Happy Sunday!  Church was fantastic today.  Our new congregation sure is putting us to work!  John gave an inspiring talk today and I sang "How Great Thou Art" for the special musical number.  We felt like rock-stars.

I have really been thinking a lot lately about consistent spiritual nourishment.  I wouldn't go a day without feeding my physical body so why do I sometimes neglect my daily spiritual appetite?
I really want to make it a goal this week to try and nourish my soul with positive things each day.  I want to check in with myself and make sure that I am really saying meaningful prayers.
I know that someday I am going to be given the incredible responsibility to teach my little children about Jesus Christ and I want to be better prepared to do so.
Life is so full of things we can spend our precious time on and I want to make sure I am using the gift of time to it's fullest.


Here's to a week of spiritual productivity and nourishment!


p.s. We have new buttons to go with the new layout here at T&S! Grab one if you'd like!

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...and just like that, a year went by.

Last night Mr. Murphy and I celebrated our one year anni with some beautiful music (and maybe a little slow dancing during one special song).

Last night we went to the James Taylor concert at Chastain Park.

I can't believe he is 63 and still rockin' it.

He is a faithful member of our record collection.

John surprised me with the tickets a few months back. 

We went bearing a picnic basket full of yummy treats and sparkling refreshment.  Nothing says sexy anniversary dinner like roasted pine nut hummus, tuscan flatbread, Publix Bakery cupcakes and cannolis(i don't really know how to pluralize that), chocolate covered strawberries, and Welch's sparkling grape juice from an Anthropologie tumbler.

A tear rolled down my cheek when James played, "You Can Close Your Eyes".  

Mr. Murphy and I have many songs and that is one of them.

One.

One year of my life has been spent loving and serving the most wonderful man I have ever met.

A year has come and gone.

I feel overwhelmed with emotions as I think of what this first year of marriage has brought us.  (I have already cried about it this morning.)  

I can truly say that this has been the best year of my life.  

I am so thankful to God for putting John and I together. My life has been enriched and full of joy.  

I have loved becoming a wife.  

It is a sacred role that I deem most important.

Our first year of marriage was full of many smiles, laughs, and tears.  It was full of intimate moments laced with love and tenderness.  It was full of honesty, hilarious moments, and lots of food and music.  Most of it was spent in apartment 133 at Wood Creek, though we have said goodbye to that place now.  I will never forget living there and feeling that sense of, "Look what we've created together.  Everything in here belongs to us.  We built a home together."

I have loved learning how to share my life and soul with another.  I have given this man all that I have and it is something that I never regret, not even for a moment.

I feel that I have been given the divine task of being a wife to John Murphy and I know that I am the one who got a better deal.

I am enlightened each day with his patience, selflessness, and kindness towards me.

A part of me is so sad to close the chapter of our first year together.  

I know that the future has a thousand glorious surprises for us.

My heart is so full it may burst.

Happy one year anniversary to the man who made me a wife.

make our garden grow.

We are putting in a summer garden.

I am dreaming of juicy BLTs with home grown Better Boy Tomatoes and delicious fresh summer salsa. I can't wait to get these little guys in the ground.

John and mom tried to till the ground this weekend but every piece of machinery decided to quit working.

So, they will try again soon.

our new home.

Want to know a secret?

We have moved.

This is our new home.

We have made the switch from city dwellers to country folk.

We went from a tiny, noisy, cozy one bedroom city apartment to a beautiful country home on a little farm.

We have a John Deere tractor, a red barn, horses to look at, and lovely neighbors.

Life is changing.

I have been thinking a lot about change lately.

You know the saying, "There is nothing as constant as change."

I am beginning to understand that the older I get the truer I am finding that it becomes.

I remember growing up and having expectations for what my life might be like. I had goals and plans and thoughts as to what I would do.

I am realizing that the only expectation we should have is to be happy.  Rather to make happiness for ourselves.  Life is never really how you expect it to be.  The surprises make it exhilarating but we should always prepare ourselves against the storms of life.  We should guard ourselves with the assurance of knowing who we are and Who's we are.

We are going through a storm right now.  

We are trying to be there for our family in a time of need and we hope that we can bring joy in to this new home.  We will be living with my mother for some time and it will be a positive thing for us all.

"oh, hey there mister murphy."

our new roomie :)

Flash Mob in Kroger

Kroger in Grayson had its very own and no doubt first flash mob dance breakout last night.

We strolled down the unexpected freezer aisle and them shamelessly broke out in to a terrifically choreographed dance number. 

We are happy because we dance in the grocery store in an aisle all to ourselves at 11 o'clock at night.

We left bearing goods of Pomegranate Pops and Ben & Jerry's 'Everything But The...' ice-cream.

(a little picture of our new bedroom, we still haven't found the nuts and bolts to put our bed together so we have been sleeping with our mattress on the floor. no doubt they will show up in the very last box i unpack)

We exited Kroger in slow motion to the sound of "Chariots of Fire" playing overhead. (dun dun dun dun duun duuun ch ch ch ch...you know what i'm talkin' bout)


(Kroger always seems to bring out magical moments in our marriage.)

DIY Antique Mirror

Since moving to our new place I have been trying to spiff up some of our old things. I took this old mirror that I got from my Great Auntie Susan and covered up the glass and spray painted the frame red! I am in love with it, it adds a great pop of color to our new home. It's so easy and it upgraded the mirror to something really cute! I used a Rustoleum spray paint because the frame is metal. It took a solid 3 hours to dry but it will last longer and be more durable.

We are loving the new place and still trying to adjust. We are sleeping with the windows open and enjoying the summer breeze and terrific night sounds.

Sofia

This is husband playing a mean version of Classical Gas featuring our new baby, Sofia.

I don't know why in the world this song is named Classical Gas but I do know that I get the giggles every time I say it.  This is now one of my new favorite things John plays.

Please ignore the massive piles of things and boxes behind him, we are still in the moving process.

Here is John playing Sofie, like a boss.

DIY Shabby Chic Antique Table

Refinishing old pieces of furniture has recently become a new favorite hobby of mine.

Since John and I have moved to the new place I have been a home decorating fool.  

I have so many little projects that I've done that I can't wait to share.

Yesterday I shabby chic'd our old coffee table.  It is the easiest way to create a fun new piece of furniture FAST!

In 4 easy steps you can have a new "old" piece of furniture.

1. Sand down the furniture.

2. Wipe down the piece to remove excess saw dust.

3. Paint the piece with your color of choice. (at least two coats.  I use Behr Eggshell Antique White)

4. Let it dry then use medium grade sand paper and rough up the edges. (try to sand spots where the piece of furniture would have been bumped/scraped/hit naturally!)

To see my other DIY Shabby Chic piece of furniture click "here".

i laughed so hard, i gave myself a headache

Last night I had a "girls night out" with two lady friends and...my husband. 

He amazes me at how comfortable he is and how well he can get along in a group full of women.  Maybe its a sign for things to come and we will be blessed with 7 baby girls and he will live a perfectly content life surrounded by countless ladies.

We went out to our favorite sushi place and put a killing on some raw fish, rice, miso soup, and edamame.

I've been pretty down lately so I really needed a carefree night just to laugh and forget about some of the things going on right now.  I am so grateful to my friends and my husband for reminding me that its A-okay to laugh and BE HAPPY during hard times.

I literally laughed so hard I gave my self a headache.  

Now, that's some good laughin'. 

easter

(our beautiful atlanta temple in april during the open house)

I know that my Redeemer lives.

What comfort this sweet sentence gives.

He lives, He lives who once was dead.

I am so grateful for this sacred day to remember the great sacrifice of my Savior.

Happy Easter

murphy family addition

meet violetta.

She is a Nissan Versa with a sweet smooth ride.  Thank you to our anonymous donor who made it possible to own this beauty of a car, we love it!

There have been a lot of changes going on lately in the Murphy family.  

We went from our tiny one bedroom apartment in "little Mexico" to a 5 bedroom home in the beautiful Monroe countryside. It broke my heart to move out of our first married apartment because I thought we would live there forever and raise all 6 of our future children in that sweet little apartment.

I sat on the empty floor of our apartment and cried.

Life moves on I guess.

something special returned.

...is back!

This week my soul friend finally came home from serving a year and half long LDS mission in Finland.  

Boy did I miss her. 

The reunion was sweet.

I cried big fat crocodile tears.  At least 4 times.

It is so weird to me that when she left on her mission I did not even know who John Murphy was.  Then when she comes home I have almost been married for a year!  Needless to say, we have much to catch up on...

(welcome back sister zimmerman)