tgif.

So today isn't just any Friday. It's a Friday leading up to a three day weekend AND Zakary had an exam today, which means I get him all to myself! No studying needed for him this weekend. It's what every spouse of a med school student dreams of. 

Oh yeah, we're going on a little road trip as well! Zakary is kind of our vacation planner, but this weekend I wanted to plan the entire trip so that he could sit back and relax after his exam. He deserves it! Now that we're living in Nebraska, we want to explore as much of the Mid West as possible while we're here, so we're going to make our way down south to the Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri. 

Never heard of it? Yeah neither have we. But hey, it looks beautiful and there are lots of things to do in the area, so we're beyond excited for our little getaway. 

xoxo

wish list.

So my birthday is right around the corner. And I'm trying to think really hard about what I want. My parents have already asked me a few times, and I want to be prepared the next time the birthday topic comes up. So i've decided to make a little list. 

**cough cough, in case Zakary decides to read this post there will be links included for each potential present, cough cough**

1. A dinner out with my honey.  Hmm maybe somewhere romantic, possibly a rooftop dinner in Old Market? 

2. Plane tickets home. Thankfully my parents brought this one up!

3. Anthropologie candle. I mean, they smell like heaven and last 50 years. How could you go wrong with one of those puppies?

4. A Skype date with my entire family, including Romie {my doggie}! Yep, everyone. Mom, pop, Ericka and the kiddos. It's been entirely too long since I've seen their faces. I miss them so much. 

5. Dessert with my hubby so we can of course share a banana split {that's kinda our favorite thing to do} and blow out a candle or two.

6. An entryway bench. You know I'm a married woman when I ask for furniture for my birthday. This one is cute {and matches our office chair} and this one is adorable too {in white maybe?}.

7. Flowers. What girls doesn't adore flowers?

8. Maybe one or two of these prints for our frame wall? I seriously love them all. I really can't decide which ones are my favorite, I could take them all. 

9. I'm still thinking.. 

10. ...A new laptop... Wait what? Who said that? Kidding! 

11. A white owl vase. Weird, I know. But I'm an animal lover and these little guys are too cute around the house. Zakary if you're reading this we found them at the Nebraska like Ikea place we went into a few weeks ago. Hint hint. 

12. Final Cut Pro? But wait, that isn't compatible with my MacBook anymore. Seems I would need a new laptop for this program... kidding again! 

13. A job. Depressing. I'm kidding again. But hey it would be kinda nice I suppose. 

14. A med school student hubby who gets an A+++ on his quiz, that happens to be on the same day. 

15. I don't know still.  

I'm sure I'll update/change this list a million times as the days draw nearer. And by the way these are all not expected {obviously} by any means! Just some ideas. 

xoxo

it's official.

I finally went to the social security office and changed my last name. Whoo hoo! I know, its taken a while, but like I said it has been an insane couple of months since the wedding.  I opted to wait until we moved so now I can get a Nebraska license with my new last name.  

Oh and if you were wondering, our dinner with Gatsby last night was great. I seriously adore that movie. It's such a powerful love story, a sad and powerful love story. Here are my top 3 favorite parts:

1. When Gatsby sees Daisy for the first time at tea. All the beautiful flowers bundled up in that quaint little cottage made for the perfect background for their reunion. I could never imagine going so long without the love of my life. You can see how emotional it is on Gatsby's face- that's my absolute favorite part. Almost makes me teary eyed every time. 

2. When he shows her his house. I love how he made everything with her in mind. Everything was for her. The rot iron gates, the luxurious gardens and the amazing beach. When they go swimming and film themselves, isn't that the cutest? And then when she says, " I wish I would have done everything on earth with you." How adorable really. 

3. The music. All of if was amazing. From the mixups and remakes, I enjoyed it all. Such a phenomenal soundtrack. 

Anywho, hope your hump day is going well! 

xoxo

can you guess..

..which movie we're going to watch tonight?!

Here are some clues..

The Great Gatsby!

That's right. It came out today and I couldn't resist picking it up. I guess you can say I'm just a little excited.  

By the way, it's been a pretty good Tuesday. I went to a spin class just like I said I would in yesterday's post. Go me! I'm totally exhausted, but it was so worth it. And Zak was able to study from home today.. which was really nice. I love having him here all day. And now I'm off to cook dinner- I'm trying a new recipe tonight, we'll see how it goes. Dinner and Gatsby with the husband- it's going to be a goodnight!

xoxo 

home inspiration.

I'm swooning over these home accessories. I would really love to have a white mantel someday. And aren't those owls the cutest? Just thought I'd give a daily dose of inspiration for the home. 

xoxo

Serena Lily black cushion
serenaandlily.com

Marble top side table
laylagrayce.com

Gold leaf mirror
zincdoor.com

Zig zag rug
furbishstudio.com

Adesso round shades
casa.com

Pottery Barn geometric throw pillow
potterybarn.com

Jonathan Adler vase
jonathanadler.com

Illume tin candle
bloomingdales.com

Laurence Llewelyn Bowen clock
$44 - isme.com

Kate Spade drinkware
katespade.com

White home decor
zgallerie.com

Electric fireplace
amazon.com

funky.

I've been in a little bit of a funk lately. 

I try and attribute it to being in a new place, moving, blah blah blah. But really I think what it is is that I don't have a job yet. And not that it's a bad thing. And don't get me wrong, I'm on the hunt for one. And i've been super aggressive about landing one. P.S I even have an interview coming up Thursday {wish me luck}. And {I know I'm using the word and alot, bear with me} I'm not being pressured to find a job either, by the way. Zak and my parents completely understand my situation and support what I'm doing 100 percent. Zak tells me all the time to just have lazy movie days.. and just have fun with my days off {isn't he just the best?}. But for some reason I just can't let myself do that. I feel guilty doing that. So I fill up my to-do list everyday, keeping myself up and going. Parts of me feel like I function better when I'm busy. Or maybe I just hate the feeling of possibly being lazy? Even though lazy bum days can be the best of days.

 I mean as long as I can remember I've always been super busy. Classes, Alpha Phi, Internships, NewsWatch, planning a little thing called a wedding, family, friends- you get it. And now that we're in a brand new place, it's taking a little while to get back into the swing of things. To be completely honest, it's kind of scary jumping into things when they're unfamiliar to you. I always get nervous doing new things, especially by myself. Is this making sense? I feel like I'm just word vomiting. 

I'm determined to get back into the swing of things. For instance, it took me like three weeks to decide on a stupid gym membership. I was scared {isn't that silly?!} to commit to something I wasn't sure about. Well now that I finally have one, tomorrow I going to take a spin class. I thoroughly enjoy cycling. So tomorrow I'm going to get up and go to a class. Period. 

Next, I'm also going to get involved in the Alpha Phi Alumni chapter. Meetings don't start till September, but when they do you can count me in! Oh and by the way I'm hoping to also get involved at the collegiate chapter as well. I miss my sisters. I miss being apart of this lovely organization.

And lastly, I'm going to enjoy the little things in life more, stop thinking so much and understand that I don't have to constantly be doing something to make up for the fact that I don't have a job right now. I'm sure I'll snag a job soon and look back at this post with envy of my days off.

This quote is just what I needed to hear. 

black and white.

So I've been in LOVE with crisp black and white colors lately. I'm a little Kate Spade obsessed {I mean who isn't} and these accessories are adorable. And since I'm still trying to figure out how to furnish our space I through up some home good goodies as well. Enjoy! 

Topshop stripe bag
topshop.com

Kate Spade black square earrings
piperlime.gap.com

Kate Spade tech accessory
cusp.com

Clear lens wayfarer
shopzerouv.com

Stripe rug
selectrugs.com

Cotton pillowcase
modcloth.com

Crate and Barrel white lighting
crateandbarrel.com

omaha.

Where to begin?! I think it's safe to say that Zak and I have a love/hate relationship with this city. We love the buildings, the architecture, the historic neighborhoods, the weather {for now.. we'll talk again when it starts snowing}, Creighton, the farmers markets that seem to pop up everywhere, and Old Market. We hate roads that change directions depending on the time of day, no left hand turns and one way streets. So maybe we just don't like driving here? I guess that's not too bad.  

But anywho, it's our third week here and we're starting to get into the swing of things. It's been a little challenging getting settled in, I don't think we'll be 100% comfortable for a couple months. Who knew moving out of state comes with so much baggage? From address changes, to insurance trips and finding a new grocery store, it certainly takes a lot of time getting back to normality. 

My parents were here the first week and thank heavens for that! They helped us move in and get things unpacked and organized, which was a huge help, since Zak hit the ground running with school when we got into town. So being able to hangout with my parents was really nice. And anyone who knows my mom knows that she's an interior design expert, so we were lucky to have her here to make our apartment feel like home. 

Ah so I can't really write to much more about my parents being here or else I'll start getting home sick.. so lets just say, saying goodbye to them (and the rest of my family and Romie) was one of the saddest things I've ever done {and I think Zak can second that}. I was such a mess at the airport and we cannot wait until we can see them all again. I have such a close relationship with both of my parents. They're my best friends. And I'm truly grateful for that. I'm also extremely thankful for the relationship Zak has with my family as well. He has a remarkable bond with my niece and nephew that's incredible. We both can't think about being far from them or else we'll get bummed. Kids grow up so fast and it breaks our hearts not to be near them each day. So I'm done writing about family. Too hard.

And in other news, we've been making some new friends here, yipee! We're in the "Married 2 Medicine" club aka the cool kids club and we've met some pretty rad couples. Ps it's nothing like that horrid reality show Married to Medicine. It's really nice meeting other people who are in the boat as you. And it's even nicer going to the little weekly events, they're honestly my lifelines to the social world. And so far from the bbq's, happy hours and girls night out to the ice cream shop they've been pretty fun. And one more thing- I might be advising (crossing my fingers) the Creighton Alpha Phi chapter, which I would ADORE doing. So hopefully I'll be writing about that soon. So I guess that's our update on finding friends?

Oh yeah, and with moving I learned the camera gets lost in all the chaos. So here are a few iPhone pics that I managed to snap. Warning: they're super random.

welcome to the midwest! 

Our first night in Omaha. 

This is a high school. Can you believe it?

This is our community garden. The big muddy garden. 

We go to Target about every other day. It's the only store we're used to here!

The historic homes blow my mind.

This beauty is up the street from our building, and I just love driving by it. 

Zak's white coat ceremony- I'm so proud of my future doctor!

Off to my first 'married 2 medicine' girls night outing. 

Like I said above, we love the farmers markets here. 

So last weekend we went berry picking. We're officially midwesterners. 

My first dinner. Proud moment right there. 

Just being Nebraskan's. 

The tree-lined cobble stone streets are just lovely. 

So that's a little peek into our life! Really random pictures, right? I hope to take some photos of our apartment soon, we're kind-of-almost-somewhat-close-to-being-done decorating. 

And one more thing I have to admit. As hard as it is being away from our family and friends- living with your best friend is the best thing ever. And being married is the greatest thing ever. From late night Netflix marathons, to making the fire alarm sound from burning dinner in the kitchen and being able to snuggle at night, it's really all we've ever hoped for and more. I didn't think it would be possible, but we just keep falling in love more and more each day. Sorry if that was a little too lovey dovey for yah- we're newlyweds what can I say!

xoxo,

Mr. & Mrs. H.

   

change.

It has certainly been the summer of change. From graduating college, getting married and moving out of state; the past three months have been quite a whirlwind. And now it's time for our blog to change, as well. I initially made it to journal and share about our wedding experience, and now that it's over I'm going to transition it into our little life blog. Now, I don't really know what it will entail, but I do know that as a wife and as a journalist I want to continue to write about our marriage and this new chapter of our life together. From the good, the bad and the ugly I want to write it all down. 

I mean lets be real, it will probably be lots of posts about our everyday occurrences, weekend adventures and maybe a few inspiration posts sprinkled throughout! But hey, it'll be fun so you should read along:)

xoxo,

Mr. & Mrs. H. 

bridals.

Well now that the wedding is over, I can finally post all of our bridal photos! Zakary and I chose the more untraditional route and decided on a first look before our actual wedding day. At first our moms were both a little saddened that we were going to see each other dressed before the actual ceremony, but I insured them both that it would still be special and very memorable- and boy was I right. If any brides out there are deciding on a first look let me tell you why I think it is a total must. 

1. It's intimate, and when captured on film beautiful.

2. It saves you a TON of time on your actual wedding day. You don't have to worry about getting a bunch of bridal shots with your husband (you can still get some) and focus more on family and bridal party pictures during that time instead. And trust me, those suckers can take up to an hour, especially with a big family.

3. It's weather proof! If it rains on your big day you don't have to worry about capturing those special moments in the mud- since they'll already finished. 

4. You can be creative with your location for your bridals/first look. You can make them one of a kind and unique by choosing a special place, only the two of you will have photos at.

5. And lastly, you can still have that special moment (the one where he sees you for the very first time) on your wedding day. Zak and I chose not to see each other until I was walking down the aisle and it was still so special and very memorable.

We opted to have our bridals up north somewhere near Flagstaff. We honestly don't know where it was, we just saw these beautiful green trees from the freeway and took the first exit we could to find them. It was an overgrown creek next to a bunch of fields that were lined with lime green leaved trees- it was gorgeous, to say the least. 

Enjoy!