Thankful

 I love this time of year! The smell of apple pie in the oven, the fall decorations, and the gathering of friends and family are just some of the memories that I anticipate for the day. It is a wonderful day to be reminded of the wonderful blessings God has given us. This Thanksgiving our dear friends the Theakers joined us for our Thanksgiving meal. We made a thankful tree made up of leaves on which we wrote what we each are thankful for. We had a great day and are so thankful for our dear friends and family!

-AGM

The Table Project

Where do I start? It has been a crazy month! It has been exciting living in a new city. We are enjoying meeting new people and adjusting to our new jobs. It's amazing how God places you right where He wants you. He has been so faithful! 

Indianapolis is huge! Of course, I have gotten lost a few times...but those stories are for another day! ha! This past Friday, I experienced downtown Noblesville. It has adorable antique stores and quaint places to eat. A friend took me to a yummy place called Rosie's. I loved it! The food was scrumptious, and Giana loved the mac and cheese!

I have been starting some fun DIY projects. I have always wanted a large dining room table...so...I searched Craiglist and found a beat up cherry wood table and 3 chairs for a whopping $35! The table and chairs needed a lot of work (sanding, staining, and painting). I thought painting the chairs and the legs of the table black would add some interest. I love how they turned out! I did have help sanding (thanks Kiersten!). The sanding took forever. Ugh! Jared did the painting and staining-thank you hun! I re-upholstered an old bench and the chairs with new fabric. We already had two red upholstered chairs for the head of the table. All in all it was a great accomplishment! We love how it turned out and can't wait to use it for Thanksgiving! 

Check out the before and after pictures:

Thanks for reading! -AGM

Snapshots

Giana's first birthday

I have been meaning to share the snapshots of Giana's first birthday, but life has been a whirlwind. We recently moved to Indianapolis, IN (yes, I will be blogging about that quite soon-I promise!). Life has been crazy with the moving and the starting of new jobs. But we are so excited to be where God wants us. We are thrilled to be on this new journey!

Giana's first birthday was filled with memories of family and friends. The pictures my sister took captured so many precious moments. We are so blessed to be a part of this beautiful little girl's life. 

Here are snapshots of Giana's first birthday- Enjoy! 

Thanks for reading! AGM

Giana's 1st Birthday Party: Take Two

The Set-up

The set-up for the special day was a lot of fun!  I am so glad it was a beautiful day. I had wanted most of the activities to be outside. We set up a small white tent where Giana opened her gifts and ate her birthday cake. For the kids, I planned some fun outdoor games. They decorated their own pumpkins, played Doughnuts on a String, and Pin the Pumpkin. I found these activities on this website: http://www.marthastewart.com.  

My sister is a wonderful artist. She drew a canvas of a farm theme, so people could write a birthday note on it. We set up the canvas by the doorway, so people would sign it right as they came in to the house.

 Food is a big part of any party, so I will be sharing the menu of the day. The party was from 11am-2pm, so I planned brunch-like and bite-sized food.

Menu:

Mini Quiches Mini Sausage in the Blankets

Mini Turkey Pinwheels

Mini Fruit on a Toothpick

Apples and Carmel Dip

Mini Cupcakes and Mini Birthday Cake for Giana

Mini Muffins: blueberry and corn

Cake Pop Pumpkin Patch

Ice cream Cake Pops

Lemonade, Apple Juice, and Water

Homemade Apple Cider 

 What I found to be extremely helpful in the set-up the party is to use what I had around the house. I used our tables, frames, mason jars from canning for cheap and easy decorations. Also, thrift stores are awesome. I found the vintage high chair at a thrift store for $25! I can always use the high chair as a photo prop or decoration. Enjoy the pics of the set up!

Next time I will be sharing about the big day! Thanks for reading. -AGM