today was our fourth day off from work due to the snow/ice storm. we finally broke out and went on an adventure to ikea. we quickly realized that our street had deceived us and was way less icy than everywhere else. driving was slow moving and slippery. we did find some great deals and the outing was much-needed, though! plus, we had ikea all to ourselves. it was like a ghost town.

p.s. – we bought a crib!!!!!

– ryan & gub

today we spent our third day in a row cooped up in the house because of the snow storm. third day is a charm… i guess. it was our first day with some sunlight and we were actually productive and did some cleaning. work is called off again tomorrow. crazy!!!

– ryan & gub

cabin fever is setting in! we are off work again but stuck at home with the icy roads. hot cocoa and groundhog day it is!

– ryan & gub

we had a snow day today! YAY for snow days! we made a big pot of soup, baked cookies, played in the snow, and visited with neighbors. it was great fun!

oh, and check out the new house color. we had it painted this summer. full post with before and after photos coming soon…

– ryan & gub

we have been busy wrapping our gifts and getting ready to head home for the holidays! we are very excited to see everyone.

– ryan & gub

we had some flurries and a very light snow coating today!

– ryan

we did some holiday decorating today while listening to loretta lynn’s a country christmas! ’tis the season.

– ryan & gub

we love the cardboard white buffalo we got as a wedding gift! it keeps watch over our kitchen record player and is also fun and eco-friendly. the company that makes them is called cardboard safari and is based out of charlottsville, va. other animals are available, including deer, moose, elephant, and rhino in white or brown cardboard. they also have some limited edition pieces, like a skull designed by noah scalin, of the skull-a-day project.

our white buffalo arrived in a flat box with assembly required. it didn’t take long though to pop out the laser-cut pieces, put together, and hang up our cardboard trophy. it’s definitely been a conversation piece with guests ever since.

we recently bought gub’s brother, cullen, a deer trophy for his dorm room. he moves into his new home at the university of south carolina this coming weekend. gub is still in shock that her baby brother is starting college!

order here.

– ryan & gub

i turned 30, which is kind of crazy. to make the most of such a big birthday, i tried to do something fun every hour and take photos.

here’s what i got into:

we picked our first ripe cantaloupe and it was amazing! as a tribute, we gathered photos to show the life of our melon.

fyi, we learned that you can tell if a cantaloupe is ripe by lightly thumping where the stem meets the navel of the melon. if the stem easily breaks off, it’s ready!

– ryan & gub