{Thanksgiving 2013} forever thankful

Every year since we got married, I've dedicated my Thanksgiving post to my husband.  & this year shall be no different!  My husband is my family, my world, my love & my best friend.  I am so thankful for everything he is, everything he does & everything he will be.

It's always such a treat to look through our wedding photos to pick one for this post.  The fun task reminds me of where everything started, how far we've come & what lies ahead of us.  Maybe it hasn't always been the easiest journey but it's our story & it's a story of love & hope.  Because I don't think I could possibly say it any better & the words still ring true two years later, here is a rerun of my thankful 2011 post:    

Thankful.  Very, very thankful.

My husband RZ is at the tippy top of my gratitude list this Thanksgiving.  I dedicate this post to him.  

I am thankful to call you my husband.  I am thankful for the beautiful moment we clasped hands, looked into each other's eyes & pledged our vows in front of our nearest & dearest during our marriage ceremony.  I am thankful for the fun, rockstar party that followed.  I am thankful for our sunny, dreamy Hawaiian honeymoon.  I am thankful for the incredible, lovely newlywed times that came after our wedding & honeymoon.  & for the times that were not so happy or easy, I am thankful we weathered the storms together.  I am thankful for our sweet home we share with our sweet pup.  I am thankful that I look forward to the moment you walk through the door every night.  I am thankful for every big & small moment that we make special.  I am thankful for this amazing life that is ours. 

More than words. 

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From Koru Wedding to you & yours: Happy Thanksgiving!

Photography: Timothy Glenn Photographers

{Thanksgiving 2013} hey gord-eous

Because we spend Thanksgiving at my in-law's home, I don't get to decorate a Thanksgiving table.  But that doesn't stop me from dreaming about the day that I can fit more than four people at my dining room table and we can host Thanksgiving for our family.  & this lovely autumn gord centerpiece in a rich fall palette?  It's high in my Thanksgiving-of-the-future dreams!

Do you host Thanksgiving or spend it family or friend's home?

Photo: via

{Holidays 2012} still thankful

2012 has been a difficult year as my husband & I have struggled to expand our baby family.  Now that Thanksgiving is near & I'm taking stock of the blessings in my life, I look back on the tough times with gratitude & hope.  I am so very grateful for family, old friends, new friends, blog friends & even complete strangers who reached out to give me support & prayers.  It means the world to me!

Most of all, I am thankful for my husband.  RZ is as heartbroken as me, yet he somehow manages to walk beside me, keep me strong & make me believe our dreams will come true.  Because I don't think I could possibly say it any better & the words ring true one year later, here is a rerun of my thankful 2011 post:  

Thankful.  Very, very thankful.

My husband RZ is at the tippy top of my gratitude list this Thanksgiving.  I dedicate this post to him.  

I am thankful to call you my husband.  I am thankful for the beautiful moment we clasped hands, looked into each other's eyes & pledged our vows in front of our nearest & dearest during our marriage ceremony.  I am thankful for the fun, rockstar party that followed.  I am thankful for our sunny, dreamy Hawaiian honeymoon.  I am thankful for the incredible, lovely newlywed times that came after our wedding & honeymoon.  & for the times that were not so happy or easy, I am thankful we weathered the storms together.  I am thankful for our sweet home we share with our sweet pup.  I am thankful that I look forward to the moment you walk through the door every night.  I am thankful for every big & small moment that we make special.  I am thankful for this amazing life that is ours. 

More than words. 

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Happy Thanksgiving to you & yours!

Photography: Timothy Glenn Photographers

 

{Mrs. Monday} Holidays 2012

With Thanksgiving just days away & Christmas right around the corner, I have the holidays on my mind.  It's not all blissful thoughts of love, family & laughter with a nice amount of holiday cookies & cupcakes mixed in.  No, before we can get to the celebration of the holidays, we must face the nitty-gritty logistics of where we are celebrating the holidays. 

Every couple we know has a different approach.  Some host the holidays.  Some spend Thanksgiving with her family, Christmas with his family.  Some split each holiday between her family & his family.  Some spend the holidays with their friends.  There a million different scenarios & the magic trick is finding the one that works best for your baby family.

After years of experimenting, we may have found the perfect solution for us!  RZ & I are following the same formula as last year: Thanksgiving with his family, Christmas Eve with his family & Christmas with my family.  In reality, we consider both our family- I say my family & his family just to for explanation purposes.  This holiday formula worked last year with us spending quality time with all of our loved ones while keeping the travel & stress to a minimum.  Now once we have kids, I'm not so sure the current plan will work anymore but we will cross that bridge when we must.  We will enjoy it while we can!

How do you navigate the holidays? 

Photography: Bring to Light Photography via

Thankful.

Him, I am so thankful for him

Photo by the great Timothy Glenn Photographers

Thankful.  Very, very thankful.

My husband RZ is at the tippy top of my gratitude list this Thanksgiving.  I dedicate this post to him.  

I am thankful to call you my husband.  I am thankful for the beautiful moment we clasped hands, looked into each other's eyes & pledged our vows in front of our nearest & dearest during our marriage ceremony.  I am thankful for the fun, rockstar party that followed.  I am thankful for our sunny, dreamy Hawaiian honeymoon.  I am thankful for the incredible, lovely newlywed times that came after our wedding & honeymoon.  & for the times that were not so happy or easy, I am thankful we weathered the storms together.  I am thankful for our sweet home we share with our sweet pup.  I am thankful that I look forward to the moment you walk through the door every night.  I am thankful for every big & small moment that we make special.  I am thankful for this amazing life that is ours. 

More than words. 

Dear Koru Family & Friends, I wish you the most Happy Thanksgiving!  

Holidays, Newlywed-Style

Oh, the holidays!


I love celebrating the holidays in all their festive glory!  It's the most wonderful time of the year.  The grand holiday marathon starts with spooky Halloween, works its way through family & food-filled Thanksgiving, continues with family & gift-filled Christmas, then ends with the champagne pop of New Year's Eve.  This marathon has been all the sweeter with RZ by my side.  &, honestly, a bit more complicated.


How do you handle holidays as a couple?


We had no formal holiday agreement before I had my pretty sparkler on my finger.  My family is scattered throughout the country with a good chunk in California & a small chunk here in Jersey.  His family lives about one hour away.  For the most part, we spent Thanksgiving with his family.  Then we would spend Christmas apart with our respective families.  Don't even get me started on our senior dog Gucci- he had to split his holidays with us too.  I spent his final Christmas Eve without him while he celebrated with RZ & his family.  Craziness!  This holiday approach served us well for awhile but its days were numbered.  Everything else aside, we missed each other too much.


Cue our first holidays as an engaged couple last year.  There was no question that we would not be spending the holidays apart; those days were in our past.  We, including our new pup Bailey, would be together for the holidays.  We decided to take the split-the-day approach & put as many miles as possible on our car.  RZ & I spent Thanksgiving afternoon chilling with my family, then took off & enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast with his family.  Christmas Eve with his family, Christmas day with my family.  It worked fairly well.   


Now we're facing the holiday season as newlyweds, our very first holidays as husband & wife.  It's so special I can hardly stand it!  This year, we're flying by the seat of our pants & Bailey is coming along for the wild holiday ride.  I suppose we're still searching for that perfect holiday solution that keeps us happy, as well as our families.  Does it exist?  Thanksgiving will be celebrated with his family.  Phew, only one car trip!  Christmas will probably shake down to Christmas Eve with his family & Christmas with my family.  To be decided.


I can't imagine negotiating the holidays once we have kids!  It seems a bit like mission impossible.


One thing we have figured out is that we must celebrate holidays together.  Just as we are better together, holidays are much, much better together.

Photo by/Print available at Etsy in blushface's shop

Koru Kate Finds: Gratitude

Give Thanks Always

Banner available at Etsy in thedancingwren's store

Today's Koru Kate Finds isn't a pretty something you can buy in a store.  Nor is it a beautiful something you can ask a florist to create for you.  Nope, this find isn't for sale.


With Thanksgiving on the horizon, I wanted to bring you my greatest Koru Kate Finds of all: Gratitude.  Gratitude is found in our hearts & souls.  Every day, usually during my evening walk with Bailey, I pause & give thanks for my beautiful, imperfect life.  It's all mine, my one & only.  I love my life!  I thank my lucky stars for my husband RZ, my pup Bailey, my family, my friends, my health & my happiness.  Depending on the circumstances, I add extra gratitude for things like a wedding booked or a new baby born.  I'm never at a loss for gratitude no matter how hard & trying or wonderful & easy my day has been.  Trust me, I have my fair share of problems & heartache but my blessings far outweigh them.  


Gratitude is a daily part of my life.  I hope you'll find the space for gratitude in your daily life!  

All You Need

Don't you wish you could whip up something Fall fabulous like this pumpkin centerpiece for your Thanksgiving table?

RZ & I don't have a Thanksgiving table per se as we travel to my in-law's home for the holiday.  There is no room for plates on their table, let alone decor.  Their table is a true bounty of a Thanksgiving feast, filled with delicious, abundant American & Filipino food.  We serve ourselves from the dining room table, then scatter about the rest of the house to eat & enjoy the family day.

My childhood Thanksgivings consisted of an adults' table & a kids' table.  The adults' table was a formal affair with pretty china & flickering candles while the kids' table was a folding table with festive paper plates.  Later, they trusted us with a real china but it was tough to graduate to the adults' table.  I'm still at the kids' table, sigh.  There's only so much room at a dining room table!

I suppose you could have a blanket picnic on your living room floor & it wouldn't matter.  All you need is family, love & gratitude for Thanksgiving.

Is your Thanksgiving table a formal, candlelit, place card type?  Or is it a more casual, mix & match china, food-filled type?        

Image by Heather Armstrong Photography via Inspired by This

Fall Spice

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes {Made by Me!}

If there is one thing you haven't seen on Koru Wedding Style, it's cooking & baking.  Let's just say I do not have a natural talent in the kitchen.  Natural disasters in the kitchen, well, I have plenty of those.  However, when I ran across this yummy Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes recipe on Hey Gorg & none of the ingredients or instructions scared me, I decided to give it a whirl.  

Please indulge me as I recount one of my first positive baking experiences.  Ever.

First things first, I lined up my ingredients & supplies.  The less surprises & fruitless searches, the better:

I know lots of great bakers who add just a little bit of this & a little bit of that but I followed the recipe to the letter.  Soon, I had a concoction that looked & smelled like pumpkin spice:

Here is my sous chef Beagle Bailey.  He's pouting at my feet because I had not dropped anything delicious his way:

Soon, my pumpkin spice cupcakes-to-be were ready for the oven:

20 minutes later, these perfect cupcakes emerged from the oven.  I couldn't believe it!

Naked pumpkin spice cupcakes in pink foil for Breast Cancer Awareness Month:

Now the recipe calls for homemade Chocolate Ganache frosting.  I knew I had already pushed my limited baking skills with the cupcakes.  Store bought cream cheese frosting?  Yes, please.

The Pumpkin Spice cupcakes are surprisingly easy & sooooo delicious- I definitely recommend them!  They draw rave reviews that swell this non-baker's heart.  So far, I have brought them to a new Mom & Dad while visiting their newborn & to a hungry crew at a Jets tailgate.  They're just perfect for Halloween parties, Thanksgiving & Fall weddings too!

ThankFULL

Thanks Is For Giving
Print available at Etsy in rawartletterpress' shop

I adore Thanksgiving. This wonderful holiday gives me the perfect reason to pause for a moment, look at my life & give thanks for my countless blessings. Just to name a few . . .

1. My fiance, RZ. He is my everything & my life wouldn't be the same without him.
2. My family. They may drive me crazy but they support me & love me always.
3. My friends. My friends are my family & they are the BEST!
4. Bailey, Gucci & Kaydee. Bailey is a constant source of joy & love & we needed him after saying good-bye to Gucci & Kaydee. I'm grateful for the 18 years I enjoyed with them & can only hope for 18 years with Bailey.
5. My health. On good days & bad days, I never forget the importance of good health.
6. My happiness. Something in my life can always make me smile even through tears.
7. My safety. Thank you to those who have fought & who continue to fight for my safety.
8. My freedom. Thank you to those who have fought & who continue to fight for my freedom.
9. Koru Wedding Shoppe & its amazing customers. I'm lucky to love what I do!
10. My upcoming marriage to RZ :-)

I am FULL of thanks!

Happy Thanksgiving to you & yours!