Cellos and Sofas

Hi, guys! I apologize for taking so long to get back on here. Life has been a little busy lately! There have been a number of changes taking place and major life decisions being made on our end. :)

Martin Luther King Jr. weekend was a fun one for us. Not only were we both off on Monday, we had a dinner date with a couple we know, went to music shop to check some things out for Ben, and went to Ikea and Nebraska Furniture Mart looking for our next couch! We're hoping that will be our next big purchase. We were originally planning to try to buy our first home this year, but after evaluating things, we've decided to rent for another year and buy in 2016 so we may save more toward a down payment. I've posted some great pictures of some of the things we found and loved!!

A task that I gave myself for my extra day off of work was to clean out my closet. I have finally admitted to myself that I have way too many clothes and not near enough space or hangers to accommodate all of them. Embarrassingly, the pictures below capture the boots that I'm KEEPING - I got rid of a handful of pairs - as well as the clothes that I will be donating to friends or the Goodwill. I'd say I got rid of about half of the clothes that I own. From dresses to t-shirts to tights, there's a little bit of everything being parted with. I feel lighter already.

I know this picture is a little blurry, but for our anniversary I had a print made of our wedding song lyrics. When we went to Ikea we picked up a frame to match what we had our fireworks photo in and finally got the print on the mantle a month later.

Since then, I've taken my Special Education certification test, visited Omaha for the weekend, and worked the concession stand at the Cameron High School Invitational Basketball tournament. Here are a variety of snapshots from the past week or so.

 

   

 

I leave you with a picture to document my hair growth:

I'll let you guys know once some of our more major details and decisions are confirmed. We ask for your good vibes!! :)

Breakfast in KC (Stop 1/13)

I think I have mentioned on the blog before that Sunday is kind of "Ben and Kimberly's day to be married." We go to the city market when it's nice, get coffee, eat donuts, see movies. It's been our consistent morning off together to take in some time and just... be married and enjoy each other's company. Over time, it has become our change to explore Kansas City as well. Going to buy fresh produce, trying new restaurants and coffee shops, etc. are all things we love... So when I found this list of the 13 Best Breakfasts in KC, I knew this would be our new Sunday thing.

We decided that we would try one of these places per month (as some can cost a bit of change). This means that this list won't be completed until next January, but I'm looking forward to trying some great breakfast, spending those couple of hours with my husband, and then sharing the yummy details with all of you.

The first place that we decided to try was Farmhouse. Farmhouse is an ecclectic little place down off Delaware and Main near City Market. They are open all day, have a full bar, host live music, and are sourced from a number of local farmers (so cool!!).

Let me just be honest with you, if you know me well enough you know that I am not a huge breakfast person. Part of my intention with this list was to branch out and try new things (one of my goals for the year). With that said, I was happy that when we got there, they had a BRUNCH menu. It made it feel like a little bit of an easier transition for me into all of these breakfasts!

Here are some shots of our food, and then I'll give you my opinion on the experience:

 

 

Okay, so first thing is first... when we got there, the hostess asked if we had a reservation. For 10:30am on a Sunday morning. Now, I'm not delusional to believe that brunch isn't a busy time on Sunday... but... a reservation? Huh. Interesting.

Luckily, we didn't have to wait long (15 minutes?) and it gave us time to peruse their menu. They had options from build-your-own omelets, to chocolate chip pancakes, to brunch burgers, so we had a ton of delicious-sounding options!

I noticed while we were waiting that they served their coffee in French presses to each table - how neat! To be totally honest though, the couple of cups that I had weren't the best I've ever tasted. C'est la vie! It can't all be perfect. I ordered the brunch burger, and Ben ordered the Lord Kenzo. Here's their descriptions even though you've already seen their pictures:

Brunch Burger: Pork sausage patty, lettuce, onion, bacon cream cheese, fried egg, on a salt and pepper bun.

Lord Kenzo: Two house-made biscuits, cheddar cheese, pork sausage patty, pork sausage gravy, over-hard Windhaven Farms' egg

Now, when it comes to my food, let me tell you... I've never had anything like it. It was DELICIOUS. My only complaint is that the cream cheese made the bun slide around a little bit, so I had to cut my burger into four pieces to eat it, but what a menial task to face in trade for something so fantastic. All of the ingredients tasted fresh, everything was seasoned well, and to top it off, I had homemade fried potatoes with my burger which was just the icing on the cake.

I would definitely recommend this restaurant to others. Due to the coffee and a server who was only seen just a couple of times, I give Farmhouse a: 9/10.

Izzy is One!!

In this life, I've been lucky to meet some pretty fabulous people. I always say that "Chiefs family" is fantastic. They provide me with fun company at games, and support and love every other (Sun)day of the year. Over the past two years I've watched this little family grow. Izzy was the youngest guest at my wedding - she was 8 days old - and I have had a blast watching her get older, more curious, and just really damn cute. She just turned ONE; here are some snaps from her birthday party!!

Love, love, love your family, guys! Thanks for letting me share in the party and your life. :)

TWOlyweds.

I'm slacking here with posting about things of consequence in my life. Now I sit here on a Sunday night with a number of things to talk about, all of which deserving their own special spot light.

As noted in my most recent post, Ben and I celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary. January 3rd marked an entire year since we stood in front of our friends and family for an entire eight minutes, pledged our love to each other, and then partied with KC Wolf.

To celebrate our anniversary we took in a gorgeous dinner at Cooper's Hawk Winery and Restaurant on the Plaza. We were able to enjoy flights of wine, amazing food, and a couple of hours where time was slowed to really enjoy each other's company.

 

Our night ended with first anniversary traditions; not only did we eat a slice of our one-year-frozen wedding cake, but we exchanged gifts of the "paper" variety. I had a print of our wedding song lyrics made for Ben, while he made me an origami rose to represent our one year of marriage.

It was a sweet and simple celebration. I look forward to more celebrations of this nature for the rest of my time. We are now TWOlyweds. :)

365 DAYS LATER

For weeks now, I have been trying to come up with something eloquent to say. I find myself in a place though where I am so filled with emotions that the words are jumbling together and coming out in a way that I don't like them. I hate that.

One year ago today, I got married.

To be honest with you, growing up, all little girls have the dream that they'll one day meet the right person for them and live happily ever after. For me, though, having had a blunderous past... I often wondered if that would happen for me. Would I meet him? How would I know it was the right one if he asked? Would the man I wanted to marry actually want to marry me too? It was all a little too uncertain for me. Even at the beginning of our relationship, I was still uncertain about Ben in a way. I had been newly diagnosed with my issues, he was way younger, and I thought that maybe I was looking in the wrong direction just because I wanted to be looking.

Ben allowed me grace and time to figure out for myself that he was the supportive, caring man that I needed in my life. He forgave me of mistakes and bumps in the road, as I did him. Most importantly, he stuck around when I needed him. Something that most people don't know is that when I was diagnosed with my Alopecia and then decided to shave my head, I gave Ben an out. I told him that I would understand, that this wasn't what he signed up for... that he could walk away from and our engagement and I could be okay with that knowing he had the opportunity to be with someone who could be all of the things that a wife should be. With my skin conditions I have trouble cooking and cleaning, and caring for children will be hard. That day, Benjamin Duvall looked me square in the face and told me that he didn't care about any of my conditions, and that my friends, is a man.

In our first year of marriage, a lot of things have happened. We spent the first five of them living in different cities. We both graduated with new collegiate degrees. We moved into our first home (apartment) together. We've made friends, watched weddings and engagements, fought over money, gone on trips, bought a new car, started new jobs, and a number of other things. It's been a whirlwind of a ride, but a ride I wouldn't want to be taking with anyone else in this life.

I am truly blessed to have B in my life. He is my partner, my friend, my confidant. I can laugh with him, cry with him, and be at my sickest in front of him... none ever changing how loved he makes me feel.

I look forward to the next year, and the next one, and the next one. For now though, I will relish in this moment with my husband, thankful for the time already given - including this day that so many of you were gracious enough to be a part of. It was the best day of my life.

Happy Anniversary, Benjamin Lee Duvall. Here's to the next 60+.


All photos courtesy of Byam Photography.

Happy New Year!

I've never really been so great as resolutions. I start strong, but usually get distracted along the way (to put it kindly). With this in mind, this year, I am going to make life-style goals, not New Year's Resolutions. Here's what I've got:

1. Put down my cell phone.
2. Read as many books as I possibly can.
3. Stop interacting with things/people that make me feel "blah."

There you have it folks. Happy New Year!