Little Miss Eva Frances Pipkin

Yall, yesterday was the most amazing day.  My bestfriend since birth gave birth to her very own little girl.  I have had so many close girlfriends have babies and each one is so special to me...but this one...I cannot even put in to words what this one was like. 

#emotionalrollercoaster

When I say Rebekah and I have been friends since birth, we were literally born 18 days apart and have been inseparable since then.  Our moms went to the same college, we went to the same church, her mom kept my sister and I every summer, we went to the same high school, both worked at Harris Teeter, attended the same college for one year in which we were roommates, and even now we both work at the same company, same building, and were in the same department until recently. People joke us all the time and say whenever they see one of us, they know the other is usually right behind.

We have been there for each other through every possible situation.  Through break ups, health issues, divorce, marriage, depression, you name it...we have experienced it, together.  And now, we get to experience this next chapter together.  I posted this on my Facebook last night but I literally love Eva as if she were my own.  The moment Rebekah sent me that very first picture of her precious daughter, I wept with pure joy in my heart. I cannot wait to watch this little one grow up.


Born 1.19.16 at 11:17 am | 8 pounds 1 ounce | 20.5 inches long

So cheers to Rebekah, Zach, and little miss Eva Frances Pipkin. 

New Year, New Beginnings

I have so many drafts that are just sitting waiting to be published.  So much has happened within the last year and it has take me away from this little space for quite a while.  A new year calls for a chance of new beginnings and I am certainly thankful for a fresh new year. 

Here are my top 5 highlights from 2015:

(good and bad)

1.  I was officially diagnosed with Crohns Disease in September. 

After many sick months and a few changes in doctors, I received my diagnosis and it's safe to say it changed my life. I started infusions of Remicade immediately upon my diagnosis and have been responding well to treatment.

2.  I experienced not ONE but TWO hospital stays triggered by my Crohns.

This was definitely the lowest point of the year for me.  The picture below was taken from the first stay.  I plan to write more about this later on but for now, just know it was not a fun time.

Making the best out of a miserable situation.

3.  Crawford and I travelled back to our favorite city and got to cheer on our Panthers! 

This is one of my favorite trips of the year and it also helps that the Panthers ended the regular season 15-1.  I wasn't sure if I would be well enough to go on this trip but the Lord blessed me tremendously and I was thankfully able to get away with the hubby.

4.  I received a promotion at work at the very end of the year.

Self explanatory...

5.  Last but certainly not least, my love and I celebrated ONE

 BLISSFUL YEAR of marriage!

It really was a year filled with ups and downs but at the end of the day, I am so thankful to be where I am today.  I finally have a diagnosis, I'm feeling better with each day that passes, I love my new job, and I am so in love with my husband.  

One Blissful Year

One whole year. 12 months. 52 weeks. 365 days. 8,760 hours. 525,600 minutes.

Crawford,

My vows still ring true every single day.  You are my light, my love, and my life.  Thank you for your unconditional love and support over this past year and for always being my person.  Cheers to many, many more. 

xoxo

six months

SIX MONTHS!!

Today makes six months of marriage.  I am not sure how that is even possible but somehow, we are six months in.  Marriage is wonderful.  It is definitely not always perfect, but it is truly wonderful.  I feel like I have learned a lot in these past six months...and I am not referring to just cooking (I see you, mom).

So much has happened in the last six months.  Crawford and I did not live together before we got married so  the last six months have been spent moving my loads of clothes and miscellaneous crap stuff to our house.  What that really means is we threw everything in to our guest bedroom and office and have slowly begun sifting through the boxes.  Its a work in progress.  I feel like as soon as I get the room empty and clean, mom calls me and says she has found more of my stuff. 

The day we closed on our house.  I did not move in until 7 months later.

In the last six months, Crawford and I have worked on a lot of house projects together. 

The first big task was assembling our upholstered bed.  Sounds like an easy first task, right?  WRONG.  It took us 4.5 hours in between him telling me numerous times to "leave the room and go sit on the couch."

We also hung curtains in 3 different rooms of the house and made it through that just fine as well.  While curtains are not hard to assemble, I am a perfectionist so I made him re-do them a couple of times to get it just right.

We went on a weekend trip to Charlotte for my birthday and discovered our new passion for the Panthers.  Crawford has been loving the Panthers but I have never cared for football.  However, I fell in love with Charlotte and we already have tickets for a game in the fall and a longggg weekend getaway. 

Our first married Thanksgiving. 

We spent our first Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, as well as birthdays together.  It was nice not having to split up and go our separate ways.

First Married Christmas 

First Christmas Tree in our new house. 

We took Christmas pictures on our wedding day.

We have started spending more time with the youth at church and volunteer every other Sunday in the nursery together during Sunday School.  I must say, this is one of the biggest highlights.  I love doing ministry with my husband...even if we are starting out small.

We had our first big disagreement or fight (whatever you want to call it) and had to figure out the proper way to handle it.  Getting in a big disagreement with your husband is wayyyy different when you are married than when you were dating.  While we were dating, I would just go off by myself or go home.  I can't do that now.  It took some adjusting but we figured out what worked for us and I can already tell we will be just fine at handling whatever comes our way.

So as you can see, the first 6 months of marriage has been filled with immeasurable amounts of bliss.  That is the reason I named this blog Blissfully Bolton.

Crawford, I cannot even describe the amount of joy that you bring in to my life.  This new adventure that I get to share with you has been the greatest of my life.  These past six months have flown by and I cannot wait to do 566549879413 x infinity more with you.  Thank you for your patience and love shown to me.  I love you times infinity plus one. 

Life Lately

These are my favorite posts to read on blogs so I figured since I've been absent for a while, a life lately post is just what I need.

Crawford was baptized on Palm Sunday. Such an awesome moment to watch as a super proud wife.

We finally got rid of that awful vinyl sliding blind (not sure what the technical name is) and put up curtains. It took us forever to get it just right but I loved the finished product.

Crawford had a birthday on April 4 so we celebrated with his family the night before. He loves being a goofball and I had to make him take the hat off.

We decided to do a low key cookout with some of our closest friends for his birthday. We had a great time!

We even had an impromptu Easter egg hunt with the kids.

All of the kids love "fluffy dog" but I think it's safe to say Teague loves him the most.

For his birthday, my parents and I surprised Craw with a new gas grill. He loves it and we are grilling all the time now.

Hank got a new cut...such a sweet boy.

We went boating/fishing with friends for the first time this season. We even got a little burnt.

I love this precious mama-to-be.

Seriously, have you seen anything cuter???

Lastly, we had pictures taken for our new church directory. I changed this to black and white because we looked like Easter eggs. I was wearing a salmon colored shirt and craw wore a bright yellow button down.

Life has been hectic and crazy, but oh so wonderful.