Scenes From the Weekend

So this weekend was dedicated to reading and figuring out all things camera.

 Kyle started building some of our entertainment center that we got for Christmas ( Thanks Rick and Saundi!) 

He loves when the paparazzi won't leave him alone.

We have one more piece to build and then I will show you the finished product!

 We had Christmas at my mom's since they were back from Germany!

(That's my "I don't really think you are taking a picture" face)

Kyle's enjoying his new German National jersey.

We're still enjoying the Christmas decorations at our house so I think they'll last until New Years.

 

I find them like this way too often. I'm clearly the second favorite.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

May Your Days Be Merry And Bright

Merry Christmas one and all! 

We are very lucky to have a lot of family that love us very much! Our Christmas began last night with Kyle's mom and step dad Mike, as well as his brother Mikey and his wife Melissa. We enjoyed a FANTASTIC dinner, gifts and an incredible Christmas lights adventure land. Unfortunately, I didn't receive my Christmas camera yet so there are no pictures but they are all in our hearts :)

This morning we did Christmas with my dad

Mayhem is not too sure about this camera business!

Then we headed over to Kyle's dad and Saundi's. The great thing about having such large families between the two of us is that we are spoiled! I wish that we had more time to spend with everyone but we are so grateful that everyone lives close and we get to enjoy all of our families!!!

And for some fun.....

Christmas the first year we were dating...

Last year's Christmas which we unfortunately spent apart...

And our first married Christmas!

We got lots of good "stuff" but spending time with your loved ones is the best gift of all! We will get to have Christmas with my mom and Tom when they get back from Germany!

2013 Year In Review

Whew, what a year this has been! I loved being engaged this year and even though it was a bit stressful, I did really enjoy wedding planning. This year officially marked the next phase in my life and I couldn't be more happy about it.

Here are some highlights this year.



I found my love for fitness. Growing up, I was never really in to sports and not very athletic. As an adult I realize that I just didn't like team sports. Too much pressure and teenage girls are too mean. I love working out and competing against myself. I love to feel strong and able. 



We celebrated two years of dating in February! It feels like we've been together much longer than that. I guess because we've really known each other for so long ( with a very long gap in the middle ;) ) I admit that I knew pretty quickly after we started dating that he was the one for me!




Wedding dress shopping with my now THREE moms! My family has been in a big transition for the last couple of years and it has been really hard on me. I feel like I finally got to a good place this year with my own and I feel really lucky to be welcomed in to Kyle's loving family.





We took our engagement pictures in fabulous Fort Worth!





Kyle's love for disc golf continues. I know he's missing it right now since it's too cold and gets dark too early! 





I turned 26 this year. I really cannot believe that I am that old. I still feel like I'm 17 in my head.





Kyle bought his first brand new car! He spent a lot of time researching and thinking about what he wanted. We weren't even really planning on buying a car but then the perfect deal came up and we just couldn't pass it up. I am so proud of what a hard working, responsible guy Kyle is. He deserved this car!




I was so blessed this year by all of my fabulous friends and family who showered me with love. The people in your life are so important. I cannot stress enough how important it is to surround yourself with people who build you up and are really there for you. Thank you friends and family for all of the love this year. I love and appreciate all of you!




Then there was that time I got mugged in the grocery store parking lot. It reminded me that there are a lot of bad people in the world and you need to always be aware. It also reminded me that there are a lot of good people in the world. Look for the light and you'll always find it.




I married the love of my life! I promise to talk about other things too next year but this year I decided to lean in to it. If you would've told me even five years ago that this man would be my very best friend and the love of my life, I would have laughed at you. But I am so grateful that he came back in to my life! I feel so lucky to have such unwavering support now and forever.





We went on our first vacation and it was both of our first visits to the pacific northwest. I don't think it will be our last. 





Kyle turned 28! 







I think this was the fastest year of my whole life and definitely the most exciting.  I can't wait to see what this next fabulous year holds for us!

Christmas Wish List

It's a little crazy to me how early people start marketing/decorating for Christmas.  But since everyone is doing it, I thought I might as well share some of our list.

I decided that what I really need to take this blog to the next level is get a real camera. I'm not trying to become a professional photographer, but I do need a better way to document things besides my iphone. I'd really like to get a solid easy for beginners dslr camera.

 Kyle's big birthday/Christmas wish item will be a new gaming console....either the PS4 or the Xbox One. My money is on the Xbox but we'll see.Money donations will be contributed to the console fund. 

 After all of the awesome wedding gifts we've received..There's really only one kitchen item we still find ourselves in need of:

 I'm all about the online boutiques right now and my favorite is definitely Kiki LaRue! I loved their maxi dresses in the summer and now I'm all about the sweaters and ponchos! You can check them out here

 

 I'm also allllll about the adorable prints you can find here

Lots to be thankful for this year. Excited to give some thanks before the Christmas season officially begins this year. MY tree won't be up until after Thanksgiving.

Lovely Little Weekend

I had such a great weekend with my husband. I think I've had a little post-wedding blues and it's been hard to get back into the swing of things. A lot of people ask about how married life is. The truth is that not much has changed. We lived together before and were functioning as a married couple beforehand. There is an extra warm spot in my heart to be legal though.  We continue to grow and learn together...and continuing to date is a big part of that. This weekend felt like one big date weekend.

 

I did have to work on Saturday but Kyle always makes a point to do something fun after I get home from work. Our Saturday included some shopping and a date night at Chuy's.

 

Sunday we laid low, did some chores and met my dad for lunch at Twisted Root. It was delicious. I know that's old news around here but we forget to try new places ( Don't worry..we got in a Company Cafe breakfast today.) 

 

We are pretty lucky that some of the random holidays I have off from work are also bank holidays so we were both off of work today! We treated ourselves to breakfast at our favorite spot and then ran some errands ( read: chores). Our errands included three grocery store stops thanks to my high maintenance food needs and our addiction to Trader Joe's chicken sausage. Seriously, if you haven't tried their sweet apple chicken sausage you should get in your car right now.  

 

 We also picked up this cute little cacti.

 

 

I've had this itch lately that I just can't scratch. I think that since the wedding.. I am SO SO fu;filled in my home life and relationship life that it has made me examine the other parts of my life. You only get one and you are in control of it. I know that is pretty vague but I promise to expand a bit more later.

Going along with that, I've been contemplating the direction of this blog...knowing that it would be beneficial to narrow the focus just a bit. However, I still haven't decided exactly what my plan is so you will have to suffer through some random life ramblings for a bit longer.

And if you're reading this, you must be interested in some way so I must not be doing too badly. I'm open to blog focus ideas! What would you enjoy reading? What topics do you enjoy reading from me?

Friday Favorites

Random Things I'm Loving Right Now!

Vintage Letter Lights

If you were wondering what to get us for Christmas.. wonder no longer! Maybe someday I'll be able to talk myself in to spending that kind of moolah on a fun decorating item. 

 

Orange Is the New Black

I'm a little bit behind on this because once something REALLY blows up, it makes me kind of think ehhhhhhhhhhhhh. I eventually ran out of shows though and decided to give it a try. ( Kyle and I have some shows that we reserve to watch with each other and then we, okay mostly me, have some shows that we have the okay to watch by ourselves). I have to admit that it took me a couple of episodes (and I'm not sure that I made it through a single whole episode without closing my eyes at least once) to really get in to it. There is a whole lot of graphic sex scenes/ scenarios that just really aren't my thing. Everyone knows ( and makes fun of me for the fact that) I'm a big baby about that kind of stuff. It just doesn't do anything for me in a TV show. I like interesting story lines and witty dialogue versus shock value.

Overall, I really enjoyed this first season and will definitely watch the next one. So far there hasn't been a netflix original show that I haven't enjoyed and don't plan to continue watching ( see also: House of Cards)

Allegiant

 

This is the third and final chapter of the Divergent series and so far I'm loving it! Let's be real here... I love some good, easy-to-read, young adult dystopian fiction. YA is the ultimate de-stresser for me.  This is the last one out of the several different series that I started reading a couple of years ago when I got really in to YA dystopian novels. I really enjoy that they are so predictable. You want the movie ending to be happy, ya know?!?

Seeing How Much the Kitties Missed Kyle

 

If you combine Danger + Mayhem, Kyle is definitely the favorite. Mayhem is pretty equal (although he used to favor me), but Danger definitely prefers Kyle. She  has slept on my side of the bed a couple of times since we've been home though so maybe she's coming around!

So there you have it! Some Friday favorites! I'm trying to blog more regularly again now that the wedding is over so let me know what random entries you enjoy and think I should continue!

Honeymooning

Kyle and I decided to use our honeymoon to visit a part of the country that has been on both of our bucket lists for quite some time....the pacific northwest!

On Monday morning we flew in early to Seattle, where we grabbed a rental car and roadtripped it to about two hours north to the small town of Lynden, WA. This was our home base for the week (Thanks Tom for letting us use your timeshare hookup!)

We spent Monday evening just getting our bearings and getting settled. On Tuesday morning we decided to drive in to the larger town close by....Bellingham. This was surprisingly the only day it rained on us!

We walked around town a bit and eventually found a beautiful park that came complete with waterfalls!

Those who are close to me know that apples are one of my most favorite foods ever so you know that we had to find an orchard ASAP!  They were some of the BEST apples I have ever had. I probably should just order apples straight from orchards in the fall and have them shipped!

 

On Wednesday we decided to drive up to Vancouver, BC. It was a pretty easy hour and a half drive. We got an awesome deal on a downtown hotel.

 

 This was our view from the 29th floor!

We spent the majority of the day wondering the city. Vancouver had just enough of an international feel without the culture shock I have experienced in other countries! On Thursday, we explored a bit more before heading back to Washington. For the whole week, we used Yelp to help us pick food and site seeing destinations! We found a delightful french restaurant for brunch on Thursday morning. I had a bit of food anxiety because the menu was mostly in French and when you have a severe food allergy like me...You get worried! I couldn't even use my phone to look things up because I didn't want to pay the outrageous international data charges! ( We didn't need it enough to buy a plan). Luckily I could recognize enough to order what I thought would be pretty safe..a delicious skillet with rib meat, potatoes and eggs. It was amazing!

 Since we were a little late for whale season, we decided to go to the aquarium!

 While we were admiring the beluga whales...These two little girls walked up to the glass and held hands while singing " Baby Beluga...live wild and free..." at the top of their lungs. I was pretty sure my heart was going to explode from all of the cuteness.

If you ever venture up to Vancouver, I highly recommend you check out Stanley Park. This is where the aquarium was located but is also a GORGEOUS park with amazing views of the bay and the downtown landscape. I was too busy admiring with my eyes that I forgot to take a picture. Oops!

We headed home Thursday evening to rest and get ready for our next adventure, San Juan Island!

It was about an hour drive down to catch the ferry on Friday morning. The San Juan Islands include a few islands, but because we were limited in time, we chose to go to just one. The ferry was a gorgeous ride!

We wore our "play clothes" and grabbed some snacks in order to enjoy a full nature day.

 We didn't see any whales but we did see quite a few seals! San Juan Island was honestly one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been to.

 

 On Saturday we drove back to Seattle to explore before we flew out on Sunday.

 We visited all of the tourist spots ( Pike's Place Market, Space Needle, etc.). It was unfortunate that it was a Saturday and a mad house every where we went! I loved the vibe of Seattle though. It was really fun to explore!

I have to admit that a honeymoon that relied on a lot of teamwork was a nice test for the beginning of our marriage.  We had to do a lot of communicating to figure out specific plans and figure out how to drive ourselves around unfamiliar cities (especially when we didn't have our phones in Canada!). Kyle has always given me a hard time about my lack of map reading abilities but I think I was doing pretty awesome by the end of the trip. I like to use the "follow your instinct" method. It's genetic. ( Wink, wink mom!)

I'm really excited to be home again and back into our normal routine. There haven't been any major adjustments in our daily life since getting married but there is something special about being an official family. I feel like this is the beginning of this next major part in our lives and I'm so excited to experience it with my best friend!