June: the best of my days

June zoomed by like a race car.
Seriously, we're half way through the year?

Despite the whole June Gloom thing,
we actually got some decent weather this month.
and June = WCWS which makes me a happy girl.

Here are a few of my favorites from this month:

1. Spending the evening with Jeremiah
2. Heath Bell's autograph. Thanks, hubs!
3. Watching the Women's College World Series all night
4. A great conversation with my mom
5. Having lunch in the sunshine with my in-laws
6. ASU vs FLA Game 1
7. ASU vs FLA Game 2
8. Meeting our neighbor, Terri
9. Being silly with Jeremiah
10. Staying up til the wee hours with the McGoverns
11. A long {and much needed} afternoon nap after MarriageCon
12. Surprise Dinner with the Schanakers
13. Yummy appetizers at home with the hubs
14. A super relaxing evening
15. Sleeping with our new fan.
Can't hear the neighbors alarm clock anymore :)
16. Jeremiah joining us at Bible Study
17. Date Night with the hubaroo
18. Picnicing with miss Aubrey before she moves too far away
19. Celebrating Dads <3
20. Spending the evening in Del Mar with my fam bam
21. Planning a surprise
22. Picking up Jeremiah from the airport!
23. Playing softball at lunch
24. Dinner and cards with the Lowells
25. Spending the whole day with the Schankers
26. Wedding Crafts.
27. WFH
28. Sleeping in my own bed
29. Exploring Seaaaaaattle!!
30. Food Tour, for sure.

Archive:
May
April
March
February
January

{Not Exactly} Wordless Wednesday

We're off to Seattle for the next couple days!

Bring on the beautiful parks, the picturesque cityscape
and a whole bunch of yummy food!

It's vacation time, baby!

***

I've got a couple posts lined up while we're gone...

Here Comes the Brid{al Shower}

Earlier this month,
I helped my mother-in-law and her niece
throw a bridal shower for my sister-in-law, Kristin.

Thought I'd share a couple pictures of Kristin's special day.


All the ladies were asked to bring one of their favorite recipes to share with KristinThere was a nacho bar for lunchBoys making margaritas at the bar outsideA candy bar to munch onAnd a dessert table, too.
Of course, Kristin wasn't far from the yummies.
Pictures courtesy of Jeremiah's cousin

Weekend Highlights

Yummy steak and seafood dinner with the Lowell's
Girl Talk with Stephy
Card Games and YouTube videos galore
Finishing our bathroom remodel project
Sleeping in
Outdoor reading
Lunch at Leucadia Pizza
{if you haven't tried their Hawaiian pizza,
they have a secret ingredient
and it's BOMB.COM}
Beach Day in Del Mar with the Schan clan
A dip in the hot tub
Something Borrowed
Starbucks iced tea
A new series at Church
Wedding Crafts for my sister-in-law
Wearing shorts all weekend
Sunday afternoon chores
Dinner at the Del Mar Fair

I feel rich.

Reason #1527 I love living here: Family Beach Night

Living close to our families has got to be one of my favorite things.

Last week, while Jeremiah has out of town on business,
my family and I enjoyed a lovely evening in Del Mar together.

We grabbed some pizza,
Walked along the beachand enjoyed the beautiful sunset
as we munched on ice cream cones. Yup, summer is here.
And I'm lovin it!

Dia de los Padres

This Father's Day we hosted an afternoon BBQ
to celebrate the incredible men our fathers are
and to thank them for all that they do for us.

We at scrumptious hamburgers and hot dogsPlayed BasketballThrew the football aroundRode scootersGave gifts
And of course, took some family pictures
after we watched McIlroy win the Open.

My Familia
My in-laws
And daddy with his girls by the pool
It felt like the perfect way to celebrate our dads!

We love you!!

{Note: No, this is not our house.
We're house-sitting.}

Next Up: Bathroom Remodel

When we bought our place last fall,
we made a loft list of everything we'd like to update.
Next up: the downstairs guest bathroom.

Aside from the blue paint, this is what it looked like when we moved in.
(Read: ugly, barren and completely out of date)
But then we tore out the sink and vanity And added new flooring, new baseboards,
and a little fresh texture and paint. The boys put in a new sink and made room for the new toilet, too.
With updated lighting (that I apparently forgot to capture in the picture),
and a new mirror, sink, toilet, etc. -
it's lookin much better these days.Here's the view from the doorwayA little decor makes it feel more like home
I'm one happy girl.

What's next on the list?
Probably the kitchen.
But we need to save more $moola$ first.

Happy Birthday, Bloggy

Today my little blog turns 2.
And what a lovely 2 years it's been.

So Long Spring, Glad to see ya Summer

I'm looking forward to:

Banana split s'mores
BBQs
Dinner and walks on the beach
Afternoons at the pool
Popsicles
Bike rides
Shorts and Sandals
Sunnies
Freckles
Picnics at the Lake
Throwing the ball around
Fish tacos
Drawing with chalk on the side walk
Fireworks
Vacation

...just to name a few. :)

Wordless Wednesday

Pretty in Pink

A couple weeks ago,
the girls celebrated our dear friend Katie and sweet baby Elle
with a pretty in pink afternoon baby shower.

And of course we all ooh'" and ahh'd
as she opened little fuzzy blankets,
beautiful hair bows,
and tiny tutus.

I can't wait for this little beauty to make her debut.
She's going to be absolutely precious.
And Katie is going to be such an excellent mom!
{Jen, me, Katie, Elle, J}

Photo Creds go to J.

Friday, Friday!

It's Friday, Friday
Get to go home on Friiiiday.

At least those are the new lyrics my boss was jammin to this morning. :)

Speaking of Friday,
Jeremiah and I have started a new kind of routine
where we stop for coffee, smoothies and the like together on Friday mornings.
It's just a simple thing, that takes barely any time at all
But it's a little extra time to spend together before the start of our days.
A good celebration of Friday if you ask me.

So is our dinner and a movie date.

With the price of movie tickets these days,
we don't typically go to the theater very often.
But tonight, Super 8 is calling our name.

What have you got planned for tonight?

Wordless Wednesday

Celebrating Us

I was once told that a couples' bedroom

should always only be about them.
Not necessary filled with pictures of their family, friends and kids,
but just a place to celebrate them.
Their memories. Their vows. Their relationship.

We obviously don't have any kids,
but so far, I've held to this advice.

We have pictures from our honeymoon,
sand from our wedding, a painting reminding us of our first kiss,
and a canvas filled with our marriage vows.

Last month, I started on this little craft to celebrate our anniversary.
And I just put the finishing touches on it this weekend...

The clipboards contain just a couple special pictures of us
and the chicken wire frame below
is filled with a handful of tangible memories

{ignore the fact that the quality of these pictures is awful}
Honeymooning in St. Thomas
Walking down the aisle
and a romantic weekend away
The first email Jeremiah sent me.
A movie ticket stub and a balloon from my 18th Birthday celebration.
Cards we've given and sent each other over the years, the first one from November 2004.
A remembrance of our first date {at Starbucks}.
And stationary from the night Jeremiah proposed.


It's so special to be reminded of where we've been together,
what we've been through,
and how faithfully the Lord has made His face to shine upon us.

Weekend Highlights

Yogurt Mill
Staying up late pillow-talking with the McGoverns
Yummy, yummy breakfast burritos. <3 Poway Taco Shop
Shadow Mountain's mini Marriage Conference
Celebrating baby Elle at Katie's baby shower
An absolutely perfect 3 hour afternoon nap
Finishing a little craft project
Hours and hours of SYTYCD (that I may have already watched once..)
Poppy seed and sweet onion bagel and cream cheese. Nom nom.
Sunday morning service
A little shopping
Soup and salad on Nordies' patio
A sparkly clean house to start the new week
Spontaneous backyard dinner and drinks with d&e
Sex, Love and Other Drugs

It was a great weekend.
One of my favorites in a little while.

A Hidden Treasure

I was looking through old wedding photos today
when I found this in the comments section
of Jeff and Erin's blog post...

Bobbie (Jessi’s Gram) - Jeff & Erin you are an awesome couple.
We loved all the pictures!
Loved the pic of Tina & Jeremiah, so sweet.

I have old cards from her
on the shelves in my office,
but what a neat little treasure
to see her words show up in an unexpected place.

I miss you, Gram.

And yes, I need a tissue now.

Lessons Learned {@ work}

It's been almost two years since I've shared
what I've been learning through work

.. so what has the Lord been showing me lately?

1. It's important to tell/show people how much you appreciate them.
   
   
2. "The way you work says more about your walk
   than the way you worship." - Chris Brown
   
   
3. You're not choosing people over productivity
   if you close your door to get work done.
   
   
4. "If I peer anxiously into the fog of the future,
   I will strain my spiritual eyes so that I will not see clearly
   what is required of me now" - Elisabeth Elliot
   
   
5. There will always be more work tomorrow.
   
   and lastly, but probably most importantly....
   
   
6. Daily, I need Jesus.
   
   
   

What have you been learning lately?

Wordless Wednesday

11 Goals for 2011: Checking in

At the beginning of the year, I made 11 goals for 2011.
Since we're nearing the half-way point...
it's about time to check in.

1. Save $10,000.
   I should be responsible and say it's for a rainy day,
   but instead I'll be honest and say it's to remodel the kitchen.
   Well, we're 70% of the way there...
   but the real excitement is that Jeremiah's car will be paid off
   before the summer is over
   {over a year before it needed to be paid off!}
   
   
2. Travel to:
   Palm Springs, Seattle/Portland, and Hawaii
   We spent a relaxing weekend in Palm Springs in January,
   are super excited to explore Seattle at the end of this month,
   and have booked our flights to the Big Island! Woo Hoo!
   
   
3. Find a church and get involved
   After looking since... well, since we got married,
   we finally found a new church towards the end of January!
   {and we absolutely love it!}
   We've got plugged in to a Home Group, have taken different classes at church,
   and are getting involved in a couple service projects.
   
   
4. Host a monthly girls' event
   Card making, Movie night, etc.
   When I came up with this idea, I wasn't really sure how it'd go.
   But it's been such a blessing each month.
   
   
5. Remodel the downstairs bathroom
   In fact, we're in the full swing of things right now.
   I've had a toilet sitting in our living room for two weeks to prove it.
   The good news is, we've only got about one Saturday left of work on it.
   The bad news is, I'm not exactly sure when that Saturday is... :)
   
   
6. Write a short Bible study plan on the book of Ruth
   I've been studying Ruth a bit, but I haven't gotten started on this quite yet.
   
   
7. Intentionally work on our marriage together
   and perhaps attend a marriage conference
   With the craziness of busy season that has been Jan - May,
   working on our marriage has looked entirely different than I anticipated.
   But, it's beautiful to see the ways we've grown over the past six months.
   And I'm really looking forward to the marriage conference we're going to this weekend!
   
   
8. Work on Jeremiah's secret project (=
   We started planning and budgeting for this earlier in the year,
   but we'll hopefully be getting started on this in the fall.
   
   
9. Practice Italian.
   And maybe be able to have basic conversations by the end of the year
   Haven't done one bit of this. Yet.
   
   
10. Find special ways to show our family and friends
    how much we love them.
    I don't think I'll ever mark this one a done deal.
    It's simple things like cards, dinners, kind words, and extra-long hugs.
    And as we continue to do this throughout the year, it's been so rewarding.
    
    
11. Get workin' on our fitness
    Take a guess? This has not gone well at all.
    We've started to eat a little healthier,
    but the exercise portion is pretty non-existent.
    Maybe my new bike will help with this..?
    Far fetched, I know.

How are you doing on any goals you set for the new year?

Happy Birthd-E

A couple weeks ago we celebrated sweet Erin's 25th Birthday!

We started out the night at Kensington Grill.
Then we headed back to the Schak for
drinks, desserts and games.

Any party with that girl is nothing short of fun.

Happy Happy {belated} Birthday, E!

I'm so thankful for the way our friendship has grown and strengthened.
You are beautiful. You are fun. You are brilliant. You are loyal.
I love you.

*******************

Me and the Birthday Girl at dinnerThe Pretty LadiesThe Handsome Men
Sprinkles Cupcakes, Drinks and a game of Fishbowl

PS: I totally recommend: Mac n' Shrooms,
Black Bean and Panella Ravioli, and Pork Baby Back Ribs
at Kensington Grill! Nom Nom =)

Girls Night In: {Veinti}cinco de Mayo

Last week, some girlfriends and I celebrated Girls Night In
with a {Veinti}cinco de Mayo party
because really, you can't have too much Cinco de Mayo! :)

We enjoyed
Chips {black bean and garlic, hint of lime and regular},
Dip {peach mango, jalapeno, salsa fresca, guacamole, and black bean dip},
Margaritas {regular and watermelon} on ice,
and a large serving of fun conversation.

So much fun.

I'm really starting to think Girls Nights are genius.

Archive
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Dosiversary Celebracion

To celebrate our second wedding anniversary this weekend,

the hubs and I spent a night at the South Coast Winery villasOn our way out to Wine Country,
we stopped for lunch at the Lazy Dog Cafe
where I found the b-e-s-t grilled cheese and tomato soup ever.Then we had a wonderful afternoon getting couple's massages,
relaxing in the jacuzzi, and napping for hours.
So much so that we missed our wine tasting. Oops.
We woke up just in time for dinner
where I had the lobster ravioli
The lobster ravioli, as in one.
and an ice cream sundae for dessertWe enjoyed a mimosa breakfast on the terraceand enjoyed a beautiful stroll around the vineyard
It was absolutely fabulous to get away.
No chores. No errands. No house projects.
Just naps. Massages. Food. and Relaxation.

Despite the yucky {read: windy} weather
and the fact that the resort was slightly disorganized,
it was just the perfect way to celebrate two years.

Mm, I could be a professional celebrator.