Seafood Date Night

A couple months ago when it just started warming up, Justin and I were going for a walk around our pond and discussing all the great seafood we were looking forward to eating at the beach. Seafood is my absolute favorite food (especially crab legs), so Justin surprised me the following weekend with a date to a great local place for crab legs.

He is so sweet and thoughtful and I really am looking forward to the beach now!

June Weekends

Justin's work has been hectic and I am still working strong through the first few weeks of summer, so we have enjoyed having a few nice weekends to relax.

We got to use our kinect...

 and also make use of our grill a couple times.

We have perfected grilled barbecue chicken

and banana smores... a must for every cookout!

A month can't go by without at least one trip to El Azteca.

Gotta love margaritas and cheese dip. Check out that fancy beer mug, too.

We also did a little retail therapy :)

Only to come home and have a car battery need replacing. Thank goodness for friends who will help do just about anything for a beer.

 What is a cookout with out a little cornhole? Chris and I beat Justin and our neighbor, Brett, twice :)

 Enjoying some more barbecue chicken and cheese brats.

And to top it all off, a homemade watermelon margarita!

Here's to many more cookouts and fun summer weekends!

DIY Mini Terrariums

Gram's birthday is coming up and I know she loves any and all plants and I have been wanting to experiment with these mini terrariums so this was the perfect time. I took a trip to Stein's to get the missing materials, including these awesome hanging glass globes.

And the final products...a succulent terrarium:

And a tropical terrarium:

I hope she enjoys them as much as I do. Now I need to go get some more glass globes to make some for our house :)

A Day in the Life of Peyton

Justin and I are leaving for work and where is Peyton...still in bed!

Gotta enjoy that morning sunshine and watch the wildlife.

She is a busy house cat... first thing on the list is her sewing.

Then it's time for a bath.

And a sun bath to follow.

Then some chores like changing the sheets

and getting out the summer clothes.

She also enjoys a little crafting in the afternoons.

And pizza for dinner!

And of course she has to help Justin do crunches after all that pizza.

She is spoiled but we sure do love her.

First Anniversary Bliss

I can't believe it has already been one year since our wedding! What a great first year of marriage we had :)

The day before, I took our wedding cupcakes out of the freezer and unwrapped them. I couldn't believe how good they still looked!

Justin and I had each planned something to do together to celebrate our anniversary. He scheduled a couple's massage for us at The Day Spa. It was so relaxing and reminded us of our spa day during our honeymoon. We both died laughing when we looked at each other right after the massages because our hair was sticking up everywhere. I should have taken a picture :)

After massages, Justin took me to Zuppa's for lunch. He has been wanting to take me here for a long time, but it has been closed the times we tried to go before. Our lunch was delicious!

Justin took me to get a tripod that I have been wanting and can't wait to use during our trips this summer. I had to do a quick test shot to see how it worked :)

Believe it or not, Justin has been wanting a tea set for a couple years. His favorite store in the mall is Teavana and every time we are there we have to see the new teapots and taste the samples. Believe it or not again, Justin's favorite color is purple (he may tell you it is black, but that is just a cover up :). So I gave him a dark purple tea set along with all the teas and accessories to get started.

Of course, he immediately had to brew some tea for us to try :)

We tasted the white asian pear tea, and it was subtle, but delicious.

We also exchanged cards to celebrate our "Paper Anniversay". We decided to celebrate the evening together in our favorite way... at home curled up on the couch watching movies and eating pizza. We made it a little fancier with flowers from Justin, candles, and dinner on the china. We watched Jack Reacher and Parental Guidance, neither of which are romantic at all but perfect for us :)

We also shared a cupcake (or two). 

The only cake that I tasted at our wedding is that one bite photographed above, so we were happily surprised to have nine to share this week. I realized that I make really weird faces when I'm eating that are not the most photogenic. And the verdict...the cupcakes were delicious! Thanks mom for wrapping those up and freezing them for us.

And of course it wouldn't be a celebration without a little champagne! Khaki actually gave me this very bottle on my 21st birthday and it somehow remained unopened until now. We had extra blueberries that we had frozen, so we decided to try putting a few in our champagne. It was a great and tasty idea :)

I had planned for Justin and I to go to The Paine to see the Chihuly Venetians exhibit that afternoon. I had gone to see a different Chihuly exhibit at Cheekwood a couple years ago and really enjoyed it. However, the weather postponed Justin's and my visit to the Paine to another weekend, so the celebration will just have to continue :)

We have had such a great first year being married and are so thankful for my parents, our small group, and many other couples that have been influential in our relationship and guided us in a Godly marriage. I am also so thankful for Justin and the love, joy, and happiness he shares with me everyday. One year down, and many, many more to go :)

Memorial Day Weekend

My parents came to visit Justin and I for memorial day weekend. The last time we had seen them was for Christmas, and I don't think we will go that long again without visiting! My parents had quite the trip here with all the flight delays, but they were such troopers and went along with me straight to my school from the airport to attend my students' event night.

So happy to be visiting :)

Friday we went to a cookout at our friends' place. There was a request for mom's banana pudding, so she made a double batch to bring and I tried a new favorite, margarita popsicles. They would be perfect for the beach!

Saturday, we spent the day in Milwaukee. We ate lunch at Maggiano's (Justin's and my favorite!) where we ate way too much delicious food.

After lunch we headed to Miller Park. The boys forgot one important item for tailgating... a bottle opener! They couldn't find one anywhere but did find some pliers in an old man's trunk that did the trick.

Stay thirsty, my friends.

This was our first time being at a major league ballpark with a dome, which we were very thankful for with the cool weather.

The Brewers lost, but we still had fun at the game.

After church on Sunday, we went to High Cliff to do some hiking. 

Lake Winnebago

We decided to start on the Old Kiln Ruins trail because it went along the lake. Mom and I got distracted taking pictures with our phones, so the boys took the lead. After a little while, we noticed that the trail got much, much more narrow and uneven. The boys insisted we were still going the right way. Then the trail totally disappeared and we were in a "natural area" on the map where we were following deer tracks in the mud to try to find our way out, because the boys thought that was a much more logical idea than turning around and retracing our steps.

Looking for deer tracks

After the boys continued to try to lead us back to the trail, they finally agreed we should turn around and retrace our steps. We eventually found the trail again and continued our hike :)

The park has a wooden tower that you can climb that overlooks the lake. Justin was a little distracted up here by his fear of heights so he and I didn't get a picture up there :)

After hiking, we had to stop at the Chubby Pelican to refuel with some ice cream and relax in the giant adirondack chair out front. Apparently not many people actually sit in this chair often (it is sitting right at the corner of an intersection) because every person that drove by stared the whole time they passed by with no shame.

Memorial Day didn't have as nice of weather so we spent most of the day inside. We enjoyed just getting to play games, cook, and hang out together. The boys had a cigar to celebrate.

Tuesday morning, Justin and I were back to work and my parents again had difficulties with the airlines. They ended up having to rent a car and drive home. They are such troopers! Lesson learned: don't ever fly United!

We are so glad that they took the trip up here to see us and are looking forward to our upcoming visit in June! :)