Seven

We celebrated SEVEN years on July 10th.  It's strange how fast time goes and yet how much we accomplished in seven years.  So much has changed in our lives.

The people we associate with.

Our jobs.

Family.

Kids.

Health.

Priorities.

Beliefs.

Friends.

Our love for each other.

All relationships are work.  Both parties need to give and take, and give and take some more.  There are times when he needs me more than I need him, and Lord knows there are many a time when I need him more than he needs me.

Needs are emotional, physical, mental and change all of the time.  While I am no marriage expert, and we have only seven years so far, I will say that the number one key to any successful relationship:

Communication.

If I couldn't talk freely to Joe, express my thoughts, feelings, concerns and in return respectfully listen to what he thinks and feels, we would not have what we have today.

That much I know to be true.

I read somewhere a long time ago that the best way to have a conversation with someone is not face to face, but rather side by side.  It's less intimidating and (guys) typically can open up more when they're seating next to you.

Our favorite place to talk has always been Joe's car.  We especially appreciate now since it's a two seater and there is no backseat.

Of course we love our children, but as anyone can imagine, having a heartfelt conversation with a two and four year old is anything but productive.

Make the time to talk; it's amazing that after almost 10 years of knowing each other we still find things out.  I love that.

7 years ago I stood in this spot and vowed to love him (he tries to say 'obey' but I'm fairly certain that was not in our vows!) til death do us part.

We try to visit this winery every year on our anniversary; it's one of those things where we could easily brush off and not bother taking the drive.  In fact, after just getting back from a road trip vacation with the kids, I wasn't sure he'd be up for driving or if we should bother going.

"It's the doing that makes the difference."  

It's so easy to get caught up in life, the every day antics, work issues, kids, dog, house, bla bla.

But to step away and remember the one day where we said I DO, dance to our song under the big white tent and tear up over all of the beautiful memories made on that gorgeous July day?

That is powerful.

I wouldn't change a thing about our Wedding day; it's still the happiest day of my life.

Cheers to seven years baby, and bring on many many more!!

'...and I thought I loved you then.'
 

7.10.10

6 Years

7.10.10 

I married my best friend.  6 years later, we've filled our home with a little boy and a little girl.  We've gone through struggles, and triumphs.  We've wiped each other's tears and tried to mend each other's broken hearts.   We try to figure out this crazy world together, and for that each day I thank God I have my husband by my side.  

I will never say that life is easy.   But I will say, that the more work I continue to do on myself, (and Joe on himself) the easier our life has become.  I know there are moments I must drive him a little crazy, but at the end of each day, if we can honestly look at one another and say "We gave it our all," and had all the right intent for each other, our kids, ourselves, then that's all that matters.

You can choose to find the fault, or you can choose to find the beauty.   I truly believe that our optimism is what continues to help us grow; the second I start thinking negatively, everything crumbles.  So it's that easy; be happy.  Be grateful.  Be mindful.  Be honest.  Be loving. Be affectionate and for goodness sakes, GO OUT WITHOUT YOUR CHILDREN. 

So that is exactly what we did, 7.10.16 we were able to leave early in the morning, as my mom was here and watched our kids.  

I put on a face full of makeup and made myself purdy!

We stopped at a little coffee shop for breakfast and I had the most delicious Matcha Latte--and how pretty?!

We hopped into his car and went for a little drive.

I had switched bags and totally forgot my lipgloss. (I'm a total lipgloss addict!) But I didn't want to go back home because I hate leaving the kids, having them get settled, only to get them all wild again!  So?  Joe stopped at the mall and I grabbed some nudes and got a free little case!




Sunday selfie #ftw Look at that gloss!

We found a random road from wine winery to the next and Joe wanted to take a few photos.

This is where we said, "I DO."

It's the most spectacular view and the flowers look just like they did 6 years ago!

He had a little business to attend, but I don't mind.  He does it for us.

We are thinking for our 10 year, we'll need to go back with our closest friends and family and celebrate with them.  How fun would that be!

After a bunch of happy tears and oh my gosh, I cannot believe how much we've accomplished in 6 little  years...we went down into town and had a bite to eat.  Clearly we lived it up with some fried pickles! yummmmm

The sky was so blue with the gorgeous puffy white clouds; again just like our wedding day.

On the way home we went to the land and I took the obligatory sunset shot. I can't wait for our home to be here!

Dinner was sushi takeout and I could not have asked for a better day.  Thank you so much Mom for watching the kiddos for us!!

I have to say, Dr. Frank's is really our favorite wine out of all the wineries here on the Finger Lakes.  So we stocked up on some vino.

It's Summer, so it goes to good use with all the random get togethers, company stopping by and of course just relaxing.

We got some grape juice--so good! Plus some really good wine from Heron Hill.

I don't know what's to come or where exactly we are headed, but I have to say that the longer we are together, the better it gets.  And for that, I cannot wait to see what adventures unfold as the years pass by.

Happy 6 years my love and cheers to many many more!

First Overnight Alone

Happy Monday!

I know everyone has her first night away from her baby at some point.  I think that you just "know" when the time is right, or the even is significant enough to do so.  For the last 8 months, there has been no reason to be away from my little Brooke Lynn for an entire evening.  We've had our date nights and I've gotten my "mommy time" here and there, but last Thursday was my first night away from my daughter.

Hubby won a gift card a few months ago to this beautiful resort overlooking a lake, Bristol Harbour. We weren't ready to leave her back then, but my mom insisted that when she came to visit, her gift to us would be to stay and watch the dogs and baby girl.  By the time Joe got out of work, I finalized my AdvoCare calls, we left the house around 6:45pm.  It is about a 45 minute drive and it was so nice to quietly connect and enjoy the ride.  We checked in, received a $70 gift card (towards dinner) and a free bottle of a local wine. 

The room was so cute!! Very 'rustic' feeling.

{The bathroom floors were heated!!}

I loved the {semi tacky} woodsy decor.  There weren't any stuffed dead animals hanging though..haha

Vaulted ceilings, a fire place, and lots of wood!

It's the closest thing to camping my husband and I have done together...bahaha.

We headed over to the restaurant for dinner.

 Phones weren't brought to dinner, so no pics, sorry!  We did enjoy Caesar salad, lobster bisque, Scallops with Lebanese couscous, and filet w/ mushrooms & fingerling potatoes.  We shared a piece of layered chocolate cake for dessert.  We couldn't even finish it all!

We went to sleep early and even slept in a bit the next day!  I did pretty well...I only asked for my mom to send me a picture of the monitor before I fell to sleep that night.

It was chilly!! Our weather went from 92 down into the 50s.  Crazy!

One of my best friends got married here a few years ago, so it's been awhile since I've been there.  My only complaint?  It went by too quickly!!  I really enjoyed having some Joe & Jenn time...I truly believe it's so important to take time for the two of us, because without "us" the family will not survive! Babies take a lot of time, energy and effort...and we cannot imagine our lives without her.  However, we fell in love, are still in love, and work hard at our marriage to maintain it. 

We got up and took the scenic drive along the lake, and went to our "fancy" grocery store in the area.  We picked up sushi and ate it there...and were home by the early afternoon.

We had to chuckle at only having 2 bags, since every time we go some place with little miss, it's quite the packing process! We did miss her and were so happy to see her smiling face when we got home. 

How long did it take you to leave your little one? How did it go?!

Celebrating as Husband & Wife

TGIF!

Have I mentioned how much I love summer? Yes, I do believe that I have.  Wednesday night my husband and I got to go out on a real date sans Brooke! We were totally going to just bring her along and go some place to eat [which is cool] but my in-laws asked last minute if we needed/wanted a sitter--woop woop!

We were able to drop off little miss for a few short hours and celebrate being husband and wife, not just mommy and daddy.  It's so important to make that time and just celebrate the two of you.  We hadn't been out since May, since June was so crazy, so this was much needed. Thank you so so so much Maria & Chris aka Grandma & Grandpa!!

So I broke out one of these bad boys as I dolled myself up... I kind of prefer them to the lime ones!

*You know you're a mommy when...

You go and pluck your eyebrows, and you realize how over-grown they are.  I'm talking caterpillars, people. Like I didn't even know where to begin.  I frantically made a last minute appointment with my eyebrow lady and even she was like, "Whoa, I can tell you're a mom now! I've never seen them this bad!!  I'll leave them a little fuller for you to try..."

You get one coat of pale pink polish on....and that's it. haha!   #lame #whybother

You didn't get to blow dry your hair.

You just throw on as much makeup as you can, as fast as you can, before baby starts crying.

I found one dress that I felt comfortable in and it was very forgiving.  I pulled out these bad boys Joe bought me to wear for my 27th birthday.  {sidenote: I've been wearing sneakers around the house instead of barefeet and my foot feels SO much better FYI!!}

ignore the sock lines haha

Me currently.  I need some "before shots...more on that later!"

I chose this tucked away gem down in our city's "Southwedge".  As for the atmosphere, well it was a Wednesday night and I'm all about energy, and it was rather quiet.  It is a rather old building, so I felt like my husband and I were giants walking in, as it's in the basement.  They've certainly tried to not make it feel like a basement, but it wasn't super fancy and glamorous.  It was nice though!

The table.

The drinks:

The martini had rosemary simple syrup and the bubbly drink was citrus vodka, st. germain and sparkling wine I believe?  They were good, but I'm a wino. What can I say?

The appetizers:  Grilled chicken wings and Duck liver pate.

His dinner: Spicy Jerk pork & oxtail---far too spicy for my liking! Very Jamaican.

I had a fantastic pan-seared halibut with fresh veggies in truffles. It really was so good!

We weren't out late but it was nice to sneak off mid-week and enjoy dinner, just us two.

I had lunch with my mother in law yesterday.  Well, rather I ate while she held/played with Brooke!

creeping toes

Hubby brought us flowers home yesterday.

I walked the baby finally feeling good enough about my foot!

And I took in as much Vitamin D as I could!

We have an exciting night tomorrow, as my good friend Matty is moving to Florida...so we are gathering for a birthday/going away party at one of our favorite restaurant/bars.  We get take out the two-seater and hopefully stay out past 9pm haha!  I feel like we won the lotto, getting this many date nights this month! {Plus my birthday in a few weeks--woo hoo!}

I'm off to the mall, in hopes of finding something cute to wear. Wish me luck!!

What are your plans this summer weekend?

Happy Anniversary to Us

Three years ago today I said "I do." You can read a lot more about here and here



And you can even find a crazy little story about the B & B my family/friends stayed at the night before we tied the knot [here].

Today, I sit here typing this with a smile, as little Brooke screeches and plays in her exersaucer.

Funny how much life changes in the course of three little years.

Looking at wedding photos, there are people at our wedding we no longer speak to.  There are people who are in are lives today, that were not at our wedding.  There are loved ones who have passed since that magical day.  But the one thing remains true, the love I have for you, Joseph.  It continues to grow and shape into something so special and sacred, I never could have imagined how I would truly feel about the man I'd marry one day.

 While our wild and crazy nights have turned into wild and crazy diaper changes, I wouldn't change a thing.  I look forward to our impromtu date night this evening [thanks Grandma Maria & Grandpa Chris!] and many many more years of wedding bliss.

I love you more than anything!