To Market To Market To Buy A Fat Pig (298.365)

We had a fabulous but all too short visit with Mami, Bello and Bella. Their visits are always so enjoyable. I wish they could last forever. I'm thankful that I already have another visit from Mami and Papi scheduled to look forward to though. And that one will be for a longer period. Mami was staying with us in our home and Bello and Bella had parked their RV at my parents since our driveway is on a hill. They were planning to leave around 9 this morning so I drove Mami up to my Mom and Dad's, left her there and went on with my 17 stops I had to make… That's not an exaggerated number, I really had 17 stops. It was a long day before heading back home. I left my trip to the butcher to last to make sure everything stayed super cold in the cooler on my hour ride home. I bought 50 pounds of all sorts of meat for an amazing price! I was so excited and I can't wait to start cooking!!!

Girl Crush Honesty

Do you have any ladies in your life that you ahem, kinda have a crush on or are actually like celebrities to you? Well, I do. I am going to go all out and be totally open and honest with you.

I don't have a ton of friends. The ones I have are so dear to me, but they all live hundreds of miles away so we aren't involved in each others' daily life as much as I wish. But I have my online, facebooking, blogging friends that I feel somewhat connected to every day… don't think they all know about me, so it's a one way thing. ;)

I'll start out with Cathy. Cathy is a ton of fun and such a lovely lady! I adore her and wish I could spend more time with her. She and her sweet mom own the shop I designed my wedding dress through. Their place is amazing. Their service is above and beyond fabulous. And their hearts are pure gold! The day I picked up my dress I was so sad to leave because I knew there wouldn't be set days I'd be seeing them. But I will be going back for a visit when I get my pictures so I can say hi and show them. Maybe we can even catch a bite to eat or something. But seriously, I love her. Great, great lady. She was just in NYC for the bridal market and I followed her every move on Facebook, just wishing I could walk the streets of NY with her. New York City is a fun place to be, especially when you can share it with people just as fun as the city itself! I told Mono tonight, "I wish I could even just scrub toilets there twice a week just to have an excuse to work in their shop and get to know them better." Yeah, it's that bad.

On to the next one… and this one I don't imagine scrubbing toilets with, but there are other crazy things like that. ;) Megan… Yes, you all probably know Megan by now. My lovely photographer who did our engagement and wedding pictures. Not only is she just our photographer, but I truly feel like I have gained a friend in her. She is the sweetest ever. Truly. And not just because she had a Georgetown cupcake boxed up in it's pink loveliness on my seat at our wedding reception. There are plenty of other reasons. I truly love photography. I'll never have my own business like her, but I would die to learn from her. Her eye is amazing. I just don't know how she does it. I wish I had even a fraction of her talent. She's funny, smart, has fab dance moves (Quick story… I was on the dance floor at our wedding and I turned to see Megan dancing on the dance floor with me! I think I probably stared for a second - most likely looking like an idiot - because I had remembered seeing one or two pictures of her dancing at other bride's weddings and I always though, oh, if only she'd dance at our wedding too…. and she did! Oh to only have her beat - and her eye! Dang, even one of them!) Megan and I are also friends on Facebook (oh yes, I love Facebook) and I tend to be a stalker but not in a bad way. Honestly. I love reading her status updates, her blog posts, of course seeing her amazing pictures, reading her unique and fun way of writing… I love it all. If I could spend another two of my days with her, I would. I'd hold her camera bag (and sign a paper that I wouldn't run away and play with her amazing camera), wipe her sweat on days as insanely hot as our engagement shoot was… whatever she needed, I'd be there! Move the garbage can, the bike… kick the soda can aside. Whatever! (Those are all things she had to do at our shoot) Don't you think she'd like someone to do all that for her? ;)

And then there's my blogging friends, who also happen to be friends with me on good ol' Facebook. 

There's Sasha (who I even took a photo reminding me of her on my honeymoon)

and Paige. Lissa, Becky and Meg.

Here's what I like about them. 

They're real.

They are young, fun, God-loving, beautiful moms. 

They are talented, artistic, crafty.

They can cook and bake and take lovely pictures.

I wish I could spend a day with each of them and soak up some of their all around goodness.

I check their blogs daily (at different times during the day when I am online) to see if there is a new post and when there is, it's like getting a letter from an old friend! 

The excitement is crazy.

Mono knows them all real well too. Oh Sasha, that's Lemonade Makin' Mama. And Paige from Simple Thoughts. Meg... Whatever!! ;) It's nice to know he knows who my real friends are. hehe

I like spending time (via their blogs) with other real women, who keep God and their family first in their lives. 

But not only that, they are just fun ladies!

I love their pictures, their honesty, their love.

I hope that when I am a mom, I can follow along their paths. 

Any of you need a live in whatever for the day!? Cleaning lady, cook... you name it! ;)

And then there is ____. I'll let her name remain nameless because I want to have a chance at a nice friendship. This gal actually lives nearby. She's never seen this blog, never even heard of it and that is a good thing for now. I met her at Church, but we just met for the first time last week. I've seen her and her sweet family for a few years now, but I never had the guts to introduce myself. I am horrible with that. But the other day, she came over to me, congratulating me on our wedding and I introduced myself and was so stinkin' excited. I was like a teenage girl meeting Justin Bieber (or however you spell his name). I left squealing inside. And to top it off, when Mono got back to work, her husband e-mailed him to see if we wanted to come for dinner next week. (Our husbands work together - different departments, same company) Gosh am I excited! I'm really praying that this friendship grows into something beautiful. It would surely be so nice.

So those are (some) of my girl crushes. ;) 

Am I insanely crazy? Yes, I know. But I was making up for being gone for so long. 

I guess I better not leave for more than 2 weeks or it could be dangerous.

If I got this crazy and honest after 2 weeks away...

A Post For The "E's" 292.365

I hope I'm not introducing you to her, but if I am, you'll thank me! Trust me. All you will have to do is make these and you will be a follower like me! I don't know how she does it, but every recipe I try, I fall in love with.

A dear friend of mine, Ellie, told me I need to get baking, picture taking and blogging again… and I agreed. I really needed to...and wanted to. Another dear friend, Emily, had a birthday the other day. She works with Mono and over the course of the time they've worked together, I caught on to the fact that she likes cinnamon buns/rolls. I knew for a long time that I was going to make them for her on the morning of her birthday and send them into work with Mono. Unfortunately for me (fortunately for her!) she had off on her birthday (how cool is it that they get their birthday's off!!) and Mono wasn't going into the office yesterday so she had them a few days late… They were freshly made today though! So this post is for Ellie and Emily!

I definitely feel rusty in each of those areas (and they happen to be three of my very favorite things). I feel like I am in a rut for finding a creative angle in my photography. I think I need to go out somewhere and just notice good points of view in my camera. Something needs to be done. I also am so tired of this lens. It doesn't take sharp pictures with good bokeh like I really want for my up close and personal shots. ;) And the blogging, well that's just dull and blah these days. I need to get back into the groove. The baking wasn't so bad though. I did enjoy my cinnamon roll (ahem, rolls (just two) tonight.

But here you go, the most tasty cinnamon rolls ever!

 They cooked so nicely in the oven and made our house smell oh so good!

 Look at all that cinnamony, sugary, buttery goodness!

So folks, there you have it, a new post, with pictures and baking!

More posts to come. Trying to catch up!

11 Minutes

I have 11 minutes to write whatever comes to my mind and then I am going to bed! This has been such a busy and full week... and gosh, is it really only Tuesday!? This morning I woke up early, did things around the house and took a drive back to my parents house (and hour away) to fill my car up with more of my belongings. I stopped at Mono's place (his previous place, I should say) to pick up a few remaining things there as well. Then I met up with him, since he was working up that way today (instead of his awesome 2 minute normal commute to work), for lunch. I headed home with a crazy full car... A set of salt and pepper shakers couldn't even fit in if I wanted to (okay, slight exaggeration there). I unloaded the car, took Jimmy out for a short bit and headed right back out to meet up with Mono and the group he was taking care of today for dinner. What fun I had!! I am so glad they invited me to come along. They were some of the loveliest people I've spent time with in a while! They were all from Latin American countries so it was so much fun to hear about the areas they were visiting from. After goodbyes were said, I headed on my way home. I chatted with my family (parents, uncle and grandparents) on Skype for a little bit, cleaned the kitchen, the bedroom and organized Jimmy's belongings into his new "dresser." He has a little cabinet of his own that has now found a home in our kitchen. First shelf is food. Second is treats, bones, etc. Third is cleaning, meds and clothes. :) So much fun to know my little guy is settled into this house too. So that was my busy day. It was really full even if it doesn't sound so full. But the thing is, tomorrow is going to be twice as busy, just with me at home all day. I am so excited to cross everything off my list tomorrow and I know I can get it all done. Mono's family is coming to visit this week and I am really looking forward to their time here. Like big time looking forward! :) My Mom and Dad are coming back home later this week too which will be nice. All of our family can enjoy some time together. Tomorrow my uncle is dropping some things off here at the house for me and that will allow me to finish having the guest room (the one that I need to get fixed up) all ready for the big arrival!! :) Then on Thursday we have a big day! Our dresser is finally being delivered, after being late 2 full weeks. Oh what a joy it will be to have a place to store our clothes and belongings. I have a lot of projects going on tomorrow. Scrubbing bathrooms, wash and ironing, vacuuming, making dinner, baking (pictures to come tomorrow), making beds, and the list goes on, but I won't bore you. ;) Well, my 11 minutes are ending so this is the boring post you'll get for today. I thought I'd just get back into the blogging habit and whatever I write you get to read. You poor readers for the next few days-week. Hopefully my creativity in writing will come back to me and get better real soon. Good night all! Happy almost Wednesday!

A Little Silver Bling for my Boys! 291.365

It seems as though wearing a little silver bling is the new thing to do in our family. As of October 1st Mono was sporting his on his left ring finger, while a few days ago when we moved into our new house, the J received his new silver bling around his neck! A new tag for our boy!  I have my new beautiful wedding ring as well, but this post is for my two boys! And what cute boys they are!

Where Do I Begin?!

I think it has been about three weeks since my last post.

I kinda have an excuse.

Mono and I got married on the 1st of this month, headed right on our honeymoon and then straight to move into our new home. 

We've been living in our house for one solid week today and it has been so much fun!

I loved every minute of the wedding and now I am loving every minute of married life being a housewife!

In fact, it may be better than I even thought.

I'm super duper busy each day, whether it is running errands, important paperwork, unpacking from our trip, unpacking boxes, organizing, cleaning, making dinners... It's all good, fun stuff!

I have older posts to update you on with pictures from the wedding, a few from the honeymoon and other fun festivities, but they will be coming on here slowly. 

Life is keeping this blogger a busy lady!

My husband (ahhh, how nice that sounds!) is outside playing with his new basketball hoop, but he'll be coming in for dinner shortly so I better finish it up! 

I hope to be a little less busy (haha) now so I can catch up for all of you.

I miss blogging, just didn't know where to start.

This is just to let you all know I am still here and still blogging!

Go To Your House 290.365

Not only has Jimmy moved into our new house, but he makes himself doubly at home in his house. 

A few months back, friends of my parents gave Jimmy this soft, pop-up, and portable house.

We didn't know what he would think of it being that he has never really spent time in a cage or anything constricting before.

Well, it turned out that he absolutely loved it and he spends quite a bit of time in his private little cottage.

I was looking for him earlier and this is where I found him.

How cute!

Whenever you tell him to "go to his house," he runs over and hops in!

Sleep tight little J.