Happy Anniversary to Us!

Exactly one year ago, these two lovebirds got hitched!

If you can't tell from the photos below, it was a fun day packed with lots of love, bunches of kisses and a zillion smiles!

And these two little angels made it all the sweeter!! Jared told Bonnie that she looked like Princess Leia! She blushed and all the maids "Aww'd"!

Sadly, today we are apart from one another. That has been the story of our first year of marriage with deployment and underways, but soon, very soon, we will be reunited and the time apart will shrink. We are proud to say that we have made the most of our time apart though. Lots of letters were written, pictures were taken, a house was moved in a semi-decorated, graduate school was undertaken and is going well, he is home safely from deployment.

Today a year ago, I married my best friend and soulmate whom makes me the happiest girl in the world! xoxoxo

Much love.

Hello Florida!

Hello Florida!

It was a spur of the moment trip, a trip that was packed for in under 30 minutes and had a super early wake-up call of 2:30am! Who calls their brother up on Thursday to let him know that his little sister would be there tomorrow, with her husband, for the entire weekend?? I do! Ryan has been gone for a few weeks and wasn't going to be home for a few more weeks, so when I got word that a friend of mine was headed south, I took advantage of it! All in all, my weekend plans of sewing, decorating, cleaning, etc. went down the drain and my dreams of seeing my love and hanging with my bro were soaring high! I'm crazy in love I guess!

Well, all plans went down the drain as a result of some misconduct, I cried my eyes out, shook it off and went on a citrus tree hike with my brother and his girlfriend. It was a nice time. I had fun taking picture!

After some Florida sunshine, we went home to make dinner (that had been cooking all day) to realize that I could go on the ship and see my baby! With that, I was told to leave by my brother. I felt horrible leaving before dinner, but they understood.

I don't have any photos from the ship visit. Sorry. The highlight of the ship visit aside from seeing Ryan was the 2 hour foot massage and the re-realization that I am married to the love of my life. There are some moments when you are smacked in the face with the reminder that you are the luckiest girl in the world! I love those moments! We hadn't seen each other for weeks and weren't allowed to leave the ship, so we talked and talked and talked and it was glorious! I love him!

On Sunday, we went to Ross and I got a Green Tea Pot! Oh how I love this little joy! It isn't the exact color green I wanted, but it was in my budget and it was the best green one that I had found in a while, so I snatched it up! Needless to say, I have been drinking my fair share of tea these past few days! That evening, we went back on the ship and celebrated Valentine's Day! We brought cookies and Chips & Salsa and the guys ordered pizza! It was a real treat for them and nice for us!

4:30 am came early, but it was worth it. We hit the road and made a lovely stop at South of the Border!!!

It's a total dump. The signs saying "50 miles to South of Border", "10 miles to South of Border" etc. are way more exciting then the actual South of Border.

But...we had to be tourists and get our pictures with Pedro!

Me & Melissa with Pedro

Now we are home and back in the grind...more to come on that...

Much love.

Turning a House into a Home like a Betty!

Well World, we've finally found a place to call home for the next year or so until the Navy ships us off somewhere else. It has been an adventure, but we sure feel lucky to have found this perfect little gem! It's a three bedroom, two bath, 1300 sqft. rancher that fit our list of musts!

• One car garage for Ryan
• Deck to grill and entertain on
• Fenced in backyard
• 3 bed, 2 bath
• Fireplace
• Washer & dryer
• GOOD Neighborhood (which is hard to find without paying a ton)
• Close to work & school

She's a cutie!

I took a bunch of before pictures, but they are super boring, so I figured I would share the main living area with you and then make you wait for the decorated pictures in future posts.

We have a FIREPLACE!! Hip Hip Hooray! There is nothing like a fire burning in the fireplace, a warm cup o'tea, a good book, a cozy blanket and a loving family in the middle of winter to make you feel like the happiest and luckiest lady in the world!! Gosh, I sure am spoiled! (Psst...Can you tell I am beyond happy?!?!?! Cuz guess what? I AM!)

Stay tuned for updates! Sorry this is a short post. I'm a busy beaver with moving and school work these days.

Much love.

Farmgirl Paints: Simplistic

Simplistic is the theme for this week and while my life has been everything, but simple, this photo of my stepson made my eyes swell in the perfect simple adoring love and I just had to share it.

The simple joys of being a little boy and picking your prizes at an arcade with all the tickets you (your stepmama) won! :)

Thank you FarmGirl Paints for helping me take a break and look at some of my photos!

Much love.

Groundhog's Rock!

...when they aren't attacking little dogs or running in front my my car or hissing at me when I run...

Ok, for real, they totally, 100% rock on February 2nd in Punxsutawney, PA, when the sun isn't shining because without the sun, there's no shadow to be seen and you know what that means!! Spring is a'comin baby!

WOOT! WOOT!

I'm a happy gal down here in Virginia, but I'm willing to bet that all the lovely and totally awesome northerners that I hold dear to my heart are much happy with that little ugly, I mean Oh so cute, guy's prediction! For heaven sakes, they have been eternally shoveling their cars out this winter and they need a break!

Dearest Winter Storms,

The little school children love you dearly, but the mamas and papas need a break. Money needs to be made, bedtimes need to be met and houses need to be cleaned. You were swell this year and we do love you, but your sister, Miss Spring, needs some lovin too! Stop stealing the lime light! Sheesh, I always knew winter was a boy. :)

Your Ever-Loving-Snow-Frolicking-Betty

The streets of Philadelphia

In honor of my hometown's great state and the home of Phil, here's a little Groundhog Day Trivia! P.S. Groundhog day was a BIG deal as a kid! We made brown paper groundhogs, had groundhog cookies, heck we had school parties (when parties were allowed in school and we even ate candy!) It was pretty sweet! Is this just a PA thing? Do you think I'm weird?

Ok, here's some Trivia (just guess if you don't know the answer, don't google)

1. When was the first Groundhog Day celebrated (year)?

2. What is Phil's full name (heck, what is part of his name aside from Phil)?

Hint: it's a LONG name! The more creative, the better!

3. Where does Phil live? (not the town)

4. What year did the movie Groundhog Day come out?

And what would this post be without a little history lesson!?!?!

An early American reference to Groundhog Day can be found in a diary entry, dated February 5, 1841, of Berks County, Pennsylvania, storekeeper James Morris:

Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans, the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate.

In Scotland the tradition may also derive from an English poem:

As the light grows longer
The cold grows stronger
If Candlemas be fair and bright
Winter will have another flight
If Candlemas be cloud and rain
Winter will be gone and not come again
A farmer should on Candlemas day
Have half his corn and half his hay
On Candlemas day if thorns hang a drop
You can be sure of a good pea crop

Thank you Wiki for that little educational experience!

Happy Groundhog Day!

Much love.

Random...

The moving process has officially commenced and I am thrilled! After a year of homelessness since February 2, 2010, we have our very own place as a married couple! The garage is gathering some boxes, the living room has been vacuumed, and the couches are in! Thanks to Turps, Ryan' best man, we have some rockin sofas and recliners! Pictures to come... Before any other furniture is moved in, I must clean clean clean. The place is clean, but there is something about cleaning it yourself to make sure it is your version of clean, so that's what I'll being doing tomorrow and the next day and probably the next day. I'm a clean freak sometimes and this is one of those "sometimes"!

Packing Update: Everything aside from my closet, bed, school books and necessary toiletries are boxed up! Can I say "Go me"?!?! I think so! I know that I will end up realizing that I forgot to pack X, Y and Z, but for now, I am feeling pretty darn productive! The only variable missing (look at me getting all econometricy!) is Ryan. His muscles, sense of humor and kisses would be amazing right about now and always! I must admit, he is definitely concerned because I got at least 10 emails today asking about the move, how everything was going, telling me not to worry about things being perfect. Well Sweetie, the move is going...kinda hard, but I can tell you one thing, EVERYTHING WILL BE PERFECT!! That's how I roll, Yo! (He loves my Yos when I get a little moody/demanding/tipsy...who me? Couldn't be!)

Dentists...ugh...two cavities, one filled today, one being filled tomorrow, wisdom teeth coming out in a few weeks...I am so over dentists and oral surgeons. It's always great sitting in class with a numb lip thinking Oh my, am I drooling? or taking a sip of water and realizing that half of it is down the front of your shirt. Sweet. No worries, I survived. Being the root of laughter for a bit is a humbling experience that's for sure.

And how about these beauties?!

Princess cupcakes for a 26 year old princess! They are funfetti cupcakes in pink and purple princess cupcake holders, homemade buttercream icing spray painted pink with little purple icing dots! The interesting toppers are made from colored white chocolate that can easily be found at any craft store; these are courtesy of Michaels. I melted the chocolate, put it in a squirt bottle and drizzled it on wax paper. Ten minutes in the refrigerator and walla, you have edible and super cute cupcake toppers! I couldn't carry the princess theme to far (I'm just not that talented) so I ran with the pink and purple color theme! Making these cupcakes made me want to have themed birthday parties for my kids one day! Have you ever thrown a themed party and been really proud of a specific creation? If so, I'd love to hear about it!!

I promise house pictures in my next post!!!

Much love.

Medal of Love

In the year 1985, a wonderful woman, my mama to be exact, was pregnant with a special child. This child, sex unknown at the time, was her baby girl, Sarah Catherine (that's me)! And this mama, worried about some news she received from the doctors was given a very special medal; it had Our Lady of Perpetual Help on one side and St. Gerard on the other. She wore this medal day in and day out. All my childhood memories my mom have a simple circular medal hanging from her neck.

It was this medal that she removed from her neck and gave to me the last time she saw Ryan before he deployed in 2010. It was this symbol of her love that burst tears from my eyes in my kitchen that May day. It was the simple circle in her hand that let me know with all my heart that I have the most amazing mother in the entire world. It was this medal that broke on Friday from being worn with love for 26 years.

It was this simple, but ever so powerful medal...

that now sits by my bedside.

There is a much longer and much more sentimental story that belongs to this medal, but that is for my mama and I to hold dear to our hearts. It is a powerful medal; miracles happen, trust me. And this very medal will be fixed very soon. I hope to one day pass it on to my daughter in her time of need when she feels weak and helpless to let her know that her mama is here always and forever. Thank you Mom! I love you!

Much love.