personalized burlap pillow!

A couple days ago, the cutest present made it on our doorstep! I think I mentioned on here awhile back that I was crushing over some personalized burlap pillows for our new apartment. Well...never got around to that, BUT my best friend Kelsey did! I love what she chose - 618, for two reasons. 

1. Our wedding date

2. Our business name

Best birthday/anniversary present a girl could ask for. Love you Kels! 

4 of 7.

Tomorrow we are heading to Malibu for a lakeside wedding. Lakeside? Yep, I'm pretty stoked. This also marks 4 our of the 7 straight weddings before our Montana family vaca! I can see the light! In other news, Paul and I embarked on our first "running date" this evening. I want to take back what I said about them being my new favorite thing or something along those lines. Flat out, I got my butt kicked, Paul doesn't mess around. Yikes. - Have a wonderful weekend.

running dates and such.

Paul and I were super blessed recently by my dad. As a gift for my birthday and for Paul's graduation he wanted to buy us new running shoes. Not sure if he was trying to give us a hint...? Let's keep thinking he wasn't. Honestly Paul and I were desperately in need of some new ones anyways so it was just what we wanted.

Now, Paul is not a runner.. He's an awesome athlete, but doesn't enjoy running at all. Which is why I was completely shocked when this sentence came out of his mouth. "When my new running shoes come maybe we can go on running dates." Best thing I've ever heard. Running dates, you might become my favorite.

home sweet home.

visiting our favorite deli after a shoot mon/tues

We've had a huge helping of San Diego the past couple weeks. One of our friends even texted us asking if we had moved there, haha! With back to back shoots all in the same area it just made sense for us to stay with our parents instead of driving back and forth. I love our time spent at home, I also love how much we saved on groceries this month because of it. Home cooked meals at least 2x a day, we are officially spoillleeeddd. We caught up with old high school friends and went on a few family bike rides/hikes. 

Regardless of how much fun we had, it was amazing come back to our own home. We made a quick Costco run, if a Costco run can be quick? While shopping, look what I found!!

Only $29.95!

daily inspiration.

Inspired by this today.

Celebrating 2 years.

Celebrating 2 years together..

If someone would have had told me 2 years ago that our second anniversary would go the way it went, I honestly would have been a little bummed. Pre-marriage I think that every girl has a little bit of anniversary daydreaming in her. Thinking of future anniversaries ahead, fancy dinners, maybe a vacation, or better yet...heading back to your honeymoon destination. Heck, I'll admit I daydreamed.

Our intentions were good, we thought about a fun trip, but with all our recent traveling and family vacations coming up this year, we decided to give our bank account a break. In a nutshell, this is how it all went down.

Woke up at Paul's parents house, had lunch together at the deli in our hometown, returned equipment rentals, drove to the coast and stopped at a surf shop to get Paul a new hat, continued up the coast to head home, we worked for a couple hours, I took a nap..Hot stuff, I know. My 2 year ago self would have read this and thought, okay enough. I get it, our second anniversary was a flop. It wasn't until 7pm that we decided to get our act together and get ourselves to dinner. It was chilly, so we quickly walked to an unknown but interesting looking italian restaurant on Balboa Island where we dinned with a total of 6 people in the restaurant. Afterwards we grabbed chocolate covered frozen banana's and strolled Balboa until we couldn't handle the cold anymore.

honeymooning in Kauai two years ago.

No..it wasn't fancy or extravagant. It was simple, and I think we both appreciated and found the value in the simplicity of it. I know that we will have future anniversaries that will include vacations or fancy smanchy activities and I know that we will have other anniversaries just like this one :)

little sis graduates!

My little sister graduated last week!! I look back on when Paul and I first began dating and remember this cute middle school girl that showed me her room and hung out with us all the time. Not that much has changed except that she is now 6'2" and looks more like my big sister. I'm so excited for all the experiences she has in front of her as she heads off to college is a couple months. We love you lauren!!

APU for Azusa Pacific University. Yes..I stayed up till 2am with her making that.
I'm just as proud of it.

ha!

2 year ago, today!

I went from Matthews to Gilster and never looked back.

Love being your wifey Paul!

bed head and fresh coffee

Things are great down here in San Diego, last night we celebrated Paul's younger sisters high school graduation with family. We've hit up all our favorite hometown food joints, and enjoyed mornings by sleeping in, only to be greeted by the fresh cup of joe. San Diego you are too awesome.

bed head buddies

I've caught the bug...

So it's hit me, I've caught the bug. Probably not the bug you are thinking... No, not a sick bug, and definitely not the baby bug. I've caught the home owner bug. It seriously came out of nowhere, one night I just decided to look up homes/condos for sale in Orange County and next thing I know I'm talking to Paul about loans, what % we should put down, homeowner fees, remodeling projects. Where did all this come from?? About a year and a half ago, Paul and I set a goal for ourselves that we would like to become homeowners or condo owners 2 years from then. Well, that was before our business really started to become something and before we knew lenders want to see 2 years of healthy tax returns for any new/small business. Needless to say, banks/lenders, you are killing my goals here. 

This coming February/March we will be filing our 2nd year of tax returns, so it looks like we have another year before this dream of mine becomes a reality. In the meantime, I will most likely still spend lots of time on Zillow, dreaming up remodeling plans in my head, and adding lots to my "Nesting" Pinterest board :)

mint green+brick kitchen...you're dreamy.

Sunday Funday..

Sing it with me - "This is the song birthday that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friends...!" Today my little brother (who is not so little) mom, and step dad came up for a birthday lunch at Lucille's BBQ. Which happens to be my all-time new favorite restaurant. Unlimited sweet biscuits and butter, sweet tea that tastes straight from texas, and out of control mac & cheese + bbq. 6 hours later and I'm still in a food coma.

Did I mention all their beverages come in over-sized mason jar glasses? Yep, Lucille's you speak my language. Afterwards we browsed thru some shops and mom bought me this knitted headband which she decided to wear the rest of the day. How cute is she? Love her.

Tonight Paul is off at a boys night/movie, leaving the house alllll to myself! So naturally I'm getting crazy working my evening away editing. Wild, I know. I am planning to take a break soon to do some 2 year anny plans research. It's only a week away! I am at a total loss of what we should do. Have a great week!

Paul's growing garden.

Documenting some of Paul's favorite succulent plants today! He makes our balcony beautiful.

Terrarium 

coffee table piece

The gardener himself.

We can't wait to someday plant these in the yard of our first home :)

motivation boost.

Nothing like a new suit to give your motivation level a little boost! 

It's a little wild for my taste, or "native" as Paul would say but $10 from target? I couldn't say no to that!

housewife. or not.

Paul and I have been lucky enough to work together from our home for a year and a half now. It has many pros, planning your own schedule, waking up at 10am if you want, baking at random times of the day, watching tv while working, planned naps, it's pretty cool, 90% of the time. The other 10% counts for the cons, one of the biggest cons (which I have talked about before) is that I spend most of my day in sweats, my hair on the top of my head, and usually I don't see the shower till around 1pm. Honestly, I have no shame in it at all but I can't help but feel horrible that Paul has to live with me in this slob state of mine each day. Until today...

I woke up around 8:45am, Paul was still dead asleep and I made my way to the bathroom. I showered, blow dried my hair and placed it in hot rollers, applied makeup (what's that?). Things were getting serious. Around 9:45am Paul had gotten out of bed and walked into the bathroom at the moment of me applying mascara with a full set of rollers. If there was a picture in the dictionary of what confusion was Paul's face at that moment would be it.

Paul - "What are you doing?"
Kelley - "Just getting ready for the day."
Paul - "Why?"
Kelley - "Because I wanted to look cute."
Paul - "Well stop because it's creeping me out."


And that was that. He walked out of the bathroom. At first I was a little bitter. "This guy? Who is this guy? I'm just trying to look cute for him, psshh." Then I realized how great he is. He loves me bun, sweats and all. What a guy. Well..I can't say I didn't try, but knowing that Paul isn't looking for a glammed up Barbie Doll as a wife is a-okay with me!

Photo of today's hard work. Those curls weren't easy!

Preparing for another getaway!

It feels like Paul and I have been on the go for the past 2 weeks. Looking back, we really have... Starting first with our road trip to Monterey, came home for 2 days and took off to San Diego for 4, came home for 1 night and ventured to Palm Springs for a few more. Real life, hit me now.

I guess we are just trying to get all the feelings of freedom we can before our first big summer hit of weddings. Starting this weekend we are packed the next 7 weekends with 7 weddings before our next big getaway. Montana bay-bay!! Last year, we made an impulsive last minute decision to fly up there to meet with Paul's family between weekends to work relax there for a few days. After that, we promised to keep a weekend open in July next year wedding-free so we could go up again! This trip is so worth it. Today we made it official and booked our flight, Orange County --> Missoula, Montana, July 22nd come soon!

Exercise update or lack there of...

Treadmill and I haven't been reunited since San Diego. I'm so bad. But, 3 minute abs and my kettle ball are still very much a part of my life. And I did bust out this pyramid just before our Palm Springs trip. I was sore the whole time! It's so good.

Here comes Twenty-three!

Thanks to Paul's over the top/thoughtful surprise, turning 23 was more fun than I ever imaged it would be. Sunday we woke up, got ready, and finished packing as I anxiously asked Paul a series of nosey questions to see if he would crack under the pressure. He didn't. Man this was going to be harder than I thought! In the midst of all of this....have you ever had to pack for a vacation where you had no idea where you were going? So challenging. Luckily Paul helped me out by telling me "it's going to be very hot and you won't ever need a jacket."

A couple hours later he told me it was time to go. He lead me out of our apartment and to the entrance of our complex. Our good friends Troy and Aimee jumped out of their car to greet me! I was so surprised! Everyone sealed their lips about the location and we began driving to the unknown destination. After a couple hours into our road trip we ended up in Palm Springs!! Whoa, I had no idea Paul was up to any of this :) Better yet, we were staying at the Ace Hotel - a super trendy/retro motel I had been dying to stay at for awhile! Is this real life?

The last three days were spent lounging poolside, ordering delicious beverages, staying out too late, laughing like crazy, shopping, and exploring. I couldn't have asked for anything more! Paul is too much :)

23 and it feels so good!

Pre-birthday party.

Yep. Another birthday post...Hey. The b-day week is still going strong! During our visit to San Diego Paul's little sis decided to make me a birthday cake of my choice. I was so excited and quickly referred to my Pinterest boards for cake inspiration (obviously.) A rainbow cake it was! A box of cake mix, homemade frosting, and a ton of food coloring later...look at it, it's beautiful! A perfect cake for turning 23. Tomorrow Paul reveals what his surprise is! Eeekk the anticipation is killing me.

Still exercising...

Thursday - 3 miles (then I died).

Friday - Day off.

Saturday - Skipped out on my run but I'm making up for it on my day off tomorrow. Yayuh.

He has a surprise.

Greetings from San Diego.

Wednesday night we made an impromptu trip to visit our families for a few days. That is one true blessing from our job, we can work from anywhere! Just packed up our laptops and some hard drives and we were ready to go! Tomorrow we are heading back up to Orange County because Paul has a birthday surprise for me!! Whhaaa?? Who is this guy? I've gotten limited hints so far... 1. We are leaving Sunday and 2. It's gonna be hot. Although every ounce of my gemini self wants to know what is going on, I'm committed to not ask any more questions and be surprised for once :)