date night/start of summer.

Although it's gloomy, chilly, and feeling a bit like November here in Costa Mesa today, I'm so excited for the start of summer! For Paul and I, it's just beginning to feel that way because of our new little item. A barbecue! This little guy is our ticket to fame as husband/wife BBQ pit masters. Not really..but have you watched that show? Givin' me some serious BBQ envy, "someone get me a brisket STAT!"

Paul has been dying to get one since we first moved. So July 3rd, (probably the worst day of the year to go barbecue shopping) at 9:00pm, we made a trip to home depot and this guy was ours for a mere $99. Now all we need to the break this guy in with some parties!

Because summer also means the busiest time of year for us that can't stop us, we love us some summer date nights topped with friends, mexican food, and 95% of the time a late night coffee.

He did his hair, I curled mine. Needless to say, we were fancy. For anyone looking for a new curling iron. I swear by my new Fahrenheit 2" iron. It's amazeballs (yep.) It gets up to 450 degrees! Even though I haven't put my hair thru that much intensity, a girl likes her options.

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.

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 :)

Saturday mornings.

Saturday mornings.

Created especially for: sleeping in, catching up on our favorite shows, big breakfasts, and endless coffee/chai tea...

Have a wonderful weekend!

hello Feb.

The month of love. Or, as I've heard as an alternative name, singles awareness month..thanks to a little day on the 14th. As a single lady, turned girl friend, turned fiancé, turned wife I've never been that into Valentines day at any point. Even if I were I'd trade red roses for peonies and a fancy dinner for a home cooked meal. Chocolates on the other hand, chocolates can stay.

This weekend we ventured home to San Diego for a short visit and to gain 5 pounds in super bowl snacks. The nutshell of our weekend home.

prior to the 5 pounds of super bowl snacks we visited our two
 favorite places to grab some grub in SD.

We worked and played.

Paul's mini me. 

Like I said above, we played but also found some time to fit some work in! Max and Leigha are two very dear friends of ours. Max was the only person I knew when I came to Vanguard University my sophomore year. And to say that I knew him is to say that he was a friend of a friend.  It just so happened that his future wife would live on the same floor as me. The rest is history. 

Listen to their journey!

Laughter and Spontaneity.

As you may have read, life is slow lately. Which isn't necessarily bad, I mean, I've been waiting for January and this 10 week work break since May of 2011. Yes, this is my "but I deserve" justification. Next week Paul and I even planned a little getaway. Nothing too crazy, just staying the night in Laguna Beach. Why not? Spontaneity is something that has always been in my personality. I get it from momma who after church would say on a whim, "let's have lunch in LA today!" The family would be out the door in 10, on a train in 60, and eating a delicious meal in the city 2 hours later. I loved it. I have so many more memories of my moms spontaneous personality and I'm happy she passed it on to me.

Paul on the other hand is my little planner. He nearly had a heart attack when our friends asked us to book a hotel with them in Laguna a couple days ago. "Wait it's next week?!" "umm..yes?" I answered, "What's the problem?" I live for things like this. Like mom says, "this is good for Paul."

I couldn't agree more. In the meantime. Happy Friday! Let's laugh together to start off the weekend fresh. Pinterest is also very much a part of this slow time in life. These pins are found in what I call the "story of my life" board.