Life Lately

Life around here has been full of little adventures. Colt and I have been keeping up with politics lately. Every morning, I turn on the TV to CNN while we get dressed for school. I have decided that this election year I want to be a more informed voter than I have been in the past. We've been doing our best to research and really get to know all the candidates and what they stand for. This past Tuesday was "Super Tuesday" so we were so excited to get out and exercise our right to vote. I was both surprised and proud to see how many voters had showed up at our voting poll. 

Proud Voters! 

Wednesday was Dr. Seuss's birthday, which is also known as, "Read Across America Day". I was out at a training for school half the day but I was able to return in the afternoon to celebrate with my students. I found this little idea on Pinterest to make "Cat in the Hat" cheese sticks and it was a definite hit with my kiddos! They loved them! Pinterest for the win once again! Seriously, how did any of us live without Pinterest?!

How adorable are these?!

Thursday after work I met up with my friend Michelle for dinner and cocktails to celebrate her birthday. We met up at Houlihan's where she recommended I try the "Stuffed Chicken Breast". The chicken breast is covered with Panko bread crumbs and is stuffed with garlic herb cream cheese. My mouth is watering just typing this. It was so delicious! 

Friday after work I headed home to meet up with Colt for a dinner and discussion date night at church. I had been wanting to attend one of these sessions for quite some time now. Unfortunately, due to our schedules we just haven't been able to make it. We were both excited to take some time out for each other and our marriage and attend this session. It was an enlightening experience. The church provided a catered dinner from DeVivo Bros. and we got to sit with other couples and discuss topics related to marriage and our faith. We also watched a quick video regarding marriage and how it's a Sacramental Bond. It was such an interesting night. I really enjoyed getting to hear Colt speak on the topic as well as hearing from the other couples that were sitting with us. The other couples sitting at our table had been married 12-15 years and we enjoyed hearing their views, opinions and advice on marriage, family and faith. I hope we get to attend another session like this again. 

Saturday morning, I woke up early and was looking at "Buy Sell Trade" on Facebook. I've had several friends find some good deals and sell things on this site so I thought I'd finally give it a chance. I had nowhere to be that morning so I decided to look for a small couch for my classroom. I stumbled across a couch that was for sale literally down the street from where we lived. I was beyond excited! I quickly ran to our bedroom to wake up Colt. I wanted him to take the measurements and see if it would fit in my car. I was bummed to find out the couch was too tall and I begged Colt to drive me over there any way so I could at least take a look at it. When we arrived at the house, the guy who lived there was so friendly! He suggested tying the couch to the top of my car. Colt was uneasy about the idea but I was ready to do it! The guy let us borrow his straps and he even put the couch on top of my car and strapped it in! We took the back roads to my school and made it there without the couch flying off! Woo hoo! 

So lucky this guy puts up with me and my crazy ideas I have on a whim!

Afterwards, we drove out to Roanoke to meet up with our friends, Edgar & Sarah, who we haven't seen in such a long time. They brought their little boys, Archer and Mateo to lunch as well. We all enjoyed "linner" at Babe's Chicken and then had dessert at Hey Sugar down the street. Archer is starting Kindergarten in the fall and it was fun to talk about how he will soon be starting his own new adventure! The weather on Saturday was just perfect for being outside. We loved spending time with good friends in the fresh outdoors. I'm glad we were able to take advantage of this gorgeous spring-like weather. 

Hey Sugar is nostalgic for us because this is where we took our engagement pictures!

After fun with friends, we headed home for an early evening nap. Except for the fact that our nap lasted for 19 hours... Don't worry, we did wake up around 4:30 AM to shower and take out my contacts! Hah! We debated on going out for breakfast at IHOP but decided to hop back into bed where we slept in til about 10 AM. Who knew two people could sleep for so long! I still can't believe how tired our bodies were! 

We woke up for the second time this morning, got dressed and headed over to my parents house for brunch with the fam. Mom's cooking is always delicious and I was craving some homemade waffles. I stayed a little later at my parents while Colt met up with one of his TCU buddies to go out to the shooting range. 

Shooting range shennanigans

My mom and I headed out to Bath and Body Works to pick up a few things I needed for the house and then went grocery shopping for the week. I don't know about you, but I hate having to stop for groceries after a long day at work! It's the worst! So glad to get that out of the way. 

I finally updated our kitchen chalkboard. It hasn't been done since January. Yay! 

Last weekend I picked up these items. I am really loving the Micellar Water! It's so gentle on my skin and really cleanses. I love how it washes away all my makeup and impurities. Not sure if I like it more than my makeup remover wipes. I need to use it for a little while longer before deciding for sure. The bottle says no need to rinse it off, however, I still like to wash my face with my facial cleanser and Clarisonic before bed. That's just my night time routine. 

One of my hobbies includes buying things to update our house even if it's just in a small way. I found this adorable "Dream" pillow at Kirkland's the other day and thought it made the perfect addition to our guest bedroom. I think it was the final touch we needed for the guest bed. My goal was for it to look comfy and inviting. I know Colt thinks we do not need another throw pillow but how could I pass it up?! It was the finishing touch in my opinion. 

Well folks, that about sums up our life lately. We hope you have been staying healthy and happy. Colt is on Spring Break this week so it's going to be extra hard waking up early this week while he gets to sleep in! Just another 5 teaching days for me and then it's my turn. Wishing all of you a very blessed week. 

We love you all! 

Girls Getaway.

This weekend, my mom and I packed up our suitcases, drove out to Dallas Love Field and flew away for the weekend. A weekend away couldn't get here fast enough. Things have been so busy at work and in our personal lives. We were looking forward to having a much needed weekend away from all the busyness of our day to day lives.

Now if you know my mom and me, you know that we are shoppers. We are the type of gals to leave early in the morning to go shopping, and we don't come home until 9 or 10 or sometimes even later depending how late malls and stores stay open! Our shopping stamina is insane. Not to mention we also love a good deal or sale! I mean, who doesn't?! My sisters, on the other hand, are complete opposites. They enjoy shopping, of course, but their style is more "in and out". They quickly browse, get what they need and head out. 

So as you can see, it only makes sense that the Mall of America has been on our Bucket List for quite some time now. Thanks to my thoughtful and sweet husband, he made that dream come true. Colt did all the leg work for booking the flights, booking the hotel accommodations and so forth. I know that alone takes a lot of work and we were truly grateful. What a surprise! Mom and I have been counting down the days to our weekend getaway. On Thursday, the time had finally come! 

We flew out around 8 a.m. on Thursday morning. We had a quick stop in St. Louis but we didn't have to change planes. The flight attendants were super sweet and told us that we were going to love the mall and love the people in Minnesota. We landed in Minneapolis around noon and we picked up our luggage, found our shuttle and headed to the hotel. Thanks to Colt's hotel status, we didn't have to wait until 3 pm to check in and were able to check in right away! Mom and I dropped off our luggage and headed back to the shuttle. We only had a weekend and we were not about to waste any time getting to the mall! 

Excited for a new adventure! 

Fun in the airport when we landed.

We arrived at the mall and we were in awe! People had told us that we would be unimpressed, that it was just like any mall here, and that we wouldn't like it. Boy, were they wrong! We LOVED IT! Saying the mall was huge is an understatement! We were told that the mall has been recently renovated and it is gorgeous. Shiny white tile, beautiful natural light, so.many.stores. 

The largest Nordstrom I've ever seen! 

Bucket list checked off! 

Roller coasters and Farris Wheel inside the mall! Wow! 

We spent the remainder of the day checking out a few stores, ate dinner there and caught a late movie before heading back to our hotel. It had been a long day and we were ready to take off our makeup, shower and kick up our feet. We had an early and busy day the next day! I'm glad we headed back to the hotel at that time because I had the world's worst migraine come on and I needed to lay down. The beds and pillows in the hotel felt like we were sleeping on clouds. We got 10-12 hours of sleep a night and we never get that many hours of sleep a night. It was much needed! Pure heaven. 

Friday morning we woke up early, got dressed and realized it was pouring rain. We had planned to walk across the street from our hotel and catch breakfast at Einstein's Bagels but it was pouring rain and freezing cold. We called an Uber and had Alexander drive us to breakfast instead. He was a very kind, sweet and talkative gentleman. It was my mom's first time trying out Uber and she loved it! She was so impressed. Uber is seriously the best thing ever. In fact, every Uber driver we had this weekend was friendly and phenomenal. We had a delicious, healthy breakfast and great conversation. Afterwards, we ordered another Uber ride and headed out to one of the local Catholic churches. Fridays during Lent we are attending "Stations of the Cross" so we found a service at noon and decided to check it out, much thanks to the app called "Mass Times.Org"! If you're interested in learning more about what Stations of the Cross are, this website has a great explanation! 

It takes a small village of makeup to get me ready for the day! Hah! And this is only the "travel size"  version that I brought with me! 

The people at this local church were so friendly and helpful. They took the time to show us around, explain their church's history and chat with us before the service. 

After church we caught another Uber to the mall where we spent the rest of our day browsing, shopping, snacking (so many food courts!!!) and attending another movie. We don't eat red meat, turkey or chicken on Friday's during Lent so we stopped in at Tony Roma's for dinner. Shrimp Scampi for me and Shrimp on a skewer for my mom. It was so delish! We stayed at the mall until it closed and caught the shuttle back to our hotel. It was so cold that night!!! 

Yum! 

Ready to head back to the hotel

Once we got back to the hotel we relaxed, showered and fell asleep pretty quickly. We didn't realize just how exhausted we were. Mind you, it was around 10 or 11 when we fell asleep! 

Saturday morning we woke up and got dressed and decided to go downstairs for breakfast at the hotel. The chef made fresh waffles, pancakes and custom omelettes for us and we devoured it! The food there was amazing. After breakfast we did a little sight seeing and then headed back to the mall! LOTS of shopping, roller coaster rides, eating, ice cream and fun! We were having the time of our lives! 

Checking the weather at the hotel! We saw snow! 

Loving the mall! 

We love Minnesota! ;) 

Later that evening we headed to another beautiful church and went to Mass. The congregation was warm, welcoming and inviting. The service was inspiring and we even got a special blessing from the priest! Afterwards, mom and I headed to dinner out on the town. (Unfortunately, I didn't take any more pics that night.) After dinner we decided to return to our hotel, pack up all our loot, and relax for a bit. 

Sunday morning we were leisurely. We lounged in our hotel room. Caught up on one of my guilty pleasures, reality tv, "Mob Wives" and enjoyed the last few hours we had in our comfy beds! We seriously could not get over how incredibly comfy the pillows were. We looked up what kind of pillows the hotel used and mom and I have decided we must buy these exact pillows and put them in our own beds! I'm telling you... these pillows were life changing!!! Best night's sleep!

We made one last stop at the mall before having lunch at a local sandwhich shop and heading out to the airport. As I'm sure you know, when on vacation, the time and days fly by so fast. We flew out to Kansas City for a layover before heading back to Dallas. While we were in KC we had dinner at this quaint little place called "The Pork and Pickle". The recommendations did not disappoint! 

Flying homeeeee

This trip is just what we needed. Our weekend away was relaxing, rejuvenating, fun, adventurous, and cold! We definitely loved having the chance to see snow. Also, the Minnesotans are seriously the kindest, most nicest, helpful people you will ever meet. They are our new friends! 

It was so nice to catch up on sleep and do things that we don't normally have time to do. We feel refreshed and ready to get back to work and get back to our students. 

A huge thank you once again to my sweet husband for working so hard to make this happen. 

Hope all of you had a refreshing and relaxing weekend! 

We love you all! 

Love is the Only Gold

Many people think Valentine's Day is just a "retail holiday". I've also heard people say that they don't need a special day dedicated to love and that you should show and tell your loved ones that you love them all throughout the year. Which we completely agree with! Still, Valentine's happens to be one of my favorite days to celebrate! I love love! Plus, we love any reason to celebrate each other, our love and all our other loved ones that we are blessed to have in our lives! 

My Valentine festivities began on Friday. My students came to school so excited to share their Valentine boxes and pass out Valentine cards to all their friends! Later that day, we had our Valentine's Party where we celebrated with a "Sweetheart Sundae" bar. I even received a couple of Valentine Candy grams from a few of my former students. How sweet! 

One of my darling students showed up with Valentine's Hair! Precious! 

A few of the Valentine boxes my students made! So creative! 

Saturday, Colt left early for school and was at school for most of the day. I woke up, made breakfast, caught up on some DVR and took a much needed mid day nap. It was fantastic. I did a few things around the house and ran some errands. Colt returned home later that afternoon where he snoozed for a few hours before our date night. Poor guy runs on little to no sleep pretty much throughout the week. Business school is no joke! We had reservations for dinner in downtown Fort Worth. I got home around 8 PM when I showered, did my hair and makeup and we finally ran out the door around 9:30. We love any reason to get dressed up and go out for a night out on the town. Last night was perfect! 

We had 10:00 PM dinner reservations at Capital Grille. It was our first time there and we were not disappointed! The restaurant lived up to our expectations and the atmosphere there was so romantic. A candle lit dinner, good food, even better conversation, lots of laughs and the guy I love sitting across from me makes my heart feel all the feels. 

For appetizers we had the Steak Tartare and the Prosciutto Wrapped Mozzarella which was heaven! For our main course Colt had the Dry Aged Porterhouse Steak while I had the All-Natural Herb Roasted Chicken. The chicken was the juiciest, most tender chicken I've ever had! For sides, we shared the Lobster Mac n Cheese, Parmesan Truffle Fries and Grilled Asparagus lightly drizzled with lemon! So mouthwatering and delicious! We highly recommend eating there. Thank you to everyone who recommended it to us! 

My handsome forever Valentine

After dinner we went for a night cap and when we arrived back home late last night, I walked into the kitchen to find this: 

 How did I become the luckiest gal on Earth?! Swoon! 

This morning, I set out my Valentine's for my sweet Valentine who was still soundly sleeping.  

Around 9 this morning, we woke up, got dressed and headed over to my parents for a Valentine's Day Brunch. My youngest sister made a homemade brunch for all of us which included mimosas, all the tasty brunch items and homemade Valentine donuts! My parents house was decorated with lots of pink red and hearts! Always so festive there. My parents were sweet enough to surprise Colt and I with a few goodies. Unfortunately, these are the only pictures I took while we were there. 

After brunch, we stayed and visited with the fam. A couple of hours later and everyone in the house was ready for an afternoon nap. Colt and I headed back home for our own naps. We ended our evening with pizza and pjs and a new series on Showtime called "Billions"! 

Our weekend was definitely filled with fun and lots of love. We hope that each of you were showered with flowers, chocolates, and all of your favorites. Most importantly, we hope you were made to feel loved because we love you all. 

Happy Hearts Day!