Love Marriage

I�ve begun new habits that have really helped to make life seem less hectic. Whether it�s making daily list of small things to do around the house or making all our meals for the week on Sunday , it just helps to keep me feeling balanced and like I�m staying on top of things and on myself. I don't handle being overwhelmed very well, so I try to do anything I can to help alleviate that. I�ve even begun to put simple things on my list like, put on a face mask, to remind myself to take a few minutes to do something good and relaxing for myself. I'm aware that it's silly but I've noticed that if it's on the list, I actually take the time to do it. I find that the more I do simple things I love on a daily basis, the less on edge I feel. Reading a few chapters in a new book, lighting a new candle, memorizing a scripture, watching a romantic girl flick, or just having a small bowl of ice cream. These little actions (as ridiculous as it may sound) make me feel like eve...

excited that our first trip to San Francisco is just a few weeks away! craving LaCroix (the coconut flavor) every single day lately. needing to begin packing for San Francisco. I�m going to try to pick up a new habit this year and not wait for the last minute to start packing. thankful for health. I took great health for granted a few years ago but now, I�m just so, so grateful for it. It�s an incredible blessing to be healthy and well, both physically and mentally! wanting it to be 3:30pm that way I can go home and cuddle with my fur-babies. loving This is Us. I just love how I can feel so many emotions while I watch this show. Whoever came up with this show, you are brilliant and thank you! missing my mom every single day. wearing a floral cardigan, black maxi dress and black booties. We have weather in the 60s today, in February!! thinking about the places I want to visit when we are in San Francisco. If you�ve been, please give me your must do tips. Thanks in advan...

This one is short & sweet and completely unnecessary but here's my official announcement that dry January is over. Hip, hip, hooray! Cheers! (insert multiple wine emojis here) I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! ♥

Wow, can y�all believe it?! This is my 1000th post. I�ve actually written 1000 posts on this blog. That is insane to me. If I want to (which I often do), I can go back and read 1000 of my own thoughts at different times in my life. I�ve said it before and I�ll say it again, I�m so glad I�ve kept up with this little blog of mine. It's a big deal to me as I've seen so many blogs come and go. I'll admit that it does hurt a little when it was a favorite blog of mine but I digress... I'll also admit that the engagement on my blog is pretty low right now and I believe that I now have a post that received no comments on (first time ever, lol) but that will not deter me. It actually makes me want to blog more because I feel like fewer eyes are on my blog. I can just write and not really worry about how a post will be received because, well, not many people seem to be reading this blog much anymore. I use to get 700-1000 views on a post and now it�s pretty rare if I reach ...

Shortly after my mom passed away I was in a slump for quite some time. It was at that time that I told myself to pay attention to the everyday details, big or small, that made me happy. I noticed that whenever I would walk into our sitting room and the sun was shining right though, I couldn�t help but to smile. Whenever I would catch myself smiling or feeling happy about something rather small, I would take a picture, to freeze that moment in time. And I�ve continued to do it because sometimes I need a reminder of all the things that make me happy when I�m feeling down in the dumps. I grab my camera and freeze the moment in time. Here are a few of those moments. Our furbabies love of sunlight. Wherever the sun is that day is where you'll find them. A bright blue sky. Pizza on the weekends. Cheese for me, pepperoni & sausage for Sean. When Sean brought home a pine candle to have our house smell like a real tree resides here. It also showed me his excitement to decorate f...

loving that it's my partner in crime's birthday tomorrow. Cinthia, happy birthday! ♥ craving apple cider donuts. needing to unpack my suitcase from Vegas. I am so organized when it comes to everything but unpacking my suitcase. I�m not sure why I have to have it sit in the middle of our room for weeks until the urge to unpack finally hits me. thankful for Sean! We had the best weekend, last weekend, celebrating our 8th anniversary. I really married such an amazing person and I am incredibly grateful for his love, support and kindness. wanting it to be 10:45am already. I have a half day today! loving The Office. I know, I know. I�m so late but y'all, I did not know what I was missing out on. My little sister, Maryanna, recommended that I watch it months ago and I just didn�t think it would be something I would be interested in. Well, one day out of the blue, I just decided to watch the pilot and I am obsessed. It is hilarious, so ridiculous and I just love it. ...

So, if you think you've already seen this post or even commented on it, it's because you have. It just dawn on me that I must have deleted this post by accident, which is the first I've ever deleted a published post in my almost 8 years of blogging. First time for everything. Three things I love to decorate my home with. It also helps that they are all relatively inexpensive so it is a guilty free pleasure. There is something so stress free to me about creating a bouquet. I honestly don't know if I'm doing it right but I know I love doing it. I love the process of entering Whole Foods and going through a bunch of flowers and imagining in my head how the flowers would look together. I know that it would be a much easier and quicker process to just buy the bouquet already created but I enjoy the process and it is one of the few ways that I feel that I can actually be creative and it work OK in my favor. And I've become a plant lover. I was that person who co...

I�m thrilled for a three day weekend but still feeling bummed that Labor Day weekend usually marks the end of summer. I know that we still have a few good weeks of sun and warmth but at night when you�re able to sleep without central air it�s a little reminder. But I�m also thinking of little things that have me excited for the next few weeks. Sean and I are going to our local fair tomorrow. I haven't gone in a couple of years so I'm excited for cotton candy and possibly some fried dough. My sister (Priscilla) is holding her annual Labor Day weekend barbeque this weekend so I�m excited to see her and my nephew. My baby nephew Rhys turns one in one week so I'm excited to celebrate him very soon! Tell me, how is he one already?! So yeah, a bunch of little excitements sprinkled here. I just realized I used the word excited a lot in this paragraph. I'm sorry. I guess, I'm excited? ;) Before we left for New Orleans we got a new tenant to rent the downstairs apartm...

feeling accomplished. We closed on our rental property a few weeks ago and have started fixing up the bottom apartment for our future tenants. The floors have been refinished; we�re painting the living space and updating the bathroom a bit with a new vanity/sink, toilet and floor. We�ll be refinishing the tub which we found out through YouTube is not a difficult task. We might change the countertops in the kitchen but for sure will be replacing the fridge. The upstairs is already occupied so that makes things a lot easier. I never thought that this type of thing would excite me but it�s amazing what aging does, ha. loving that New Orleans is less than two weeks away! This has been on Sean�s top places to visit for a while but he kept losing to me, haha. We do this randomizer that eventually picks out the places we visit based on our top choices and well, let�s just say that I finally let him win this time by not doing a randomizer. He married a good one ;). craving Rita's...

I was looking at some posts that have been sitting in drafts for years. This one specifically was written on 5/3/2013. I was not yet 30 years old when I wrote the post. I don't know if I just forgot to hit publish because it appears to me that this post was finished, maybe not perfect, but finished. Either way, it got me wondering about what I was thinking when I wrote this post and I've decided to hit publish today. Interesting enough, I still feel this way; only difference is the Faith at that time had not yet experienced loss before. So if I wrote this today, I won't have the ending the way it is. Because now I know that "losing it" is not an option. _________________________________________ In a relationship, I feel that love goes through many stages. When you first started dating it�s a new and exciting love. Everything is happy. You�re on cloud nine and butterflies reside in your stomach. And then you go through an uncertain period. Not really sure...

- Ever want to feel old? Ask Alexa to play current hip hop music. I don't know ANY of the latest songs or their artists! - So real question. Can gray hair turn back brown? Because that's what is happening to me! I got my first grey hairs last year. They actually came up during the time I got ill last year and now those grey hairs are growing brown so I now have grey tips. So weird! - Last weekend, Sean and I played basketball at a local bar and I beat him! Not sure if it'll ever happen again so it needed to be documented somewhere ;). - My little sister is getting married on Saturday. Saturday! - Is there any better, more refreshing, drink than ice cold water? Obviously this is a trick question because the answer is always no. - Work is really, really quiet without Cinthia. I don't have my walk/lunch break or talking partner and it stinks. I've been at my desk a lot more the last week so I'm most likely more productive. Great for the company, not so...

What brings you inspiration? The obvious answers for me are travel, amazing photography, nature, God's ability to always love and forgive me and the beach. But there are also simpler things that bring me inspiration as well. The morning light peeking through the curtains, the taste of a new dish, watching a stranger laugh hysterically, seeing a friend going after what they want, unlikely colors put together and the start of a brand new day. I get this burst of inspiration that I can do anything and everything. Lately, I've been trying lots of new recipes and it has me feeling very inspired in the kitchen. I've even started creating my own recipes just for the fun of it all. If you know what you like to eat, I find that it is easy to whip up something new and delicious. Or sometimes, I look at a picture I've taken and can't believe that I was the one who took it. Not because I think it's the best. Trust me, I love photography and am always trying to gather i...

The picture below is a random picture but last weekend we were driving and Sean turns around and says, "we have to check out that view". We had never seen this view before and we jokingly called it our "LA view" in PA. See? I told you, random. feeling disappointed that we were suppose to close on our third rental today but the seller did not clear the title and still has liens on the house. We've decided to walk away because this isn't the first issue with the seller and I believe that if things aren't going smoothly, it's God's way of telling you that whatever it is that you're seeking isn't what you need. loving that the pictures I took for an engagement ceremony last Saturday turned out pretty good. I�ll share them in a future post when I�m done editing them. You all know how much I get carried away when I take pictures so I really need to narrow them down. craving Thai iced coffee so I think I'll have Thai food for lunch tod...

What a way to return to reality! We got hit with a HUGE snowstorm. Our plane coming back was delayed for three hours but we were lucky that it was not cancelled altogether. I was suppose to return to work yesterday but it was closed due to the snowstorm and today work was delayed for two hours. I received an extra day to transition back into the real world but man it was hard coming from so much blue skies and sun to extremely frigid weather and snow almost to my knees. What I would do for a pina colada right now. I took one million and one pictures and of course will share soon. I need to relive that time all over again and hope you'll enjoy doing that with me. It was such a great vacation and I feel so relaxed. I don't need a vacation from this vacation which is always a bonus. Although, I'm not exactly thrilled to be back and would rather be looking at the ocean while I lay in a hammock, it does feel good to be home. I am one of those people who thrive on a routi...

feeling so excited for this week. Sean and I have been stalking the resort we're staying at through YouTube and forwarding to our niece to get her pumped up. It's working! Yesterday she said, "Can it already be Wednesday?" loving that we had a really relaxing weekend. It was so cold over the weekend so it was nice to have no plans and stay warm. craving nothing at the moment. I think I'll get a salad for lunch today. Although, I've not really been thinking too much about a bikini bod, I might as well try to be good for the next two days ;). needing to pack for Mexico! I did go through my closet yesterday so I do have ideas of what I'll be packing. thankful that we can take our niece Nadiyah along with us! Our biggest goal is for her to have the best time. Hopefully this will be a great memory for her as she grows. excited that we're doing this trip with Colleen and her crew. They are by far our favorite travel companions. reading I've...

For this year one of our big goals is to travel more; big trips, local trips, and everything in between. It's only March but I feel we're on the right track. We have quite a few on our list this year and I could not be more excited. Whether it be travel, trying new foods or spending time with family and friends; I'm finally at the stage where I don't need more stuff and if I could buy time, I would. Our first big trip this year is to Mexico in one week! We're taking my niece, Nadiyah, and she is so excited. It's awesome that she is now old enough for us to take on our vacations and that she wants to go with her aunt and uncle. We have been giving her weekly homework about Mexico and it has been fun to see her learning about where she is going. This will be her first time out of the country so it is a big deal, not just for her, but for us. Colleen and her crew will also be joining us so of course the group texts have been going off non-stop the last few...

Someone, please remind me that the next time we go to The Bayou we make sure that we all don't order individual mac and cheese bowls. They're huge! And oh so good. And maybe if we remember this we'll be able to have room to fit their amazing looking beignets! I can name only a few things that are better than stuffing your face with delicious food. I know this is a light post with all that's going on but I seriously can't even put my thoughts together. I've been trying to stay off the internet and social media because it is all too much. If you are noticing a bit of my radio silence (Instagram, Snapchat) it's because I'm distracted with everything else. So here's a post about food because I think that's one thing we can all agree on. We love food! Hope you all have wonderful weekends! ♥

feeling that I completely slacked on the blog this week. I want to get better about that but I'm feeling this need to rejuvenate myself which is why I've chosen not to be behind the computer much this week except for while at work. loving that my niece turned 4 yesterday. How in the world is she four already? Time is moving by way too quickly. craving wings. I think that's what I'll have for lunch today! needing to pack for Vegas! We leave Monday night and I'm so excited. We were scheduled to go last year on January 26th but well, we all know what happened! thankful that I made it to 2017! excited that I was promoted on Wednesday. It was such a surprise and I'm grateful that the new year has started off on a great foot. reading nothing right now but I did order "I'm Judging You: The Do-Better Manual" and intend to start it on the plane ride to Vegas and hopefully finish it on our way back home. wanting it to be lunch time. I really...

feeling excited to spend some time with Sean this weekend. He's been working so much with the launch of a new Amazon building and the hours are killer. I seriously feel so bad for him when he gets home. We leave for work at the same time in the morning and he arrives 5 hours after me. This is with him driving less than 10 miles to work. It also doesn't help that the holidays are going to have him working even crazier until Christmas so for the few hours I'll get him this weekend, I'm pretty excited for it. loving that it's my partner in crime's birthday today. Cinthia, happy birthday! craving jollof rice. My mom made the most bomb jollof rice and I just have not been able to make it as good as her. I'll keep trying if it's the last thing I do. needing to lay off of Facebook. That is one social media avenue that if they got rid of it I won't share one tear. Facebook is garbage. thankful for Sean, my family and friends. Also thankful for...

No, no, no, no, no, no, NO! And then some yes because you can't help but love and hate the writers at the same time. That is all.