Time for trips

Anthony and I have been moving around quite a bit lately with some trips we have had planned. We just got back on Monday morning from our weekend trip to Vegas to celebrate 6 months married. We had a good time and just hung out at our hotel and ate good meals and relaxed. We love Vegas and always enjoy our time there.

Tomorrow we are headed to Indiana for 4 days to visit friends and family. I am so excited to see my friends and hang out and see my sisters and parents! It's been about 4 months or so since I have seen anyone from back home and I am looking forward to just hanging out. It also doesn't hurt to just get away for a few days from my last semester of my masters and get a breather.

Anthony and I are also leaving in less than a month on our vacation road trip. We are planning to go up to San Fran and then enjoy a scenic route back home visiting a few spots. This will be our first ACTUAL vacation that isn't to Vegas or Indiana. I am excited to just get away. Our get aways have always been for 2-3 days to somewhere near by or Indiana. We went away to San Deigo last year and it was a lot of fun but only for a weekend. This is a whole week with the love of my life enjoying married life without Grad School breathing down my neck since it is Spring Break!

Anyway, all that to say, I am excited to be in Indiana tomorrow and see all of my peeps and once again, Anthony gets to experience the lovliness of farm land! I am excited!

Our First Married Valentine's Day

So tomorrow is that day on the calendar that makes you think of school valentines parties, candy hearts, and flowers. It's Valentine's Day!!! This year is special since Anthony and I are married for this one. We have always had very special Valentine's Days but this one is so incredibly powerful. The weird thing is that we are not really able to afford the things we used to for Valentines Day. The years past we have bought each other expensive gifts and things but this year it is all about spending time together and enjoying where we are in life. Anthony is making me a special dinner tomorrow night and that is so incredibly important to me.

I have gotten him a few special gifts and am planning some extra special surprises but the coolest thing is...we are forever and that is something I really want to reflect on this year.

It's raining babies!

Anthony and I are coming up on some very exciting times in babyland. Hilliary my oldest sister is due in May with my nephew Shawn and as of this last week it came to my awareness that my youngest sister, Brittany is pregnant with her first baby as well. We are very excited about our nephew and our new neice or nephew. This is all added to the fact that Anthony and are trying to have our first child. It's all babies around here right now. :)

That is a happy topic of course but there are some days that I think that my mom might go crazy with three kids all going toward being parents. All of this to say, I am really feeling lucky right now and although I do not know officially that I am pregnant, it's nice to know there will be two beautiful little ones coming into my life soon! :)

I love being an aunt and it has been good so far so I have faith that God has a plan and I am so thankful!

Love Dare

Anthony and I are doing a book I heard about in class the other day called "Love Dare." It is really powerful to read about how we need to treat each other as spouses and the dares that it gives us are really difficult yet learning experiences. The past two days we have been comitted to this idea and these are the things it has asked us to do...

Dare 1: Do not say anything negative to your spouse the entire day.

This is way harder than it sounds. I didn't realize how many negative things I said to Anthony until I was more aware of myself. Also, it is right then that several things happened that were mistakes Anthony had made and it really drew my attention to the fact that I tend to harp on him and "beat a dead horse" when he does not do something or forgets something. It really helped me love him better to take time to calm down and not be negative towards him. Anthony also did it and did a great job of not being negative. He also said it was quite a challenge to keep everything positive and be able to speak in gentle tones and be mindful of your words at all times.

Dare 2: While continuing to not be negative, do one unexpected gesture as an act of kindness.

This one is my dare for today and I have decided to whip Anthony up a snack to take over to his job and surprise him. I think he will see how much I love him and that I think about him when we are apart. I am grateful for his kindness everyday and it is time i start to give that back daily!

I am excited about our Love Dares and would challenge you to pick up the book and get daring!

Looking Forward

Anthony and I are really looking forward to some things that are coming up in our lives. We are headed to Las Vegas on February 21st to celebrate 6 months married. We will be married 6 months on February 9th, however, we won't get a chance to head out there until later in the month. We are excited since we said our vows underneath the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign and we are going to make that a tradition to head back and remind ourselves what we promised that day. We love that city, not for the reasons that most love it. We don't really drink, gamble, or anything but it's special for us there.

Another thing that we are looking forward to is heading to Indiana for a few days at the tail end of February. I am really missing my little sister, mom, dad and friends and it will be nice to see everyone. I haven't gotten to hold Carrie's little guy Jacob yet and there are other people that I am yearning to hang out with. It will be nice just to have a slower life for a couple of days.

The third and most exciting thing we are looking forward to is our vacation road trip. Anthony and I are taking a week in March and just taking a road trip up to San Francisco for a few days, over to Reno, and then back down through Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. We are really excited since Anthony has never been to San Fran and neither of us have been to Reno, or the parks. We are just taking an opportunity to adventure together and enjoy where we live. We are so excited for couple time and just relaxing!

We hope that you find things to look forward to soon as well.