thankful

I am thankful.

Thankful for my husband.

Thankful for family.

Thankful for friends.

And most importantly, I am thankful for my King, my Saving Grace, my Lord.

Happy Thanksgiving!

compromise

Hubby and I have an ongoing domestic battle: the dishes. We both hate...despise...dread doing the dishes. Sometimes it will get to the point that our dirty dishes will sit there for weeks and finally my mother will come over to visit and say "What on earth is that smell?!". This seemed to be a persistent problem when we lived in our apartment for the first year of our marriage, but neither one of us cared too much because our apartment was small and undecorated and awful. But we have now been in our brand new house for nearly a month. And we are finally using my brand new dishes (the Good Earth pottery) that were wedding presents which I saved for an entire year because I did not want to use them in the apartment. And so, my brand new dishes are sitting on my brand new granite countertops in my brand new home because Hubby and I are both too lazy/stubborn to do anything about it. So this all leads up to two days ago, when I finally caved in and decided to do the dishes (I'll give credit where credit's due - Hubby did the dishes 80% of the time in our apartment). So I cook dinner, scrub the dishes and load them into the dishwasher. I distinctly remember Hubby agreeing to finish the rest of the dishes (oh yes, there were tons) since I cooked dinner and did an entire load. Hubby distinctly remembers saying no such thing. And so the bickering goes round and round. And the dishes are still piling up. Well, this gets even better...so Hubby decides to surprise me with doughnuts this morning for breakfast. I never have time to eat breakfast in the morning as I wake up withjustenough time to get ready, so this was a welcome surprise. He was trying to score "points" so he doesn't have to do the dishes. Let me explain: in our house, it's all about being "fair" and "even"....he does one thing, and then I'll do one thing. He sweeps, I mop. He waters the grass, I mail the bills, and the list goes on. I am now sitting here three hours later and it finally hits me -- just do the dishes, stupid! It's not about being fair, it's about not being lazy. It's about taking one for the team and expecting nothing in return. So I will do the dishes - all of them. I will water the grass, make the bed, sweep the floors...and do the dishes. I always tell him "marriage is about compromise!" and this whole time I have been selfishly uncompromising. I know that I have to start this merry go-round, and that once I start compromising, he will too. Eventually, it will turn into a circle of compromise (like that analogy?). Please don't judge. We are taking this marriage thing one day at a time. And I am loving every day :)

carding season

Help! I can't choose! Which one do you like?

holly jolly holidays

This past weekend we took our Christmas card pictures at my parent's house in the country. My dad took all the pictures and I think he did a pretty good job - I was impressed! Here is a sneak peek of a few of my favorites (and some bloopers!):

Merry Christmas!

be present

Thanks for thinking about me as I was having a couple of bad days this week (I do read your comments and love them!).  It all boils down to me just being a brat and wanting everything my way.  Sometimes all it takes is a massage and a deep breath to put everything back into perspective.  And talking to God always helps bring me back down to earth.  He gives me peace.  And I love Him for that. 

I think this time of year makes me a little tense.  All the planning, running errands, cleaning, packing, unpacking...it stresses me out for no good reason.  I often find myself counting down until this holiday or that one, and before I know it an entire year has just passed me by.  It's easy to get stuck in a routine and when that happens all the days just run together...and you're just watching the clock, waiting for 5 o'clock to roll around.  I hate that!  We really try to mix it up and incorporate new and different things into our weekly routine but sometimes it justs gets too hard.  Does anyone else have this problem?  It just feels so monotonous sometimes.  I want to enjoy every single day of my life - not just the weekends.  I've realized that you can't be on auto-pilot; you have to be in the moment, be present.  Just some things I've been thinking about lately.

...This is also the time of year when we start planning our vacations for next year.  Hubby wants to visit my brother in Montana and I want to go on a cruise to the Bahamas.  Looks like several vacations are in the works.  And we actually have a pretty busy weekend ahead of us so you might not here from me until Monday.  We still have unpacking (yes, almost a month later, I know), rearranging, our 30 day walk through the house with the builder, our church Fall Festival, shopping (trying to convince Hubby to buy our Christmas tree this weekend - it's never too early) and gardening/tree buying (our house has no trees...as in zero).  I plan to post updated pictures of our house, too! Talk to you soon!

the thunder rolls

Yesterday I was down in the dumps.  Just one of those days.  Everything was going wrong, nothing was going my way.  I kept hearing things I didn't want to hear and seeing things I didn't want to see.  It was like a stop light turning red right as you pull up to the light, and then you see a tornado thundering toward you in your rear view mirror.  Of course you run the red light to save your life...and right as you run the light you get pulled over.  Just as the cop is giving you a ticket while you scream that your life is in danger, the tornado turns around and rolls into the opposite direction.  The cop then gives you another ticket for screaming.  You speed off as soon as he gets back in his police car.  No less than thirty seconds later you feel your car bumping along the road and realize you have a flat tire.  You are in the middle of nowhere.  Then, on top of everything else, lightning strikes your car.  You left your cell phone at home.  It is pouring down rain and the thunder keeps rolling.  All you can do is...scream.

bad day

It's one of those days.

Today I just want to scream, pull my hair out and sit very still all at the same time.  I have all these emotions boiling inside me and can't seem to find any sort of release.  All I want to do is scream.

But I can't.  All I can do right now is sit.  And I can't even sit still.

My face is red and I feel steam coming from my ears.  I alternate between setting my jaw and grinding my teeth.  I am fuming.  My mood is sour.  Everyone is irritating me today.  And by everyone I mean a certain someone in particular. 

Lord, please give me peace.

Like I said, it's just one of those days.

costa rica

I thought I'd share some pictures from my trip to Costa Rica in March 2008. This was my first time to ever go to Costa Rica, and also my first time to meet Danny's family. I was so nervous! Danny was living in Costa Rica finishing up his last semester of college and I was living at home. When he picked me up from the airport it was the first time we'd seen each other in 6 weeks. I was so happy to see him that I almost started crying! This is one of the first pictures I took driving into San Jose on the way to Danny's house.

This is Danny, myself and his friend Gomez. We went out to eat and have some drinks the first night I got there. I knew Gomez from Disneyworld and was so glad to see him, too!

This is a picture of our first day on the beach at Playa Samara. It took us a five hour bus ride through the mountains to get there. I almost had a panic attack when we were driving right on the edge of the mountain because I am deathly afraid of heights! The beach just looks so beautiful and serene in this picture.

Danny taking a dip in the ocean. The beach was not crowded at all. It was so relaxing.

I was just taking it all in. It was amazing!

These are little huts right on the beach where people live.

Playa Samara (Samara Beach)

We were sitting at an outside bar right on the beach, and I thought this was the perfect picture of complete and total relaxation.

I didn't take surf lessons, but we did ride a banana boat out in the ocean. It was so fun.

Look at the plane behind us! This was in Playa Carrillo, another beach nearby Samara.

Sunset in Samara.

Danny, myself, Gomez and Tatiana

We stayed at Danny's friend's beach house in Samara. This is Danny cooking breakfast for the whole group one morning - there were about seven of us!

This is us walking up the mountain to the top of the volcano.

Looking down into the volcano.

About to go ziplining through the rainforest! I think the name was Sarapiqui. We took a boat ride through the river then rode horseback to get to this rainforest.

The boat ride to the rainforest.

On the river!

Playa Samara

This was a little beach restaurant that I thought was so pretty.

I have tons more pictures of my trip but thought I would just share a few. Danny is going back to Costa Rica for Christmas this year and he'll be gone for two weeks. I'll miss him but we have been apart for far longer than that so I know I can handle it! Danny wants to eventually (maybe 10 years from now) buy a house in Costa Rica and have one here as well. He also wants our children to spend their summers in Costa Rica with his parents so they will know both cultures. Pura Vida!

feliz cumpleaños

Happy birthday to my sweet, loving, charismatic husband. 

Today you are 23 years old, and I can't wait to spend many, many more birthdays with you. You are a Godly man, and you make sure that we are always walking with God through this journey we call life. You have a way of making me laugh even when I try so hard to be mad. You always look on the bright side of things. You remind me to be grateful for everything we have. You are an excellent athlete and you're always just bursting with energy. You are a way better driver than me. You love kids. You love dogs. You love ham and tomatoes. And you love me. And I love waking up next to you every morning. I love spending time with you and I love it when you play the guitar. I love that you are my rock, my soul mate. I love everything about you, sweet hubby.

I hope you have a wonderful day today. You deserve it. Happy birthday baby! Te amo!

kelly's tour - thanksgiving traditions

My sweet hubby is from Costa Rica...and they do not celebrate Thanksgiving (given that it is an American holiday and all).  So last year was his first time to ever enjoy a big Thanksgiving lunch!  Every year for tgiving my parents start cooking a big meal in the early morning.  We normally don't eat till around 2PM.  My sister flies in town from New York and my aunt Debra comes over (and sometimes my aunt Mary Pat from Chicago will come in town!) and we all gather round at my parents house in the country.  We watch the Macy's Parade, drink wine and enjoy the yummy smells coming from the kitchen.  We always have turkey, ham, (from Heavenly Ham) spinach & artichoke casserole (delicious family recipe), mashed potatoes, dressing, buttered rolls, corn, and black eyed peas.  And of course we have pecan pie and caramel cake for dessert (sidenote - my grandmother Nannie used to make the best homemade caramel cakes that I've ever tasted).  The rest of the day we lounge around with the family and try not to be too comatose from way over-eating.  Over the years we have spent Thanksgiving day in a few different places.  We have spent it in Chicago with Mary Pat and Montana with my older brother, Trey.  I love traveling for holidays because no matter where we go it always feels like home if we're together.  Family is all that matters :)

halloween

This year for Halloween Danny & I were characters in the church "Clue Game". It is the live version of the board game where kids are driven around town trying to figure out who "stole the diamond". Appropriately, we were told to be Mickey & Minnie Mouse. I wore a dress...and was "ballgown" Minnie.

Getting in our cars to leave for our location.

Our location was The Park on Lakeland Drive - we got to race go-karts all night! Here we are giving the kids a few clues...

Look how cute Mickey is!

Our first go-kart ride of the night...I almost lost my ears!

We ended up riding the go-karts like ten times and it was freezing!

Cute Mickey :)

I hope everyone had as much fun as we did! :)