Friday, November 19, 2010

one hundred things

I've seen this on other blogs, and actually recently stumbled upon a similar "100 things about me" post on a blog I read often. I wanted to give it a try! So here goes:
  1. My middle name is Victoria, and growing up I always loved it. At one point, I even tried convincing my friends to call me "Tori". It never stuck :)
  2. I love pizza. It has and always will be one of my favorite comfort foods.
  3. I also love my dad's cooking - literally everything he cooks. It, too, will always will be one of my favorite comfort foods.
  4. I played soccer for 10 years. My husband finds it hard to believe ;)
  5. My dream during my pre-teen and teen years was to attend Yale University and after make a living on Broadway. I thought I was destined to become a musical theatre star.
  6. Now, my dream is to be the best wife I can be and one day the best mother I can be. I have no regrets, and find it intriguing how much your priorties change as you get older.
  7. My husband and I want to travel the world before we have kids.
  8. We're going to Costa Rica in the Spring to visit his family, and our next trip will be to Europe.
  9. Our ideal European vacation includes backpacking through different countries and visiting many different places while we're there.
  10. We went to Jamaica this past September and had the time of our lives.
  11. Danny and I met at DisneyWorld.
  12. We were both doing college internships; he was in the international internship program.
  13. We get asked all the time how we met, being that he is Costa Rican and I'm from Mississippi.
  14. We fell in love at the happiest place on earth, and we lived in Orlando for 7 months.
  15. I've only met his parents on two separate occasions - during a 10 day visit to Costa Rica and our wedding. They are some of the most loving people I've ever met.
  16. Even though we don't see them often, Danny talks to his parents via Skype at least twice a week.
  17. As you might have guessed, my husband is bilingual in Spanish and English.
  18. I also get asked all the time if I speak Spanish. I'm learning. It's a slow process. I need to work on my patience :)
  19. My maternal grandmother, Mamaw, was Italian. Her parents (my great-grandparents) were born and raised in Bologna, Italy. They immigrated to the USA right before my grandmother was born. All 8 of her siblings were born in Italy.
  20. My paternal grandmother, Nannie, was from Cleveland, Mississippi. My dad was raised there and went to Cleveland High and then Delta State (also in Cleveland).
  21. My dad is very athletic and played baseball in college.
  22. My husband is very athletic and inspires me to be more active.
  23. I pay for a gym membership and get on "kicks" if you will. I will go 4-5 times a week before a big vacation or before summer, but then I take a month off.
  24. I need to become more intentional about working out and create a real routine.
  25. In college, I majored in Journalism and Public Relations but didn't have a clear idea of what I wanted to do with my life.
  26. I love my current job and find great satisfaction in working.
  27. I sometimes get frustrated because I can't think of cute baby names.
  28. Did I mention we're not having kids for at least 5 years?
  29. I have OCD tendencies.
  30. I don't necessarily deep clean everyday, but I always like for things to be picked up.
  31. We were married on October 12, 2008 at the Fairview Inn (a historic bed and breakfast). It was a warm, Sunday afternoon with 75 of our closest friends and family watching as we said "I Do".
  32. I did not have bridesmaids and he did not have groomsmen.
  33. I just wanted it to be about us and God.
  34. We wrote our own vows and Danny said his in Spanish and English.
  35. I had so much fun at our wedding reception - I'll always remember it.
  36. I have two brothers and a sister.
  37. My mom has 2 sisters and my dad has a brother and a sister.
  38. Danny has 2 brothers and his mom comes from a family of 7 kids.
  39. All that to say - we want at least 2 or 3 kids (God willing).
  40. Jesus is my Savior and I would be NOTHING without him.
  41. He brings me great peace. One of my life verses is 2 Corinthians 4:17 - For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
  42. It gets me through hard days and is a constant reminder that we are living for something far greater than we can imagine.
  43. My husband really is my best friend.
  44. We bought our first house on October 14, 2009 - exactly a year after we were married.
  45. The first year of our marriage we lived in a tiny apartment that was only 576 square feet. It sounds horrible, but I look back on our first year as newlyweds and smile.
  46. We had so much fun and didn't have a care in the world.
  47. We cooked, drank wine, and enjoyed each other's company. We didn't have many friends (as I had lived away for 3 years and most of my friends had moved away for college), but that didn't matter.
  48. Life is very different now, but I will always have fond memories of us that first year.
  49. A deep secret: I want Botox.
  50. I'm 23 years old.
  51. I won't be getting Botox anytime soon :)
  52. Danny and I have been together 3.5 years.
  53. I call 2007 "our year" because it's the year we fell in love and God brought us together.
  54. 2011 will be my Golden Year - I'll turn 25 on 12/25.
  55. Yes, I'm a Christmas baby.
  56. I was delivered to my mother in a red stocking.
  57. My parents briefly contemplated naming me "Noel" to go along with the Christmas theme. My older brother wanted to name me "shiny shoes".
  58. My favorite color is pink and I consider myself "girly". 
  59. I attended the University of Alabama and was a Phi Mu.
  60. I think that's when I began liking the color pink.
  61. My wedding colors were pink, gold and ivory.
  62. I love stationary and my favorite website is TinyPrints.
  63. I will come up with any excuse to order invitations, cards, etc. I just love it.
  64. I'm a Capricorn.
  65. My sister is very into astrology, and on a recent trip home she read me my moon sign and some other things I didn't really understand.
  66. It was kind of interesting, but I don't really believe in it. It's just something fun and trivial to me.
  67. At some point in our lives we will live in Costa Rica. When or how long, I can't say. I just really think it will happen.
  68. During our first year as newlyweds I was pretty into eating extremely healthy and buying all organic foods/products.
  69. It was an enormous undertaking and I started obsessing about it too much.
  70. We still try to eat healthy, but I'm not as strict about it.
  71. When I was younger I used to be a huge worry wart. I inherited it from my mother.
  72. I love rap, country, broadway and pop music.
  73. I'm not embarrassed (but probably should be - ha!) that I listen to mainstream radio/songs and know all the words.
  74. I LOVE TO SING. I've loved singing since I was a little girl.
  75. I was in traveling performance troupes and show choirs growing up.
  76. I'm currently writing my first novel and it is a huge work in progress. I've only written about 15 pages.
  77. My best friends all live in different cities and I miss them so much.
  78. We've also made great friends in Jackson and for that I'm so thankful.
  79. I feel so blessed.
  80. Marriage is more fulfilling, challenging and fun than I ever imagined. I love my husband so much.
  81. We were only 21 years old when we married.
  82. I've always been a daydreamer.
  83. I literally get excited for every season. I've been ready to get out our Christmas decorations since Halloween.
  84. Mint chocolate chip ice cream is my favorite.
  85. Harlan Coben is my favorite author. His first book I read was "Tell No One". I highly recommend it if you enjoy suspense/thrillers.
  86. I'm a Democratic and I voted for and support Barack Obama. However, one of my favorite books is "American Wife" by Curtis Sittenfeld. It is fiction and she uses different names and places, but it is basically a commentary on Laura Bush and her relationship with George over the years. It is fantastic. Again, I highly recommend.
  87. At one point in my life I thought I would go into politics. Glad that didn't work out ;)
  88. My husband is a really hard worker and I love him for that.
  89. He also pays the bills, mows the lawn and helps with the dishes. And I love him for that, too.
  90. Whenever 4th of July rolls around I always think of the movie Sandlot and wish I lived in the 1960s.
  91. My mother was born in 1949 and she grew up in the 60s and 70s. She had the coolest clothes back then but she lost them all in the flood.
  92. I really love the 40s and the 60s. Those were my favorite decades.
  93. I wish it were commonplace for women to wear dresses, heels and pearls everywhere (even to check the mail) like they did back then.
  94. I was raised Catholic and my husband was raised Baptist. Everyone thinks it's funny since I live in the southern baptist bible belt and he's from Latin America where everyone is Catholic.
  95. I wish there was 8 days in the week and we got a 3 day weekend.
  96. I'm terrified of heights, mostly cliffs and mountains.
  97. When I went to Costa Rica we had to drive up and around mountains to get to the beach, literally on the edge. of. a. cliff. I was very anxious and had a mini panic attack.
  98. I love California. I was accepted to Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles my senior year of high school. I had a dorm, roommate and everything all lined up. At the last minute (May of my senior year) my sister moved back to New York from LA and my parents didn't want me going to LA all alone.
  99. I have no regrets and firmly believe that everything is in God's plan.
  100. I used to wish (before I met Danny and got married) that I could live on deserted island for my entire life and just do nothing but relax and have fun all the time. All I want now is to be healthy and happy wherever I am :)

Monday, November 15, 2010

be still my beating heart

I love you, sweet hubby!




 





Saturday, November 13, 2010

show us your life - our bathroom

This week at Kelly's the tour is master bathrooms. This is the view right when you walk in our bathroom from the bedroom.
That door is to my closet - we each have our own closets which I love!
This is an arrangement I made and our monogram on our bath towel.
Our vanity
 So grateful for the double sinks!
Thanks for stopping by - feel free to take a look around and I hope you'll stop by again soon! :)

the most wonderful time of the year

I have been begging Danny to get out our Christmas decorations for the last two weeks - I start getting excited about Christmas right after Halloween every year. My birthday is on Christmas Day so I like the season to last as long as possible! :)

Last year we hosted a holiday party at our house a few weeks before Christmas and I want to start making that a tradition every year. We also send out Christmas cards every year, so right about this time I start looking for party invitations and Christmas cards!

My favorite site for ordering invitations and holiday cards is Shutterfly! I first used them back in 2008 when I ordered my wedding photo calendar from them - it turned out SO cute! They have precious Christmas photo cards and I love putting our photo into each card to find the perfect one! I also love their christmas gift tags - it makes it so much quicker than handwriting on each gift and they are adorable!

This is one of my favorites! So simple and pretty.
And this is my one of my favorite cards from the Shutterfly site - it is a top contender for this year's Christmas card!
Happy Holidays and Happy Shopping!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

engagement pics

Here are some engagement pics I took of our friends Wyatt & Rachael. They are getting married in the spring and we are so excited for them! :)














24 sweet years

Today is Danny's 24th birthday!!  
Happy birthday, baby! I can't wait to spend 100 more birthdays with you!
I love you!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

halloween

I know it's a little late, but here is a recap of our fun Halloween last weekend! Our town did trick or treating on Saturday night, and our friends Kevin and Beth had a party at their house. Danny recycled his costume from a couple of years ago and dressed as Neo from the Matrix. I waited until the night before to get my costume and I ended being a "candy-corn witch" (according to the costume package).
This is Beth's daughter - she and I had matching costumes! :) She was a "halloween fairy". 
Beth had the cutest halloween decorations all around the house. She cooked yummy chili and hot dogs for dinner, and of course she had halloween cupcakes, cookies, etc! She is such a good host! 
Danny and Kevin 
Danny was obsessed with getting a picture of him flying like the Matrix! Haha! 
Neo 
Beth dressed up as a Greek woman. Her costume was so cute! 


Josh was Pauly D from Jersey Shore. He was fist pumping the whole night - ha! 
Little Noah was a soldier. 

Danny and Virgillio 
They brought their fire-pit out to the driveway so we could all sit and greet trick-or-treaters. It was chilly outside! 

The whole group :) 
Yvonne dressed up as a baby and Pablo, her husband, was a famous soccer player. 

Here's a little video clip from the beginning of the night!
We had such a fun halloween. Now I'm just ready for the weather to get cold! :)