and your worries will be gone

"Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all He has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." Phillipians 4:6-7

house updates

This is what our house looks like so far. They have leveled the ground and put the stakes in and are laying the slab this week if the rain holds off. Exciting!

family

Danny and I had dinner with my sweet aunt, Mary Pat, last night at Char. We ate wayy too much and it was so good! She is in town for two weeks from Chicago - I am so glad we got to visit with her because we never get to see her :)

los angeles

So last week my mom & I went to Los Angeles to visit my sister who is living there now. We left on Wednesday and just got back a couple of days ago. I had a great time! My mom & I were on separate flights on the way there, so I didn’t land in LA until really late Wednesday night. The next day my sis had to work, so mi madre y yo explored the city all day. We went to the La Brea Tarpits (guess whose idea that was) in the morning and we drove around LA the rest of the day. That night Ashley & I went to dinner at Jones in West Hollywood (George Clooney had his birthday party here). It was good catching up with her and we ate entirely too much. The next day we took the VIP Tour of Warner Bros Studios – I love this! It was a 2 hour tour of the backlots & television sets that Warner Bros film all their tv shows on. We saw the sets, props & costumes of Gossip Girl, Two & Half Men, and a bunch of other shows. We also got to walk on stage at the Ellen Degeneres show – so cool. They showed us the elaborate set (it’s like a mini town) of the new show Eastwick which comes out this fall. We saw them designing and putting props out in the “art studio” which is where Rebecca Romign will work on the show. Loves. We also got to go in this special Harry Potter room where they have all the costumes from the HP movies – I think mi madre almost died. We also saw Clint Eastwood & George Clooney’s production studios. Fun fun fun. That night Ash & I went to eat at the Velvet Margarita – love this place! It was so fresh & eccentric. The next day we went to wine country! This was my favorite day. We drove through Santa Barbara and stopped to shop & have lunch at an outdoor café. Ok, I LOVE Santa Barbara!! Soo cute & beachy. Everyone is walking and riding bikes and the weather was perfect. Love love this city. After spending a couple of hours in Santa Barbara we finished the drive to wine country. We had to drive up the mountains which gave me a slight panic attack because I honestly thought we were going to fall off the side of the mountain. We ended up in this cute little Swedish town called Solvang. We did a few wine tastings there and then made our way to Bridlewood Winery & Vineyard. I had never been to a vineyard before and it was so beautiful. We all drank a lot of wine and took a carriage tour of the entire vineyard. Absolutely stunning. After the vineyard we drove back through Santa Barbara on the way home and stopped at this famous seafood restaurant called Brophy Brothers, which was right on the pier. By this time my sister and I had had one too many glasses of wine, but it was so fun.

Our last day we spent in Santa Monica. We spent some time in Beverly Hills on the way there, and stopped to shop a little before getting to Santa Monica. We stayed in a hotel on the beach, pero mi madre wasn't feeling good so she stayed in the hotel room while my sis & I walked down to the Santa Monica pier and the promenade. We ended up shopping and doing happy hour at this fun outdoor restaurant/bar (wish I could remember the name!)...time flew by way too fast and we spent the rest of the night walking the promenade and bar hopping. Flight the next morning was at 6am which meant get to LAX at 4:45am. Died.

We had so much fun & I can't wait to see my sis in September!

our gourmet kitchen

Danny and I have jumped headfirst into this craft called "cooking". Let me be the first to say that neither one of us are master chefs (unlike my little brother, Tyler, who is a chef at City Grocery in Oxford, MS). But the more we cook, the more comfortable I feel in the kitchen. If you give me a basic recipe, I feel pretty confident that I can at least put something on a plate. On that note, here are a few menu items that we have tried within the last few weeks. Alot of times, we are just too tired from working all day to cook. But I'm really going to try to start cooking homemade meals at least 2-3 times a week. Soul food just tastes so much better than fast food ;)

Turkey Spaghetti with Garlic Bread and Salad (one of our favorites - this seems to be a weekly staple)

Chicken Tetrazzini

Italian Beef Casserole

Garlic Herb Grilled Chicken, Dirty Rice, Mashed Potatoes, Sauteed Veggies, Garlic Bread

Turkey Tacos with Cucumber Salad

Marinated Vegetables

Boiled Shrimp with Salad

Mexican Pie

Italian Pasta Bake

anniversaries

Yesterday (July 14) we celebrated our 2 year anniversary of being together. We went out to dinner and then watched a movie at home - nothing big, just simple, sweet and romantic. It might seem strange to celebrate your "dating" anniversary when you're married, but these last 2 years have been so special and meaningful to both of us, and last year on our 1 year anniversary Danny proposed to me. Actually, I think we will always celebrate 2 anniversaries - July 14 (our first date) and October 12 (OUR WEDDING DAY!). Both of these dates are very dear to my heart.

big news!

We are buying a house!!! After much thought and many months of searching, we have decided to build our first house! We signed the contract this afternoon and we are both so excited. It will be in a brand new neighborhood in Madison (close to both of our jobs). They are going to start leveling out the land tomorrow if it doesn't rain (and it's a cul-de-sac lot..yayy!). Please keep us in your prayers as we navigate through this big step in our lives.

Pictures to come soon!

hubby + hunchy

We have been married for 9 months today! I love you sweet Danny!

only the good die young

Watching the Michael Jackson Memorial Service right now. I actually cried when they brought the casket in and we saw all of his brothers and sisters. I will never forget this. Rest in Peace my brother.

"Though it ended way too soon, Michael's life was beautiful. I think he was simply the greatest entertainer that ever lived." -Berry Gordy

4th of july

We are going to Destin this weekend for the 4th of July! I am so excited and can't wait to finally get some sun - I am feeling so pale! We are leaving tomorrow afternoon and coming back Sunday evening. So we have 2 full days & 2 nights. I wish we could go for longer but Danny can't get off work - but I'm still excited and looking forward to getting away for the holiday. It will be our second time to go the beach this summer. Can't wait to just lay on the beach allllll day :)

I hope everyone has a safe holiday!