Moving Day!

Hey y'all!

I am SO excited to finally be able to say this: tomorrow is moving day! Fiiiiiinally.

I have been counting down the minutes, the hours, and the days like a total crazy person.

Thankfully packing for this move has been a breeze. I think I get more stressed out packing for trips and vacations than I do for actual moves (especially when your vacation is in the spring/fall months...those darn sweaters and jackets that you don't know if you'll actually need take up way too much space).

As soon as Jarryd and I decided that we wanted to sign the lease at the end of this month, we started packing things up, taking things to the Goodwill, or throwing things out. We definitely started early on this one (which is totally unusual for us). Most of the time we are those "last minute" type of people. So I'm pretty proud of us.

It is such a busy season for us right now. I am working 40+ hours at work, Jarryd just got a promotion  at work (praise God so much!!) which means longer hours for him. We are packing, moving, and all the while dead tired. I just had my day off and I am still exhausted. I'm so excited for the busy season at work to come to an end. I love my job, but more than one day off a week would be greatly appreciated. I also can't wait to see Jarryd more!!

The tough part about this move is that tomorrow I'm working 6 am-12pm, then we're immediately going to the apartment to sign the lease and go through the orientation. Then we plan to move all of our furniture and things as quickly as we can, because Jarryd still has to go into work in the evening. Phew! I get tired just thinking about it.

It's gonna be hectic, which isn't quite how I envisioned it. In my head we'd move during the day, and after conquering the move we would celebrate by poppin' a bottle of wine, ordering pizza, and watching Netflix. Sigh, I wish. Turns out I'll be on my own with probably no internet yet. Perhaps this is what real adult life is like? Two people with two jobs living under one roof?

Oh well, I am just so thankful and grateful that we get to experience our second year of marriage in a brand new apartment!! :)

And the next time you hear from me, I'll be in my new home!! YAY!

Until next time, (or until we get internet access), cheers! <3

Twenty Years.

Today is July 27th, marking the 20th year since Dale's beautiful soul left this earth. Although it has been two whole decades now, this day never surprises me; It never sneaks up on me.
There is just a corner of my heart and mind that always know this day is here. Remembering it makes everything else--my worries, doubts, and fears seem so frivolous, because the memory of his short life points me toward all things eternal. Nothing makes me happier than knowing he is in Heaven with Jesus! This is such an amazing and incredible reality.
As you can see from the photos, Dale and I were not only siblings, but we were friends too. smile emoticon And although I have "lost" that physical friendship temporarily, with a grateful heart I still, and always will, have friendship with Jesus, for He has called me His friend (John 15:15).

"What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear, what a privilege to carry, everything to God in prayer".

Square Pegs.

You can choose if you're bad, if you're good
If you're left or right, speaking your heart or speaking your mind
You can be what they say you can be a cliche
You can tear up the box and throw it away
Everybody gotta be themselves
Everybody gotta dream out loud
Everybody gotta be themselves
Square pegs make the world go 'round

-Kelsea Ballerini

<3

Beans.

I just had the worst night and morning.

During this busy season at my workplace, I have to be up and at 'em at 5:30 AM practically everyday. So last night for some odd reason I couldn't fall asleep until after 3 AM.

It is so agonizing looking at the alarm clock at 3 AM and seeing--what could have been, your precious sleep time, ticking away...never to return again.

(Do you think it was the coffee I drank at 8 pm that evening?) Lesson learned.

Since Jarryd and I both couldn't sleep, we decided to watch some random Youtube videos about wild animals, bears attacking wolves, wolves attacking bears, wolves attacking elk. It was super interesting and alluring. A part of me didn't want to sleep at all! A part of me wanted to see the innocent elk fawn (is that even the correct name for a baby elk?) escape safely from the wolves' piercing grasp.

And, it did! Phew! Sigh of relief! ;)

On top of not being able to sleep, while this epic Youtubing was going down, I feel something crawling on my cheek. In an absolute panic, I swat at it and fling it toward the light of the laptop. SPIDER!!!

I respect God's creation, and I think He did some amazing work (understatement of the century!!!), but I hate spiders so much.

I cried after that. I'm not even going to pretend that I didn't. I totally, 100% completely cried.

All I felt was total violation. How are you supposed to sleep soundly after a trauma like that?! (Is there such thing as PTSD for accidental arachnid encounters?)

Miraculously I did, I slept reeeeeally soundly....because when I woke up in the morning I marveled at how bright the room looked for 5:30 AM.
"Hmm...this is odd..." I thought to myself.

*Glance at the iPhone*

7 AM!!! Yep, I was an hour and a half late for work. I missed the prep for breakfast, one of the most crucial times of the day at work. Thankfully, my coworkers are gracious and totally understand that "life happens".

I also feel like I may be getting sick...but I don't know for sure. I really hope not, because these next two weeks are going to be unusually busy in both work life AND home life. But the home life busyness is VERRRY exciting. Unfortunately, I'm not going to tell you what is happening. I'm definitely not one of those people who likes to tell before things are set in stone...

OK fine I'll tell you. WE'RE MOVING!!!! :D

There you have it. We're moving! Although I cannot tell you where...that would just be too much information for one day!

Alright alright, we're moving about five minutes down the road!! To a new apartment!! Next week! In 7 days to be exact! I've never been more excited for anything in my LIFE! (Uh joking duhhh, our DisneyWorld honeymoon was way more exciting than this!) :P

I'd love to spill more of the proverbial "beans" than I already have, but I am just plain ex-haus-ted.

Cheerio, my lovelies! <3

Our One Year Anniversary in Washington D.C!

Hello friends! :)
I am here with my well-deserved glass of Red Moscato, on my first day off in sooo long. I can finally tell y'all about mine and Jarryd's anniversary weekend!

So last weekend, Jarryd and I packed up our little Honda Civic and took off on a road-trip to Washington, D.C. And I must admit, it was the best weekend we've spent together as a married couple. (For reals!) I think what I liked most about it was that for two whole days it was just the two of us hanging out. As much as we love our friends and family, it was so nice to just get away and allow ourselves to focus totally on each other for a change.

A few months back we decided that we'd much rather spend money on a trip/vacation to celebrate our anniversary instead of spending money on little gifts for each other. Let's face it, I'm not much of a diamond necklace/bracelet/earrings kind of girl. I'd rather pack a suitcase and see the world!

So, why Washington D.C.? I mean, it doesn't exactly scream "romance", right? (Obbbbvsss, New York City was my first choice, but we'd already gone there in April to visit some friends, so yeah).
We chose this location for many reasons! On the more practical side of things, according to our finances we couldn't go too far. A week on a tropical island would have been nice, but paying for flights was an absolute no-no, especially when we're trying to save for a trip to Canada! D.C. is less than two hours away so all we needed was a tank of gas, really.

Just as our Disney World honeymoon was, we wanted to go somewhere with lots to do and see. Our home life is a very relaxed and somewhat routine one, so we wanted a weekend in a city where we could be busy-bees and stray away from the mundane (I say mundane, but I really don't mean it. I love a restful home life filled with mesquite bbq chips and movies. I love mundane!!).

Also, I've been to D.C. three times before, and each experience had its own downfalls.
The first time, I was like a little 15-year-old teeny-bopper, who really didn't have much grasp of American History.
The second time, an earthquake had struck right before we got there and EVERYONE was evacuated from their buildings and EVERYTHING was closed, so we turned right back around.
And as for the third time, it was last November and it was just way too cold to enjoy anything. The last place you wanted to be was outside. (That's when Starbucks came in handy, wink wink).

So this past weekend DEFINITELY took the cake, and D.C., is officially one of our favourite cities in the U.S. Below are some of my favourite photos from the weekend! Enjoy!! :)

First stop, "Dangerously Delicious Pies". I found this tiny little place online whilst researching "best restaurants in D.C", and it definitely delivered!! It's pretty much any meal you can think of, in pie form. What is better than that? There was also a picture of Rodney from Food Network Star on the wall, also know as "the pie guy".

I of course, HAD to get my favourite pie in the whole world, strawberry rhubarb. :)

Jarryd got the "Vegan Chili" pie. It was absolutely delicious. I would seriously love to come back here for breakfast and try out their quiche pies.

This is pretty much every building in D.C. It's just gorgeous architecture!

Our hotel room at Dupont Circle Hotel! Thank you, Expedia for the lovely discount. Not only was our hotel awesome, but the location was perfect! Right next to some great restaurants (ahhem: Starbucks) and a bike rental station!

The absolute no-privacy bathroom. The door to the toilet was glass, so certain sounds...were able to travel with ease right through. LOL!

On our hotel's coffee table, in case we forgot where we were!

Mappin' out the vacay.

YES! Highlight of our trip! A floor heater dial. We had it on Maximum temp pretty much the whole time. ;)

Mini-bar!! It was so fun raiding this thing. Jokes! We were not about to pay $6.00 for a tube of candy. Oh how I wish though!

I just had to take a photo in front of this, because I found Grunthal in the middle of D.C.!!! 

The Washington Monument. What a beauty! The light is hitting it just perfect! 

Abraham Lincoln. The man who had it right. I'm still upset he got assassinated...

Yes, we rented bikes and biked all over! If you ever find yourself in D.C., I highly recommend this. It's so much more enjoyable than walking, especially in the hot and humid weather.

My bike and I at the World War II memorial.

World War II Memorial. I love this photo, especially with the American flag in it. <3

I was completely enthralled with the storm clouds rolling in. Anyone who knows me knows that I love clouds!!

I was trying to take a picture of the clouds but the Monument was in my way... :P

It's practically mandatory to take a photo of the monument from this angle.

We made it to the Museum of American History (it was 100% free, so we had to!!). Anybody recognize these chairs? If you do, I love you, and lets be friends. (Answer: All in the Family. Second answer: Archie Bunker!!).

Julia Child and I. <3 I must watch Julie & Julia right now!

Oh to own so much copper cookware as Julia Child did...sigh...

Julia Child's kitchen. I just love all of the light blue. 

Outside of the Museum of American History. Smoochy smooch! ;)

Love this photo of Jarryd and Abe. 

So, as we were biking back to our hotel in the evening, we got caught in this insane thunderstorm. You couldn't see a thing, it was all wind and rain! So we had to stop and wait under the safety of, none other than theeee Ritz Carleton hotel, which was super embarrassing because we were soaking wet and despicable-looking. We laughed our heads off about this. Like something like this WOULD happen to us. It's typical. :P 

After returning to our hotel, squirming out of our wet clothes and showering, we were STARVING and on the verge of cranky. No, not even on the verge, we WERE cranky, because: the storm cut out our wi-fi so we couldn't get any food delivered, room service was insanely expensive, the hotel restaurant was also insanely expensive, and we couldn't walk anywhere in search for food because it was still pouring rain. We ended up asking the front desk for some options, and they said that right next door was "Kramerbrooks & Afterwords Cafe". We were desperate so we went and we're sure glad we did. We COMPLETELY indulged and spent our life savings here but it was so worth it. Here is a photo of my crab cake dish. (droooool).

Jarryd got the crab-stuff lobster. Speechless!!! We would definitely return to this restaurant, food was great, wine was great, atmosphere was comfortable (dimly lit and romantical), and service was awesome!

Starbucks to start the morning off right ;) 

Me being inappropriate once again. How was I supposed to know there was a naked man behind me? What's a girl gotta do to take an innocent photo these days?!

We biked through some beautiful residential areas on our way to the Spy Museum.

The Biergarten Haus!!! (Also a huge hit online!). We chose to eat here because it is sentimental to the fact that we met and fell in love in Germany. :) This place is my dream-come-true. And the best part, is that we only live 1.5 hours away from it. Imagine being at a place like this during the World Cup or Oktoberfest?! Gahhh!!

Enjoying our Weihenstephaner Vitus beers!

"I have a rule when taking photos of my customers, there must be one normal, one lovey-dovey, and one funny photo" -Says the waitress.

My obnoxious American husband. Bahah!

Who knew that behind the little storefront, was this massive courtyard of tables?! It really is a hidden gem inside of D.C.

You guys, ever since I ate this, it is all I've been craving. French fries with goat cheese, crispy bacon crumbles, chives, and a side of curry ketchup. SO GOOD!! Was it better than a poutine, you ask? Please don't ask me that. Just don't.

Schnitzel and spaetzle!!!

We spent our last evening there at a D.C United MLS game. It was my first time at a professional soccer game and the atmosphere was so cool! There are constant flags waving in the air and drummers beating their drums. D.C won of course. ;)

I think we'll make it a tradition to "get away" for our anniversaries instead of gift-giving. I can't wait to see where we go next year. I'm kinda hoping for Nashville...or Maine...or Chicago...or anywhere for that matter. Anybody have any recommendations for us? :)

Yay for marriage! I'm glad I chose a husband who is such a good travel buddy, and life buddy. Lolol!

<3 Jenny