2012 It Was Nice Knowing You

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I thought it would be fun (at least for me, hehe) to go and pick out one (or two) of my favorite posts from each month of 2012. 

January - Big New! After keeping it to ourselves for a couple of months Will and I finally announced that we were getting married!

February - Four Years I thought it was a pretty fitting way to celebrate four years with Will with our engagement photos! 

March - Why Hello There Again A little peek into us getting our little tiny 150sq ft cabin ready to move into. 

April - Adventures in Our Tiny Cabin Home Another fun look into our little cabin, and my super lovely yellow door!

May - Feeling Accomplished Our little greenhouse and DIY watering system. I can hardly wait to start planting again!

June -  Black Raspberry Cobbler This has to be one of my favorite spring/summer desserts! 

July - I'm Too Excited For My Own Good We added the littlest Wigs to our family!! 

          Mom I don't really talk about my mom very often on here, but the couple of times that I have I really liked.

August - If You Really Knew Me A fun little way to share more about myself.

September - And I'm Back Some photos of the best bachelorette weekend ever, with my favorite ladies! 

October - What a Week or Two We got married! 

November - Big News! The documentary Will and I have set out to make over the next couple of months! 

December - The Wedding Pt1, 2, 3 Of course the wedding photos were going to make the list! 

2012 was a pretty wonderful year, and I can hardly wait to see what 2013 has in store for us! I hope everyone has a fun and safe time tonight! Happy New Year! 

x's and o's

Overlook

We have been having such a great time out in Phoenix. Christmas was a lot of fun filled with lots of games and way too much Chinese food, a wonderful tradition we started last year. I think this is one of the first times we have been out here and haven't had tons of work keeping us inside. Instead we've been doing lots of fun little things, like driving up one of the near by mountains to take some photos during sunset. 

This is one of my favorite places to go in Phoenix. Not only are the houses near this look out absolutely gorgeous, but the overlook of the valley is simply stunning. On really clear days you can see what seems like everything in the valley. One of the possible downsides of living in a valley is the smog tends to get stuck, until we get some high winds to blow it over the mountains. Lucky it was a pretty clear when we were up there. 

Those clouds were just so insanely beautiful with the sun hitting them!

We got a new camera recently and have been having so much fun messing around with it. I think we might go on a little day trip south tomorrow to really play with it, so if that happens I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of fun pictures coming in the next couple of days, hehe! 

Hope everyone has been having a lovely weekend so far! 

x's and o's

Merry Christmas!

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So if you've been following me for a little while you know that Will and I have been doing silly Christmas cards for our friends and family pretty much since we started dating (last year and prior years). This year's is no different, except we have a new addition to the family: little Wigs! We always have so much fun doing coming up with the goofy idea and then seeing if we can actually pull it off. I have a feeling this tradition is going to last until we are old and grey. 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day filled with lots of fun! 

x's and o's

Violet Beauregarde

This sweater is another piece that I recently found in my closet at my dad's house. As I mentioned in a previous post I only got to take two suitcases of stuff with me when I first moved back east, so lots of fun pieces got left back at my Dad's house. I am always thrilled when I find something from years ago, or even better something of my mom's, as is the case with this sweater. 

I don't know too much about this sweater, but I made sure it was one of my mom's pieces I saved when we cleaned out her closet a couple of months after she passed. It is oddly sad in a way not knowing more about it, I think that comes from not knowing more about my mom when she was younger. But I have seen a couple old pictures of her wearing it, which always makes me happy.

sweater // my mom's

jeans // Forever 21

shoes // Lulu's
necklace // my Nana's

We were over at my brother's house when we took these photos and their dog Brooklyn decided to come be in some of the photos. How could I say no, he is pretty much the cutest! They are going to bring him over on Christmas to Dad's house where we we will introduce him to Wigs, I am keeping my fingers crossed for a pleasant meeting. And I won't lie I am really hoping they will become the best of friends and just start snuggling with one another right away, but that might be asking a bit much for the first meeting hehehe! 

This is probably the best face I have ever made, haha! 

On a side note, I had no idea that on Christmas Eve Eve it would be nearly impossible to find a restaurant that was open. We went to three different places for dinner before finally settling on IHOP, haha! It was breakfast for dinner and it was pretty darn delicious. I actually don't think I have been to an IHOP in years, but as a kid it was always my birthday dinner pick, mainly because of the chocolate chip pancakes. Good times! 

Dev, Brian and Dad trying not to pick out more than their stomachs can hold, hehe.

Happy Christmas Eve everyone! 

x's and o's

Oh Christmas Tree

This year we got dad's Christmas tree out of storage and put it up. I must say we looked pretty silly driving down the road with a giant box tied to the top of my little car haha. We have been using this fake tree for quite a while now, and though I do miss having a real tree every so once in a while, I love this fella. 

We decided to go with just candy canes as the ornaments this year, just to keep it super simple, though I think next year I will try to find some of our old ornaments because I think it would be pretty darn fun to go through them. Especially if I could find this super silly angel tree topper I made when I was super little, I believe her head was made out of a walnut shell haha! 

Will made sure to get all the tall parts I couldn't reach hehe. 

And of course Wigs did her part of guarding the bottom of the tree from any invaders or something haha.

I can hardly wait for Christmas to be here! This year instead of doing brunch here we are going to my dad's friends house which I am pretty excited for. As much as I enjoy cooking I also love just getting to kick back and not have to worry about any of it. I also have a feeling that there is going to be more delicious food than my belly can handle! I wonder if it would be socially acceptable to bring my own To-Go box with me, hehe! 

I think today we are going to brave the stores for just a couple more goodies for the family to open Christmas morning! I'm hoping it won't be too bad, but I have a feeling that is super wishful thinking. Do you any of you guys still have to hit up some stores? 

Happy Friday! 

x's and o's

Spicy Avocado Grilled Cheese

One of my favorite things about coming back to the Southwest is that you won't be paying an arm and leg for one avocado. I get so sad at the mountain when we think about having burritos for dinner, because it isn't the same with out some yummy guacamole on top. So when we come out to visit my dad I get to add it to some of my foods, like grilled cheese sandwiches! Another thing that you should know about me is that I absolutely love grilled cheese sandwiches, because they are kind of amazing. 

For this one we used pepper jack cheese (which is one of my favorite cheeses to use on them), and placed the avocado in between the slices. I think the only thing I would do differently next time is add a tomato with it. If you have never had a grilled cheese with tomato you are missing out because it is quite delicious. How do you guys like your grilled cheese? 

On a side note where has this month gone? It's already the 19th! I guess we have just been enjoying our time out in Arizona so much that the days are just zooming by. I've never thought it was very fair that fun days seem to go by really quickly then those awful days just drag on forever, I guess it's one of life's cruelest jokes, hehe.

Hope everyone has been having a great week so far! 

x's and o's

Movie Dates and Dresses

One of my favorite things about visiting Phoenix is that we get to go out a lot more often, which means I get to dress up! Not that I don't just randomly get dressed up on the mountain, but there is something more fun about getting dressed up and actually going out somewhere whether it be a movie, dinner, or drinks. I have to admit this outfit has officially become my favorite! It's just so incredibly comfy, and I am all about comfy when it comes to clothes. Especially shoes, my feet have a pretty darn low pain tolerance. 

cardigan, shoes and tights // Target

dress, belt // Forever 21

necklace // FredFlare

I wore this outfit out on date night with Will the other night. We were lucky enough to get tickets to an advanced screening of the movie Warm Bodies. We really liked it, definitely not your typical romantic comedy, I mean it did involve zombies, hehe. And Rob Corddry kind of stole the movie with all of his beyond amazing one liners, so funny!  

This picture makes me laugh so hard! This is the face I made when the neighbors dogs saw us and started barking at me. I was startled and worried maybe my neighbors would come to the window to see what they were barking at haha! I'm just not use to another other people me take my outfit posts, except for the deer lurking in the bushes. I've never actually see the deer, but I just know they are there hehe.

Can you guys believe it's already Friday?! Do you guys have any fun plans this weekend? 

x's and o's

Vanilla Sugar Cookies

One of my absolute favorite things about the holiday season is that it is socially acceptable for me to make dozens of cookies, I'm talking about an absurd amount! I have always loved to bake things almost more than eating them, almost, hehe. The only problem is I need to find more people to give them out to because otherwise I'd have to eat them all myself, right? I would't want them to go to waste! 

Recipe adapted from the lovely Heather.

Ingredients:

3 sticks of softened unsalted butter (1 1/2 cups)

4 eggs room temperature

1 1/2 cup sugar

3-5 Tbsp vanilla 

5 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp backing powder

Cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Add one egg at a time until combined. Add vanilla. Mix together dry ingredients in a separate bowl and slowly add to wet ingredients. Once mixed wrap dough and refrigerate over night.

Take dough out of fridge and let sit for 15 mins. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Flour surface, knead dough a little bit, and then roll dough out (1/4" to 1/2"). Cut with cookie cutters and bake for 7-9 minutes until golden brown.

For the Royal Icing I used this recipe, and can I just say that meringue powder is the most amazing invention ever!  

I found all of my mom's old cookie cutters.

I'm keeping it real here and showing you guys that some of my cookies came out more black than golden brown, please don't judge, hehe. My dad's oven is pretty ancient and thinks that leaving cookies in an extra minute to make sure they are completely cooked means to char the heck out of them, but adding enough frosting fixes everything.

I'd like to say that because I was baking at dad's house and I didn't have all my baking tools that the cookies look like a two year old frosted them, but that's just how I frost my cookies. I'm a pretty firm believer in it doesn't have to look pretty to taste super yummy.

What are some of your favorite holiday activities? 

Happy Wednesday everyone!

x's and o's

Little Bits and Pieces

1// Wigs seems to be liking dad's house a lot, especially the big tree in the backyard. 2// One of the neighborhoods near my dad's that we explored on one of our walks. 3// Getting ice cream with my brother, sister-in-law, and their adorable dog Brooklyn. 4// Wig showing off her new kitty caps. Dad has got some really nice couches that we really wanted to make sure Wigs didn't "accidentally" sink her claws into. They work really great, but I want to meet any cat that will calmly let you put them on and then not move for 5 mins haha! 

What have you guys been up to lately?

x's and o's

Wedding Pt 3

The last part of the wedding photo extravaganza that has been going on this week. I hope you all enjoyed looking at them as much as I did sharing them. 

When it came to my ladies dress I took after Hannah's wedding and let everyone chose whatever style of dress they wanted. I just gave them the color palette and they did the rest: they did an absolutely fantastic job! 

The necklace was one of my mom's favorites, so I thought it would be just prefect for this special day.

Will's groomsmen had some pretty sweet jumping moves. 

I think this is my favorite picture! 

It was so cold driving around in the back of the truck. 

As the sun was going down the fire pit became really popular hehe. 

The pies seemed to be a real big hit! I am a little bummed that I was busting too many moves on the dance floor to snag a piece of the mixed berry or blueberry pie. 

All photos by the amazing Megan! And she does travel! 

Great food, music and friends, it was such a great day!

Part 1 // Part 2

x's and o's