Life is Beautiful

This past month has been full of so much goodness.

I've been spending a lot of time with my friend who was overseas. We've been able to get together weekly since she's been back here. It's been a lot of fun being able to catch up with her, as well as to get to know my goddaughter better. Josh and I went out to dinner with the two of them last week and had such a good time.

Our littlest dinner date...our gorgeous goddaughter  

My oldest friend and her beautiful daughter...I'm so excited to meet my nephew (who's hiding in this picture) in about a month or so!

We saw SpiderMan and X-Men with some friends.

Josh went on a short guys' retreat and I spent the evening with some beautiful young women. We ate pizza, hung out in the spa, watched The Pirate Fairy movie, and talked about Jesus. It was such a fun night.

We celebrated Mother's Day and my dad's birthday with my family. We were able to spend the whole day with my parents, and my sister and her husband. It was a really fun day.

My book club friends and I decided to start reading Harry Potter together, as one of us has never read it before! As my friend Megh and I are in love with all things Harry Potter, we decided we had to read it together. It's been so fun being able to re-read the books and to chat about them.

I went to a bridal shower for the fiance of one of Josh's best friends (the last of dot35 to get married). It was a lot of fun.

We also went to a wedding reception/open house for our friends that got married a couple of months ago. They had a very small ceremony and decided to do a little party to celebrate with those they weren't able to invite to the wedding.

I just love this kid

My oldest niece turned 7! Even though we weren't able to celebrate with her, we were able to chat with her on FaceTime on her birthday. I can't believe she is already that old! It seems like just yesterday we were heading to see her after they brought her home from the hospital.

A collage I made of my niece for her birthday

I had a fun wine night with the friends I went wine tasting with in January. We have decided to try and make our wine nights a more regular occurrence. It's just a fun evening of eating, sipping a little wine, and diving into each other's lives. I'm really enjoying our evenings together.

We went to a two-year-old's birthday party. I can't believe how quickly these kids grow up. I went to see this little beauty in the hospital after she was born. And her first birthday seems like it was just a month or two ago. It's crazy how fast time flies...

We celebrated my sister-in-law's birthday with a fun night of Mexican food and the Bachelorette. And a little bit of wine and milkshakes from Sonic. It was a good night.

This girl loves Uncle Josh. And loves playing on his iPad with him

I went dancing with some friends at our favorite place. We always have a lot of fun dancing to some of our favorite (and even a few of our not-so-favorite) songs.

And this past weekend, our friends from CO flew in to celebrate the graduation of an awesome young man that Josh and I have had the privilege of knowing for the past seven and a half years. It's hard to believe he'll be heading off to college in a few months!

I went over on Saturday morning and stole my CO bestie so we could grab breakfast together. It was such a good start to the day. We seriously have the best conversations and she always challenges me and encourages me in such amazing ways. We then went to that young man's graduation party. It was so fun to be reunited together with some friends we haven't seen in a while or don't get to see in the same capacity anymore. Josh and I spent most of the day over there with them and then went out with our friends from CO. We laughed and had some more good conversations and laughed some more. Our friendship with them is so easy and we are so grateful for them.

 I made sure we took this picture, especially since we didn't take a lot of pictures when we went to CO this year...and we took no pictures with John!

Today my book club friends and I were able to get together in person, as my CO bestie is a part of our club (and happens to be the one that is reading Harry Potter for the first time!). We met up in a Starbucks and talked Harry Potter for almost two hours...and then kept the party going with lunch. Our friends had to fly back home today, which is always so bittersweet for me, but I am so thankful we were able to spend so much time together. There's never enough time, but the time that we do have together is so sweet.

My BCB. Otherwise known as my CA bestie and my CO bestie. I love these girls so very much

And tonight we celebrated my brother-in-law's birthday. It was a really fun evening spent with both sides of the family (his and mine).

A couple of not-so-fun things happened this month as well:

My grandma had to have brain surgery, as she had some complications from a bad fall earlier this year. Thankfully she made it through just fine and is at home recovering. It was definitely a scary couple of days, though.

I also tried something this month to try and help with my pain issues. As hopeful as I was that it would make a difference, it really just made me miserable and jacked me up a bit. It was a two-week thing and I've been done with it for over two weeks now...and I'm just now starting to feel more like myself again. I'm glad I tried it, to rule out one more thing on this journey, but I really wish it wouldn't have been so awful...and that it would have helped!

Overall, this past month was a really good one. The rest of June is pretty busy and crazy...but it's also going to be a lot of fun. I'm really looking forward to all we have planned.

Christmas Recap

The last few days have felt like a whirlwind.

Josh and I both worked half days on Christmas Eve. We went to a church service in the afternoon and then headed over to my grandma's house to celebrate Christmas Eve with my mom's family. Spending Christmas Eve at my grandparents's house has always been our tradition. There have only been a couple of years that we haven't been there. After that, we went to Josh's grandparents's house and spent time with his mom's family.

The next morning, we got up early and went to see my niece receive a visit from Santa Claus. She was pretty scared of him at first. It took her awhile to warm up and apparently she figured out that he was really Papa. After that, we went over to my parents's house for our traditional breakfast. We watched the Disney Christmas Parade over there as well.

She was fine opening Santa's gifts...as long as she was far away from him.

 My hubby and my brother-in-law. This is a traditional picture for them. Putting their stockings on their feet after they empty them.

After that, we headed over to Josh's parents's house. We had Christmas dinner over there and spent time with some of his dad's family.  And the last thing we did that evening was our tradition of going to see a movie with our friends. We saw Saving Mr. Banks and loved it!

The girls after the movie

The next morning, we woke up bright and early and headed out with his family for a trip to Disneyland! His brother that lives out of state wanted to take his girls there after Christmas, so all of us here went to meet them there. We had a family dinner in the evening on Thursday and then walked around Downtown Disney.

All of my nieces together again!

The following morning, Josh and I woke up very early and headed over to Disneyland to get in line to get into the park. We ended up being there before opening and after closing...about 19 hours! The park was very busy and full of people most of the day. I had never seen it that busy before. The lines were crazy for some of the rides. Even trying to get food was a pain. But, it was so much fun to spend the day with his family and to see my nieces have an amazing time in Disneyland.

I had to start the day with a coffee. It was really cold!

The babies didn't like the Haunted Mansion very much

In front of the giant Christmas tree on Main Street 

 On the tea cups with our oldest niece

 The whole family

 I love the snow on Sleeping Beauty Castle

 We got our traditional picture in at the end of the day...way after midnight

The next day, we had lunch with everyone at the Rainforest Cafe and then headed home. It was hard to say goodbye but I am so thankful we were able to spend the time together that we had. I just wish we would have gotten more sleep!

So even though Christmas was over a few days ago, it doesn't quite feel over to me yet. Disneyland was still decorated for Christmas, so everything there was extra magical. We just took down our tree and decorations today because we didn't have time to take anything down before we left. So for a girl that loves Christmas as much as I do, this has definitely been a great week.

I can't believe tomorrow is the last day of 2013! I know I've already shared some of my thoughts on the year but I do have more to share. That will have to come later. Until then, have a blessed and safe Happy New Year!

Magical

It's cold and rainy today.
I was really bummed out this morning when I woke up...until I realized how amazing the weather is today. It instantly lifted my spirits. I pulled out my fake Uggs (had to shake them out to make sure there weren't any spiders making a comfy home in them. Hey, if I was a spider, I totally would), my skinny jeans, and a warm sweater. Today finally feels like fall. It's cold and dreary...and magical.
I went to a Scentsy party today and picked up the order I made at the last one. All my Christmas stuff is here! Now I am really in the mood to turn on my Christmas music, pull out my decorations, and make some yummy cookies. I don't care if it's the middle of October...I am ready!!
I suppose I can wait a little bit longer...but not much :)