Retreat 2015

I went on my church's women's retreat this month.

One of our friends wasn't able to join us this weekend, so we took lots of pictures with her plate

This was my second church-sponsored women's retreat, but it was my fifth retreat. Our old Bible study used to put on our own men's and women's retreats each year, and they were so incredible. So full of Jesus and learning and worship and drawing closer to each other.

Our group after a beautiful walk

While I shouldn't compare the two at all, because they are vastly different, it was a little rough at times. But thankfully, the women I went with wanted to make this weekend about Jesus and about living life together, and those two things happened.

At lunch. So delicious!

We started off our weekend by eating at a yummy Greek restaurant on our way. I tried lamb for the first time in Vegas and I loved it. This place had gyro bites with lamb beef and it was delicious! My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

 Before dinner on Friday night

A little bestie love

The rest of the weekend involved sessions (our speaker was amazing!), game time (which some of us didn't participate in), a yoga stretch class (which was super relaxing), a talent show, small groups, and a lot of free time (which we used to do some quiet time and to talk about Jesus).

 At our session Friday night

After our yoga class

My small group

I also had some wonderful talks with my girlfriends about life and Jesus. We went on a couple of lovely walks and were able to admire God's creation. We prayed for one another and cried together and just encouraged each other. I know that this weekend would not have been the same without those beautiful women and the truths that they spoke.

My beautiful friend L.B. and I. We were teaching her how to play blackjack

Before our session on Saturday night

I came home exhausted from lack of sleep, a little sore from the beds and the yoga, but my heart was full of love for my Savior and for these amazing women in my life.

We found a beautiful outdoor cathedral on our walk Sunday morning. This is the picture I took there 

Before our final session Sunday morning. I love these women so much!

Photo cred: some of my beautiful friends, as well as the women's retreat photographers. I barely took any pics!

Easter Weekend

When Josh's oldest brother and his family came out in January for Josh's great grandma's memorial service, we decided to try to take a trip out to see them over Easter, because Josh had a four day weekend.

I was really nervous at the time about going, because of my back and neck issues. I don't do well when I have to sit for a long period of time while traveling, so I wasn't sure I would be able to handle it. Thankfully, with the treatments I've been getting, we were able to decide about a month ago that we could make it work.

Josh's older brother and his family were able to join us as well, so we traveled with them, which was really nice.

At the start of our travels!

We arrived there Friday afternoon and had dinner at their house. It was so fun to see our nieces and nephew interacting together. Our two youngest nieces are only two months apart and love each other so much. I really enjoyed watching their relationship blossom.

The next day, we went with them to a little old western town that has wild burros that roam the streets. The kids had a good time feeding them.

BFF cousins

Sisters-in-law

We got to explore their city a little bit that afternoon and evening. We had a yummy dinner at a local brewery and got shaved ice down by the water.

The next morning, we went to church with them for Easter. It was so cute to see the girls in their matching outfits. And of course our nephew was super adorable in his little outfit as well.

The girls did an Easter egg hunt that afternoon and we had a yummy BBQ with them before we left to head home.

It was a short visit but we had such a good time with everyone. I'm really glad we were able to make it work to go see them.

Twenty Fifteen Part 3

March was not quite as busy as February, but it was still a little crazy.

I had a coffee date with my dear friend L.B. that ended up turning into a wine night later that evening. We had such good conversations over coffee, and wine and cheese. It was a great day.

The next day, Josh and I went to a fundraiser at a local winery for some of the people at our church that are going on a missions trip with Happy Feet this summer. It was a fun night of chatting with some of the people from our church.

The next day, we went out to dinner with some friends to a restaurant we had never been to before. It was pretty yummy! After that, we headed to Dutch Bros and I got to try it for the first time. It was delicious!

I had a craft night the next week with some friends. I didn't finish my project but it was a pretty ambitious one for me. A yarn wrapped wreath with handmade felt flowers. I was only able to finish the flowers but I'm hoping to have a picture of the finished wreath soon!

The next day, I had a sale to sell off my Scentsy stock. I decided back in January that I was ready to be done selling it, so I decided to have a sale to get rid of the product I had on hand. Thankfully, I've been able to sell more than half of it!
Later that afternoon, we attended a memorial service for a friend's daughter. It was a very sad time, but I was glad we were able to be there to support our friends.
After that, we went to see Cinderella with some friends! It was such a good movie. I highly recommend it. We then went out to dinner with our friends and had a fun night hanging out.

The next day, we attended a vision meeting at our church. Our new pastor and our church staff came up with a new vision for our church, so they wanted to start sharing some of the plans with the congregation. Josh and I are both excited for the new changes.
After that, we met up with some friends for sushi. And then we watched the Walking Dead together.

We spent St. Patrick's Day with some friends and family. We had the traditional corned beef and cabbage and lots of other yummy food and drinks!

My boy and I sporting our green

Later that week, I got to celebrate with my friend L.B. as she turned 30! A group of 18 women shared dinner with her at a yummy restaurant. It was such a fun night and I'm so glad she was able to have that celebration!

The birthday girl and I

We were missing a couple of ladies by the time this picture was taken

The next day, I went to see Insurgent with a couple of friends. While it was a good movie, there was a lot they changed from the book. I think if you haven't read the books, you'll definitely enjoy the movie. If you have, you might have some issues with it.

The next week, my friend S.W. and I got together and watched the PLL finale together! I may or may not have binge watched most of the episodes of the show the two weeks prior to the finale, to try and figure out what they were going to reveal to us.

Later that week, I spent some time with my friend L.B. We always have the best conversations and I'm so thankful to have her in my life.

The next night, I went out dancing with some friends. I hadn't been dancing since Vegas, so this night wore me out. We danced for almost three hours straight with no breaks. It was a lot of fun, but I was so exhausted by the time we left.

The next night, we had some friends over for dinner and games. I always enjoy spending time with people over a meal. And laughing a lot. Both are very good for my heart.

Other highlights from this month:
My BCBs and I finished the book Blink and Caution, which was crazy, but really good. We also read The 5th Wave, which was also really good. Think the Walking Dead, but with aliens. I can't wait to read the second book, and the third one comes out in May (EDIT: It comes out in May...of next year! So very sad...)!
My husband and I are trying to stick with healthier eating habits. I was much better about it a year ago, but it was his decision to try harder this time, so I'm joining him on this journey.
My myofascial appointments are going so well! My body is finally really starting to "release" and "unwind" and while it's the weirdest feeling to feel my muscles and limbs move on their own, it's also super exciting to know that my body is starting to go back to normal.

I've decided to start sharing a little more personal stuff on these monthly updates as well.

Things God has been teaching/reminding me this month:
How important prayer really is. Not only did our pastor talk about it this month, but I've been given a lot of opportunities to pray for people and for different situations. And while I know that just because I pray for something, it doesn't mean that situation is going to go the way I want it to...but I know that my prayers are heard and they are answered...just maybe not always in the way(s) I expect or like. After writing last month about how much of a struggle prayer is for me, God sure has given me a lot of situations to be praying through more.

The importance of knowing someone before judging them. I think it's really easy to assume things about someone when you hear them talk or you see them do something, but you don't really have a relationship with them to know if your assumptions are true or not. I know I can't judge someone's heart anyway, but if I don't know who they are, if I don't take the time to have a conversation with them to see where they are coming from, I might be missing out on getting to know someone really great. It's one of the reasons I hate social media. It's great for sharing our lives with people, but because we don't usually share all the hard and not so pretty things publicly, it's easy for people to assume things about us that may not be true.

How incredibly damaging gossip can be. I know we all know how wrong it is to gossip, but that doesn't stop us from gossiping anyway (or maybe that's just me?). I don't mean to or plan to gossip, but it still happens sometimes. And some situations happened this month where I heard some gossip being shared that really angered me so much. I think we forget how our casual conversations or even things we think are harmless to share with someone, can sometimes get back to the person we are talking about and really hurt their feelings. It's just better to talk to the source. Period. Talk to the person you have a problem with or have a question about something. Just like the whole judging thing. It's better to talk directly to someone than to talk about them behind their back, no matter how hard that conversation might be. It's Biblical to go directly to the person first:

If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you gained your brother.

-Matthew 18:15 

(ESV - it goes on to say what to do if he/she doesn't listen to you, and at that point you can involve others, but you're not supposed to before that)

So with that, March was a good month full of love and family and friends.

Twenty Fifteen Part 2

Here's a little recap of February:

We watched the SuperBowl over at Josh's brother's house. While none of us really cared much about the game, we were all rooting against Seattle. I love the food and the commercials. It's pretty much the only reason I watch the SuperBowl.

I got to hang out with one of my dear friends A.G. It's always so good to catch up with her.

Later that week, we headed to Vegas!

(If you missed it, you can read about our trip here)

The next week, I had a birthday lunch with my massage therapist. We try to go out to lunch every year between our two birthdays to celebrate. We went to a local restaurant that has really yummy food and had such a good time.

We spent Valentine's Day with my sister and her hubby, and her brother-in-law (who happens to be one of Josh's best friends) and sister-in-law. We had a yummy BBQ outside with the fire pit and played a fun game. It was a really good night.

The next afternoon, we went to the Dinner Theater at our church. Josh and I used to be really involved with it, when we were in/helping the youth group. This one was really fun, as their theme was Disney-related.

She told me how much she loved me after we took this picture

That next weekend, I spent a wonderful evening with my wine ladies. We did a wine pairing night and had such good conversations. The next day, we went to a wine sale and were able to get a lot of great wines for such a good price. We went out to eat after that and just had a great day together.

The next morning, we headed to our happy place!

(If you missed it, you can read about our trip here)

The day after we got back, we had a fun game night with some friends. It was such a great evening.

February also included me singing for worship once, a couple of other fun nights with friends, and my BCBs and I started a new book. I've been continuing with the myofascial release appointments and they've been going so well. Oh, and it's Girl Scout cookie season, so that's been fun, too!

February was another busy month, but it was a good one!

Married Life (7 Years Edition)

We got to spend our anniversary in our happy place this year!

Traditional picture!

(And for those that aren't aware, Married Life is the title of the song in Up that plays in the beginning of the movie, when they show the montage between Carl and Ellie of their married life. It's also a song that plays on Main Street in Disneyland and we get quite excited when we hear it while we are there)

It rained for half of the first day we were there, as well as for about an hour of the second day...but the rest of the trip had great weather! It was the first trip in awhile to Disneyland where we weren't sweating all day long!

Disneyland in the rain is still fun!

We got to do a couple of things we'd never done before. One was to try out the Alfresco Tasting Terrace in California Adventure, where you can order some wine and sit out on a patio overlooking Cars Land. Even though we did order some wine and a cheese box and we sat out on a patio, we found out after we got home that we went to the wrong place! The Alfresco Tasting Terrace is located upstairs of the area that we went, so we weren't able to order off the full menu. It was still fun though, and we had a very relaxing time enjoying what we did get.

He got a red blend and I got a cabernet. Both were delicious!

The second thing was so much fun...and that was getting to ride in the Lilly Belle! For those that don't know, the Lilly Belle is a train car (a caboose) that Walt wanted to have for his wife. He also wanted it to be a place that he could relax with dignitaries and maybe even have a cocktail. Unfortunately, due to the fact that he was working on a lot of other projects, the Lilly Belle had to take a backseat and did not come to fruition until 10 years after Walt passed away. Some of the furniture on the Lilly Belle, including the chair Josh was sitting in, were purchased from the Queen Mary. It's a beautifully decorated car and we were so excited to be able to get a reservation to ride in it. It only runs when the weather is good, as it does not have AC and can get very hot in the summer. They also don't usually run it when it's raining. We have been trying for the past couple of years to go on it and this was the first trip that the weather was nice enough to be able to do so. I'm so glad we had such an awesome conductor with us to tell us some great stories about the Lilly Belle, Walt, and the parks themselves. The ride went by too fast, but I'm thankful we were able to experience it...and have the pictures to prove it!

 Sitting on the car purchased from the Queen Mary

Walt and Lillian

We had such a good time enjoying our favorite rides. A few of the rides had been updated since our last trip (The Storybook Land Canal Boats now have a Frozen scene and Alice in Wonderland added some really cool animation throughout the ride), so we were excited to see the changes. We also were able to see an extended preview of Cinderella that is coming out in a few weeks, which was really fun!

The park was getting ready to close and we were the only ones on our Pirates boat! Such a fun way to experience the ride! 

And because we were there on our actual anniversary, we got to enjoy our dinner at the Blue Bayou on the day we got married 7 years ago! It was such a wonderful way to celebrate our love and the commitment we made to God and to each other, on that very day. I also tried my first Mint Julep (non-alcoholic, being Disneyland and all) and it was delicious!

Waterside seating at the Blue Bayou! 

Overall, it was such a good trip. The lines were short and we were able to do so much. We were also able to get a lot of sleep and just enjoy our time there. I was reminded when we got home of how nice it is to be able to go just the two of us, because we have our favorite things we like to do together, that other people might not enjoy as much. We have our traditions of where we like to take pictures and where we enjoy eating, and I'm so thankful it's a place we both mutually love.

He thought we should do Bullwinkle ears  

In line for Toy Story Midway Mania

I'm so thankful we were able to enjoy our happy place again to celebrate our 7 years of marriage!