4th of July Weekend

Two years ago, we spent an epic weekend at a friend's family's cabin for the 4th of July.

We played games, spent the majority of our time down at the lake, ate way too much food, and had a great time with some of our friends.

This year, we were able to do another cabin trip with our friends, at a different friend's family's cabin.

Our activities included:

Taking a couple of walks/hikes

While not all of us participated in every single activity, we all had a lot of fun. We were able to do some exploring in the area, as well as check out some really cool places a short drive away.

 A blurry part of our crew on a walk to watch the fireworks

The view from the back porch of the cabin

 One of the places some of our group explored on a hike

Watching the fireworks

The place we were in had a really great fireworks show. For being such a small town, I was really impressed with their fireworks show. It blew our local show out of the water. And the biggest bonus was that it was within walking distance of the cabin, and we were able to stake out our viewing spot much earlier in the day. So we had great seats for the show.

 S.W. and I waiting for the show to start

 Our whole group

Visiting a couple of breweries

We all went to the first one and a little over half our group went to the second one. The first one was really cool, as they had a lot of outdoor activities set up for people to participate in, including frisbee golf and corn hole. We packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed sampling some beer. I can't vouch for the second place, as I was not one of the ones that went there, but it sounded pretty fun from what I heard.

The first brewery

 Almost all of us at the brewery

Playing corn hole

Playing lots of games

We brought all of our favorite games and really enjoyed playing all of them. I love having friends that like playing games, as I grew up playing a lot of games with my family. And of course, we had to bring up some video games as well.

Good ol' Super Smash Bros

BBQing/firepit time

We BBQed dinner every night, as the cabin didn't have air conditioning and we didn't want to make the place too warm. It worked out perfectly as every night cooled down so nicely, and it felt really good to be eating dinner outside together. Each couple/person took responsibility of either a dinner, breakfast food, or lunch food, and then everyone brought snacks and drinks. We had so much stuff to begin with, but I was pleasantly surprised with how much we actually went through by the time the trip was over.

Making s'mores with graham crackers and sugar cones

We tried really hard to go spend some time at a nearby lake but every spot was super crowded on the fourth. Next time, we will have to be prepared to be ready much earlier in the day to make that happen.

Some other highlights from the trip included:

Getting coffee with S.W. While some of the others were off doing a hike, she and I took her cute little man downtown to do some walking around. Unfortunately, we forgot about the parade happening, so instead we got a coffee at a local little place and enjoyed our time together there before heading back to the cabin.

Spending time with that little man. Oh man...he is just so much fun. Happy babies that smile all the time just melt my heart. And this little one decided to start crawling this weekend! Just such a joy to be around.

Having an epic dance party with glow sticks. This happened randomly and was so fun. We had some glow sticks and stuff to have fun with for the fireworks, but we forgot to take them down with us. So instead, on the 4th of July, we had a dance party in the cabin.

This was pre-dancing

Getting to know our friends better. It's crazy how much more you find out about people when you spend that much time with them. We had so much fun together and I really can't wait until our next trip!

Love these girls!

Note: Photo credit for some of the pictures goes to my husband, as well as to S.W.

10 Years Ago

It's always funny the things that happen that trigger memories of days past.

With the 4th of July quickly approaching, I'm reminded of this period of time 10 years ago...and how very different my life was.

 During our first break up. We were still good friends

As I've written about before, Josh and I broke up twice when we were dating. Both of those break ups happened very early on in our relationship. The first one made a lot of sense to me, because we had only been together about a week and didn't know each other super well yet. The second one was a lot harder. We had been together solidly for a month and I was already starting to feel like he was the guy I was going to marry...which is part of the reason he broke up with me...he was a little freaked out by that. And it really is understandable. It was very early on and we didn't know each other super well. But sometimes you just know...

But this moment in time ten years ago, I was really hurting. Josh and I were still friends, but he was dating other people and I was talking to someone who I was sort of interested in. But it was hard for me to see what the future was going to hold. I was still attending my old church and helping out with the youth group there. I was planning to go away to school in six months to pursue a degree in Biblical studies with an emphasis on youth ministry. I thought I had everything planned out, but I still liked this boy who stole my heart. And I couldn't get him out of my head, no matter how hard I tried.

During our second time together

It's crazy to think of how hard that summer was for me, even though so much of it was filled with fun times with friends. And it's crazy to see how much things changed in a matter of months. By the end of September, that boy had a change of heart (with some nudges from God and other people in his life), and decided to give us another shot. We both knew this time would be different and it was. Shortly after that, I started attending his church (where we still go now) and I even got a job there working in their youth ministry. I didn't go away to school like I'd planned, but I know now that was for the best. I think if I would have gone, Josh and I probably would have broken up at some point, because neither one of us really wanted to do long distance.

Josh's 21st birthday. A few months after we got back together the last time

And not only would Josh and I probably not be married right now, I wouldn't have more than half of the people I have in my life now. It's crazy to think how meeting one person becomes a catalyst for a lot of other new friends and experiences. Or how a decision to apply for a job can change the whole course of your life, as it did mine.

1st: January 2006 / 2nd: June 2015

So today I'm just thankful for these past ten years and all they've brought. God's plans are always better than mine, and I'm so thankful my life path was different than the one I would have chosen for myself.

Twenty Fifteen Part 6

I can't believe we are already halfway through the year!

We started off the month of June by celebrating my brother-in-law's birthday with a family dinner. It was a fun evening.

Later that week, I went to the wine bar I went to for my birthday with a couple of friends. We had a really good night just catching up on life and enjoying yummy food and drink together.

The next week, K.W. and S.W. came over for dinner and we watched the Bachelorette and Pretty Little Liars together (well, at least the females of us watched those together. The boys hung out in another room). We had a fun night. S.W. and I spend a lot of time texting each other to theorize about Pretty Little Liars.

The next week, I had a wine night with my wine ladies. There weren't very many of us able to make it that evening, but we still had a great night with good conversations.

The next day, I celebrated my friend S.C.'s birthday with a fun group of ladies. Since it was too hot to do our original plan of s'mores around a bonfire, the birthday girl decided to do make your own sundaes instead. It was delicious!

The following day, we headed to our favorite place: Disneyland! We were able to spend our first day there with K.W. and S.W. and their sweet little man, as well as a couple of their friends (the little man didn't stay with us all day. S.W.'s aunt came to pick him up in the afternoon). It was so fun to be in the park with friends again.

We also got to enjoy a special treat that day: we got to eat lunch at Club 33! If you've never heard of it before, it's because it's a pretty secret, super hard to get into restaurant located in New Orleans Square in Disneyland. I can't say how we got in, but it was a big surprise for us, and we found out only a few days before we left that we were going to be going there.

Out on one of the balconies you see while walking through New Orleans Square

Mosaic on the floor just as you enter Club 33

The rest of the day was spent going on as many rides as we could and squeezing every last minute of our time together enjoying the parks. We also got to see the new fireworks show and it was incredible!

The next morning, Josh and I headed to the park for a couple of hours before going to a baby shower for S.W. Even though their cute little man has been out of the womb for awhile, her family was unable to do a shower for her earlier. I was so happy to be included in the festivities. S.W. and her little family got loved on in a big way. After the shower, we headed back to the park. We watched the fireworks again from a different spot and were able to see things we didn't get to see the night before.

At S.W.'s shower

And the following day, we spent a couple of hours in the parks before we headed home. It was a long, but super fun weekend, but it's always so nice to be back home.

A few days after we got home, we went to see Jurassic World. We both really enjoyed it! I thought it was really well done and was a great sequel to the first movie (the second and third are definitely not my favorites).

Later that week, I had another wine night with my wine ladies. We decided to have two this month since not everyone was able to make it on one date. We had a much bigger group this time and had a really wonderful evening catching up on life.

The next day, I was able to have a coffee date with L.B. and her girls. We always have the best conversations when we are together.

The following day, we went to see Inside Out. Such a cute movie (oh, and you may want to bring some tissues. It's a Pixar movie, so you know there's gonna be some moments that bring on the waterworks).

The next day, we celebrated my dad with lunch at my parents' house. My grandparents were also able to join us, which was really nice. We had a good day spending time together and watching a movie together.

Later that week, we went out to dinner with some friends and discussed plans for a fun trip happening in the near future.

The next day, Josh and I went to a fundraiser event for a board he is on for a local ministry. It was one of the hottest days we've had this year, and the event happened to be outside, but thankfully we were able to hang out in the shade.

The next afternoon, I had a coffee date with L.B. It was so nice to be able to spend that time with her.

The following day, K.M. and I went and helped a friend make centerpieces for her upcoming wedding. After that, we went out to dinner with some of our other friends and played games after. It was a really good night.

And we finished off the month with having K.W. and S.W. over with their little one for dinner and PLL.

Other things that happened this month:

I chatted with my BCBs about The Girl on the Train. Crazy book, but it was a good mystery! I read the whole thing in a day and my brain felt so fried afterward. We also read Looking for Alaska, which I enjoyed quite a bit. It was definitely a bit on the sad side, though.

Church has been really good lately and we had an awesome guest speaker in the middle of the month. My Bible study has also been going great. We are just over halfway done with our study of Gideon and it's brought up some great discussions in our group.

And that's a wrap!

National BF Day

National Best Friend Day happened last week.

Josh and I always talk about how silly all these "National Day of" Whatever days are. You can make a national day for anything and people will get excited about it.

But the day itself really got me thinking about my friendships and what they mean to me.

E.O. and K.M. 

S.W.

I definitely have friends that I know I'm much closer to than others, some that I would even consider or call a best friend, but I try to be careful using those labels around other friends. I think because I experienced a lot of hurt in my friendships in jr. high and even my early years of high school, I'm more sensitive to hurting other people's feelings when it comes to labeling my friendships.

My sis-in-law and L.B.

My sis, K.N., M.E., L.B., M.D., L.Z., my sis-in-law, K.M., R.J., and A.G.

With that being said, National Best Friend Day made me really thankful for the people I have in my life. I've come a long way from being that hurt girl who had no friends and I'm so very thankful to be very far past that place in my life. My friends are my family, they are there for me no matter what, and they love me for me. What more could I ask for?

My BCBs! 

E.K. and my sis

So I'd just like to take some time out to say thank you to all of the wonderful friends I have in my life. I don't know where I'd be without them, and I'm so thankful that God knew I would need them in my life.

M.E. and M.D. 

My cute hubby

Twenty Fifteen Part 5

May was a pretty fun month!

At the beginning of the month, we went to see the Avengers. It was really good! Later that evening, we had a fun hang out night with some friends.

We also had a little Cinco de Mayo get together with some of our friends. We ate yummy Mexican food and listened to festive music. It was a lot of fun.

Later that week, I went to a work party with Josh, It was in honor of Josh and his co-workers that worked on a big project this past year and a half. It was really sweet to hear the nice things people said about Josh. I definitely got a little teary-eyed.

That weekend, we went with some of Josh's family members to a cute little town and had lunch in this adorable tea house to celebrate Mother's Day. We had such a fun afternoon there. Later that evening, we celebrated our friend V.M.'s birthday and had a great time with some friends.

This little one had a lot of fun with the tea timer

The next day, we spent the afternoon with my family to celebrate Mother's Day and my dad's birthday. It was nice to have that time with them. We had a yummy lunch and some delicious ice cream cake.

Later that week, I spent some time with L.B. We had a great time catching up on life.

And that weekend, we went to our happy place! Since we got annual passes this year, we are hoping to use them a couple of times before they expire. And we earned a free night at a hotel chain, so it ended up being a really cheap trip! It was a lot busier than it is when we normally go, but we still got to do a lot and it was still a lot of fun. They had a lot of decorations up for the 60th anniversary this year, so that was really cool to see. And Kelly and Michael were taping some shows while we were there, so we stopped to watch some of it for awhile. We got to see part of their segment with Scott Foley from Scandal!

The newly redesigned Grizzly Peak Airfield area of California Adventure

The hatbox ghost! He's a recent addition to the Haunted Mansion, that used to be one of the original ghosts in the ride. It looks really cool in person.

Scott Foley from Scandal being interviewed by Kelly and Michael!

When we got home, we had a fun lunch at a new Panera restaurant in our area! I've only ever been to Panera when I've been traveling, so it was really fun to be able to go to one closer to home. And, of course their food is delicious!

Later that week, I went to see L.B.'s daughter graduate preschool! It's so hard to believe that she's already old enough to be going into kindergarten! Life moves too fast...

A few days later, I celebrated L.B.'s younger daughter's third birthday with her family. I just love her girls so much and I'm so blessed to have them in my life.
Josh and I also watched the live stream of the new Disneyland parade and fireworks show that evening. Even though the quality wasn't the best, it was so good! I can't wait to see them in real life!

That weekend, we saw Tomorrowland with K.M. and V.M. It was a pretty enjoyable movie! We then went out to dinner with them and had a great time.

We had an amazing speaker at church the following day. His stories about being a veteran broke my heart into a million pieces. To see how God could change his life so much...and yet to see all the hurt and brokenness he still deals with and is trying to live with...so powerful.

On Memorial Day, we had a fun BBQ with some friends. It was the perfect way to cap off a really nice weekend. Josh and I spent the majority of our time that weekend cleaning and organizing our house. It's so nice to get rid of clothes and stuff you don't need or use. One of the best feelings in the world.

The next day, we celebrated my sister-in-law's birthday. It was a great evening spent with loved ones.

Oh, this little cheeseball. The first thing she said to me that day was "Hi, where's Uncle Josh?" I love how much she loves him

I love these two so much!

Later that week, I had dinner with my friend S.W. at Panera. We then spent the rest of the evening watching PLL and talking. It was much needed and such a good night.

The next evening, Josh and I went out to dinner with K.M. and V.M. We spent the rest of the evening watching a weird movie about vampires. But it was still a fun night! We always have a good time with them.

The following day, I went wine tasting with my wine ladies. We ate lunch at a place none of us had ever been to before and it was so good! They also had wine tasting there that was free with lunch. After that, we went to a couple of our favorite wineries and then one we hadn't been to before. It was a very fun afternoon.

And the next day, we went to church in the morning and then headed out of town to see one of our favorite bands of all time. They are on their 10 year anniversary tour for our favorite album of theirs, so we were really excited to see this show. I discovered them the year Josh and I started dating. In fact, it was in the same month that we started dating. I heard a couple of their songs on this website (I can't even remember what it's called anymore, but bands would upload three of their songs for people to listen to and then you could find out more info about the band. I used to go on it a lot to find new music to listen to) and decided I had to get this album when it came out. I'm pretty sure I got it the day it was released. I showed it to Josh as we were taking a road trip with two of our other friends and told him I especially liked the 7th song (which later became our song...and it was our first dance song at our wedding). It makes me really emotional just thinking about it. But that album was the soundtrack of most of our relationship early on and it's still one of my favorite albums of all time. Anyway, we spent some time exploring the area before the show. We got macarons at this organic place and they were both pretty good! The show itself was amazing. They played the entire album from start to finish and I sang my heart out. It was so fun! This was our third time seeing them in concert and this was definitely the best time. We saw them the year the album first came out, after we had gotten back together the last time, and it was really awesome then, because it meant a lot to us in our relationship. But hearing it now and seeing how far we've come...it was just really cool.

On our way! It's crazy to think that we've been together for over 10 years now 

They were singing our song in this picture

Other highlights from the month:
I finished watching Friends on Netflix. After only seeing a few snippets of shows when it was originally airing on TV, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. I was super sad when it was over and cried a lot during the final season.

I read the first book in the Veronica Mars series. Being a huge fan of the show, I was so happy that the book picked up where the movie left off...and I felt like I was watching the show as I was reading. So good! I highly recommend it to all Veronica Mars fans.
My BCBs and I also started a book called The Girl on the Train. More on that when I finish it.

One of my favorite shows ended and I was so satisfied with the ending. Revenge! I had no idea how they would wrap everything up but it was perfect and I definitely cried a little.

Things God's been teaching me/I've been learning:
That my weaknesses can be what God uses for His strength. It's a concept I've heard many times and thought I understood, but I'm learning so much more about it through the Bible study I've been doing. I'm glad I don't have to pretend like I can do everything on my own strength, because I definitely can't.

And another month is gone. It's hard to believe this year is almost halfway over already!