Has it really been that long...

Yes it has unfortunately. I realized that I hadn't updated the blog in three months, since before Thanksgiving. Well it is all updated now, enjoy!

My Birthday Getaway Weekend

To celebrate my 27th birthday, Jim and I spent the weekend in Dana Point courtesy of my parents. Our condo was right on Pacific Coast Highway, directly across from the ocean, with an ocean view. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday weekend. The weather was awesome (gotta love Southern California in January) and the time relaxing.


Saturday morning we woke up and went for a bike ride along the beach to Dana Point Harbor where we walked around the shops and had breakfast. Later in the day, as part of my birthday present from Jim, we were pampered with a couples massage. The massage was wonderful and relaxing...I should get massages more often. We had planned on going out for dinner but after the massage we decided to grab dinner on the way back to the condo, watch a movie and play cards. I enjoyed just being able to spend quality time with Jim...even though he beat me a skip-bo.


I have always wanted to go to the San Juan Capistrano Mission and since it wasn't too far from the condo, we decided to go visit Sunday morning before heading home. There is so much history at the mission. We enjoyed walking around the grounds and learning about what life was like at the Mission back in the 1800s and early 1900s.


This was the best birthday weekend I could have asked for, sunny weather, ocean views and quality time with Jim!

I'll leave you with the card that Jim gave me, which fits me perfectly (there is a picture of a girl, guy with flowers and shoe). "She was caught in a love triangle. She was torn between her love for him and her love of shoes. But she had to choose...And frankly, he just didn't match her purse." Jim knows that in reality I would always choose him :)

Time for a New Year

To uphold our New Year's Eve tradition, Andrea and Reggie came up for a slumber a party. We have spent the past four out five New Year's with Andrea and Reggie. The evening started out with an awesome dinner at Zocalo, followed with a movie, dessert and games. And yes, Andrea and I stayed awake until Midnight. Our past track record for staying awake hasn't been the best :)




We love them and hopefully we will be able to continue the tradition for many years to come.

Christmas Time is Family Time

Christmas was special this year because we had a new addition to the family celebrating with us this year. This Christmas it was great to reflect on the meaning of Christmas and the birth of Jesus and spend quality time with our family.

Here are some pictures and highlights:

-Christmas eve after church we had a full house at Matt and Jen's for their annual Christmas Eve Spaghetti dinner. Matt's brother's family and my aunt, uncle, cousin and her little girl all joined us.


-Thought it had snowed Christmas morning...frost is the closest thing we got


-Elijah was a joy to watch while he opened his presents...he was so excited about each gift he got to open. Elsie was as precious as ever...very content and all smiles.


-Christmas day my cousin and I took Elijah and her little girl Jo to the park. They had a blast on the swings, slides and running around.


-Reception for my cousin Jason and his wife Juli who were out visiting from Minnesota.


-Week before Christmas Jim and I had a Christmas together with a wonderful dinner and gifts from each other.


-Spending time with Elijah and Elsie. Elijah can always make me laugh. He is such an entertainer.

-Enjoying the time with the family :)

Maddux & her Friends

Maddux loves her Corban. Corban use to be afraid of Maddy but now can't stay away. Maddux was a good sport and they both were worn out after Corban chased her around all night.

Maddux and Maggie spending some time together while Maggie's parents were out of town. They chased each other around all weekend and were kind enough to take a break for a picture. Despite how they look in this picture they had fun.

Later that night we dressed up the pups to keep them warm. Both were good sports.

Maddux and her bff Roxy posing for Christmas. We had just done a little puppy gift exchange. Both Roxy and Maddux are spoiled little puppy princesses.

Almost had a white Thanksgiving...

To make it feel a little more like fall/winter, Jim and I spent Thanksgiving in Chicago. We were fortunate to be able to spend a week with Jim's family and slip in a trip to Indiana to visit our college and some good friends we hadn't seen in a while.

Here are some of the highlights:
-Dinner at Lou Malnati's with Alli, Paul and Ron (it's a tradition when we are in town)


-Road trip to IWU's campus in Marion where we got to tour the ever expanding campus plus visit with some of my favorite profs. It's hard to believe it has been five years since we graduated.


-Roommate reunion in Indy with Jim's house mates from senior year...with the added bonus of spending extra time with Ethan (Jim's roommate), his wife Stephanie and their little guy Landon


-Whenever we are in Indy, we make sure to meet up with our friend Jen for breakfast


-Dessert with Jim's high school friends and reminiscing the good ol' high school days. Most of his friends that we met up with Jim's known since elementary school...there are some good stories.

-Delicious Thanksgiving meal with Jim's family at Bev's cousins Todd and & Lisa (the food is always fabulous as is the company)


-Woke up at 3:30am to go stand in line for Kohls...it was only 32 degrees...there is always a first for everything and possible a last

-Lunch with Grandma Munsterman...there were two deers and a baby deer walking through the back yard

-I was hoping for some snow but all I got was rain

-Breakfast with some good college friends we hadn't seen in four years.


-Our Sexypilgrim.com shirts courtesy Muscle Milk and Jim's brother, Dan


-Spending time with family, home cooked meals and some rummy!