Hello!
I created this blog before we got married with the hope that I would be an avid blogger after our wedding to keep a virtual document of our life. Fail. Here it is 14 months after our big day and this is my first blog post. Hey, better late than never right? For those reading this you probably know what has happened the last 14 months so I won't bore you with a detailed re-cap. Here's the Spark Notes version of our life since the "I DOs!"
May 21, 2011 - I married my best friend Jeff. Jeff married his best friend Rebecca. (right honey?) Best Day Ever! (Photos courtesy of our photographer Charo)
The week following we honeymooned in beautiful Punta Cana, Dominican Republic where we had a week long of glorious relaxation. We drank yummy tropical concoctions (our favorite being the "Banana Mama"), ate past our stomach's content at each meal, slept more in each day than we probably will again and just held hands as we joyously explored this new place together. It was magical to say the least.
Stud muffin :)
The food looked good... and the food tasted good.
Mmm, I can still taste that broccoli soup.
This peacock was one of the highlights of the whole trip!
I am drinking the previously mentioned, "Banana Mama" goodness.
We probably floated in here for an incalculable amount of hours.
happy honeymooners
June 2011 - Just a few days after returning from our honeymoon, we flew out to Denver for my sissie's masters graduation ceremony from Denver University. (I hope we find ourselves flying to places on airplanes a lot throughout our marriage :) )
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| Newlyweds :) |
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| sister faces |
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| future album cover |
July 2011 - We moved from living in Jeff's bachelor pad apartment in Alexandria to a new apartment, still in Alexandria. We've just signed a new lease so we're here until Fall 2013.
September 2011 - My brother Thomas lives in Orlando and my brother-in-law Michael was in school there as well... so when Paul and Vicki (my father and step-mother in law) decided to go visit Michael, we decided to join the fun! We had a great long weekend visit with everyone :)
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| Paul, Vicki, Jeff, Thomas and me |
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| My big bro! |
November 13, 2011 - Shortly after we got married I was begging to get our own dog. My persistent nagging paid off in November when we visited the Richmond, VA SPCA after running our 1st Half Marathon (as a married couple). We adopted an adorable pup that we named Leia Bonnie Howe! The deal was if we got a dog, Jeff could pick the name... hence the Leia (aka, Princess Leia). She very quickly became the light of our lives. (I repeat, right honey?) Leia is half Rhodesian Ridgeback and half German Shepherd. She is seriously so beautiful. To say she's spoiled is an understatement. I can't wait to have a bigger place so Leia can have many adopted, furry siblings :)
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| Our nephew pup Copper celebrating the victory with us |
I had to resist and limit myself just to a few pictures of this beautiful girl :)
November 2011 - We celebrated Thanksgiving with my in-laws in Newport News but unfortunately, no pictures :(
December 2011 - We celebrated our FIRST Christmas as Mr. and Mrs. Howe! Yay :) We started our tradition of cutting down our own tree and decorating to cheesy Christmas tunes. Then for Christmas day we were with my family in Burke.
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| Did you notice Leia's "pupcake?" |
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| Christmas Eve morning at our apartment |
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| I LOVE Fiestaware so I was thrilled to get more pieces for my Christmas collection. |
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| These are my brothers... |
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| My sisterface with the Princess |
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| Sarzy (my twin!) loves foxes and horses |
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| The hubby and I slow dancing (in my terribly tacky legging things) |
Lets see... then it was 2012!
New Years Eve - We went to a local mexican joint, came home and put on the tv coverage of the ball drop and... fell asleep around 10 pm and woke up well after the ball drop. Then I proceeded to get mad at my husband for us missing the ball drop (whoops, wife fail.).
February (whatever day the Superbowl was) - Then this happened...
I made this Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough dip for a Superbowl party and it was a life changer. It basically represents my entry into Pinterest addiction.
March 2012 - My big sister Emily is working in Tuscon, AZ so after my business trip to Scottsdale, my mom and I went to visit her for a couple days.
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| My amazing mother and me |
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| margaritas! |
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| my big sissie emmy |
April 2012 - My wombmate (get used to that term... its what my twin and I call each other a lot) and I turned... 25! We had a small celebration in Richmond where she lives.
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| Sloughzy and my nephews, Buster and Clyde |
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| Hubby loves grilling |
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| One of my very best friends since early high school lives in Richmond too... so she and her husband came too. |
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| Birthday girl posing with their pups |
We ran our 2nd Half-Marathon together in the Outer Banks and booked a dog-friendly hotel so Leia could come!
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| Leia L.O.V.E.D. the beach |
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| But it sure tired her out... |
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| Hush puppies at our pre-race dinner |
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| We did it! (through the rain and mud!) |
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| Post-run breakfast (We run to eat) |
May 21, 2012 - Time flew by just as they said it would and we celebrated one whole year of marriage! We have God to thank more than anything else for keeping our love strong and faithful. We pray He continues to grow us closer and closer to one another and to Him through this amazing blessing of marriage.
Cooking class
Breakfast before kayaking
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| I made it as cheesy as I could with my Mrs. Howe apron and our Mr. and Mrs. mugs. Hey, why not right? |
We went to dinner at the restaurant in the hotel we had our wedding reception. Waiting for us was this sweet surprise from my thoughtful parents.
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| In front of the church we were married in |
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| Jeff surprised me by taking Leia (yes, he knows his wife is happiest when our dog comes along) and me to a bed and breakfast outside of Leesburg. |
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| We had an amazing dinner! Fried green tomatoes... nom nom. |
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| You know a restaurant is awesome when they bring water with ice cubes (Leia's fav) to your dog |
It was an amazing weekend. I am a lucky lady to be married to the handsome guy above.
June 2012 - We were SO fortunate to be able to join Jeff's family in Cocoa Beach, FL for a vacation ANDDD be able to meet our baby nephew, Langston. Seriously, we had an amazing week and feel blessed for the quality time spent with family and being able to meet this precious new life.
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| The whole group... except Jeff (someone had to take the picture) |
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| LANGSTON!!!! Is he not the most adorable thing in the world? |
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| Proud parents, my brother Thomas and Kristen |
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| Jeff already teaching Langston bad habits |
Ok, phew... so there's a little recap of our life the past 14 months. Okay, so with all those pictures it wasn't that little... but oh well. I couldn't resist! I guess 14 months had more packed into it than I realized. It was fun to re-live a lot of those moments.
Here's a little summary of me, the blogger. The rest you'll get to know over time I'm sure.
- a mid 20s girl born and raised in the insanity that is the DC/Metro area
- grateful to be married to my handsome husband who loves me in a way I always dreamed of being loved
- saved by grace, through faith... in God's Son, Jesus Christ, dying on the Cross for me (and you!), so that my sins would be forgiven
- amazed everyday by the above
- convinced I have the best family and friends in the whole world
- a dog lover to the max (Mommy to Leia... hopefully more pups soon)
- a wannabe foodie
- enjoy red wine
- probably waste too much time watching Bravo, HGTV and the Food Network
I have no idea what I'll end up blogging about, if anything. But here goes... stay tuned.
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