Bittersweet - Saying Goodbye to Sophie

Last week was rather bittersweet for our family. Kevin's grandmother, Sophie, passed away so we traveled to Maine (where Kevin is from) to attend her funeral. Though the circumstance that brought us together was very sad, we were also able to see friends and family we seldom see and that part of the trip was just wonderful. We love and will miss Sophie!! We feel very blessed to know we will see her again.

This picture was taken just last summer. Sophie was such an amazing person and always so full of energy!

Kevin's parents live in such a neat area, all the houses in their area are on a few acres and there are lots of wooded areas in between the homes. Every morning, Kevin and I went for a nice long walk - it was such a nice little treat for us. I don't know about you but mornings in our house aren't exactly relaxed so it was so nice that we were able to have this time. I think Maine is absolutely gorgeous so, of course, I had to bring my camera on our morning walks. ;)

I just love this little side porch, Kevin's mom decorates it for every season - this picture isn't the best but, she has orange lights on the tree.

This little area over looks a pond that isn't very full now, but in the Spring and Summer it's pretty full. In the summer, that bench is a great place to relax with a book and some sweet tea....that's right sweet tea in Maine. Ha!

One of the neighbors homes - love their Christmas decor!!

A little pond...once it's iced over, it's a great place to do some ice skating.

Yeah, I don't really know why I like this picture so much - I just love that little nest!!!

Kevin's parents house through the trees, you can just see their red front door. I love red front doors!! Not sure if our house could pull off a red front door though....hmmm....something to look into though.

Backyard garden, lots of yummy fruits, veggies and herbs come from this little garden.

Every week, Kevin's parents attend line dancing classes. They love it! They do all kinds of line dancing from Country (obviously) to Irish line dances. So, they invited us to go with them - we had a great time!! Some of those dances are kinda complicated!! It was great - lots of laughs that night...definitely what we all needed!!

Here were are after our class. Yeah, had to put my hair up - it turns out line dancing is a bit of a workout!!

Kevin's sister, Eileen, is pregnant with twins (yay, yay, yay!!!) and is on super strict bed rest....we visited everyday. We loved spending this time with her!! She is so much fun and you can't help but laugh when she is around. Eileen and Matt, her husband, are going to be wonderful parents! We just can't wait to meet those twins!!!

Love this picture!!

Yes, I'm on my tip toes....being short isn't very fun :(

Our last night there, Kevin's parents took us to dinner at The Dolphin Striker - the restaurant where they got engaged!! How neat, huh?!?!

Relaxing Weekend

What a wonderful and relaxing weekend! Sadly, Kevin was on out-of-town until late Saturday evening....so, Molly & I decided to turn lemon into lemonade!!!

Friday after work I grabbed a Papa John's pizza, Starbucks coffee ice cream and a super girl movie (Love Happens - pretty girlie, in case you're wondering - ha!)....headed home and had a great evening in.

Saturday morning, I slept in...which was a-mazing!!! If you haven't slept-in in a while I highly recommend it!! Super relaxing!!! Then I headed to Omaha's downtown, the Old Market, and took Molly for a loooonnnnggggg walk....of course we went by a few of my downtown favs.....

After a extremely cold winter, it's pretty neat to finally be out and about again. Then, I headed off to get a mani/pedi. In case you were wondering, I chose this soft pink color - it's OPI's Sweetheart.

I just love how versatile this color it!! Plus, I've been wearing a lot of reds lately so I thought it was time to soften things a bit....perfect color for Spring!! ...Can you tell I'm ready for Spring!! Ha!! :)

After the mani/pedi??? Well, it was time for a nap, of course!! Ha!! I know, I was aaallll about relaxing this weekend!! Hands down, the highlight to my day was having my husband & best friend home.

Sunday was a little more productive....kinda. ;) We saw Alice in Wonderland - such a cute movie!! If you like Alice in Wonderland I totally think you should see this one! Plus, I'm just a sucker for 3D movies!!

We were also able to go by out home - it looks pretty great! We are really excited and can't wait to move in!! The only *problem* is that whenever we go to see it there is MUD....EVERYWHERE. No kidding! It's crazy!! Here's a pic of me, in my mud boots.....I'm posing by the doors to our bedroom - and then there is Molly's backside - lol!!

Paint!!! Yay!! I have been soooo anxious to see how this color (muddy river) looks in our home and I'm super pleased with it!!! ....Pretty hard to get a feel for the color in this pic but, I promise it's lookin' great!! And...there will be more pics to come -

Here's the front of the house....in case you thought I was kidding about all the mud.....it's pretty out of control!!! Ha!!!

Have a good week blog friends!!!

Weekend in OKC

Last weekend Kevin and I headed down to OKC for a very special occasion....it was my best friend's son's 1st birthday!!! Yay! Yay! Yay!!! Needless to say, I was beyond excited to celebrate this amazing milestone!!

Since Kevin didn't get home from his business trip until Saturday morning, we hit the road as soon as he got home. Even though it's a pretty long drive it was so nice to have some time to catch up with each other, chat about each other's week...ya know stuff "normal" couples do during the week - ha!!

Usually when we spend the weekend in OKC, we spend so much time driving around to visit everyone that by the end we are just so so so super exhausted.....so, this weekend we chose to not really tell anyone that we were going....is that bad? I kinda felt guilty..... Anyways, it was such wonderful and relaxing weekend that it might just make-up for my guilt - lol!! ;)

We stayed in Bricktown (Okc's downtown area) and LOVED every minute of our stay!! I love being a tourist in my hometown! ;)

Our Hotel

Saturday night we headed out for what was suppose to be a triple date...but, the other guys couldn't make it....poor Kevin!! He is such a trooper for hanging out with me and my girls!!

We had sushi & martini's at in the raw....perfect dinner combo!

Me with my gorgeous besties!! OMG I miss these girls!!!

Sunday morning we slept in...yup, that's right slept in - haven't done that in a while!! It was glorious!!! Before heading out to the birthday party, Kevin and I took a little stroll around Bricktown and, of course, grabbed some coffee from Starbucks. ;)

After our little stroll around OKC we headed to Shawnee (my home town) for Eli's Birthday Party!! I think 1st birthdays are soooo fun and very exciting!!

Here's the big man walking...sooooo precious!! Still can't believe he is walking!! They grow up so fast!!

The cake!

The birthday boy eating his cake!!

Present time - yippee!!!

us at the birthday!!

Weekend in KC!!

Oh man, this has been a busy, busy week!!! I feel as thought I have been jumping from one crazy hurdle to crazy hurdle to the next. I can't tell you how excited I am that tomorrow is Friday - honestly, I'm beyond thrilled!!! Especially since I'm going home this weekend...yup, I will be back in good 'ole OKC!! I'm going down to celebrate my bff's son's first birthday - super fun, I know!!!! Ok....enough about the upcoming weekend....here's what happened last weekend!

My Aunt and I met in KC on Saturday and headed out to the plaza (a few hours later than we expected - but hey, we made it! Ha!!) .....I LOVE the plaza!! I think it's just so beautiful!!

Our first stop - Cheesecake Factory!! Yum! Yeah, Cheesecake Factory = enough said Lol! :)

Of course, we did a little shopping while we were out and about. Since Omaha's still having some troubling weather I knew I'd HAVE to check out the sales at North Face. Luckily, they were having some great sales & a good a few bargains! Woo Hoo! Take that winter!!

After our shopping....we headed back to our hotel and had a pretty low key evening....just hung out and talked. I'm super close to my Aunt and we really needed this Girl's Weekend.

Since we are both HUGE dog people - I knew we'd have to visit the Three Dog Bakery on the Plaza (we kinda ran outta time on Saturday...you know how it goes, sometimes you just CAN'T hit all the stores in 1 day!!).

Super cute place....but honestly, it was smaller than I expected. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED it but...I don't know just not totally what I pictured. L-O-V-E-D it though!! And....Molly loved her treats!!

Since there isn't a Whole Foods in OKC, my Aunt definitely wanted to do a little shopping at Whole Foods....can you blame her?!?

After our Whole Foods Adventure, we headed off to another of my favorite speciality food stores - Dean & Deluca. Fabulous place!! Wish we had one in Omaha!!

While at Dean & Deluca, I grabbed a few snacks (for the road....) um, how is it that I'm just now discovering Sweet Potato Chips??!! I love Sweet Potato Fries so I don't know how I've never tried the chips. Anyways, now have a new fav chip! Yum!!

It was a great trip - great weekend and of course, went by too fast....but, that's always how those really great weekends go!

Busy, busy weekend!!

This weekend was soooo busy !!! In fact, it was one of those weekends that made me realize we are definitely gonna have to schedule some down time asap!! Ha!

Friday night I kicked off the weekend with an fabulous, delicious & hilarious (great combo, huh?!?) Girls Night Out! We met up at Omaha's Classy Gourmet for an Italian cooking class. It was such a blast!! I arrived at 7pm and seriously I laughed the entire time!!!

Love, love these ladies!!!

Katie, me & Laura...picture taken my the talented & fabulous Katie Jo

Of course, Katie Jo took a-mazing pics all night!!

Laughing and cooking...doesn't get much better!!!

Cookin' in my little black apron

Laura making the sauce (our group's assigned project) - she was a rock star with this sauce!!!

Enjoying our wine....and yeah, kinda blurry....this picture was from my camera - notice the difference between my camera and Katie Jo's?!?! Yeah....

When I went home, I spent the rest of the night laughing at my wonderful husband and my adorable dog!!! It was a beyond perfect day!! ;)

Saturday morning we ran lots and lots of errands....and I do mean lots! Lol!! We spent the majority of the day here....

We went back and forth from the Mart to our house....measuring, re-measuring, back to the Mart to look at more couches...and then, the cycle started all over. It was a pretty cr-azy afternoon that turned into evening that turned into 10pm. Isn't it funny how time can just absolutely FLY sometimes!! I'm happy to report that we have found a great couch that we think will be perfect for our little house!! Yay!!

Here are some recent pics of the house

Soooo...I know it's kinda hard to tell what this is - it's our Master Bathroom. Our tub and shower were delivered and installed!!!! Yay, yay, yay!!!! The shower/tubs were installed in the other bathrooms too but, I won't bore you with more random bath pics... ;)

Ok, probably a SUPER boring pic BUT, it's our siding!!!!! I never, ever thought I'm be excited to see siding but I am!!!! Ha ha!!!! ;-) .....This is totally one of those, "you know your old when...." moments!!

Ok, probably the most excited part about this house visit - our FIREPLACE!!!!!!!!

EEEeeeekkkkk!!!!! I was jumping up and down shouting when I saw this bad boy!!! Ha!!! I think Molly thought I was going crazy - lol!!! And since Kevin already knows I'm nuts....it was no big deal - ha!!!

On Sunday, we headed to meet Ellie, a young & oooooo so sweet Lab!! Since it was our first time meeting her I didn't want to stress her out any more than necessary sooooo....I thought no pics would be best. She is just a doll!! We think she will make a great addition to our family and I'm really, really hoping things work out! Since we are in a very small apartment now, the family said they'd hold on to her until we move - but if someone else comes along that can take her sooner then of course (and understandably) they will give her to them. I know it's in God's hands and that He will bless us with the "perfect for us" dog - just as He did with our little Molly.

Yup, so that was our weekend! Pretty busy!

This week has been pretty busy as well and next weekend I'm heading to Kansas City to meet my Aunt for a weekend of fun! I *heart* KC!!!

Oh no! I think I might be *that* girl!

…..Oh yeah, I’m sooo turning in to *that* girl! You know the one, she dresses up her little dog and thinks it’s just the cutest thing ever – YUP, that’s me!! I should probably stop right here to mention that I do not, in any way, feel (nor have I ever felt) it's weird/wrong to dress up you dog (or whatever animal you choose) I just never thought I'd being doing it - doing so much of it....and loving it!!! Hello, my name is Christy and I love dressing up my dog!! …Admitting you have a problem is the first step, right? Ha! Plus...I’m pretty sure my husband is just mortified that I dress up our little Molly.

Here are a few other random thoughts I’d like to share…..

~ During a recent trip to Ulta (ahhh…love that place) I discovered 2 new OPI colors that I LOVE --- “Pink me, I’m good” and “Mad as a Hatter”. I’m wearing the “Pink me, I’m good” now because it’s such a fun pink color that was just perfect for Valentine’s Day!! And the “Mad as a Hatter” I can’t wait to find the perfect occasion wear that one!!

~ I love the snow….it’s so pretty, fun to play in BUT I think I might be done with it for the season….unfortunately; we are set to get a few more inches this weekend.

~ I soooo soooo want to find a yoga class that meets early – and by early, I mean 5:30-ish – eeeEEKKK! If you are in the Omaha area and know of one….or if you know of a good dvd, please let me know! ;)

Well, I think those area all the random thoughts I have for now - lol!! ;) Hope you are having a fabulous week!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I just love Valentine's Day!! I think it's such a sweet holiday - perfect opportunity to celebrate love and life!

I feel so blessed to have had such a fantastic Valentine’s celebrations – my husband really went above and beyond this year – everything was just really amazing and very romantic! I have loved every minute of this weekend.

Friday evening Kevin and I headed out to our favorite little vineyard for our official Valentine’s Date – how cute is this place?!?

Just so adorable!! If you are ever in the area I highly recommend SVE Vineyards

And….it doesn’t hurt that their daughter is in culinary school – she and a few of her friends made this delicious 4 course meal……

Menu

Lobster Bisque

Main Course

Dessert

On Saturday, we took a quick trip to our house and hung out for a bit

And, of course, we brought our little Molly!!

It's so neat to see it being built - it's really starting to take shape and looking more and more like the home we imagined!! Pretty exciting stuff for us!!

Then we made an even quicker trip to Nebraska Furniture Mart (btw, fabulous place to get furniture) we met up with some of our friends for dinner….they, their 3 kiddos & 2 dogs are preparing for their upcoming move to the Netherlands!! Isn’t that so exciting!!! We can’t wait to visit!! ….What’s that you ask??? Where did we go? ….Um, would you believe me if I said Kona?!?!!! I know!! So….right about now, anyone who isn’t from Omaha is probably thinking that Kona Grill must be the ONLY place to eat in Omaha…since it seems to be the ONLY place I EVER eat!! I can absolutely see why one would assume such. BUT….BUT I PROMISE we have SOOOOO many (many, many, many) other a-mazing restaurants – I promise! Back to my personal Kona ordeal…..I do love Kona but, this is getting mildly embarrassing. And sadly, I didn’t take any pictures…we were wrapped up in “OMG!!! You are moving to the Netherlands ”talk though. ;)

And today….*sigh* has been so relaxing. We started off our day with a delicious French toast & mimosa breakfast – yum! Then I was off for a manicure – woo hoo! It was kinda nice to have some pampering. ;) We did a little more furniture shopping – I think we pretty much have our bedroom stuff picked out!! Yay for small victories!! Ha!! Now, if we can just figure out living room stuff!! Have any ideas??? Send ‘em our way!! Ha!! No, but seriously....

….And we ended everything with a pasta and crab dinner!!!

Lately, Kevin and I have been doing a lot of reflecting on God’s love and how we can best represent that love – not only to each other but, to everyone…..So, I thought I’d share 2 of my favorite verses on Love….

A NEW COMMAND I GIVE YOU: LOVE ONE ANOTHER. AS I HAVE LOVED YOU, SO YOU MUST LOVE ONE ANOTHER. PY THIS ALL MEN WILL KNOW THAT YOU ARE MY DISCIPLES, IF YOU LOVE ONE ANOTEHR.

JOHN 13:34-35

THREE THINGS WILL LAST FOREVER: FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE - AND THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE.

1 CORINTHIANS 13:13