2012 ended up to be a pretty great year that ended on a very high note. During the last few weeks of 2012, I completed my last class that I need in order to sit for the CPA exam, we bought a brand new car (our first big purchase together!), moved into a BRAND NEW apartment that we absolutely LOVE and we got to spend Christmas with my wonderful family!
Christmas Eve Dinner
Christmas Day
Visiting the church where we got married
This past week (New Year's Day through this past Saturday), Dave and I spent a lot of our time watching Homeland. My sister was talking about it over break so we thought we would give it a shot. We instantly got HOOKED! We completed seasons 1 & 2 in less than a week (not that I'm proud of it). It's so nice when we have a show that we both really enjoy together. Now that we are done with that show for now, I guess we will have to wait for Mad Men and Breaking Bad to come back!
This weekend was pretty much perfect. I really wanted to enjoy it because I start loosing my weekends very soon due to tax season. Saturday I started the morning by going to a yoga class. It was so nice getting back into it, something that I've really missed. I'm looking forward to getting back to my old schedule of yoga about 3 days a week. After yoga and a run, I got ready to go do some errands while Dave was at his soccer game. Later that afternoon, we headed out to District Taco for a late lunch/early dinner. After we ate we headed to the Sculpture Garden for some ice staking. It was so romantic skating under the stars and with all the sparkling lights around us. I had such a wonderful time and neither one of us fell down once! ;) After ice skating we picked up some hot chocolate, a sweet treat and headed home for the evening to finish Homeland.
Ice Skating with my LOVE!!
Sunday consisted of an early morning kickboxing class, a run with Dave to our favorite local coffee shop, Northside Social, errands, watching football and using one of Dave's Christmas presents: a pasta maker! We had so much fun making linguine together and it tasted AMAZING! We are looking forward to trying out raviolis this next weekend.
Coffee at Northside Social
Pasta making
This was the perfect weekend with the perfect husband. We had so much fun together which makes it hard to think about this upcoming tax season. For now, I'm going to try to enjoy every free minute I have.
This morning when I woke up for my run I kissed Dave goodbye and wished him safe travels since he was heading to Chicago for work. I wasn't going to be back in time to see him before he left so I gave him the biggest hug and kiss.
On my way home from my run I see Dave standing at the corner in his suit with his suitcase. He said he had to see me one more time before he left. This simply made my heart melt! He is always doing the sweetest things for me and this is exactly what I needed after a stressful few days!
Thank you Dave for making my morning and more importantly making my life so great! I love you with all of my heart!!
This past weekend was spent in New Jersey celebrating the marriage of my beautiful cousin, Lauren, and her now HUSBAND, Neil. My parents came up to our place on Thursday and we brought them to Founding Farmers for a delicious meal. My dad absolutely LOVED their cinnamon sugar popcorn and the chocolate mouse we had for dessert! After dinner we took a stroll by the White House so my mom could get a couple pictures.
At Founding Farmers
My parents after dinner
The next day we drove up to New Jersey, stopping in Philadelphia to pick up my sister from the airport since she was flying in from Austin, TX. That night was the rehearsal dinner which was at a lovely Italian restaurant. There was lots of great food and even better company. It was a great night to start off the wedding weekend!
The beautiful bride walking down the aisle with her dad
The wedding started at 7pm on Sunday and it was at a beautiful winery.; the view was breathtaking. Lauren looked absolutely STUNNING and Neil was just as handsome. I'm so happy for them; they are truly the perfect couple. We had such a fantastic night celebrating, dancing and photo-boothing. Thank you Lauren and Neil for letting us be a part of your *special* day!
At dinner!
Photo-booth fun!
It was such a wonderful weekend surrounded by family and love! Now it's back to reality - taxes and schoolwork! :(
This past weekend was filled to the brim with a lot of fun activities! Since we knew that Saturday and Sunday were going to be super busy we decided to have a relaxing night in by watching The Lorax and The Hunger Games I had watched The Lorax as a kid and enjoyed it but wasn't too impressed with the new movie. I would give it 3 stars. I haven't read The Hunger Games but decided to watch the movie with Dave. I really enjoyed it and want to know what happens next, so it looks like when I'm not studying for school, I will be reading the books! We also took a break to get some fro-yo...yummy!!! :)
Saturday morning we drove to our jeweler so I could pick out a simple wedding band that I can wear when I'm exercising, at the beach/pool or doing other activities that I don't feel comfortable wearing my original ring since it has a lot of tiny diamonds and is very delicate. It was fun to be back at our jeweler...I mean what girl doesn't like to look at jewelry?!?! :)
Guitar-Shaped Margarita/Strawberry Daiquiri and a Funnel Cake! Concert FOOD!
Dancing to "Then" in the rain <3
Jeff & Susanna being cute! :)
Saturday afternoon we headed out to Bristow, VA for the Brad Paisley concert with our friends Jeff and Susanna. We tailgated for a little while and did a lot of people watching (OBVIOUSLY this is a must for country concerts!) Easton Corbin opened up as well as The Band Perry. They both were amazing and I especially loved The Band Perry. Their song, Postcard from Paris, has become a favorite of mine. Brad Paisley was out of this world! He's such a good performer, seems so genuine and has an amazing voice. This was my 3rd time seeing him in concert and he was just as good as the first two times. Unfortunately, it rained but that didn't stop us from enjoying the concert. The highlights from the concert included: being able to experience Jeff's first concert with him :) , dancing with Dave to "Ticks" (the night we met, we played this song on Guitar Hero together), dancing with Dave in the rain to "Then" (our first dance song), Carrie Underwood coming out and singing with Brad Paisley and just having a wonderful night with great friends!
The Band Perry: "Postcard From Paris"
Pulling up to Cirque Du Soleil!
Sunday afternoon Dave surprised me with tickets to Cirque Du Soleil Totem. This was the first time for both of us to attend one of their shows. We had such an amazing time; the tricks that they did were phenomenal. We kept looking at each other in awe of the performers. It was such a fun date and something different from what we usually do.
It was such a fun-filled weekend with great friends and my wonderful husband. Now we have my beautiful cousin's wedding to look forward to this weekend in New Jersey.
Okay, so I wrote this post earlier this week but hadn't gotten around to adding the pictures, so please forgive the delay!
This past weekend was P-E-R-F-E-C-T! We started the weekend with a fun game of Top Golf on Friday night with our good friends, Jeff and Susanna. We all took golf lessons together this summer and wanted to practice what we had learned. Even though I forgot some of the things I learned during our lesson it was still a fun night with great company!
Dave & Suman at the aquarium!
Saturday we drove up to Baltimore to visit our friend Suman and his girlfriend Rupal. It was so good to see them again since we hadn't seen them since our wedding except for about 5 minutes back in December. We decided we would spend the afternoon at the Baltimore Aquarium. I had never been to the Baltimore Aquarium and was really looking forward to it! My favorite exhibit was definitely the shark exhibit...man, are those things creepy looking!!
Dave w/his "grape soda"
Yummy baked gnocchi
After a fun day of exploring the aquarium we were all famished! Rupal found the perfect little Italian place for dinner. I had baked gnocchi which was TO DIE FOR! Dave thoroughly enjoyed his "grown-up grape soda!" :) The food, drinks, conversation and company were amazing!
After our big meal we decided to walk back to the Inner Harbor. As we strolled we came upon this little park that had instruments you could play and the craziest walkway I had ever seen. We hung out there for a bit before we decided to grab a drink.
Rupal & Me playing in the park!
I swear I'm only squinting b/c there was a huge fan over my head!
We walked by Dick's Last Resort and I was immediately drawn to the ginormous margaritas with beers in them! We decided to get a drink there so Rupal and I each ordered a margarita and shared it with our guy! :)
What a wonderful day it was with great friends!
Sunday was spent relaxing at the pool and catching up on chores. All in all I would say it was the perfect weekend!
Let me preface this blog post by saying that I'm not here to brag, but to inspire my readers to go after their goals and also to show you that hard work and persistence really does pay off! It also doesn't hurt to have a great support system! :)
As a lot of my family and friends know, I've been working really hard since the beginning of March to lose some weight. I wasn't feeling good about myself and wanted to do something about it and boost my self-confidence.
I decided to join Weight Watchers and I couldn't be happier with the program. By measuring my food, keeping track of everything I ate and getting back into running, I noticed the pounds just melt-away each week. It was the greatest feeling in the world to see my hard work really pay off!
I started this in the middle of tax season, which took a lot of willpower since our firm often buys us lunch and has numerous snacks that are available in the kitchen at all times. I stuck to my plan and with the help of Dave, a lot of willpower and hard work, I can happily say that as of today, I have lost 30 poundssince I started the program back in March. I am so much happier with my appearance and feel great! The only problem is that none of my clothes fit me! :) I'm slowly adding items to my wardrobe and getting a few key pieces tailored.
I am so thankful for Dave who has been there every step of the way and for my parents who have been there to give me encouragement along the way. I'm so happy with the results and will continue living this healthy lifestyle. A big thank you to everyone who has supported me along they way! I hope this inspires you to go after your goals!
Awesome running watch Dave just bought me b/c I reached my goal!!
Two years ago today, the sweetest, most loving and caring man in the world asked me to be his wife. It was the happiest moment of my life (besides marrying him). It was such a special night and will be a memory that I will cherish forever. I love Dave more than life itself and am just so lucky to call him my husband.
The apartment all set up for when I came home from work!
Dave calling his parents after I said YES!
Dave - thank you for making every day so special and always putting a smile on my face. You make me so happy and I couldn't live without you! I love you with all of my heart!
Life has been busy lately and I LOVE it!! Last weekend we went to the Outer Banks with Dave's aunt and uncle and his cousins and had a wonderful time! We relaxed, swam in the ocean, visited the dunes, had a few cocktails, played some games and overall had an amazing time; I was sad to come back!
Having fun at the dunes!
I've also been busy with school, which is not fun, but it just means I'm that much closer to getting my CPA which is exciting. We've also been taking golf lessons every Saturday morning with another couple which has been quite the learning experience. I've learned so much over the past few weeks, that I think I might want to continue taking lessons every now and then. We have our last lesson this coming Saturday which makes me sad, but hopefully I can takes some more lessons in the near future!
Since we were hit by that crazy storm on Saturday, we decided to do some outlet shopping with our friends instead of sitting inside our houses with no power. It was so much fun and I came home with a few goodies! ;) I think even Dave had a good time!
Celebrating my promotion!! :)
Saturday night we relaxed, celebrated my promotion from work and watched some swim trials. I've been hooked on the swim trials which makes me super pumped for the Olympics! I can't believe how young some of these swimmers are and the times they are putting out. It kind of got me thinking about joining a Master's swim team....
Relaxing by the pool on Sunday afternoon...
Our summer is pretty packed but I love it! I'm looking forward to a short week this week and New Jersey the following weekend! I hope everyone has an amazing Fourth of July!!!
Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I've been busy traveling: a trip to my parents' house and two weddings. I'm also taking a summer class so that I can start sitting for my CPA exam this winter. Life has been busy but I like being busy!
This weekend Dave and I are starting golf lessons with another couple and I'm completely ecstatic! I've taken a golf course in college and played a couple of times but it will be nice to learn from a Pro! The rest of the summer consists of a few long weekend trips, continuing training for my half-marathon, fun times with family and friends, summer concerts and hopefully some relaxation.
I hope everyone's summer is off to a great start! Below are some pictures from the last few weekends!
Celebrating Mother's Day!
Matt & Amy's wedding!
Delicious dinner in Quonnie!
Jo & Sam's rehearsal dinner!
Jo & Sam's wedding! (Yes, I know, Dave needs some sunglasses ASAP!!)
