Life is good.

Happy Easter! I hope everyone has had a wonderful Easter. Today we went to church, colored eggs, ate salsa chicken for dinner, and Ronnie is now making strawberry shortcakes.

Last weekend, we went down to my parent's house. We watched conference and celebrated my mom's birthday.

Here are some pictures from last year that I found on my mom's camera while we were down there. I thought I'd share a few.

This is memorial day weekend '08. We went down to Nagshead, NC on Sunday and we had a picnic on the beach. Oh how I miss the beach.

This is my briday shower. I got so many awesome gifts!

This is my brother and his future wife Chelsea (now in less than 3 weeks!). We're just hanging out on the beach with a million other people waiting for the 4th of July fireworks.

I think this was Sunday on 4th of July weekend.

These next two pictures are when my parents came up to visit and stayed in our lovely basement apartment. We had an awesome time playing phase 10 and other card games while eating some fireballs.

Well, it's fun to find pictures you've forgotten about. Now I'm going to eat some strawberry shortcake. Be jealous.

Moving on...

So I told my job that I was quitting because....We're moving! Ronnie is attempting to get an unpaid internship for an attorney in Hampton Roads. We both wanted to get out of the DC area and wanted to move somewhere Ronnie could get a job but wasn't as large of a city. So...if you know of any law internships, let us know. This also means I need to find a job. We're moving at the end of May and will be living with the 'rents for a bit till we get settled and figure out what to do next. Ronnie is excited to graduate in May (he'll still have the internship and an independent study with his bankruptcy professor for the summer semester). So we have a lot of changes coming up!





Also, just an update...
So I got this dress a couple weeks ago. It fit well but the fabric wasn't what I expected. So I returned it. I think if it was less money I would have been satisfied. So now I'm looking for a new dress. I saw a cute one in Ann Taylor that I might try on. I just need an Easter dress. I'm also in search for gold shoes for Cory's wedding. I haven't seen any yet but I've only looked a couple places.

Snow, Spring and the Flu

Well March started off with 7 inches of snow. I haven't seen this much snow since Idaho. I'm not a huge fan of the snow so when it was 75 degrees a week later it made me very happy! This past week has been Ronnie's spring break. I took Monday off of work and we went to the Washington Monument. Neither of us had been to the top of the monument so we figured this would be a good time to go. It was a sunny, 60 degree day. I couldn't believe how windy it was. I guess if its too windy they close the monument. The wind was 25 mph pretty constantly(the guy that worked there told me) but thats not enough for the monument! We went up the elevator, which was a surprisingly quick trip. There were some great views from the top. If you ever want to go there, make sure you order the tickets online first, probably a few days in advance.

I've had the flu for the past couple days...blah. It hit me like a ton of bricks while I was at work on Thursday. The only appt. I could get was at 10:10pm (and we were to be there at 9:10). I didn't see the doctor until 11. Then she tested me for the flu and she called me at 7am on Friday to tell me I had the flu. Hopefully I'll get over it soon. I had the flu around the same time last year. I'm just hoping Ronnie doesn't get it...

So keep yourself healthy! It's going around!

Love these!

Here are a few of the things I've been admiring this month. I can't keep myself away! I've looked at these more than just a few times.

My very good friend, Lee, has the cutest etsy shop. I really love her photography and note cards. Here is one of my favorites. Click the link to see her whole shop. You'll be glad you did.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6574572

My favorite dress this year! I'm getting the pink one. Boden has the cutest clothes! http://www.boden.co.uk/

Some of you may know that I love my Southern Living magazine! There are always great recipes I want to try, gardening tips I wish I could use, and pictures of my dream home. A few years back I actually visited one of the houses in South Carolina. Anyways, here is a frosting recipe I want to try. They had about 10 different kinds but I love rasberries.

Prep: 10 min. If you love lots of frosting, double the recipe.
This recipe goes with Basic Layer Cake, Vanilla Cupcakes
Yield
Makes about 2 1/2 cups
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup fresh raspberries
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 (16-oz.) package powdered sugar
Preparation
1. Beat first 4 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.
2. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until blended and smooth after each addition.
Note: Be sure to wash and thoroughly dry raspberries before adding to frosting.

A few weeks ago, my friend Danielle posted that she was looking at this crockpot blog. I like to use the crockpot. I checked it out. Love it. Soooo many recipes. I've already tried one and looking forward to trying many more. http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/

This is the recipe I'm planning on trying next. http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/05/lemon-and-herb-crockpot-roasted-chicken.html

Birthday/Valentine's Day

So as many of you already know....I am the big 25 now...yikes. So I know that I've been in denial about this day but I didn't know Ronnie was. But here is the proof. My birthday cake.

Well luckily Ronnie redeemed himself (haha j/k), with a HUGE suprise to go to NYC and see WICKED on Valentine's Day. We left Friday after work. We were stuck in DC traffic for a while, paid $30 in tolls and got to NYC around 11:30pm. We stayed in Queens. The next morning (Valentine's Day) we woke up early and rode the subway to catch the 9am ferry to see the statue of liberty. It was great. We met some funny people there. We chatted to a lady and her daughter from England and a man from Japan about "queueing in line" and complained about the ridicoulous security to get into the statue of liberty, which you can only climb up to the pedestal now. It was a good time. We then headed over to broadway! Wicked was amazing! The actors were great, the songs were great and was very entertaining. I can't believe I got to go! After the show we walked around NYC and walked through time square and went to FAO Shwartz. Ronnie's friend told him of a good Northern Italian restuarant to eat dinner so we thought we would try it out. Ronnie said "let's just walk there". So we started walking. About 4 miles later...we arrived at the restuarant and they said they had only taken reservations because it was Valentine's day. So I should mention that I was sick (although I was having a lot of fun so I wasn't complaining before this point). This did me over. I had just walked 4 miles in the cold and I was on the verge of passing out and my right foot felt like the ligaments were coming unattached... anways I wasn't happy. Luckily we brought our GPS and found restuarants in the area and decided to make our way back to Queens and just eat there. Well we got on the metro only to realize we were going the wrong way and a worker had to help us figure out how to get back. We got back to Queens, walked to the hotel and got the car and drove to Outback. We parked and found out that the parking closed at 11. We moved the car. Got to Outback and stood in line and then they said the wait was 2.5 hours. It was already 10 something. Ronnie had called earlier to put our name on the list (about 2 hrs before) so they let us wait only 40 minutes. We finally ate at 11pm. It was yummy but I was so exhausted. The next morning we went to see ground zero. Unfortunantly, they didn't have much there. It was just big fences around the area. You couldn't see anything. So we rode back to Queens and went to church. Then headed home. We took the no toll way. Thank you GPS. It was a great, fun filled trip. Only a few moments where I could've passed out, but what can I say, I was sick. Love you Ronnie.

Stared down

Ronnie and I went to Kansas a couple weeks ago to see April get married. While there, Ronnie of course, wanted to take me around and show me the sites. He drove me around on some "back roads" and we ended up at this little church called "wee kirk". Well the church was in the middle of a pasture. With cows. So we make our way towards the church...through the cow pies. I was a little wary of being inside the fence with the cows in the first place...so when they started running towards us, it kind of freaked me out . I mean they were seriously galloping and frankly I didn't know cows did that. Well anyways, we made it to the little church and it had a little fence around it. The cows just stared. It was weird. Then next thing you know, pretty much all the cows in the pasture were coming up to the fence and staring. We went in the tiny church and signed the guest book and came back out and the cows were still there. I really did not want to leave the safety of the fence. I was tempted to ask Ronnie to drive through the pasture and get me but don't worry I didn't. I just ran as fast as I could towards the car dodging the cow poop. Luckily, when I looked back the cows we're still just staring. Anyways, if Ronnie is trying to get me used to being around cows...poop, etc. it just isn't working.

So. anyways. April's wedding was very nice and I was lucky enough to be one of her bridesmaids. It was just fun to be in the wedding and to see all of Ronnie's family and friends. (I only got made fun of a few times for the cow incident.) I've never been a bridesmaid before or done a rehersal so it was all a learning experience. I don't think I messed anything up too bad. My sister-in-law Stephanie was also a bridesmaid. I got to know her better too. Not to mention, I'm going to be and Aunt! James and Stephanie will be welcoming a little bundle of joy next fall. It was a full few days. It was just a few things shy of being perfect but I really enjoyed my time with Ronnie in Kansas. I wish I had some pictures to put up of April and Mark's wedding but they are all on a CD that won't work in my laptop. Maybe if I can get them to work, I'll put some up later.

Favorites of '08 & Projections for '09

2008 was a great year for me. I mean there were tough times, but the good times far outweighed them. I'll just highlight my favorite moments of the year.

1. Well, of course, Ronnie asking me to marry him on our trip to Kansas. That was such a great moment. Not to mention the ring...beautiful.

2. And as you would have guessed...the MARRIAGE. Such a pivotal point in our lives! I have to say Ronnie is the perfect person for me. I feel like I've known him forever but it's only been less then two years from the first day I met him (and it was another 4 or 5 months till we went our first date).

3. I finally get to use my Pottery Barn dishes. My mom got me the basic set for my 22nd b-day but I never used them because I lived with roommates and they all had a bunch of stuff and I wanted to save them until I got married. Well, I waited a while to use them and now I love them. I've been collecting all the accessories (pitchers, serving dishes, etc.) ever since.

4. I've been able to spend so much time with my family this year and I love it. I feel so at home when they are around. Ronnie gets a long with my family great too. I've also gotten to know Ronnie's family and am continuing to get to know their personalities. We've been able to visit with them on a couple occassions and will be seeing them next week for April's wedding (my sister-in-law). Family is where I feel most comfortable and I'm so happy we have such a wonderful one. I also have to mention friends, they're also family. I've been able to see a couple of my good friends from school and it's great to have good friends.

So some of the things I'm looking forward to for 2009 are-

1. We are looking forward to moving somewhere else in VA after Ronnie graduates law school. It will be the next big step in our life together. A real job.

2. Ronnie would also like to use his new scuba certification. Due to unfortunate events he couldn't get his certification before we went on our honeymoon in the Dominican Republic. But going somewhere is probably kind of far fetched for this year but you never know.

3. Also, I'm looking forward to going shopping. I know it may be a little selfish but I've been holding back for a while now (besides Christmas shopping, which was amazing). I'm pretty sure Banana Republic is missing me... Don't worry I won't go overboard...maybe just a shirt and a pair of shoes...or two...

4. Most of all, I'm just looking forward to spending more time with Ronnie. He's just so cute. :)