I heart February

With our anniversary on the 7th and Valentines the week after, February is always one of my favorite months... you know, because there are a couple of good excuses to have a celebration.

It's always nice to justify a little staycation at the beach with friends, the spa and fabulous food when you can say you're celebrating your anniversary AND Valentines! The past few weeks it has seemed as though our schedules have been totally opposite and the "quality time" has been lacking. Spending the entire weekend together was so refreshing.

We woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed our first morning and whisked back the curtains to this lovely view. The second most lovely view was the basket of beignets we ate for breakfast.

Our cool friends Courtney and Clay celebrated with us.

We ate a fabulous dinner at Fisher's. If you are in the area and want a nice gourmet meal with a great atmosphere, make a reservation please. Courtney and I were drooling over the design and decor.



Broiled oysters for an appetizer, flounder for Aaron and swordfish for me... creme brulee for desert... It was divine!





The weather was even warm enough to lay out by the pool {out of the wind of course}... You would have never known there was snow and ice just a few hours away. I have enjoyed this cold, cozy winter but this weekend gave me the itch for spring to come.



As for Valentines... The loverboy and I are enjoying a hot-n-ready, homemade valentine cookies and the Olympics... and I'm blogging.



Happy Valentines readers!
xoxo

Making Lemonade

It has been five whole years since my favorite day ever.

Five years ago, I had not given much thought to what our future might hold, and honestly, I really didn't care... as long as we could do life together. 

Well it is five years later and we have called five different states "home", traveled to and through 28 different states and two countries, underwent and rehabbed through three surgeries, made new lifelong friends, made two career changes and discovered new talents and hobbies. I get a little overwhelmed when I start reminiscing about where life has taken us and all of the changes we have been through. 

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know a little about the struggle we went through with Aaron's arm {a.k.a. his livelihood} and then having to re-evaluate what we both wanted to do with our lives... and when I say we "discovered new talents" above, one of them became making lemonade out of lemons. What I've learned is that my homemade lemonade is only as sweet as my perspective is. Receiving bad news about his shoulder, living in a hotel for a month, not having a place to call our own, not being able to see our friends and family half the year, working towards a BSN in only twelve months, Calculus III, yada yada yada... were just a few of the "lemons" {a.k.a. reality}... but the "sugar-y perspective" was realizing we had the opportunity to travel and explore America, make new and lasting friendships, discover a passion for nursing and a knack for engineering, and make so many MEMORIES that we will always cherish. 

The one {and only} thing that has remained constant through all of the ups and downs, changes, whirlwinds, mountain tops and valleys is that God is faithful. As I reflect back, I see God's blessings on us even in the hardest of times. He gave us a strong support system of friends and family back home and also in each new "home" we made... He kept us safe and protected in all of our travels. He blessed us financially so that we could be together year round and never have to say those awful long goodbyes... I am truly overwhelmed with thankfulness for the last five years.

Aaron, my home is wherever you are. You are my very best friend and no one makes me laugh as much as you do. Might I add, that at times you make me so mad I could spit. Thank you for loving me in spite of my shortcomings, as they are many. And might I add, you have a few yourself ;) I love you more than anyone in the world. You are my favorite. Here's to many more years of life together!