Husband's Birthday FIVE

Good morning and happy Friday y'all!

Today, in pinkland it's indeed a special day,
as today we celebrate le Husbands birthday!

The love of my life turns the big 3-3 today,
so I'm dedicating my five on Friday post to him.

We've had some incredible moments together, but of course
there are a few memories that stand out.

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Here are my Five Favorite Memories with le Husband.

1] Our Cancun trip

About nine months into dating, C told me that he had qualified for an all expense paid trip to Cancun, Mexico for being a bad@$$ at work. Okay, not really, it was because he was one of the top six performers and exceeded his sales goal by a large amount. I was super ecstatic for him, but knew in the back of my head that since we weren't married, I probably wouldn't be allowed to go. 

Until I got a call two weeks before the trip and was told "Get your passport ready, we're going to Mexico"! Wooooooohooo! It was our FIRST big trip together [minus Vegas for kickball] and it was incredible. All inclusive and all expense paid is the WAY to go, let me tell you. 

It was fun hanging out with all his work friends [who were all much older than us with at least two kids] and one guy drunkenly told us we should get married in Cancun, on the trip. HA! We explored Chichen Itza, at delicious food and just enjoyed our days. It was a wonderful FIRST trip together!

2] Winning the WAKA Kickball Championship in Vegas

If you haven't been reading here before, you'll probably say KICKBALL, CHAMPIONSHIPS?!?! Yes, there is a kickball championship and in 2012 the team C and I play on won, WOOP WOOP! [I guess I should also point out that we met playing kickball, back in 2010].

2012 was a long year of kickball for me, as I worked to make the A team on the new team we joined. C was a great coach and helped me get better and I became much more of a confident player. When Vegas came around in October, I was ready and super stoked about our team's chances at winning.

We played lights out and despite some mistakes in the finals WE WON!!!! It was one of the best athletic feelings in the world, winning and being able to share that moment with my boyfriend. I still remember jumping on him and hugging him hard saying "WE DID IT"! That moment was so special to both of us, that we included the picture on our Save the Dates :)!

 3] Our Mexican cruise

In November 2013, C and I took a cruise from New Orleans down to Mexico and it was such a blast. We had already been in NOLA for a kickball tournament, so we found a cruise leaving from a NOLA port after the tourney. It was a Carnival cruise and luckily it was three weeks before the meltdown of Carnival ships so we didn't have anything to worry about.

It was a fabulous five days of cruising, excursions, indulging in delicious food and some much needed quality time together. We swam in cenotes, rock climbed, zip lined, lounged, read and slept. Since we were at sea, we were completely unplugged and it was so nice to just enjoy each other and the world around us.

All too soon the cruise was over, but I have many lasting memories for this wonderfully amazing trip with my boyfriend. 

4] Our engagement night -

Every girl remembers the moment her man proposes to her, no matter HOW extravagant or how simple. It's a moment burned into our memories and of course, I remember our engagement like it was yesterday.

C did an amazing job, 100% surprised me and gave me such an amazing gift in the fact he allowed my sisters to help and be present afterwards. I still remember being completely surprised when I went to his apartment and calling my family and best friends after everything happened.

 I was thrilled he asked my dad for permission and that he updated one of my late grandmother's rings. That night was one of the most special nights of my life and I am so thankful for how everything happened. February 17th was the day I stopped having a boyfriend and finally had a fiancé!

5] Our Wedding -

As I've previously posted a 2304820348023842 bazillion times, our wedding was the best day of my life. Everything that we had planned for in the seven short months before came together and our service, pictures and reception went of without too much of a hitch.

Walking towards him, down the aisle was a perfect moment and the five minutes we stole right after the service are incredibly special to me. The day was filled with such love, happiness, joy and blessings and I wish I could experience the EXACT day again.

I am so thankful God created this amazing man to be my husband and helped us find each other in our very different walks of life. I remember being 27 and praying to find the right man and God answered my prayers, in his time [through kickball haha] to bring me to the man of my dreams.

2013 was the best year of my life and the past four months have truly been incredible. I am so excited for what the future brings for us and am ready to conquer the world, with C by my side.

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Dearest Husband,

Happy, happy birthday my love! This is the THIRD birthday I've been blessed to share with you and I'm so excited I'll be there for the rest of them. I hope that today is a wonderful one for you and that you enjoy your first day of being 33! You are the heart and soul of my life and I'm so thankful you've chosen me to be your forever. To the MOON and back my darling!

All my love, 

Pinky

*linking up here again!*

It's Thursday........And It's Random

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****warning, possible food post, wink wink***

1] I have three books on my kindle that I need to read before the end of next week, as they have to be returned to the library. Yes, THREE! That's a lot of pages and not a lot of time. Hope y'all are ready for multiple book reviews :)

2] My husband, is pretty flipping awesome. I'm so flipping glad he's mine and ALL MINE! hashtagnewlywed!

3] We cooked an amazing and simple meal on Tuesday before a CAPS game and I thought I'd share it. Usually I'll do a whole post, but that takes forever and this is really simple. Directions: Cook pasta [or omit on non carb days like we do], saute onions, mushrooms and garlic in a pan. After about five minutes or until everything is tender add the shrimp [we use frozen, shelled, uncooked shrimp] and a squeeze of half a lemon, plus some zest if you want. Season with salt, pepper and some red pepper flakes and cook until shrimp are done [or warmed if yours precooked]. Combine on a plate or in a bowl, hit it with some parsley and green onion and voila, dinner is served.  It's quick, easy, filling and delicious. We also had a side of two veggies to accompany said dish. Let me know if you try it out and send me an email if you have any questions.

4] The Caps lost on Tuesday night and I was so annoyed. They played EH and the game went into overtime AND a shootout and I was exhausted. Is it too much to ask for a good game and a win?!!? I mean really!

5] I'm a classical music junkie. I played in the orchestra from fourth grade until high school and through classes learned all about composers, minor thirds, one-ta-la-ta-li-tas and enjoy all realms of classical music. From Bach in the Baroque period to Grieg in the Romantic era, I look to composers for comfort when I want some chill, but enjoyable music on my commute home. C was driving my car the other day and Bach's Fugue in D Minor came on, so I conducted and played the air organ for him. It's one of my favorite pieces of work and I'm so thankful C let me act like a child, while I enjoyed the music.

6] I played dodgeball last night. Yup, dodgeball, another children's game. It's a fun 'sport' to play, but I definitely like kickball and soccer better.

7] This will be made sometime this weekend, I can promise you!

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Annnnnnnnnnnd that's all she wrote. Cheers friends!

Wedding Weds: The OOOPS Files

Yes, you read that correctly. Today we are talking the oooopssies of the wedding day.

Bride-to-be's TRUST ME, when I say something will go OOPS on your wedding day. Don't try to prevent it, just own it and the day will be that much smoother, I promise.  The more you stress about making the day perfect, the less you will enjoy the actual day. Remember, what really matters is the fact you are getting married to the love of your life. The end. Finite. Period.

Revel in the day, because it goes by all to quickly.
 [waaaaaaaaaaay too quickly for my liking]

I went into the day excited about getting married to my best friend, surrounded by those I cherished and trusted that everything would work out the way it should. I had no stress or worries and I rolled with the whoopsies that came my way.

But, I thought it would be fun and worthwhile to look back at those oops wedding moments that just kind of happened on our wedding day.
Because, let's keep it real, I'm the farthest thing from perfect ;)!

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1] Altar flowers boogie on down - I have to preface this one saying how much I adored, loved and was blown away by all of our flower arrangements and bouquets. Our florist was amazing and he did an incredible job. People had so many comments on my flowers and I know at least a few guest already have them bookmarked in their mind for their 'future' wedding. ;)

But, back to the subject at hand, our Altar flowers. The arrangements were breathtaking and I loved all of the vibrant and beautiful colors I saw when I walked down the aisle. It provided a beautiful back drop in my gorgeous church and made the pictures pop.

Gorgeous right?!!?

I'm not sure if you noticed in any of my previous posts, but the flowers seem to disappear from view. That's because they boogied on down to the floor. Literally, they fell down. Both of them. At different times, during the service. Leaving me with pictures like this.

And in the end, this.

I could have chosen to cry, or get upset or get flustered but I didn't. My pastor is incredible and very witty, so as the first arrangement tumbled down he turned, looked back at the audience and said "Don't mind him, he just had too much to drink last night celebrating". Everyone chuckled, including myself and the groom and we continued with that part of the service. 

When the other one toppled, my pastor didn't even turn but just commented "Him too", to more giggles. During communion, my music director [and friend] walked to the alter and put both arrangements behind the altar so everything looked normal, which is something I was incredibly grateful for as the "kiss the bride" pictures turned out beautifully with the bare backdrop.

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2] The case of the missing wedding rings - That's right, our wedding rings were MIA for that all important moment. The morning of the wedding, our wedding planners were at my parent's house bright and early to pick up things for the reception. C had given me the wedding rings as they had asked to hold onto them, instead of worrying about the best man keeping track of them. Made total sense to me, so I handed them over and didn't think anything of it. 

Cue the "May I please have the rings" moment. I looked at the best man and his face of "I don't have them" was priceless. I, of course, thought he was kidding and then he and C exchanged a look and C said to me "You gave them to the planners right"?!?! Yes, yes I did. Guess they weren't given to the best man after all [more on why in the next ooops].

During this moment you can imagine the restlessness of the guests, because they didn't know what was going on, but knew something was wrong. We were all just looking at each other going "Okay, where's the planner and if they aren't here, now what?!?!"

And then all at once my pastor, all the groomsman and my dad started to take of their rings, so we would have something to exchange. My heart was so touched and I thought "Well, let's just roll with it". 

Luckily, the planners realized what was going on and quickly walked them down the aisle. Again, our witty pastor broke the 'tension' by saying "Fedex, they deliver on Saturday too". Everyone joined in laughing and I'm 99% sure this is when my photographer snapped this shot, which is one of my favorites.

After the wedding, everyone kept asking me if I was 'freaking' out when the rings weren't there, because everyone was watching everything go down. I can honestly say I wasn't in the least. It was just a 'oops' moment and having everyone near reach for their rings is a moment I'll keep forever. Honestly, C and I can't seem to do anything without laughing or doing something silly, so it was perfect to have that moment in the wedding.

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3] Groomsman socks and my flower clips joined the MIA club - Yes, yes, another MIA moment. Both have a slight bit of a back story, so please forgive the length [and lack of picture] here. 

Part of C's gift to his groomsmen [along with paying for half the suits, the shirts and the tie] he bought them pink and green argyle socks, to match the wedding colors. We saw cute picture on Facebook in the beginning of planning [wow, that's so long ago] and wanted to recreate it on our wedding day. 

During the week before the wedding, he and I spent time packing everything up, labeling back so nothing would get missed on wedding day. Since we catered our rehersal dinner [which I need to blog about because it was amazing] there was a lot of back and forth and bags being shifted from car to car and so on and so forth. 

Cue the morning of the wedding while the guys are getting ready and the socks are NO WHERE to be found. C checked his apartment, his car, the suite his brothers car, but no dice. Well, since they groomsman were told not to bring socks, all of a sudden they don't have ANY socks to wear with their dress shoes. RUT-ROH!

Of course we had the best wedding planners ever, and one of them went to the mall by the hotel and purchased socks for all. And didn't let on about it at all when she came to see me. I wasn't told until after the ceremony by C, which made me laugh. Which also figures into how the rings didn't get presented to the best man, as she was buying socks.  Selfishly I'm glad C didn't forget his socks as the pink socks picture is one of my favorites!

The only oops that I was really upset about [but not too upset] was the fact that my hair flowers were misplaced for the reception. Since my aunt made my veil, I knew I didn't want to have it on at the reception so we didn't have to worry about it falling or getting ruined.

A friend of mine, owns a consignemnt wedding dress and designer accessory shop, so I went and looked through her merchandies and found a set of beautiful flowery hair clips. They matched the whimsy of my gown, without being too big or too much in my hair. Once they arrived, I put them in a bag for the big day and gave it to our planners the day of the wedding.

Well, at the reception when I asked for them, they didn't know what I was talking about. It was my fault for not explaining, but I had thought since it was marked on a bag we would know what to do with it. So, they brought me the bag and no hair box in it. I was bewildered and a bit crushed becuse I was so sure I had planned and packed them before hand. My sisters improvides and put some wedding flowers in my hair and in the end it didn't really matter. 

Cut to the end of the night, when we are moving things out of the reception hall and I walked by the presents table. Wouldn't' you know, there was my hair clip box. Since the set had to be created, the designer wrapped it in a beautiful box and wrote Congrats Pinky on the tag, leading my planners to believe it was a gift. Honest mistake, of course, so I just put them on for the after party at the hotel bar.

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Looking back, the day was still perfectly us and I can honestly say it was the best day of my life. Things weren't 'perfect' but the day was incredible.

Wives: what was your oops moments on your wedding day?

Bridestobe: Repeat after me "My wedding day will be amazing, even if it isn't perfect". Now remember that on your day :)!

****Unless otherwise stated, all photos are the property of PinkPersistence and RMN photography. Please ask permission if you wish to use any photos***

Take a look, it's in a book

I'm on another book reading kick, which I very much enjoy.

Since I borrow most of my books from the library for my Kindle [can't see paying that much for books that don't 'really' exist] it's been a bit of a reading frenzy to complete them all before they are due. 

Be ready for a bunch of reviews in the future :)!

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"Just in time for the centennial anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic comes a vivid, romantic, and relentlessly compelling historical novel about a spirited young woman who survives the disaster only to find herself embroiled in the media frenzy left in the wake of the tragedy.

Tess, an aspiring seamstress, thinks she's had an incredibly lucky break when she is hired by famous designer Lady Lucile Duff Gordon to be a personal maid on the Titanic's doomed voyage. Once on board, Tess catches the eye of two men, one a roughly-hewn but kind sailor and the other an enigmatic Chicago millionaire. But on the fourth night, disaster strikes.

Amidst the chaos and desperate urging of two very different suitors, Tess is one of the last people allowed on a lifeboat. Tess’s sailor also manages to survive unharmed, witness to Lady Duff Gordon’s questionable actions during the tragedy. Others—including the gallant Midwestern tycoon—are not so lucky.

On dry land, rumors about the survivors begin to circulate, and Lady Duff Gordon quickly becomes the subject of media scorn and later, the hearings on the Titanic. Set against a historical tragedy but told from a completely fresh angle, The Dressmaker is an atmospheric delight filled with all the period's glitz and glamour, all the raw feelings of a national tragedy and all the contradictory emotions of young love."

[picture and summary via good reads]

I could not put this book down, it was so incredibly good. I bought it when we took a random trip to Barnes and Noble and I'm so glad I did. I almost put it back for a different book, but thankfully I didn't. 

I have a confession to make first, though. I am a Titanicaholic. 100% true.

I have been entranced by the Titanic and the people on her since I first learned the story in school. I would buy books about the Titanic at book fairs and checked out ever so many from the library. I even asked for books for my birthday. I wrote multiple papers on the subject and even wrote my ten page, honors anthropology paper on how the Gilded Era and the Titanic. hashtagnerdalert

Anyway, back to the book. I immediately feel in love with the main character and thoroughly admired her spunk. I find that it's always easy to cheer a character on to a better life, even while you witness them stumble. I found myself questioning what I would do in her place and if I would be strong and brave or a pushover.

I highly recommend this book and plan to read more by Kate Alcott

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 "In the middle of tending to the everyday business at her vintage-clothing shop and sidestepping her married boyfriend’s attempts at commitment, Iris Lockhart receives a stunning phone call: Her great-aunt Esme, whom she never knew existed, is being released from Cauldstone Hospital—where she has been locked away for more than sixty-one years.

Iris’s grandmother Kitty always claimed to be an only child. But Esme’s papers prove she is Kitty’s sister, and Iris can see the shadow of her dead father in Esme’s face.

Esme has been labeled harmless—sane enough to coexist with the rest of the world. But she's still basically a stranger, a family member never mentioned by the family, and one who is sure to bring life-altering secrets with her when she leaves the ward. If Iris takes her in, what dangerous truths might she inherit?

A gothic, intricate tale of family secrets, lost lives, and the freedom brought by truth, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox will haunt you long past its final page."

[picture and description via amazon]

This book....was just weird, weird, weird.

STRANGE WEIRD! Completely different than what I expected in the least. I almost just put it down because I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. The author kept going back and forth between characters in the first and third person and sometimes it was with jumbled thoughts which didn't make sense until later in different chapters.

I started to figure things out in the middle, and then was able to kind of guess what was happening right before it happened. Which isn't always fun, but for this book it was helpful.

I was kind of sad after reading it, because it touched on the conditions of asylums and how horrible healthcare was back in the day. Some of the things patients endured makes me shiver.

So, in summary, this isn't a book I would really recommend, unless you enjoy books that are kind of...strange.

 Have you read any good books lately?!!? If so, what are they?!

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Just an average, normal weekend

Morning ladies, how are you today?

I hope things are going well and you're ready to 

rock out another week. 

Sooooooo, can I ask a question?

Am I the only one in blog land that thinks that my weekends

aren't always blogworthy?

And and I the only one that thinks that's a bad thing?

We didn't do super duper amazing, but it was an amazingly,

average, normal married weekend to me!

Friday night we went to a Caps game, which isn't anything unusual since we have half season tickets. But, this time we had different tickets because we were meeting up with C's aunt and uncle. The seats we bought were pretty incredible and the game was fantastic too. The Caps ended up winning, by one goal WOOHOO! :)

After the game we ended up going out for drinks until way past midnight, which was a ton of fun since C doesn't get to see his family very much. We all had a great time and had some fun drinks too. 

Saturday morning brought pouring rain and none of the 60 degrees the weatherman promised me. C's football game got canceled so we headed to the farmers market and did some cleaning at home. We had a kickball reunion pot luck Saturday night and it was deliciously fun. 

I made my amazing Oreo cupcakes and ate a ton of food. 

It was so nice to see everyone and gear up for the 2014 season.

Sunday morning I headed to church and we revisited our baptism's which was a pretty cool experience. After church I visited with my family for a hot second and then came home to the apartment to eat brunch and do some stuff around the house with C before running errands.

We did a very ambitious workout before we went to the store and gollywolly am I hurting. I'm talking a workout including chest, dead lifts, good mornings, db pec fly, inverted rows and lat pulldowns. Hurts sooooooo gooood y'all!

After the gym we headed to the store to buy food for the week. We've really started to watch we are eating again, because there was a bunch of weight gained on both our bodies since the wedding, which is NOT OKAY! I'm not complaining at all, since I know why I've gained the weight, but it's time to get back into shape, FOR REAL this time.

C found this awesome dry erase board that we have on our fridge now

and it's awesome to see the food/workout plan for the week. 

Sadly, we had to say goodbye to our lovely Christmas cards. It was so amazing to feel so loved this year with all of the cards we received. Our doorway is going to be so lonely now :(

Since we worked out so hard earlier in the day, we were able cook a bomb-diggity dinner which I absolutely inhaled. Talk about deliciousness!

The rest of the evening was spent prepping food for the week [holla], watching NCIS, blogging, reading and of course some cuddling :)!

I'm ready to get after it this week and hope you are too. 

Make today AMAZING!!!

Linking up with these beautiful ladies.

Five New Beauty Tricks

Good morning friends!

I hope your day has started off well, it is Friday :)

With the buzz about the new year still humming over on the blog [you can see my intentions for the New Year *here*], I thought today I'd post the five beauty trips I hope to master sometimes this year. 

I'm not a beauty guru by any stretch of the imagination, but I do enjoy playing with makeup and hair styles just for fun. I've learned a lot about beauty from different blogs [PinkLouLous being my mecca ;)] and now I've begun perusing Pinterest for makeup and hairstyles as well.

Here are five I hope to master this year :)!

1] Makeup contouring - I've seen many posts, pictures and pins on makeup contouring and what a difference it can make with make-up. It truly is incredible. It looks intimidating, but with the right amount of practice and a good tutorial, I'm confident it will be something worthwhile.

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  2] The cat eye - Is there anything more elegant than a lovely cat eye? One can wear it a la Adele or add a pop of color as the picture below. I've seen many tutorials on pinterest, but have yet to truly try them out. I'm hopeful that the liquid liner pen I use might make the learning a bit easier.

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3] Vintage hair/curls - I've mentioned before how much I adore the 40s and all things vintage from that era. While many of the hairstyles from that time are a quite intricate, the 'vintage curls' look appears to be something that I could master, someday. I just need to find those awesome metal clips.

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4] Red lipstick - Talk about a quick bit of sophistication. If done right, a red lip can make any lady look extra polished and feminine. It can be tricky to find 'the right' shade and to avoid looking 'overdone', but with a bit of research and practice I think I can find a hue and style that is perfect for me.

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5] French tips of any kind - A French  manicure seems to be in one minute and out the next, but the skill of learning to just paint the tips of nails, equally, still seems like an important beauty talent to master. I rather like the glitter tips of the picture below and will probably try it sometime this month, just for fun.

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Well, there we are, five beauty tricks to master in a year, not to crazy right?!?

An tips or hints regarding my five? 

Are there any tricks you are looking to master?

Pinkies up,

linking up here again!

Setting Intentions

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Last year, I posted how I was GOING TO OWN 2013! I didn't set resolutions to break, but rather stated how I wanted and would make 2013 my year. I must say, while I didn't keep to everything I planned on 'owning', I think I did OWN 2013 :). It seems a common theme around blogland to not set resolutions, but to see the practice as a bad one. I have to say that sometimes I agree with that sentiment, however I usually find a JOY in setting a resolution or intention for the new year. To me, there is just something so refreshing about turning a new page of a new year.

This year, I'm setting intentions. I'm sure I'll add to them throughout the year and possible fail to complete what I intend to do. 2014 will be the year of intentions, both my and God's of course. 2013 ended up being the surprise year of my life, so I'm sure God has a few surprises in store for me this year too.

Here are the things I intend to do in 2014!!!!

I intend to expand my vocabulary. After reading *THIS* article I realize how DUMB I choose to sound. Totes, amazeballs and I KNOW, right are getting the boot [unless I'm impersonating someone] and I intend to try to add some new words to my repertoire. Hopefully *THIS* website can help a sister out.

I intend to master two intricate recipes that I can whip up for a formal dinner gathering. I'm thinking of looking to Julia Child, for a bit of help. Right now the two recipes I intend to master are Julia's Beef Bourguignon and French Onion Soup.

I intend to learn how to grant people grace. I'm not perfect, so I need to recognize that others aren't either.

I intend to figure out what I want to do next in life job-wise. There needs to be a change, I just don't know what it will yet. That needs to change.

I intend to read devotionals every other month. I know I can't commit to a monthly devotional, I get too distracted [bad on me of course], but figure two months to complete one devotional should be adequate time.

I intend to stretch and take deep breaths daily. Flexibility is key in life, as is remaining calm. These two intentions should serve me well in the future.

What are your intentions/resolutions/thoughts for the New Year?!?!