Perfect spring weekend!

This past weekend has to be what I consider the perfect spring weekend. Friday night is our date night and we decided  we wanted to go out for Mexican food!  We were so excited about our fiesta style date night that our text messages looked a little something like this:

We haven't tired any Mexican places here in town yet so we got some advice from a few locals and headed to Pancho Villa.  When we arrived I realized they had Mexican Bulldogs on special,  this is the margarita with a corona!  I know I am like a year late on this trend but I had never tried one and was pretty darn excited about it, so much so that we let the server talk us into the double instead of the single, nice up-sale Mr. Server!  Dinner was delish but the company was even better, I sure do love date nights with my man!

Whoa!

My dinner, Chimichangas! Clearly I had no time to take a pic and had to dig in!

Mission accomplished!

Love this man!

 Saturday morning we woke up early dropped the pup off at doggie daycare and headed over to the farmers market.  This is quickly becoming our Saturday routine, hit the farmers market, get tons of fresh veggies and locally raised meat and eggs, then take a long stroll around downtown!  Can I just say that there hasn't been much about Virginia that I have been really excited about, its just very different from NC especially the small town we moved to.   However the local farmers market is unbelievable  seriously so many amazing vendors, it even has multiple vendors that sell meats from farm raised, grass fed animals and even cheeses, butter and milk! So in love with this part of VA!

Tons of amazing produce.

They even had alpacas there, like I have mentioned before I absolutely love animals and these little guys were precious and made the absolute cutest little sounds you have ever heard.  I wonder if you can have an alpaca in an apartment, hmmmm maybe? 

Some of the farmers market.

So many beautiful flowers.

On our walk we passed a house that had a UNCC 49ers flag(my Alma mater).  Such a small wolrd, NINER NATION!

After our walk we headed home and decided it would be the perfect day for our first visit to the pool, it wasn't quite warm enough to swim but it was perfect to catch some rays.  Later that afternoon we picked up the pup and headed home to grill out for dinner.

Happy and tired girl.

My handsome grill master.

Yum!

To end our awesome spring evening, we decided to take advantage of the cool evening and use the outdoor fireplace here at our apartment complex.  And of course if you have a fire you have to make s'mores!  We enjoyed s'mores a few Sierra Nevada Summer fests and plenty of relaxation.

S'mores makins!

Perfection!

Roasting marshmallows.

Yes, please!

Hubby approves.

Bella enjoying her S'mores AKA rawhide.

Sunday was very laid back and routine, Church, hangin at home doing sunday chores and taking a long walk with the pup.

Seriously the perfect weekend, it's days like these that remind me of how good the Lord has been to me.  If i'm honest this move has been really hard on me and sometimes down right depressing but just when I start to get down about my situation the Lord will give me a day like this and remind me that life is still good and I am beyond blessed.  I truly have been blown away by his provision over the past few months.  

Happy Spring!

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The Newly Wed game!

So this is my first week participating in this link up and I thought it would be fun!  I don't know if people would consider Michael and I Newly Weds since we have been married over 4 years, but we still consider ourselves Newly Weds, so that's all that matters.  Just an FYI, I e-mailed Michael these questions while he was at work, so his answers are completely his own, no influence from me. 
1.  What is the funniest thing your spouse has done?
Tessa: Oh my this is a hard one because Michael and I are such goof balls.  We rarely take life seriously and are always laughing and joking about something, its usually something stupid, inappropriate and immature, that's just how we roll.  Michael makes me laugh daily.
Michael: Many thnigs, but the funniest I can remember right now is when she came out of the anesthesia from her wisdom teeth and said the most awesome things. 
2.  What is your idea of a good date?
Tessa: Going out to dinner and walking around the mall, like I have mentioned before we are mall people.  I'm not a huge fan of movies, for a date night I want to be able to talk and you can't do that during a movie.
Michael: Go out for some good food and drinks then go to a sports game (soccer, football, basketball or hockey) or explore the city.  I have many other ideas of good dates, but that is the first that came to mind.
3.  What is your favorite memory of you and your spouse?
Tessa: Man this a hard one as well, we have had tons of memories over the past eleven and a half years.  I would have to say the big ones like getting engaged, our wedding day and adopting our little fur baby Bella.
Michael: A lot, Tess walking down the aisle is probably top right now.
4.  What are some activities/hobbies that you and your spouse do together?
Tessa: Well we love to eat, that's for sure.  We love going on long walks, going to the mall like I mentioned earlier.  And I would have to say going and watching the hubs play soccer, Michael is a soccer nut!  He has played it pretty much his entire life and ever since I started dating him I have always gone to his games, I really enjoy it!
Michael: Walking, DIY projects (ha), eating, going places, watching sports, going to church, sleeping, etc. 
5.  Why do think your marriage/relationship is successful?
Tessa: I am in no ways a relationship expert and we have had our struggles over the past 11 years but first and foremost I would have to say our faith.  Keeping God at the center of our marriage has been our goal and it is not easy but it teaches us to be selfless and put our spouse first.  Jesus really has changed our relationship.  Along with that the usual: communication, fighting fair etc.  We also make an effort to go on a date night every week, were we put down our phones and just spend time together.  And last but not least we just have fun, like I said before we have quite the sense of humor and we just love being silly and ridiculous together, life is way to short to be serious.
Michael: Because we are awesome and we have God in our relationship  (though it is more the latter).
6.  What is your spouse's dream job?  Is he/she currently in it?
Tessa: Hmmmmm probably to be a professional soccer player haha.  But other than that, maybe start a business.  Michael has been talking about how he wants to be able to start an online business that he can provide for our family but be his own boss, his ultimate goal is to have the freedom and flexibility to spend as much time as possible with me and our future children.  He has always said he doesn't ever want his career to be his priority he always wants his family to come first, especially when we have children because they are only with you for such a short period of time and he doesn't want to miss anything.
Michael: Stay at home mom (not yet)
7.  What is the best gift your spouse ever gave you?
Tessa: Oh wow, Michael is the BEST gift giver, he gives me things I didn't know I wanted, and he is so good at paying attention to things that I have mentioned wanting.  I just can't pick one thing!
Michael: My xbox was pretty awesome.
8.  Where do you see you and your spouse in the next 10 years?
Tessa: Hopefully, busy raising little Roman's and living back in NC!  And of course still laughing at life, like always.
Michael: Married with two kids and our dog Bella (still kicking) and living at a lake house near Charlotte.
9.  Is marriage everything you expected it to be?  Is it much harder than you thought it would be? Why?
Tessa: I don't really know what expectations I had for marriage, I was just looking forward to finally getting to marry my best friend and share everyday life with him!   I have to honestly say it has not been harder than I expected,  even with the fact that we didn't live together before marriage we pretty much transitioned easily. Not to sound sappy, but I honestly could spend every waking moment with Michael, even when we argue I never feel like I need to get away from him, I don't know why?  Maybe because we dated long distance pretty much our entire dating relationship and we were always having to say goodbye.  Don't get me wrong we have had our struggles over the past 4 years, but nothing any harder than what we faced in our dating relationship when neither of us knew Jesus and God was definitely was not the center of our relationship.  Like I said Jesus has made such a huge difference in our relationship and our lives.
Michael: I didn't have a lot of expectations for marriage coming in.  It is pretty much like I expected, though some situations are different than I would have expected or known how to deal with.  I based my idea of marriage around my parent's marriage but since my wife and I are not my parents,  learning to handle things differently than my parents did/do is the most difficult.
10.  Who is your spouse's celebrity crush and do you look like them?
Tessa: Hahaha, this is funny because Michael  just does not ever talk about stuff like this, I'm not sure why but he just never has.  However he did admit to me one time that he use to have a crush on Christina Aguilera way back in the day, he thought she was pretty hot in the "Genie in a bottle" video.  Well I'm not sure if I look like her, I'm blonde.  Oh yeah and I use to be a huge fan of her back in H.S, I even dressed up as her for Halloween one year haha, so I guess he lucked out!
Michael:   Me.  Ok well I'm not a celebrity so it would be Justin Timberlake and yes I look like him.
Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend!

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Birthday weekend!

This past weekend we celebrated Michael's 29th birthday!  Friday was his actual birthday but we had a commitment with church so I decorated the apartment , made quesadillas and had a little mini fiesta, we decided we would really celebrate on Saturday   We decided we wanted to drive about 45 mins away to Richmond to check out this mall everyone had been talking about.  You see here in Fredericksburg the mall is lacking to say the least and definitely not what we are used to so we were looking forward to seeing what this mall had to offer.  The mall you ask, for a birthday celebration?  That's right!  One little fact about Michael and I is that we are mall people,  one of our favorite date nights is to go to the mall eat junk food at the food court and just walk around, we don't really have to actually buy anything we just like walking around looking in stores and spending time together.  Another fact is my husband has been working on stepping it up in the fashion department and I must say he is looking mighty fine lately so my gift to him was a little shopping spree to get some new things for spring.

Bella was ready to party!

Exploring the mall.

Mall junk food!

Trying on blazers.

We had McAlisters for lunch, one of our favorites and Fredericksburg doesnt' have one, so we had to stop and eat here.

Our last and final stop was to the Whole Foods, this was probably what I was most excited about haha.  Over the past year or so Michael and I have been really focusing on what we are putting in our bodies and unfortunately almost all food in America is just plain crap.  So when we lived in NC we loved shopping at Whole Foods and having access to clean, organic foods.  However, yes you guessed it Fredericksburg doesn't have one.  This Whole Foods was awesome and  so much bigger than the one we went to in NC.

Later that evening we had reservations at a restaurant in downtown Fredericksburg.  Dinner was delicious and the beer selection was unbelievable!

Hubs rockin his new blazer.

18 page beer menu! What! What!

Cheese dip, with fresh pretzels for an appetizer.

I had the smoke house burger.

Michael's beer in a girly glass haha.  I insisted he drink with his pinky finger up, he didn't agree.

Brownie sundae for dessert.

A poor quality pic with the Birthday boy.

Sunday we went to church and spent the rest of the day walking along the river and enjoying spring's arrival!

Happy Birthday babe, I had so much fun celebrating you this weekend, I love you!

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Happy Birthday Hubs!

Today my handsome Hubby turns 29 that's right he is officially one year away from his thirties!!! Yikes, when did he become such an old guy? Haha, I kid! Happy Birthday babe, you truly are the absolute best,  life with you is so much fun! Bee Bop and I love you to the moon and back!

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Easter Weekend!

This past weekend was the long awaited trip home for Easter!  I was beyond excited to get home and see our family and friends.  Friday afternoon we packed up and headed south!  We arrived around dinner time and headed straight to my Dad's house, gave tons of hugs and then decided to head to dinner with Jordan.  Where did we go for dinner? Showmars, of course!  If you are from Charlotte you know why, it's amazing!  After dinner we headed to my in laws and spent the evening catching up and playing with our nephews.

I was beyond giddy to see this sign.

Nicholas was happy to see his bud Bella.

Love this kid!

Nicholas was loving the front camera on the iphone.

More love for Bella.

Playing cars with Bella.

Saturday we spent the day with my Mom, Aunt Leslie and cousin Kayley.  I didn't get any pics, probably because we were to busy laughing and joking around, that's pretty much all we do when we are together, tons and tons of inappropriate humor. Saturday evening we had a birthday party at Michael's parents to celebrate the April birthdays which included: Michael, James, Steve and Whitney.  It was so nice to spend some time with some of my best friends and family.

The birthday peeps blowing out the candles.

My Birthday boys!

Mommy and James.

Brothers

All this cake, for me?

Sunday morning we woke up early and headed to Elevation for Easter service, it was incredible I might have sobbed through pretty much the entire service.  It was such a great way to start the day remembering what Jesus did for us on the cross, and why we have so many reasons to celebrate.  After church we headed back to my in laws to hang with the fam and have lunch.  It was such a beautiful day we decided to head to the back yard and relax.  Some how my bro in law Eric got a hold of our camera and this ridiculous photo shoot ensued.

Rolling in the grass.

Bella enjoying her bone the Easter Bunny brought her!

Here comes the silliness.

Yep there it is

Then leads to some impromptu Cheerleading.

Then this cute little one joined in the fun!

How we really feel about babies, haha.

James thinks its pretty funny.

Its drooling, ewww!

All jokes aside we really do love this kid!

Uncle Eric and James.

Daddy and James.

That pretty much does it for our weekend, it was way to short and I am missing home already.  Luckily we will be back in about a month for two Graduations yippy! I am really excited for spring and summer and all the business it brings! Until next time Happy April!

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