Vacation Booked!

You may or not remember that for our honeymoon, Sam and I went on a cruise with a brunch of our friends.

While on the cruise we kept saying "we have to do this again" or "we should do this every year" or "this need to become a tradition".

I didn't want just to have those words to become empty hopes, so I over the summer Sam and I did some searching and blocked off some rooms for our next group cruise. However, for months no one has jump on getting their money in to go on this next trip. Until this week... so if no one else goes, at least Sam and I will go on vacation come next March.

However, I do hope that some more people decide to join in on the fun!The best thing about having the vacation booked is that we have something to look forward to. I'm a true believer in needing things to look forward to. I think it's good for the soul to have something to get excited about.

I hope everyone has a great and relaxing weekend! 

Breaking up is hard to do...

Breaking up is hard to do... with my shoes.

I love shoes. Some girls are purse people, but I'm a shoe girl. And these were one of my favorite pairs. They worked for going out, going to work, or just to slip on to run a quick errand. Now that I've worn through the bottom, I guess that means I got to go find their replace. Man... a girls work is never done!

One Month House Anniversary!

I can't believe it's October already. Also, I can't believe that Sam and I have owned the house for a month now. It has taken almost this whole month for the house to really start feeling like mine (okay- ours). With it being our one month anniversary (well it was yesterday, but close enough) in our new home I thought I would share a few more pictures...

In front of our house we have a bunch of these rose bushes. Even with the cooler fall weather, the bush keeps blooming. I don't think we are planning on keeping the bushes, but for this year we just going to leaving them be for now.

With the weather still being pretty nice, Sam has gotten some work done on the roof. Some of the job on the roof were better then others.

While on the roof, Sam decided to clean the gutters. It really needed it- the front gutter was completely clogged. If you can't tell by his face in this picture, the smell for the rotting leaves was not so pleasant.

Finally, I also have started to decorate the house. Being that it's fall, our wedding pumpkins seems like a good decoration to put on the mantel with our wedding "thumb" tree.

Here to one month down and many many many more to come!

11 Years with Sam!

I'm proud to say that I've been with my best friend for 11 years! This year came with a lot of big milestones for us and our relationship- we got married and bought a house! However, we couldn't have gotten to this point without all the history behind us.

So this year I thought I would share a picture from every year we have been together.

( Turnabout Dance- 2002)

From the first high school dance we went to together.

(Turnabout Dance- 2003)

The follow year- same dance.
(Taking pictures of pictures isn't easy. It didn't turn out so well.)

(High School Graduation- 2004)

Done with high school. Moving on to the next chapter of our lives.

( Grandma A's Birthday Party- 2005)

I'm so glad this didn't happen at the wedding.

(College Apartment- 2006)

We moved into together (with two other roommates) and enjoyed the college life!

(More College Pictures- 2007)

My final year of my undergraduate degree.

(Halloween Party- 2008)

Sam was still in college, so I went back for my graduate degree.

 (Uncle Joe's Birthday- 2009)

 We had move into a one bedroom apartment just the two of us,
and we really learned how to live together.

(Engagement- 2010)

After we got engaged, we came home to drinks and a decorated car.

(Wedding- 2011)

Even though this really happen in the last year, I just love this picture too much not to include it.

(Honeymoon- 2012)

We are now trying to enjoy life and all the things that come with this next chapter in our lives. 

~Sam,

I'm so glad I stole our seat 11 years ago at that football game. Your my best friend. Even though life isn't perfect, we always make it work. That's what I love about you. 

Love,

Your Wife- Stacy

My Extended Weekend

Happy Hump Day! (And it's almost over!)

I know that the weekend seems like it was so long ago, but I was lucky enough to have a bit of an extended weekend. The reason for the extended weekend wasn't for fun, but we did make the most of it.

This is was the first weekend we decided to invite our friends over for a grill out and bonfire. The food consisted of  your grilling staples- hotdogs and hamburgers. Also we had a veggie tray, different types of salads, and chips & dip. For the bonfire we had plenty of brush to burn.

We have been working on cleaning up our yard, so a fire seemed like the best way to get rid of the unwanted wood. The night consisted of friends, drinks, and stories- I call that a good night in my books.

In true friend fashion, if you do something stupid there will be pictures taken and shared. I guess the bathroom floor looked like a good place to take a nap. He did make it to a bed, it just took a little while.
 
The next day, Sam and I got up and headed to Michigan for the night. My grandma was in the hospital and we wanted to visit her. (She is now home and doing better.) I hate doing day trips to Michigan, so we decide to make the most of trip and spend the night.

After our visit with my grandma, we decided to get dinner with my cousin and her husband-to-be. We went to some small local bar, but it was kind of a cool place.

It's hard to tell from the picture- but there were hundreds of beer mugs hanging on the walls and ceiling. It's a cool idea (if your a local and will go to this bar a lot)- you buy a mug (cost $46), and you are the only person who gets to use the mug but the mugs are 4oz big then a normal pint. You pay the normal price for a beer, but you earn punches on your "Mug Club card" and every 6th drink, you only pay $.50. It's pretty cool idea, and you know who the regulars are because they drinking from a mug.

After we visited with my grandma one more time the next morning, Sam and I headed home. The end of our weekend came with another big purchase for the house.

A giant TV! (Giant meaning 55 inches.) This was really a Sam "want" for the house. After talking about getting another TV for a few weeks now, I caved and brought this TV. All I got to say is that this TV better last a while, because we aren't buying another anytime soon. Also, I have a feeling we'll be watching a lot of football games with friends around this TV.

All in all- it was a good weekend spent with great people!

I Don't Live Out of a Suitcase!

I'm sorry I've been MIA all week. Things were pretty crazy and I didn't have the motivation to write any post- until now. I am proud to say "I don't live out of a suitcase!"

This may not seem like a big deal. However, I have lived out of a suitcase since May 2010. For over two years I've had clothes in two different houses, in two different suitcases, and a duffel bag to move my clothes from place to place. So to see my clothes hanging in a closet was really nice.

I'm excited to see all my shoes lined up, my shirt hung, and my suitcases empty!  I won't lie, when we first moved into the house this closet had Sam things in it but being that it's the bigger closet, I took it over. Hey- I'm the girl, I should get the bigger closet. (Right?) I'm just sayin'.

Getting to Use My New Kitchen

I have to say being able to cook in my house is really helping it make it feel like home. Now that most of my kitchen items are put away, it was time to start getting to use some of my wedding gifts.

Last night was my first real dinner to be cook in this house.

It wasn't anything too special, but pretty healthy. High fiber pasta with seasoning, chicken, and broccoli. However, we really need a microwave soon because it was weird having to steam my broccoli on the stove.

Being that both Sam and I had this morning off, I decided to make my favorite breakfast sandwich.

This is a 2 egg whites, cheese and bagel (this was a "thin" bagel). I'm proud to say I'm can branch out from my Cocoa Krispies from time to time.

I had talked about wanting to start to meal plan again, so today I prepared what we are going to have for dinner tomorrow this afternoon. I may not have a whole weeks worth of meals planned, but it's a start. On the menu for tomorrow-

Chili! You got to love crock-pots- they are a great time saver.

Finally, tonight Sam and I were kind of hungry so we pulled out one of our old college tricks- we "pizzazzed" a frozen pizza.

 I love that I can cook a pizza without having to turn on the oven. Even though I have a real kitchen with an oven- I still love my Pizzazz!