How cute is this?!

I love this story - had to share it!

And here is a funny one: 

 Happy Friday :)

A few recommendations - from us to you!

J and I had a great weekend. He had the weekend off- no guilt and no thoughts in his mind of having to study, and I know he needed it. It reminded us of our weekends in Tallahassee, when all we had to think about was where to eat or grab drinks next - oh the days! :) We took advantage of the weekend, though, and now he's ready to take on another term (or as ready as he'll ever be I guess!)

I thought I'd make some recommendations for you to try - they come highly recommended from J and myself...

Abita Strawberry Harvest

If you know us well, you know we are beer people. My sister says she doesn't like all of our "fancy beers," but you know this one sounds good! We first came across Abita Strawberry Harvest last spring and sat outside enjoying it often, so when we found it in the liquor store this weekend, we were excited to grab a 6 pack (or 2!) and sit out back on one of our warmest days yet. Yummy, try it!

Keurig Brewing System

We got this as a gift for Christmas - and it's definitely come in handy. With only 2 of us, making a pot of coffee never seems to make sense (especially since I don't drink coffee!) - so this is the perfect solution. J can make a single cup of coffee - using K cups which can be purchased almost anywhere in all different flavors - in just about 2 minutes. It's quick and easy, which is great for us since we are NOT morning people! If you're asking why I would recommend this when I don't even drink coffee, it's because it also makes hot chocolate and tea..Mmm, you can't go wrong :) Oh, and it turns off on it's own after 90 seconds, so you never have to worry about that!

E-mealz.com

I started using E-mealz a little over a month ago and it has been GREAT! It was recommended to me by Carly (one of my fellow med-school wives!) - so thank you - and it's definitely been a benefit for both J and myself. You do have to pay a small cost - with a coupon code, it comes to $1 per week over a 3 month period. They send you a menu every week (I chose the Weight Watchers menu for 2), which gives you 5 meals to make, plus your shopping list broken down aisle by aisle. It's actually made me cook almost every weeknight and we are trying completely different meals than our "usuals." I highly recommend doing this plan to anyone needing that motivation to cook or not wanting to have to think about what to cook or what the sides are going to be.

Front Page News

Any chance we get, we make the 20-25 minute drive into Atlanta to enjoy sitting outside for brunch at Front Page News on Crescent Street. If you live around here or are visiting the area, J and I would say it's a must to eat here. They have a 100-item bloody mary bar, buckets of mimosas, and live jazz on Sundays on the outside patio. It is a New Orleans style restaurant with a wonderful patio that has great ambiance. My personal favorite is the Pain Perdu - french toast topped with pecan butter - and J's favorite is the fried chicken biscuits served with home fries. Delicious :)

That's it for now - enjoy! Tomorrow is Friday - woohoo! Although, this weekend isn't looking too exciting for me. I have CPR/First Aid training on Saturday morning plus an extra hour of Fire Safety training and our first Natural Family Planning class on Sunday at church which I hear will last about 3 hours. Ready for a mini vacation next weekend! See some of you soon :)

Marriage Prep & A Photo Sesh!

Marriage Preparation...it just sounds fun, doesn't it?! ;) Well, if you spoke to either of us a few months ago about the whole "marriage prep" situation, we would have been honest and told you that some of the things we have to do seemed a bit ridiculous and that we just didn't have a great vibe from it all. After leaving another meeting with our priest tonight, we both walked out of there saying how this has been a complete 180. We felt good leaving tonight (as we did last meeting as well), and it feels great to know we kept up with it and it's turned into a positive for us. We feel welcomed and embraced by our church now, and actually understand why we're going through the things we are - for the most part! It's taught us where our differences are, our strong points, and how to really think as a unit of "one" together. While we still have much more to go through, I'm happy we feel this way about it now and it makes the process of preparing for marriage seem a lot less stressful..whew, it feels nice to say that!

And today.....our engagement photos finally came in :) Here are a few...

We had a lot of fun taking these pictures in West Palm's Clematis Street / City Place area with Sean Michael - who will be the photographer on our wedding day, so most of you will meet him :) It also served as a great trial run for us so we could see what it's like being in the spot light and things we need to work on for photos! For me - it's trying to keep my eyes open and not blink so much - For him, well I'll let him tell you :)

This week is the dreaded test week. I'm actually not so sure whether or not to call it "dreaded", because at least J knows that he's this much closer to getting the chance to relax for a day or two, and I know I'm this much closer to spending time with him. However we look at it, let's just pray he does well! This Friday will mark the end of his second term in medical school...that means 1 more term to go and he is done with his first year. I'm proud :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope everyone had a very Happy Valentine's Day <3

Us almost 9 years ago

This year marked our 9 year anniversary, and our last one before getting married! So everyone keeps telling me it all starts over next year - but I think instead of saying "we've been married a year", I'll have to say "we've been together 10 years!" - It makes a difference (to us, at least!) We got a cute card in the mail from the DiSalvo's for our anniversary, a card from J's grandparents, and a delicious package from J's parents for Valentine's Day (our favorite popcorn from the Boardwalk in Ocean City) - Thank you all!!

J and I bought our wedding bands this weekend - how exciting - so we said no gifts for Valentine's Day. Of course, we had to do a little something though..cause that's just how we are...

My beautiful roses from J

My little package for him

Grizz was treated to a bath at Petsmart, which wore him out

J and I went out for dinner - PF Chang's, yummy! We absolutely love that restaurant and we had a gift card, so that worked out nicely! We ate dessert at home, and then went to bed early - a night of no studying for J - and it was nice for both of us :)

We had a Valentine's Day party at school for the kids - it was fun watching them do the "Valentine exchange" for their first time as Pre-K'ers, and I know they enjoyed it! Speaking of the kids, they have all been sick lately with this weather, which means I have been sick as well. Twice in the past 3 weeks, and it's no fun. We had even more snow last week..

Hoping that was the last of the year!

At least we'll be heading to South Florida next month, it can't come soon enough! And J will have a whole week off of school for his spring break. I'm sure he'll spend most days out on his mountain bike (he loves all the trails around here) - so another reason to hope for warm weather.

I've been able to check a few more things off the wedding list, which feels great, as we are only 4 months away! Visit our site: