Meet Luke David

Not too much has happened lately. I mean, other than the birth of my newest nephew Luke. That's a lot in and of itself! Here's a couple cute pics of him:

Good pic of Nana and Papa on Luke's bday

Katie and Elijah were so excited

I'm ready to spoil him ...

I love this pose!

Here's a glimpse at the snow we got on Thursday night.

I'm starting to feel the need to start running again. I'm just waiting on the desire. I know I need to, I just don't want too! The running stopped but the eating has picked up quite a bit ... thanks Pinterest! I made these cookies yesterday and they are the best ones I've had so far! They are from  www.sallysbakingaddiction.com and I'll definitely be checking out her blog for more ideas.

Yum!!! What a great way to use sprinkles. Photo credit to www.sallysbakingaddiction.com. Why didn't I take my on pic yesterday? Maybe it's cause I was too busy eating them ....

This is the first time my outcome actually looked like what I saw on pinterest. My goal is to share my experience with Pinterest more often.

New Year - New Goal

My new goal (not a resolution) for 2013 is to document our life a little more often. I'm intrigued by the 365 photo challenge but sometimes there might be more than one picture that needs posting or there could be days when there is no reason to post anything (we are boring!) and I don't want to be constrained by that or feel like I have to post. This will be my attempt at documenting the year 2013!

January 1st! Portrait of me at the start of the new year ... decked out in new Christmas gear: App State sweater and cozy sweater boots.

January 1b - my view for most of the day:

I love these sweater boots. I hate taking them off. They are way more comfortable than I ever thought. Great buy Trophyhus!

January 2nd:

I developed a cold and Mom suggested a concoction of apple cider vinegar and honey. It didn't taste good and I'm not sure if it worked, but I did it twice. It taste pretty gross - like vinegar with honey ... it's all the rage on the internet ... I'm not sure it helped a ton, but I did feel better after I taking it.

Jan 5th: Lunch with Mom, Ty, and Amber ... why didn't I take a picture?

Jan 6th: Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies from Pinterest

These were pretty good - not great, but good. Very chocolaty. I made a little over two dozen cookies and cleaned up within about an hour. That's not too bad considering I'm still getting used to my mixer. Please let me know if you have any great recipes for a newbie with a mixer!

You'll notice, there are no baby pics in this entry. Baby Boy Gaston is holding his own. Today was his due date and I don't know who is more ready for him to make his entry - his parents or his aunts! Good news is it is definitely this week. No worries - I'll be a good aunt and post plenty of pics to torture him with when he is a teenager.

With everyone dieting and exercising, I feel the need to move a bit more. All this baking is going to make it a necessity instead of a hobby! For now, I'm running to work tomorrow so I can share these cookies! If I don't keep them all, I can't eat them all! Right?

Where have I been?

It's been a while since I posted (September to be exact!) ... so where have I been? Here. Doing nothing! We are pretty boring and I'm ok with that. It's just been work, home, sleep, repeat. Below are a few pics I snapped with the phone. Someone might find this interesting:

September:

Josh playing with Katie and Elijah 

Amber and Sam got me new earrings :)

 October:

Carrie and I shared a Nutella Crepe at Baker's Crust - delish!

Phone cover for a while

First attempt at Banana Bread - not bad

Fall Decor

Apple Pies for work potluck

Danielle visits!

And we made cookie-PB cup-brownies! 

Tim Hawkin's concert in Greensboro

for Jeremy's bday!

Katie and Lij got new shirts

and Katie likes to make funny faces for photos

I got in for a quick picture. Lij's shirt says it all - My Auntie Rocks ... and she does (Cause it's me)!

Carrie needed a stache photo for work and I helped. So I took one of myself too ... it was for work, right? 

Josh and I went to the Landmark Theater to see the Grinch

Got my first stand mixer

Front door decor

Christmas lovin' from Boston

Stache fun with Samson. He wasn't feeling good in this pic but was a good sport. 

Fun with a new cookie press

I think based on these photos I might need to put the stache down ... but they are so funny!

What have I been running for? Well, I've been running from running ... and you can see all the delicious yummies I've had over the past few months. With the new mixer, better get out of my way cause there's going to be more! I better start running again!

Trophyhus is in Love

Three states, the District of Columbia, and over 8 hours of driving and my husband is now the happiest man on earth! At least, for now ... Yesterday we journeyed to Pennsylvania to buy him a new car - his dream car. There was nothing wrong with his Toyota Yaris, it was just a bit slow in the acceleration area. With his commute to and from work requiring several heavily traveled interstates with speeds limits of 70 mph, I kind of felt sorry for him. One can only be passed by the IMAP truck a few times before giving up completely ... For the past few months Josh has been doing deep research for his next car. This was no whim. In fact, I don't know if we have ever looked into a single purchase this much! He has watched countless videos and bored me to tears - but the results were oh so worth it :)

Here he is - love at first sight:

Driving off the lot:

Not sure if you can tell, but this is him on the drive home from my side mirror - grinning.

That smile stayed on his face all day! It really hasn't left since.

I'm officially the best wife ever! Or so I am told hourly. It's part of the deal - he gets a new car and I get told how awesome I am on a regular basis. It's the least I could do, right?

Seriously, I am so thrilled that he is so happy! I'm just wondering how I am ever going to top this!

What am I running for these days? Well, running is used lightly but I have been back for PT with my trainer twice and I have an appointment tomorrow ... so lemon bars tonight won't hurt anything.

It's been a year already?

I have celebrated my one year anniversary at my new job in a new state ... whew! A year already? Time is absolutely flying by! It feels like just yesterday I was sitting in NC working at RMIC ... and then bam I was transported to VA! I cannot believe it.

I am still really liking my new job. It is such a different atmosphere. I think I can totally make it challenging and rewarding for years to come. I know so much more today than I did a year ago and that's just the tip of the iceberg. That's a bit exciting and intimidating at the same time.

We are starting to get settled into the house now. Josh's family has even come in for a visit. It was so much fun having people in the house! Having a one year old crawling and walking around is challenging, but boy was he fun! It was very sad and quiet when they left last Sunday. I enjoy the quiet but it's nice to have commotion every now an then!

Otherwise, things are the same for us. Work, home, sleep, repeat. I find comfort in the routine. It is very interesting as I keep seeing NC post where kids have started back to school and I can tell that my mind and body are longing for fall. Here in VA, most schools don't start until closer, if not after, Labor Day. I don't want to wish my life away, but I am looking forward to fall. I can tell the days are getting shorter as it is getting dark by 8pm and not the 9pm I was enjoying a month ago.

Running??? Oh, how I have fallen off that path! This past year has not been an exercise year for me. I'm hoping to get the motivation to change that, though it's not looking too good as I dream of pumpkin pie, hot chocolate, and Thanksgiving dinner :) But being as we still have some summer left, I think I'll go enjoy another delicious Chocolate Eclair ...

Aloha!

We did it! We actually went to Hawaii in 2012 to celebrate our 5 year anniversary!

The trip took us 16 hours to get there. We enjoyed 5 wonderful days in lovely Maui. Then, the trip back started ... it was long and took more than 16 hours due to storms in Dallas, TX but we eventually made it home. It was a fantastic beautiful trip that I will remember forever. I am so thankful that I was able to spend this time with my wonderful Trophyhus! Thank You Lord for putting us together and blessing us with these memories!

Ok, so here are some pictures. We took over 1800 but no worries, I didn't share them all!

Boarding the plane in Richmond on our long trip to Maui - so excited and fresh!

Josh loved driving the convertible all week ...

I enjoyed playing with my Father-in-Law's fancy camera. I'd love to have one of these, hint, hint.

The landscapes were gorgeous!

  The aquarium was very cool. I'm sitting in a tunnel and there are fish right over my head!

 We enjoyed some Hawaiin Shaved ice :)

 This is a picture of the resort we stayed at - three pools with ocean views. Very nice!

It's not too hard to wake up to this view everyday.

 The coast line was amazing!

 I felt like the Litte Mermaid ...without the fins ...

Even the McDonald's trash cans were Hawaain - Mahalo! 

 Even the restroom signs were cute (not at McD's).

 Palm trees everywhere!

 The sunsets ..

Fun in the hammock.

 Josh was afraid he'd get a little burnt so he wanted to cover up.

 One of the bays within the resort.

Luau 

 It took a while to get this picture right but it was fun trying. 

We saw a rainbow every day that we were on the island. They were just hard to capture.

Ahh ... paradise!

 

I was reminded this week that I am supposed to be running ... so tonight, I ran! I ran to get out som frustration and for a York Peppermint Patty ice cream bar. It was delish!

Aloha!