Christmas Breakdown

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!  We had the best time with my family back in South Dakota.  We spent 5 full days with family and friends and were spoiled with presents!  I got a bunch of nice sweaters, an amazing Clarisonic Mia 2 {can already feel a difference on my face!}, a purse, a Bronco's jersey, and lots of other fun stuff. 

I wanted to post some pictures of our Christmas decorations because I am so happy with how they turned out this year in our apartment.  We do our best to make this apartment feel like a cozy little home and I love doing it.  It also makes me anxious/excited to have a house to decorate some day :).

We decided to put our wreath on the inside of the door so we can enjoy it in our home and avoid any chances of someone trying to take it for themselves!

 I'm slightly obsessed with the gold glittery tree I picked up  at Target.  Also the bowl of candy greeting me when I get home from work every day. Ha!  Wrapping pictures may be my favorite inexpensive way to cheer up the place.

 Stockings hung by the chimney with care :) 

 Kitchens need Christmas cheer too!

I took these pictures from my phone so they aren't the greatest, but you at least get a little glimpse into our festive home!  I hope you all are enjoying your post-Christmas days and getting ready for the New Year!!

-T-

St. Thomas: Wedding, Love, Fun in the Sun!

We had the most amazing 4 days in St. Thomas this past weekend.  Dennis' little brother Nick married the beautiful Sarah with their toes in the sand like they've always dreamed.  When they told us this summer that they wanted to get married on the beach in December, we knew it would be a little difficult to do, but we also knew that we couldn't miss it for the world.  These two are a match made in heaven and they had a picture perfect wedding on the beach that they both really deserved.

Dennis and I flew overnight into Miami and then on to St. Thomas.  We spent the first day walking around town and checking out all the little shops. We had lunch at an awesome little restaurant that made AMAZING drinks.  I had a 'Painkiller' and it truly wiped away all the pain I had after 13 hours of travel.
Downtown Charlotte Amalie:

We met up with more family, checked out our room at the hotel, and headed into town for dinner and drinks and Senor Frogs.  I am so thankful that Dennis' family truly feels like my own.  I have so much fun with them and I feel completely comfortable around them.  It made our vacation that much better because we could all just relax and enjoy each others company.
Our view from the room:

We spent Friday at the beach and rented some snorkeling gear from the hotel so we could explore all the fishes in the ocean!  Friday night we went to the rehearsal dinner and then out with the wedding party.  The night was full of lots of dancing, drinks, and loads of laughs.

On Saturday we slept in, went to the beach for a few hours, and I headed up the bride's quarters to  get ready for the wedding.  Sarah looked absolutely stunning.  She was everything a bride should be and she was absolutely glowing with happiness the whole day.  Just look at her smile!

The wedding went off without a hitch and we headed to the reception to eat some delicious food, drink some rum punch and white sangria and dance the night away.  The waves were crashing in the background and everyone had an amazing time.

We spent Sunday walking around town and doing a little bit of shopping before we headed to the airport.  It was bittersweet to leave but we were so thankful to have the opportunity to go that it was all worth it.

We are in full vacation recovery mode in our house but soon we will be washing and putting away swim suits and packing sweaters and sweatshirts for our next adventure to South Dakota {starting Friday!}  I hope you all are having an awesome and relaxing week before Christmas!  This month keeps getting better and better :)

-T-

Off the grid

Well folks, we are officially signing off and will be off the grid for the next 4 days.  I am beyond excited to celebrate the wedding of Nick and Sarah {my future brother and sister-in-law} and we are not going to let technology interrupt one second of our mini-vacation!

I will be back next week with lots of good pictures and a full recap of our trip!

I hope you all have a great rest of your week!


-T-

Less than 6 months to go!

Yesterday marked 6 months until our wedding day.  I get more and more excited with each month that passes but this one was extra special.  We've been engaged for nearly a year {1.1.14 officially} and while I think this year has gone by faster than any before, I truly feel like we are finally in the home stretch of our engagement. 

I have LOVED being engaged. I love that any time I introduce Dennis as my fiance {or vice versa} people smile and congratulate us and give us the chance to pretend like the news is brand new all over again.  It never gets old announcing that we are on our way to husband and wife. 

This week was also extra special because we sent out our Save the Dates in the mail, and friends and family started texting and messaging me the second they got them.  It's difficult to put into words how insanely happy it makes me that we have such an amazing support system and that they are all just as excited as we are for our big day. 

We are spending this Sunday night simply relaxing and getting ready for a super short work week before we head off for St. Thomas! Only 3 days to go!  After months of being crazy busy, I think a little R&R is just what the doctor ordered :)


-T-

Does Christmas just taste better?

Before you think I'm crazy and truly think that Christmas has a 'taste', hear me out. :)  I am a chocolate lover to the core.  Doesn't matter what time of the month it is {although I definitely use mine as an excuse to eat more} I crave something chocolatey all the time. 

Reese's peanut butter cups are one of my absolute favorite chocolate candies.  I LOVE them.  However, I truly think that their holiday themed chocolates taste way better than the normal ones {Easter eggs, Christmas trees, etc.}.  Am I the only one on this crazy train? 

In other chocolate-lovers news, the other day Target was having a sale on Ghiradelli holiday chocolates so I had to pick up a few bags of my own so I could have a festive little bowl of chocolates in my entry way.  They are addicting but I limit myself to 1-2 squares a day maximum.  I promise. I have some self-control here people and only 6 months till Wedding Day 2014.  But a girls' gotta live a little and indulge a little more.  Happy wife, happy life? 

Anyway, if you are like me and love the holiday season as much as you love chocolate, I give you full permission to indulge a little with a holiday themed treat!

Happy Wednesday my fellow Chocolate Lovers!

-T- 

*Please note this post was not sponsored by anyone and all opinions are my own!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

CHRISTMAS!!  I cannot say enough how much I love this time of year.  The joy, the celebration, the love.  Our stockings are hung by the chimney with care, our Nativity scene has taken it's place on the mantel, the tree is decked in lights and ornaments...our home is warm and cheerful and I absolutely love it.

Every Winter, our favorite lil man Capone {English bulldog} gets calm and lazy.  He appreciates partial-hibernation as much as his parents do and it makes for some pretty great, cuddly evenings together.  We used to be more strict about him getting up on the furniture, but cuddling with him is so so worth having to clean the couch 4x as often as before.  The other night, he jumped up on the chair and fell fast asleep, snoring away.  He wasn't cuddling with us but it was so darn cute, I didn't want to disturb him. Absolutely love this little guy.

I am loving having this blog as a forum to document the little details of our lives right now. D and I are incredibly happy, beyond blessed, and absolutely in love with each other and this little life we've created.  Someday we hope to have house full of babies and puppies {2 max, I promise :) } and that will be perfect in it's own right, but for now we are soaking up every minute of this "simpler" life. 

Off to go cuddle up with my boys!

-T-

Winter!

Yesterday, the high was in the 50's, and today the high was in the 40's. Slightly chilly but not earth-shattering cold by any means.  Tomorrow the high is supposed to be in the teens with snow and on Thursday the high is supposed to be 8!  8 degrees! Single digits.
 
I have a love/hate relationship with Colorado weather.  I love when it goes from 10 degrees to 60 but not a huge fan of the reverse. I kind of wish I could hibernate in the winter months. :)  Since that is not a possibility at this moment, I have to settle with bundling up in cute boots, cozy sweaters, big scarfs, and warm mittens.  Top it off with a steamy hot cup of coffee and I'm a pretty happy girl.

If you live in a snowy place like I do, I hope you're bundling up and staying warm!  If not, I envy you 4 months out of the year.  Happy Hibernating!

P.S. Did I mention that our beach vacation COULD NOT come soon enough?!

-T-

Travel and Feeling Blessed

D and I are 9 short days away from hopping a plane and flying to St. Thomas for his brother's wedding! Not only are we thrilled to both be in the wedding, we are ecstatic to celebrate the love and commitment of two amazing people that I will soon be lucky enough to call my brother and sister-in-law.

On another note, we are insanely blessed to be able to take this trip after a super eventful and slightly expensive year.  I was thinking today that I will have traveled outside of the U.S. 3 years in a row from 2012-2014.  I absolutely love getting the opportunity to get out and explore the world a little bit, even if it's just a little corner. In 2012 I went to Mexico with my family to celebrate my sister's 30th birthday.  We were in Costa Rica earlier this year in May for one of my great friend's weddings and we got to spend an entire week in Costa Rican paradise.  We'll head to St. Thomas for a quick 4 days to cap off this year and next year we'll get to venture to Jamaica for our honeymoon!

We don't have a ton of money by any means but we make it a priority to travel and experience the world a little bit when we can.  Traveling to Italy, Greece, and Ireland {among others} is on our bucket list and I know someday we'll make it happen.  Whether you take off for a weekend getaway or a month long trek across Europe, I highly recommend getting out and going on some adventures.  D and I plan on making a bucket list for us as a couple and for our future family and I want it to be on display somewhere in our home so that we are constantly reminded to get out and try new things.

I hope you all are having a fabulous Monday!  I'm spending my night day dreaming about travels, drinking hot chocolate, and trying to finalize our wedding website!

-T-

December!!

I cannot believe it is already December! We have had such an awesome and productive weekend and it feels like a great way to kick off a new month. First off we have 90% of our save the dates going into the mail tomorrow. I am really excited to cross that off the to do list and have people start getting them in the mail!
Secondly we got all of our Christmas decorations up and most of our presents wrapped. I absolutely love how cozy and festive our little home is. We only have a couple more gifts to get and we will be set.
We leave for St. Thomas on the 11th, come back on the 15th and leave for Christmas in South Dakota the 20th! It's going to be a busy busy month and I'm ready to soak it all in.

Happy December!

-T-