a visit from my family :)

mid-december, my whole family came to visit me here in georgia. both my parents, brother and sister were coming in from albuquerque and my oldest brother and his wifey from dallas :) i hadn't seen them since that previous august, and it was their first time coming to my house(which is still such a weird thing to say). so we were all very excited for this visit from the molai's. :)
we rented this huge fifteen seater van thing so we could all travel in one car for the week they were here. we went on drives and dinners and stayed up late just hanging out and watching tv. although we didn't do anything crazy or out of the ordinary, it was just a blessing to have them all here at once. there was one little person missing though. my niece, layana, who couldn't be there. we missed you so much, nana. and we love you the most. :)

we didn't take many pictures during this visit, so here's one of the family from the wedding :)

 

and here's layana. who is the cutest kid, like ever ;)

i miss these guys every single day. and i love them more than i can describe. i'm a lucky girl to be able to call them my family. :) come back soon!

"Missing someone gets easier every day because even though it's one day further from the last time you saw each other, it's one day closer to the next time you will." -unknown

turkey day, 2013!

this year was our first thanksgiving together so we wanted to invite the whole family over for dinner. now i take thanksgiving very seriously so it was a must to do something ;) the husband and i decided we would take on the biggest tast and cook the turkey. we were super nervous about this because i'd only cooked turkeys with my mom and sisters help, and the husband has never cooked one before. but all ended well and everyone loved the bird. we also had many other dishes that the rest of his family decided on and we had a huge feast! we also went in a circle and said what we were thankful for. if you ask me, i'm thankful mostly for my faith, for God, for having the best husband in the world, and for our families. :)

six months!

back in november, we hit a huge milestone. we had our six month anniversary :) they say the first year of marriage is the hardest, and while there are days or moments that are tough, i think being married is more fun than anything. we're learning so much and growing closer as time goes on. it's a wonderful thing to be married to my best friend. :) so i didn't want to just celebrate that we survived the tough times but also, that we were blessed with the happy, and joyous ones. so we got all dressed up and went out for dinner and a movie.

i love you, husband. and i'm so very thankful for these moments and memories that i promise i'll remember forever. <3

day trip to helen

in the fall, we made a trip up to helen, georgia with my husband's family and friends. first, we went to a corn maze just outside of the city. every couple/family raced against each other to get through the maze first and hole-punch the map at the given points. the husband and i won, but i think we had an advantage over the others for being the only couple without kids. ;)

we also took a hay ride around the farm and the kids got to play games and hang out at the petting zoo. the best part, though, was the country music. no one else cared for it, or knew the songs, but i was internally singing along to the taylor swift and luke bryan playing overhead. :)

 

after the corn maze, we went to helen for some funnel cake. we did some window shopping, listened to live music, and the husband took me on a horse and carriage ride. it was a fun way to spend the day with family and friends. :)

 

a week on the west coast

so, san francisco is incredible. like hands down, one of my favorite cities i've ever been to. back in september, the husband had to travel to california for about a week for work so i decided to tag along with him since i'd never been there. best idea ever ;)
because i grew up in albuquerque, i'm used to mountains. not just used to, but i love a constant view of mountains in the distance. but here, in SFO, there's not only mountains but there's also the water. and the bridges. when you combine the three, it makes for an amazing sunset. :)

 

apart from the amazing views, the city in general has so much personality. the cable cars are such a fun concept and the way the houses are stacked one on top of the other is so different than i've ever seen before. and the streets in downtown are crazy steep but when you go to the very top and look down, the view is to die for.

 

one of my favorites was lombard street which is said to be the world's most crooked street. i think we spent a good chunk of our time driving down this street then circling back around and doing it again and again. :)

 

driving down lombard street^^^

 

hanging out at the piers ^^^

 

street artist^^^

 

we found this awesome viewing spot where we spent a while just relaxing and taking some neat pictures :)^^^

full house!^^^

 

 

at google headquarters, the employees would ride around on these bikes and randomly leave them on sidewalks and outside buildings for others to use if needed.^^^

 

die hard niners fan ;)^^^

 

and last but not least, treasure island. where i could happily sit forever and just never get bored.^^^

 

destin, florida

on labor day weekend, the husband and i made a trip to this pretty white sand beach in destin, florida. the drive was about seven hours and we hit this huge rain storm which slowed us down a bit but it was an adventure, nontheless. :) and when we reached, it was definitely worth it. this beach was nothing like tybee island. the sand was so white and so pretty and soft :) and the water was so much more clear. they also had these standard chairs and umbrellas lined up for anyone to use which was so convient for amateur beach people like us ;)

the boardwalk in destin was one of my favorite parts. we hung out there a lot just window shopping in the random little stores and i got ice cream, of course ;) on saturday night they had a live country artist who performed originals and covers of some songs. for those who know me, i'm a huge country music fan so i was so excited! here's a couple videos i made. enjoy, and check out my next post about our trip to san francisco! thanks for reading :)