cheers to the birthday bub hub!

dear bub hub,

you are my super hero, my adventure partner and my best friend. 

you are a loyal friend, a great dad to raider and fantastic husband.

i'm so grateful for you and for the way you love and lead our family. 

here's to one more year of adventure and laughter!

beep beep!

i am excited to introduce my new toy!

last weekend, bub-hub and i traded in my SUV for a fiat! :)

it's tiny and cute and it makes me feel like i'm racing around in mario kart.

i absolutely loved my suv, but this car was just too fun to pass up.

new cars are so fun. i am one lucky girl!

and in case anyone was worried, raider loves his new ride. :)

am i the only one who picks out cars based solely on their appearance?

what i'm wishin' for

 [clockwise starting top left: 1, 2, 3, 4]

i'm trying really hard to distinguish between wants and needs.

for instance, 

i really want all of these yummy things,

but do i really need a super adorable iphone case or fabulous necklace?

and do we really need to replace our current christmas-themed welcome mat
with this fantastic one that says "howdy"?
and does raider really need a new collar? 

silly bub-hub's "let's save money"
 brainwashing techniques must be working.

what's on your wish list?

wilderness weekend

hello monday, here so soon??

this was such a great weekend. 

so much fun, adventure, and relaxing.

and just like that, it's monday again.

friday afternoon, bub-hub and i played hooky and snuck away from responsibility to go see monsters u! we might have been the only ones in the theater over the age of 8 without kids. #noshame

too cute to handle. 

saturday morning, we headed out to woodlands lake for some kayaking.

bub-hub and i are adventurous and we love sunshine! but we not outdoors-men by any means.

this little 1 1/2 hour trip down the waterway was the perfect amount of exploration for us.

about 15 minutes in i was already looking forward to lunch and a margarita. 

#mexicanfoodmotivation

how was your weekend?

any fun adventures to share?

training update: week 1

bub-hub and i have signed up to run first half marathon together.

#seemedlikeagoodideaatthetime

the race is in october, but considering neither of us are regular runners, we decided to start training now.

our first full week of training looked like this:

i'm not sure if we picked the best time of year to start this endeavor.

with temperatures climbing higher and higher every day,

and humidity averaging 60%,

we might die before we hit the end of week two.

#powerofpositivethinking

but we're pretty competitive people.

i definitely won't be the first one to quit.

beach day

saturday morning, we packed up our beach towels, sunscreen, and snacks and headed to the beach even though we live a short hour from the coast, we rarely think to make the trip. 

we spent a couple of hours walking through the shops on the strand, playing life-size chess, and eating yummy pizza before heading to the beach. 

we even bought some boogie boards and attempted to body surf.

probably the most embarassing thing i've done in my life. #triedandfailed #toofuntostop

even though bub-hub and i have both lived in the great state of texas our whole lives, there is so much of this beautiful place we haven't seen or experienced.

i hope we are able to fill our weekends with more adventures in the near future! :)

The Boat Song

you may or may not know, but the traditional first anniversary gift is paper.

bub-hub and i are not typically traditional gift givers,

but for our first wedding anniverary we both stuck with tradition.

i was formally invited, via movie tickets created by bub-hub, to watch our wedding slideshow and videos, with a yummy bottle of wine.

and i created this print for us to hang in our bedroom.

 

although it's not our official song,

it is the song that makes me tear up everytime i really listen to it.

#mushygushy

watch the music video and try not to fall in love.

i dare you.

 

this print is now available in my etsy shop!

check me out! :)

 

 

sweet celebrations always include dancing and cake

last weekend, my sweet sister-in-law became a wife!

picture the most beautiful bride and groom, both inside and out,

and you've met the hamiltons!

#perfectnightforaperfectpair

i didn't get many photos because i was too busy eating tons of yummy cake and showing off my dance moves, but just trust me:

it was the most beautiful wedding you've ever seen!

 

my family joined the festivities and of course, tore up the dance floor.

#theakerlyfamilybringstheparty

bub-hub was quite the stud and danced the night away right by my side.

i love this man.

isn't he so handsome?!

 

so blessed to have a husband with such a sweet family.

i love them more and more each day.

 

 

some pictures, a park & a puppy

i love my family.

maybe i'm a little biased,

but i'm pretty sure i'm the luckiest girl on the planet.

raider was loving life that morning.

he was running around the park like a mad man and just having the time of his life. he'd come back and pose for a few photos, and then run back into the trees.

#naturedog #wildman

please tell me i'm not the only one who thinks having pets in your family photos is a fabulous idea.

these photos were snapped by the lovely sarah carpenter at sarah ashley events.

sarah and her hubby/assistant ben did a fantastic job.

i was blown away with the photos and can't stop scrolling through them.

i love the way they were able to capture our personalities.

bub-hub and i don't take ourselves too seriously, 

so it was great to have a photographer to laugh with us through our awkwardness.

it's amazing what a fabulous photographer can do with a camera.

fun fact:

these were taken at the same park we took our wedding party photos!

i know, we are the cheesiest of them all.

to see more photos, check out sarah's blog post on our shoot:

sarah ashley events

for real. she's the bomb[dot]com.

sweet celebrations

one: i joined the houston YMCA. i've been trying out some of the classes, and they are killers. 

two: my hubs is an official CPA! so proud of him and all the hard work he's put in over the last 5 years! #cutiewithacalculator

three: new favorite dessert: healthy choice frozen greek yogurt. blueberry and vanilla bean. the perfect late night treat. yummmmmm.....

four: the chick fil a by my office has an automatic mouthwash dispenser. #brilliance as if i needed another reason to love me some chickenfila.

five: bub-hub and i celebrated his cpa-status with some yummy mexican food, which of course, included guacamole. #keytomyheart

 

how was your week?

do you have any yummy and healthy sweet treats to share?

 

murder at stirling hall

i admit it: i'm addicted to downton abbey.

so when we were invited to a murder mystery party,

 at stirling hall in england, in the year 1919,

i was pumped.

i might not have come close to solving the murder,

but it was really fun trying to figure it out.

bub-hub figured it out.

#whatasmartypants

 

have you ever been to a murder mystery party?

 

 

my sweet valentine.

you know your husband loves you when....

he doesn't say a negative thing about the pink hearts hanging all over the apartment,

and when he let's you put a bow on the world's cutest puppy,

and when he willingly offers to watch "brave" with you.

#realmenlovedisneycartoons

our first valentines as mr. and mrs. was one for the memory books.

bub-hub made me a yummy fajita feast and we spent the evening watching 

cartoons and cuddling with sweet raider. 

marital maturity at its finest.

i'm so blessed to have such a sweet valentine. :)

our christmas vacation

bub-hub, raider and i had a splendid time on our christmas vacation adventure.

raider is king of the road.

 we were blessed to be able to spend time with both of our families over the break. 

nothing beats family time.
especially when family time involves watching movies and
eating yummy christmas goodies in your sweatpants.
we went on long walks, enjoyed yummy peppermint lattes from starbucks, and ate a few two many fajitas. can't beat it.

bub-hub and i feel so blessed.
nothing is more refreshing than being surrounded by loving friends and family, and after almost two weeks of goodness, our hearts are officially full.
now, time to gear back up for the real world and a brand new year.

how was your christmas break?

our advent calendar: a christmas tradition

every december that i can remember,

my brothers and i would take turns putting the felt ornament on our felt tree each day.

each year, we would rotate the order we went in so that we each got a chance to put the santa ornament on the tree on christmas eve.

i know there are a lot of different types of advent calendars out there,
but this is the one i grew up with,
and i couldn't imagine celebrating christmas without it.
for a hot second, i thought about making one myself,
until i had a meltdown in the felt aisle of hobby lobby.
too many details for a saturday morning.
luckily, i stumbled upon this one on etsy.
#meanttobe #christmasmiracle

now, bub-hub and i will get to start our own tradition of arguing over sharing who gets to put santa on the tree on christmas eve.

do you have an advent calendar?
what is your favorite christmas tradition?


don't forget to link up this week for thankful thursday!
 

meet raider chastain

i would like to introduce you to the newest member of the chastain clan:

raider!

saturday afternoon, we decided to take a trip to the animal shelter to play with some puppies.  it was a beautiful day, and definitely one we did not want to waste indoors. so we headed over to the houston SPCA and stumbled across this little guy!

we weren't planning on getting a dog quite yet, bub-hub was going to surprise me for christmas, but he was too cute and too perfect for us. we just couldn't pass him up! 

#meanttobe #mfeo

he's a six year old american cocker spaniel.  

cutest dog ever right?

#crazydogmom #puppylove

he's super spunky, barely sheds, likes to play fetch and even knows a few tricks. he's the perfect fit for us and for our apartment.  i still can't believe he's ours! :)

if you wanna see photos of raider pop up on your instagram feed, follow me @mrschastain.
you know you can't resist the cuteness....

 

aggies and tigers and sunburns, o my! :)

what a weekend.

friday night, bub-hub and i celebrated five months of domination.

we had yummy tortellini with champagne sauce for dinner, and shared a bottle of of our favorite wine, Cakebread Cellars chardonnay. yummmmm.

after dinner, we headed over to houston's iconic "house of pies" to satisfy our sweet tooth.

bub-hub had his favorite, apple, and i had mine, cherry! both were topped with the most giant scoop of ice cream i had ever seen in my life. 

fantastic way to celebrate if i do say so myself! :)

saturday morning, bub-hub and i headed to college station to watch the Fightin Texas Aggies take on the LSU Tigers.

beautiful blue skies, nice cool breeze, great company, perfect day.

minus the aggie loss....

but it was such a great day to be in aggieland.

and no game day is complete without a little sunburn.

i promise i put sunscreen on, a lot of it. 

i guess i should have reapplied after the first two hours of standing in the direct sun.

#rudolphproblems

on the drive back, we passed a roadside farmers market, so of course bub-hub, being the sweet softie that he is, stopped for me. :) 

i may or may not have wanted to buy every single mini-pumpkin in the place, but i had self control. i only bought two giant bags of grapes, strawberry preserves, and some apples.

yum!

how was your weekend?

do you ever stop at road side stands?