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.

one year of marital bliss.

one year ago today, 

i walked down the aisle and promised to love and cherish my best friend for all of my life.

it was the best day in the history of days.

in our first year of marriage, we moved to a new city and into a new apartment. our family grew with the addition of our best friend raider. we learned how to paint, learned how to build things and took a stab at a mini-garden. we learned how to share responsibilities, how to budget, how to live together, how to fight well and how to laugh at ourselves.  we learned how much we needed each other to be the best version of ourselves. 

dear bub-hub,

i love you more and more everyday.

thank you for loving me so well.

here's to a hundred more years!

love, sarah grace

want to relive our wedding day with me? 

part 1 | part 2

part 3 | part 4

part 5 | part 6

part 7 | part 8

part 9

the best saturdays include best friends and brunch

 no one tells you about the withdrawls you go through when you leave college.

one day, you're seeing your friends and roommates all day err day,

and the next, poof!

the real world slaps you in the face and everyone moves away.

 

last weekend, my sweet came to houston!! i can't even tell you how excited i was to see this girl. we spent the morning eating a yummy brunch, spoiling ourselves with pedicures.

pretty perfect saturday morning if you ask me!

 

reunions are the best.

 

 #sunnysquintyface

 

who would have thought the stranger i lived with my freshman year of college would turn out to be such a fabulous life long friend.

 

 

something with noodles

each sunday, before we head to the grocery store, i ask bub-hub if he has any cravings for dinner that week.  each week, he says, "you know i'll eat anything, i'm not pickey! i'll just eat cheerios". but this week, i think he finally realized that i was looking for a real answer and so he asked for something with noodles.

#missionnoodleaccepted

 

veggie turkey lasagna

via mom.fashion.lifestyle

 

here's what you need:

1 lb of ground turkey

1 cup of onion

2 cloves of garlic

1 cup of fresh broccoli crowns

2 zucchini (one yellow and one green)

1 T. italian spice blend

1 pound of ground turkey

1 jar of pasta sauce, i used prego

1 pkg. no boil lasagna noodles

16 oz container of part skim ricotta cheese

1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese

1 egg

salt and pepper to taste

here's what you do:

-preheat oven to 400 degrees.

-brown the ground turkey with the garlic and onion.

-while that is cooking, chop up the zucchini and broccoli and set aside.

in a separate bowl mix the ricotta cheese and egg, and set aside.

-when the ground turkey is finished cooking, add the zucchini, broccoli, pasta sauce (reserve 1/2 cup of pasta sauce), and all seasonings to the ground turkey.

-pour 1/2 cup of the pasta sauce in the bottom the pan, then add a layer of noodles, and then a layer of -the ricotta cheese mixture. top with a layer of the veggie and turkey mixture.

-repeat the layers and top with a layer of cheese!

-cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. remove the foil and bake for another 10, or until the cheese is bubbly!

 

this recipe was really easy to make and turned out fantastic! i made a half batch and we still had a lot left over, although it was really hard to resist going back for thirds!

 

 

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?

 

to the bestest dad ever...

 

dear dad,

thank you for teaching me how to see the fun side of life,

how to work hard and play harder,

for encouraging me when i was feeling down,

and always finding an adventure around every corner.

you're the bestest dad ever.

 

happy birthday!

 

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?

 

 

fajitas for life

have you ever been asked the question:

"if you had to eat one food for the rest of your life, what would you choose?"

hands down, i know our answer would be

fajitas, with fresh tortillas of course.

 

i know we're from Texas,

and that we have no real reason to celebrate cinco de mayo....

but any excuse for a margarita is a perfect reason for me!

 

did you celebrate this year?

what would you want to eat for the rest of you life?

 

so thankful

 today, i am thankful for

sweet and encouraging friends,

lunches at the farmers market,

 sunshine and warm weather,

a sweet bub-hub who always love me, even when i'm driving him nuts,

a spunky puppy who helps wake me up every morning

a gracious, loving and sovereign Savior.

 

 

what are you thankful for?

 

 

 

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