A Catch Up Day....

I've been blogging every day but I still feel like a few things have gotten lost in the shuffle. So today I want to go back and highlight some things you may have missed......

Christmas with our friends...

We had a belated Christmas party a few weeks back with our good (and we would soon learn.. pregnant) friends! Right off the bat they told us their good news so we had a great night!!! We exchanged presents then our 'children' exchanged presents. Of course, we have no pictures of us or our presents but lots of pictures of the dogs.

Rafa helping Rocky open his presents...

Rafa not cooperating during the present opening...


Yay! A new present!


Oh, but the little dog takes it away.


'My toy now, Rocky!'

Rafa got two stuffed animals of his own but he wanted the big dog's toy. Of course.


Rafa's 1st Birthday...

We celebrated Rafa's first birthday the next weekend. We let Rafa invite his good friend Rocky (and his parents) over to the house. We ate dinner then it was time to open presents.

Rafa hasn't quite got this opening presents thing down yet....
Rocky got Rafa a cute little shirt that said 'I still live with my parents.' Then he started laughing at the little dog who had to wear a shirt. Haha! We got Rafa a tire toy and some bones and greenies.

After presents it was time for cake! I made the adults some cupcakes then made some special little cupcakes for the boys!
Isn't it precious?!? I found the recipe here. This dog is spoiled.... made from scratch cupcakes with peanut butter, kibble, and a bone.

I gave a cupcake to Rafa and he thought it was contraband. He took it under the table to hide and eat it. Poor guy!


He's licking the floor. It must have been good.



Our 2nd Anniversary....

We didn't have big plans for our anniversary. We are planning to celebrate big in 18 days (in CABO!) and it fell on a Tuesday. So I sent Lucas to work with some leftovers for lunch but fully intended to set my plan in motion.

I called Dominos to order a large pepperoni pizza and requested that the pepperonis be placed in the shape of a heart. Look how good it turned out!!!


So I surprised Lucas at work with the heart pizza....


We went to a nearby community and parked in the driveway of a home that was for sale. We had a pretty nice view.


That night we got in our pajamas, ordered Chinese in, watched two movies (My Best Friend's Girl: actually pretty funny; Burn After Reading: interesting but weird), and ate ice cream to our heart's content.

Last year we were on our Caribbean cruise during our anniversary and celebrated big with the Super Bowl (yes, I'm that lucky), champagne, and a fun night on the boat. This year was much more low key but I would argue it rivaled the cruise ship. It was so nice to just relax and cuddle... not worry about dishes, laundry, cleaning, anything.... just enjoying the evening with each other. We need more nights like that (except maybe without the Chinese food and ice cream... Lord knows I don't need anymore of that).

Planet Beach....


Have you girls been here? I am trying to get a little color before we go to Cabo. I found this free coupon for three free sessions and I thought, 'Sweet! Three trips to the tanning bed and I won't have to pay!' So I present my coupon and the lady tells me that the coupon is for one each of their contempo spa sessions. Noooo! I wanted to tan three times! I listened to her pitch about their products and services, and she asked if I'd like to do the entire session. It takes an hour and a half and I had to get to my Wednesday night Mexican so I only did two of the three sessions.

The first session was at the Hydration Station. Listen up, ladies. This is heaven!! It gives you the same benefits of lying in a sauna for an hour but it only takes 20 minutes. I wish it would've lasted an hour! It was great! You lie in a tanning bed like contraption but the bed underneath you vibrates in little pulses while the bed heats up and mists steam and minerals over your body mixed with light radiated therapy. It is incredible!! It helps moisturize your skin, prepares your skin for tanning, and enhances your skin tone.

I'm telling you... if you have a Planet Beach in your area, take this coupon and please go try it out! Now I'm hooked and I want their monthly package. $80 for 4 hydration station uses, 4 mystic tans, and unlimited tanning. The down side is you have to sign a year long contract. They are very big on contracts. Yuck! For now, that is a little too much, too long. So I'm off to use my next coupon at another tanning bed in town!

Future Photo Session...

Our friend Melissa is starting up her own photography business and asked for children and pets to shoot. Obviously, we don't have children yet but you know I'd love professional photos of our little cutie. We are working on getting a session scheduled now. I'm so excited to show you how cute Rafa really is when a real photographer takes his photo!!!

If you live in the area and are interested visit her at www.melissahopper.com!

Think Thin Thursday - Volume V

More of the same... more of the same....

I met my goal but still no change.

I slipped up a few times on food (I've got some excuses but I'm sure you don't want to hear them). But I really thought I've been working out enough to combat that.

Usually I can drop 5 to 10 pounds pretty easily if I set my mind to it. I guess I'm just not eating well enough. I think the beer and Mexican is not helping me on Wednesday nights.

I do feel better drinking more water and working out often. I even got out and played tennis twice this past weekend because it was so beautiful. It is cold again this week but should warm up for some more tennis this weekend.

This week's goal

I would like to work out 6 days a week alternating workouts.
Workout #1 - 30 minutes on the elliptical machine and upper and lower body workout
Workout #2 - 30 minutes on the elliptical machine and cardio ab workout

I'm telling you... I'm gonna make that scale move.

This is going to be a real challenge to get all this in but I've got to get serious with this and just do it.

*** I'm supposed to tell you smart ways to dessert. I could tell you that I keep FF Jello puddings in my fridge but then I'd also have to tell you that I've been bypassing the pudding for cupcakes that Lucas's boss's wife made us for our anniversary and Ben and Jerrys that Lucas bought for us to share on our anniversary. Very bad.

February 3, 2007

Musical Mondays: The First Dance

Hosted by Jori and Diane

Last week I featured one of our favorite songs from our wedding ceremony - "I'll Be". This week (the week of our second anniversary) I'd like to feature our first dance song. Lucas and I wanted a truly meaningful song to share as husband and wife. While we were dating we would often go dancing. One song that always seemed to play and we always seemed attached to was 'Heaven' (originally recorded by Bryan Adams, but we would dance to DJ Sammy's techno version of the song).

'Heaven' describes the all encompassing power of true love. It describes our journey together and our passion. We've had the fun, young love. We've developed that love into a mature relationship. We've weathered the storms and we've been separated by distance. But our wedding brought us together. It brought our lives together - never to part. I know we're just beginning. We have many more journeys and adventures ahead of us. Our love is strong and only grows stronger as each day passes. Whatever may lie ahead of us, that love will keep us together. It is comforting to know that I will always have Lucas by my side: as a husband, as a friend, as a caretaker, as a companion, as whatever it is that I may need... and he has me.


'We're In Heaven' - DJ Sammy
(The first song in the play list was our first dance at the wedding. The second is the song we would dance to while we were dating.... and even to this day on those rare occasions we are out dancing and this song is played.)

Baby you're all that I want.
When you're lying here in my arms
I'm finding it hard to believe
We're in heaven.

Oh, thinking about all our younger years,
There was only you and me,
We were young and wild and free.
Now nothing can take you away from me.
We've been down that road before,
But that's over now.
You keep me coming back for more.

Baby you're all that I want.
When you're lying here in my arms
I'm finding it hard to believe
We're in heaven.

And love is all that I need
And I found it there in your heart.
It isn't too hard to see
We're in heaven.

Now, nothing could change what you mean to me.
There's a lot that I could say
But just hold me now,
Cause our love will light the way.

Baby you're all that I want.
When you're lying here in my arms
I'm finding it hard to believe
We're in heaven.

And love is all that I need
And I found it there in your heart.
It isn't too hard to see
We're in heaven.

Now our dreams are coming true.
Through the good times and the bad
I'll be standing there by you.

(We're in heaven.)

And love is all that I need
And I found it there in your heart.
It isn't too hard to see
We're in heaven.

And the Winner Is....

The Popes @ Journey to Josie

Her little girl Josie is just precious! After snooping around on her site, I found out that Josie is about to celebrate her second birthday. I am so glad such a sweet girl won! What a great present this will be!


Don't you just love it? Thanks to Renee for helping out with this giveaway! Go visit her @ Rare Designs Jewelry to see more darling children's jewelry! While you're there, pick out something for yourself, too!!!

Think Thin Thursday - Volume IV

Yes, yes, I know. Today is Friday. I just got busy yesterday and didn't have time to post this week's results. I would've had time if I posted earlier in the day but to tell the truth - I was procrastinating. I really didn't want to write this post yesterday because I was defeated. But I feel better about my future progress today.

I did not complete last week's goal. I only exercised three times. Twice for 30 minutes and once for an hour. During one of the workouts I also did my core, upper body, and lower body exercises. I did that on Tuesday night. I actually really enjoyed it. I exercised on the elliptical then worked out - all while watching television. It was nice to still catch all my shows but remain active and give myself something to do rather than lay on the couch and stuff my face.

Yet again, I did not lose or gain. I'm ready to see some changes. I did the elliptical and worked out upper and lower body this morning. I'm fired up and ready to go!!

This Week's Goal
My goal is to get some form of exercise in at least five days this week. I don't have long to drop my lbs and I better get my butt in gear!

You know my motivation......
To look more like this.....

.... and less like this


Sorry for that image, folks. That should be motivation.

***I'll be announcing the winner of my giveaway later today***

Update: I'm a slacker. I'll announce the winner on Monday. Ya'll have a great weekend!