t-minus 7 days

In 7 days, we will be enjoying the heat, sun, and fun of DISNEY WORLD! After an appointment with my mother- and sister-in-laws, look what else is ready for Florida:

Spring!

Spring sprang and then reverted back to winter. However, I'm striving to keep it spring-y inside.

My Grandma Grower always used to decorate with these Easter trees for the holiday. She passed away almost three years ago and my mom and aunt gave my cousins and I each one to decorate with. I'm so glad to have another piece of her holiday decor, especially because holidays were SO important to her. Putting each tiny ornament on, it comforted me to know that she had been the last one to hang them. Now, my family can look forward to an Easter tree every year, in honor of Grandma.

Happy Anni!

Today we went to Batavia to celebrate my Grandma and Grandpa Saile's 50th anniversary! It was a great, low-key time hanging out with my dad's side of the family.

My grandparents with three of their children

Congrats Grandma and Grandpa! Love you!

apologies

Well folks, as you can see my fear of not having the time to write consistently has come true. I apologize for the lack of posting, but time has gotten away from me and I obviously haven't made much of a habit yet of my new hobby here.

The good, the bad, the happy, the sad:

-we took an overnight trip with some wonderful friends to Toronto thanks to a Living Social deal

-work has been kicking my butt these past few weeks. 'nuff said.

-sadly, a full-time teaching job for next year that Colin interviewed for didn't pan out

-the weather in Rochester has been unprecedentedly warm and we've gladly ushered in Spring/Summer with multiple game nights outside with lots of fabulous people

-I finally saw The Help with two of the best and we made a whole theme night out of it. I made a chocolate pie and we ate fried chicken, sweet potato fries, and sweet tea. Yum!

-I attended a wonderful brunch potluck baby shower and enjoyed time with great small group friends and lots of breakfast food

-we got to babysit our adorable niece and I loved every minute of the outdoor time, princess dresses, running around, and imaginary play. She's the best :)

-Col and I attended an Amerks game compliments of a ticket pack that he got for Christmas from my rents. Sadly, they lost. Hopefully next week when we go again we'll win!

So, even on the tight get-Col-through-these-last-two-semesters-of-grad-school/subbing/me-working-two-jobs budget, we've still been busy and done lots of fun free things - our fave!

Enjoying the St. Patrick's Day parade

And P.S. I can't believe March is almost over! That means two weeks until our Leathersich family vacation (woohoo!) AND it's almost our 1 year wedding anni! :)

happiness

Yesterday was one of those awesome, soul-refreshing days. All I needed was:

-lunch outside in the sunshine with Col
-a wonderful “coffee” date after work with a best friend
-game night with our fabulous small group
-laughing-so-uncontrollably-I’m-crying with my hubby
-warm weather

Simple pleasures, my friends. The little things really do keep me going :)

P.S. I need to start taking more pictures, in general and to spice up the blog. Any suggestions on how to get myself into the habit?

daily reminders

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon this blog through a link from another friend's blog (I swear, once you find yourself in the blogger world, there are so many awesome ones out there to read!). The premise is all about marriage and finances, and her posts are usually pretty simple yet SO true! So far every one of them has either reminded me of an important truth or helped me see it in a different light. I highly recommend adding this blog as one to follow!

parentals

My parents are awesome. I'm sure most people could say so, but every time I get to spend time with mine I'm reminded of how blessed I am to have been raised and loved by such self-sacrificing, caring, Godly people (not to mention how thankful I am that they only moved to Gowanda instead of Rwanda like most people originally thought...).

This past weekend we got a special treat as my dad, who is a pastor, was able to take a mini-vacation from his usual pastoring duties, and he and my mom were able to spend Saturday and Sunday with Col and I. We kicked off our visit with lunch at La Tea Da, a local tearoom, which I had promised to mom since I had purchased a Groupon for us to use. Dad and Col needed lunch too, so they decided to tag along, and boy did we have fun!

Dad channeling his Victorian tea manners

After stuffing ourselves silly with delicious sandwiches and desserts (and tea, of course!), we decompressed at our apartment and spent a relaxing evening in with games and a movie.

Sunday was fun attending our church with my parents, an activity we don't get to do in the same place often. Afterwards, we had a lively brunch w/ Col's rents since our families don't get to see each other very much either. A habitual go-visit-rents-or-rents-come-visit = go-shopping stop at Walmart commenced before homemade laundry detergent (yes!) and no-bake cookie making. We tied it all up with two episodes of my all-time favorite show Gilmore Girls, and then it was time to say goodbye.

Thanks mom and dad for a GREAT weekend!

wisdom

Lately I've been reading Promises for Your Everyday Life - A Daily Devotional by Joyce Meyer. Each devotional takes about 5 minutes to read, but it's amazing how much wisdom can be found from it! Saturday's was so good, I just had to share! Click here :)