I'm pregnant!! ♥

Holy cow, how life has changed since I last wrote a post!

I believe my last post was in January about the day we picked up little miss Kenai who is not so little anymore!
Now, I am 24 weeks pregnant with many adventures in between the last 8 months!

The story...

Back in mid March, I started to wonder if I was pregnant. I had a dream the month before that was the most realistic, crazy real feeling dream that I have ever had in my life. In my dream, I gave birth to a baby girl. I remember the doctors putting her in my arms, all wrapped up in a blanket with a pink little hat, and I just held her, staring at her with an unbelievable amount of love... I can't even put it into words!

About a month later (mid March) I got a text from one of my best friends Alayna, saying "Are you pregnant yet? I had a dream that you are and I think you are. You should take a test." I literally laughed out loud at her text, rolled my eyes and told her I wasn't pregnant...

We had gone off bc back in December but I really expected it to take longer than 4 months so I did not think I was. Then I started having silly little symptoms that made me think I was becoming one of those crazy ladies they talk about... You know, the ones who want to be pregnant so their bodies start showing small symptoms... Lol. Looking back it all sounds soooo silly, but keep in mind, all these things were so minimal and just little thoughts throughout my days. It really wasn't something that was constantly on my mind.

UNTIL the beginning of April came and I was late.. First it was just a day, then two, then three... by day four I started to think "holy cow. Is this really happening in my life". I told Jesse I would take a test if I still hadn't started after a week. Low and behold, a week passed so I went and bought a test. Jesse had been saying since mid March that I was pregnant so he already suspected.

I heard that it was best to take the test in the morning after you wake up so I waited until Thursday morning. I woke up at 8:30 and took it...

I'll never be able to explain the feelings that rushed over me when I picked up that test and saw the double lines. I am working on a little project that will be completed after baby is born that shows a small clip of this moment ♥

 All I wanted to do was tell Jesse but it was only 9am and he was at work till 3pm that day... I was going to ask him if he wanted to go out to lunch as soon as I put together the little box - the way I was telling him.

He just happened to text me at 10am asking if I wanted to pick him up and go out to lunch (which he rarely ever does so I was so surprised). I was so excited; I got everything together as fast as I could! Of course I wasn't totally prepared so I ran to Target to pick up some items!

I pulled into Boeing at 11:30am. Jesse walked out and when he opened the passenger side door this little brown box was sitting on his seat.

His face was priceless. Even though he had suspected this was coming, he really thought we were just going out to lunch. With a dropped jaw & what felt like a whole minute of speechlessness.... He looked at me with tears welled up in his eyes and with a huge smile, said, "i'm gonna be a dad?!" ♥

We went out to lunch and neither of us could stop smiling. We wanted to tell the whole world right then! My parents were coming to visit us that weekend (the next day) so fortunately it worked out perfect! I didn't want tell the parents over the phone but I don't know if I could have kept it from everyone until the next week when we went to Oregon! We told them that night when they arrived and they were equally if not even more excited than we were! If that's even possible... :) We told Jesse's parents the following weekend when we got to Oregon and they were happy beyond words! We're so lucky to have 4 of the best parents a new mom and dad could ever ask for! We told all the siblings next and so on.. This baby is going to have one big bunch of family to love on him or her! ♥

The day I found out I had a little baby growing inside me ♥

Valentines day

I am forever blessed with the best husband. 

Thank you for always making me feel so special & loved by you♥

one year anniversary

that original feeling never went away…

it’s officially been one year since we became mr. & mrs.
we love celebrating our love, and today feels like the biggest celebration yet!
i will always love the twentieth of june for officially making me a wife to the love of my life.
i loved that day so much!
i have spent today looking through all of our wedding photos
it's funny how a single picture can bring back the same feelings you felt in that moment
june 20th will forever be one of the best days of my life!

…we are celebrating by…

 eating the top of our wedding cake,

{thanks to my mom for sending it to us!!!  you are the best.}

doing whatever husband has planned for us, exchanging gifts, and

then getting excited for our dinner date at the top of crystal mountain saturday night!!!!

this past year has had it's challenges with all the changes (mostly moving away from oregon) BUT it has still been the best first year of marriage i could ever ask for. we kicked off our honeymoon with a whole ten days on the beautiful island of maui, moved to seattle, moved into our first apartment, jesse started his job as a manufacturing enngineer at boeing, celebrated our first 4th of july married, explore pikes place market with our family in town, celebrated my 22nd birthday, explored mt. rainier national park, we hiked many trails in the beautiful nearby mountains, went to brice lee & tim mcgraw concerts, wine tasting in leavenworth, started my last year of school, met new friends, took many trips to the dog park, fell in love with all the sushi restaurants in the city, celebrated our engagement date, had lots and lots of date nights, celebrated 6 months of marriage, had our first married christmas, rang in 2016, celebrated husband’s 28th birthday, visited home a multiple times, took a mini road trip through whidbey island and road the ferry home, sister visited, had the perfect valentines day, cousins & baby sister visited, explored seattle lots, went camping on edge of the olympic peninsula, tulip festival, got sushi & bubble tea a million times, made lots of good food, went camping at johnny creek campground with a stunning hike, hiked heather lake, finished school and graduated with my bachelors degree in healthcare management administration, moved into our first house together and mostly we fell even more in love…and i mean that.

life is already such an adventure together, and i can’t wait for so many

more june twentieths!

i love you husband. thanks for marrying me.
xo

j&m date night ideas

• bike rides – around the block or out in the mountains!
• make sushi together – each taking turns with parts of the recipe
• go to the gym together – we don’t always do the same workout, but it's fun to go together
• make a list of places we have been and want to go
• have a cookie bake-off…you each make your own recipe!
• plant a garden – my dream when we have a yard! something to start together, and work on over time!
• go for a long walk
• picnic on the beach or at the park
• play a tennis match
• make a time capsule- i really want to do this!
• cuddle up on the couch for a movie with kettle corn
• start reading a book together – We have always read books to each other on our roadtrips!
• organize photos & relive memories
• sit outside (perferabley on a mountain top) and watch the sunset
• watch home videos
• take a cooking class together
• go get breakfast for dinner
• make a very specific list of things we love about each other
• make a list of potential future baby names
• get ahead of the game and go buy christmas/birthday gifts for family
• plan a dream trip, down to every detail
• go to yoga…or even do it at home with a youtube!
• go to the movies
• find a historic walking tour somewhere where you live
• take your parents out for dinner together
• write a leap list for before kids
• take a photography class together
• take a day trip to a special location nearby
• write letters to our loved ones
• make it a double feature at the movie theater..you each pick one
• take dancing lessons
• head to a baseball game together – major or minor league!
• go bowling! 
• go house hunting…even if it’s just for fun
• go fishing – something my husband LOVES to do
• rent canoes for a little ride
• skype old friends // family
• roller blading or ice skating – this really is so fun and actually a good work out!
• get a couple massage at a local massage school
• volunteer together somewhere special
• head to the beach {something we are lucky to have nearby!}
• play a board game or cards
• recreate your very first date
• dance in the kitchen {we do regularly} 
• go check out a flea market
• try a new work out together
• go camping {an absolute favorite of ours}
• watch the sunset and sunrise
• play frisbee or frisbee golf
• find free movies at a local park near you and take a blanket + treats
• have a fondue night
• make chocolate chip cookies from scratch together
• go try batting cages
• go-cart racing!
• take a boat or ferry ride
• go apple picking 
• go through your wedding photos together
• make a family tree
• spend the night at a local bed & breakfast
• go hiking {LOVE}
• rearrange our furniture
• go to an aquarium
• head to a local museum
• take a new fitness class together
• make ice cream sundaes
• make chocolate-dipped strawberries
• plan a progressive dinner at different restaurants…appetizers one place, salad the next, entree and a third restaurant, and somewhere else for dessert!
• lay in the backyard/balcony and look up at the stars
• go horseback riding
• download new music and make a playlist together
• cook s’mores in the backyard firepit OR on the stove
• go hot tubbing
• plan our dream 5- year anniversary trip
• make treats and drop them off to people who need a pick-me-up
• dress up fancy and go out to dinner downtown
• write down goals and dreams you both have for your lives
• go grocery shop together and plan out meals in advance {weekly for us}
• clean out and organize something in your house/apartment
• make breakfast and eat it in bed
• plant a tree {once we own a house}
• build a fort and watch a movie in it
• go to a planetarium and be nerds
• take a bubble bath together
• create a scavenger hunt for each other of clues that only the 2 of you would know and understand
• go to a water park on a hot summer day
• go to a fun pottery/painting place 
• make a list of books to read/ movies to watch
• find a street fair or county fair
• pick a food truck and hunt it down for dinner
• go to a farmer’s market together
• spin a globe, and wherever it lands-go find a dinner place with that type of food
• go out to brunch! best meal ever.
• go thrift shopping and pick out one crazy item for each other
• make something for our house- projects!
• go star gazing
• go rock climbing
• make 5, 10, and 15 year plans
• go to an antique store.

date night

date night is the best night.

i feel like it always sounds so cliché, since we got

it for advice all the time before our wedding.

“be sure to make time for weekly date nights!”

“continue to court each other!”

“keep the romance alive, try fun new things and dates..”

to be honest, we got a little bit tired of hearing this by the end. 

but, like i always say, clichés are clichés for a reason!

& it turns out this date night business is our favorite thing.

we’re so glad it’s been consistent so far in our marriage. 

our calendar literally has DATE NIGHT entered in every

single friday or saturday night, on repeat forever. that’s just the way i like it.

this week’s was extra fun, since it is february twentieth!

8 months of marriage!

we spent all day house shopping

partially for fun and partially serious since we are starting to look.

 we got to eat at one of our favorite restaurants– ramen man.

we almost left without getting desert, but changed our

minds on the way out & stopped at

molly moon's homemade ice cream next door.

the scout mint ice cream is so yummy and my favorite.

jesse's favorite is the balsamic strawberry.

after ice cream we went up to dr. jose rizal park for

this stunning view of the city

it's still hard for me to believe this beautiful big city 

is home for now.

we walked around downtown and below the space needle

before our date came to an end for the week♥

a love like none other-

happy 8 months married baby!

eight months

today is february 20th! that means 

8 months have passed since the best day ever.

i can’t begin to say how much i love being married to my mr.

in honor of this, today i’m sharing a recipe that is a little bit different..

recipe for marriage

INGREDIENTS

use equal parts of:

• care
• love
• friendship
• passion
• respect

DIRECTIONS:

blend with understanding, patience, and lots of forgiveness,

bake continuously in the oven of commitment and trust.

baste often and liberally with a sense of humor!

serve with plenty of communication in a problem-solving atmosphere

{especially good when shared with loving family & friends}.

note: this is a delicious but tricky recipe that requires careful attention and the participation of both cooks.

*when it falls flat, check all ingredients and increase amounts as needed. prepare often for best results!

i’d say this is our best recipe yet!

XO

valentines day 2016

happy love day!

yay for the second best holiday of the year!

{christmas obviously being the first)

yay for our first valentines married!!

yay for memories from valentines past..

yay for love, love, and more love.

 i woke up this morning to jesse bringing me breakfast in bed♥ 

Buddy cuddles♥

 we went for a drive on chuckanut road along the coast line, about 70 miles north of us

 larrabee state park

 i am so in love with him♥

my forever and always♥

 when we got back to the house he went to the store to get stuff for dinner and i did some homework. 

when he came back he had these beautiful roses and the way to my heart, my all time favorite macadamia turtles. we got these when we were in maui on our honeymoon and now whenever i eat one, i just want to be back on our balcony overlooking the ocean!

 instead of going out to dinner, we made sushi together at home♥

vegatable tempura 

52 reasons i love you

i made jesse a deck of cards with a reason i love him on each one♥

our beautiful table all set for dinner 

 i loved this because we got to use multiple different items we got from our wedding. 

the sushi set we got from the rickman family and it was the first time we had used it

the tiffany plate we got from sayuri and her family and it was also a first time use

and one of my all time favorite gifts we ever received was the pink candles in the middle. my friend natalie from oregon tech gave us a basket of tall candles (a set of two for each color) and a poem to go with it. we got to use our first valentines candles tonight♥

 for waking up with neither of us having anything planned, i think this day was perfectly spent with my amazing husband♥

the final masterpiece of our work :)

saturday we got a package from my parents♥

i will forever cherish my moms creativeness and her never ending love for making us kids feel special

i love you so much mom and dad!