our wedding: our wedding song

i won't forget the moment we decided that our song would be our song.  

all the words touch my heart and take me back to that night, dancing for the first time with my husband.

"i'm giving you all my love" was our favorite line so we had the words engraved in our wedding bands along with our initials.  

i would love to relive that night over & over again!

this week...

this week, i will...

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... attend 3 trainings for work.  i feel so lucky to be able to attend these trainings and learn new things. today was the first day of training and i found myself engaged & interested the whole time.  excited to see what tomorrow's and friday's trainings will bring!

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....stress less about the things i cannot control.  a tough one for me!

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... get back into regular workouts.  ever since the honeymoon i have been finding more & more reasons to skip the workouts. time to get back to it! would probably help with the stress too!

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... go to bed earlier - with "disconnecting" being a part of this. lately, i find myself spending more & more time online.  doing what? not sure! wasting time, clicking mindlessly and keeping my brain going.  by unplugging earlier, my mind can have some more time to unwind allowing me to fall asleep sooner & earlier.

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...drink more water.  self explanatory!

what will you do this week?

our honeymoon

we decided early on that a relaxing, carribean style honeymoon was exactly what we wanted.  after talking to a few friends, we made all the arrangements and it was booked: ARUBA.  it was the best vacation of our lives! the beaches are georgeous, the sunsets are breathtaking, the people are sooooo happy, the island is safe, the food is AMAZING!  here are a few photos from our honeymoon!

i highly, highly recommend the riu palace if you are going to aruba.  i cannot say enough good things about it and shawn and i would go back and stay here again in a heart beat!

xo

friday things

it's the weekend!!! one of the perks of my (somewhat) new job is that my weekend starts at 12:00 pm on friday and consists of only a team meeting.  which, let's be honest here, is actually really fun! so i don't really consider my fridays at work "work"... anyway, with the temperatures really cooling down & it definitely feeling like fall i decided to bake some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies when i got home today.  warning: they are addictive.

you will need:
4 cups all purpose flour (i used whole wheat & there is virtually no difference)
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (i always like to add a little extra)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 15 oz. can pumpkin
1 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts (optionally; i opted out of this one)

directions:
preheat oven to 375 degrees
in a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients.  then add the wet. beat on medium speed until mixed. stir in chocolate chips & walnuts. drop by tablespoons on to greased cookie sheet and bake for 13-14 minutes (until edges are golden).  remove from oven and let cool two minutes before moving to a wire rack to completely cool.. then enjoy!

my tip: before baking, i sprinkle a little bit of cinnamon sugar on the cookies for a little extra sweetness;)

have a fabulous weekend!

xo

husbands are the new black

i'm back.  and i'm a married woman!

our wedding day was simply perfect.  all of our dreams & visions brought to life.  the greatest day of our lives, and one that has created the memories of a lifetime.

we arrived home from aruba a week after the wedding and decided to lay low for a few days before returning to work.  a little something we like to call our staycation.  it was completely perfect.  we slept in.  we re-read our wedding cards.  we took walks.  we went out to eat for every meal! 

i sorta of kept that sentiment for a little while longer by not blogging just yet, in hopes to hold on to that honeymoon feeling and let it linger a little bit longer.  and, while the honeymoon is certainly not over (i hope it never ends!), things have settled down and we go about life as usual now.  thus....I'M BACK!

we haven't received any professional photos yet...not even any teasers! but i can share with you some photos that friends and family posted on Facebook.

our photographer's wife took this with her phone during our first look

just pronounced husband & wife!

my best girl friends at the reception

mrs. & mr.!

just posin' with my cake!

sneaking in a smooch during our first dance

i'll share more photos as i receive them! hope you enjoyed! have a great wednesday!

xo