Enjoying Life

11:08am Laying in the sunshine, listening to the wind chimes and birds sing pretty songs. I have my post-workout smoothie by my side - spinach, banana, super green formula, maca powder, flax seeds, cinnamon, cocoa powder, water, and lots of ice. Tastes so good!! I have really enjoyed upping the intensity of my workouts over the past few weeks, and I'm already seeing great results. Hard work pays off and it's so rewarding! I've been working out 5-6 days a week, usually a routine in the morning and another in the afternoon - a healthy mix of cardio and toning. This morning I started the day with a 20 minute ab routine followed by 40 minutes of intervals on the treadmill. And just a little bit ago I completed a leg routine. This is one reason why my ice cold smoothie is so refreshing! :)

Tony & I enjoy spending our days together. We have lots of fun hanging out, going on little adventures, spontaneous dates, star gazing, and more. But there are some times where fun doesn't do justice to the amount of FUN we really had. Last night was one of those FUN nights filled with lots of laughing and enjoying each others company to the fullest. Magical times really. Our normal Thursday night Bible study was cancelled so we joined our friends James and Tinna at Bonfire's Tortilla Bar. We gathered at a round table outside and enjoyed our burrito fixings and continuous conversation. On the way home, Tony & I stopped by the grocery store to pick out a bottle of wine - a Lodi Zinfandel won the vote. At home, we set up in the front living room, sipping our wine and watching "Jack & Jill" with Adam Sandler. We laughed so much!! And that's an understatement. We had intermissions filled with popcorn making, some dance moves, more laughing, apple dicing, and more. We finished the movie and yes, laughed even more. It was about 10:30pm when we crawled in bed, side by side wrapped in our 400 thread count sheets. We gave hugs and kisses and both went into pleasant dreamland fast. I am so grateful to God for my dear husband. that I get to experience the great joy of being his wife. We are truly the bestest of friends and I am so glad that our friendship has only grown stronger over our 112 months of togetherness. God's sweet kind grace to us!!!

While watering the garden this morning, I noticed one of my swallowtail caterpillars has stationed himself for cocoon making. And I spot at least a dozen more caterpillars chomping away at fennel leaves. So cool!! This makes me miss my real camera all the more, as I can't get clear close-ups of tiny creatures. My camera broke last summer right before our vacation to the outer banks, and I have since been using the camera on my phone. One day soon I hope to get a new camera!! My peas are ripe for the picking and seed-saving. I'll be digging the plants up in the next couple days and planting glorious sunflowers in their place. Yay! :)

There's 4 pictured here - can you find them?

a variety of lettuces amongst cherry tomato plants

onions galore

I eat them straight off the vine

Our front is gradually getting a face lift ~ mulch in our new friend!! :)

peace! :) I have little lettuces and cilantro in the planters. And say hello to one of our new gold tip junipers.
That baby will grow at least 6 ft wide. :) 

Why can't every phone picture come out this pretty? This is my catchall garden
bed by the front porch. Beautiful hostas, mint, gladiolus, petunias, baby basil, daffodils,
and succulent that is slowly creating quite the lovely ground cover. :)

My dear brother Matthew and his wife Miranda recently moved to VA. We miss them and are so grateful for the world of facebook to keep us connected in our day-to-day lives. :)

Ken visits & we build a fence

pretty things in my garden :)

From Wednesday - Wednesday our dear friend Ken stayed at our place. We teased him and said that we purposely planned to build our fence the week he was here so that he could help. I guess you can say he earned his food and lodging (and even a movie ticket). ;) He and Tony's dad were a great help!! We worked on the fence for 4 days straight. It was a LOT of work, but oh so worth it!!  This past weekend, Tony and his dad added the gates. Now all that is left is to finish packing the dirt and trimming some of the tops. Then it will be all done.  

The neighbor girls made beaded necklaces while we worked. And there's a picture of my fishtail bracelet.

The nails marked the spot. The auger strained to get through our very hard ground. After an overnight water soak and in combination with post hole diggers, a heavy spike, and the auger we were able to dig 40 some holes 2 feet deep. :)  

Lowe's delivered all the materials on Thursday!! :) 

The very first corner :)

July 3rd we celebrated Shonda's birthday!! Complete with a new pet turtle that stuck his tongue out at the camera. 

Mrs. Donna's beautiful garden!! She has blessed me with many tomatoes, jalapenos, onions, bell peppers, and spaghetti squash. :) I've already fixed one large bowl of salsa and will be making another batch tomorrow.

On the fourth, we had my parents over for dinner and then joined more family to see the fireworks. 

On Ken's last night here, we went to see Cars 2. I loved it!!
The evening was topped off with Brooklyn's Pizza & Krispy Kreme doughnuts. :) 

Passionate Housewives

"Being keepers at home is about focusing upon the Lord in all the everydayness so that our houses become centers of hospitality, forgiveness, training, business, welfare, charity, shared mourning and celebration, and - oh, yes - lots of tracked-in mud, crumbs under the chairs, and everything else that goes with human beings. We must not lose sight of the fact that our homes are God-given tools to bless others."

"We must view serving our families as acts of service to God,

rather than as acts that "get in the way" of serving him."

"The happy bride of the Song of Solomon rejoices to array herself for her husband with delights that include sweet perfume, beautiful hair, and even scarlet lips that open in comely speech. She decks her home with lovely things, knowing that they bring joy to others and create an atmosphere of rest and well-being. We're not talking about home decorating on steroids here -- just about the wonderful opportunity we have to reflect our Creator's eye for beauty in everything we touch. What a great privilege and honor!"

"Biblical womanhood is challenging, intelligent, adventurous, kingdom-building, whole-hearted hard work. It encompasses all kinds of gifts and talents and provides us with an outlet for genuinely purposeful creativity and effort -- all within the realm of the fully functioning Christian home."

Quotes above are from "Passionate Housewives Desperate for God", which I was able to finish reading last week. :) This week has been filled with rainy days. Which was great for the garden (and the many weeds). I went out side this morning, as the sun was shining brightly to pull the weeds out of the garden and our little rock pathway. Now the bigger project is smiling at me ~ mowing the yard. I will say that I am sooo happy to see the centipede grass creeping and overtaking our yard. The patches are beautiful!

Almost half way

It is so weird to think that it's already the middle of April. It happened so fast! And I have Big news!! Today marks 86 months + 1 day of Tony & Shayna!! I have an amazing husband and I am so grateful to God for him! We have so much fun together! This past Saturday we had a special date night ~ we dressed up real nice and ventured to Raleigh to eat at P.F. Changs for the first time. We waited nearly two hours, but it was no big deal. The restaurant is actually connected to Crab Tree Mall, so we were able to walk around the mall for an hour, and then we played this fun strategy game together on my iPod. :) The food was great and we had a wonderful time sitting across from one another talking about lots of different things. Fun memories!!

Yesterday was pretty average - Tony went to work. I did a lot of yard work and caught up on some house cleaning. Then last night we invited James & Tinna over and we had homemade pizza and garlic knots! Yay for spur of the moment hospitality.

As everyone knows, last week was Easter! Which means lots of family time. After church we joined Tony's family for a egg hunt and fresh of the grill hamburgers, hotdogs, and lots of yummy sides. Oh, and desserts. We hid nearly 300 eggs for the kiddos to find. That evening we went to my families house for roasted chicken and veggies among other sides and a made.by.Mom lemon pie. Brittany recently got a new camera, which has been designated as the "family-picture-taking-camera!" So we had lots of fun with the feature that takes 10 shots in a row. I'm glad we can all be silly together.

Matthew also turned 24 years old on Easter ..... crazy! Seriously, I can't believe how quickly we seem to grow-up. We celebrated on Easter-Eve (yes, I just made that up) with a cook-out and upsidedown pineapple cake! I'm so glad that God saw fit to give me siblings!!! This past week I had to get the tires rotated on the car. During my three hour wait period (I know!) I talked with a sweet older lady named June. She was an only child and was never able to have children. She seemed lonely...  Causes me to think of all the times where I've taken my family for granted.

Gardening season is well under way. My lettuce and snap peas are growing lovely!! Within a week, I'll be planting a lot more veggies and herbs. Yay!

Grateful Day to Dad's Birthday

This past week has been extremely busy. A week ago today we were celebrating Thanksgiving with our families. And I have no pictures to show for it. Tony's parents served grilled turkey with ample sides and desserts. All very tasty. Then time was spent talking and playing with the neices and nephews. That evening we went to my parents house for baked turkey soaked in brine and lots of flavorful veggies. Chrissie's dad and Uncle (who speak little English) also joined us, making a total of 10 people gathered around the table. :) Love it!! We had lots of fun talking, with Chrissie acting as the translator. :) For dessert we had made.by.Mom pumpkin pie, made.by.Dad mincemeat pie, and made.by.Joey&Chrissie vanilla cake. Yum! Joey also gave me my birthday gift - a nice set of graters for cheese, spices, veggies, etc. :)

Friday morning, Tony & I passed out some gospel tracts to the many shoppers at Wal-Mart. Then we caught a few sales of our own. Back at home, Tony did schoolwork. That evening, James and Tinna hosted a Thanksgiving meal. It was fun fellowshipping with Tinna over several rounds of UNO Attack, while the guys reviewed James' resume.

Satuday was our morning to sleep in... sigh. We ran a few errands that afternoon and enjoyed an elegant little lunch at Aggie's Subs. At home, we fertelized our little trees (hoping that they'll have a huge growth spurt soon) and pulled weeds from the rock bed. That evening we went to work on Pastor Gene's computer. We very much enjoyed hanging out with them, eating homemade pizza and chocolate chip cookies. Talking about a wide array of topics. :)

Sunday, after church we came home and scrubbed the house. It looks much cleaner now!! We finished right as it was getting dark outside. We got all cleaned up and went to my parents house for turkey soup and an episode of Amazing Race.

Tony has had jury duty this week and has traveled back and forth to work, having to work pretty late Tuesday night. I actually met him there at work with a warm veggie casserole. We sat there at his desk eating and talking about our day. I've found myself missing him a lot this week!! The schedule has pretty much been jury duty, work, more work, school work, bed time. Makes me very grateful for the time I'm able to spend with Tony!! My one and only! :) While he's been busy with that, I've spent some quality time with mom and Brittany (shopping), running errands, and decorating our Christmas tree.

Last night, we celebrated my Dad's 46th birthday. On our way to my parents house, Tony got called into work. So we turned around and got his truck. Mom and I packed Tony a dinner to go and off to work he went. : (  The rest of us gathered around the table for spaghetti with meatballs, garlic rolls, and salad. Mmmm.

All us kiddos, minus Tony. : (  I praise God that things went smoothly at work and Tony was able to join us a couple hours later!! I'm very much looking forward to spending lots of time with him this weekend!!!!