1/4 of a Century

My dearest hubsband (that is not misspelled) turned 25 today!! 

We started the day off with some yummy belgian waffles.

Then I made him leave for an hour (fortunately, we had made an appointment to get the trailer hitch put on my car today) so I could make the apartment all cute and put the starting AND finishing touches on his birthday cake. Hubby came home to this:

Yes, that is a Spongebob tablecloth and here is a close-up of his AWESOME cake:

Both Homer and the "donut" are made of lemon cake with cream cheese filling. Needless to say, he was a very happy birthday boy. We took a trip up to Gateway Mall and walked around, followed by dinner at The Blue Iguana (the most AmAzInG Mexican food ever). We came back down to Provo to go to Nickel City and play games. All topped off with free dessert at Chili's. I think it was a very good birthday for my husband and hopefully I'll be able to make him just as happy for the next 25 of them (or 50, or 75). haha

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAYLOR! I LOVE YOU!!

Moon of Honey

OK, so I'm a procrastinator. No surprise there. But here is a re-cap and some photos from our FANTASTIC honeymoon in Disney World.

Sunday, the day after our wedding, we arrived in sunny, sunny Florida and took Mickey's Magical Express to the Pop Century Resort!

 Then after some MUCH needed relaxation, we got dressed and headed down to Downtown Disney for dinner at Planet Hollywood (where my cute husband had the in-house DJ dedicate a song to us!)

Monday we ventured to the WiLd Animal Kingdom where we met up with an old friend. ;)

 We also went on a super cool safari and almost got eaten by some rhinos!

 This might be my favorite pic form the whole trip. hahaha

 After hanging out with all of our cool character friends, we had the MOST AMAZING dinner in 'France'. I was seriously in a food coma for the rest of the night.

Tuesday was a day of relaxation while we laid by the pool all day in the 85* weather. Then, on Wednesday, we headed out of Disney and went to Universal Studios.

 We were able to meet with our four-legged friend from "Shrek" and take our 'donkey vows'. haha

 Our hero: ROOBY DOOBY DOO!!

 We were then able to check out the very new and VERY cool Harry Potter World!!

 And we had some fun in Seuss Land as well. ;)

 On Thursday, we visited my favorite parks: Disney's Hollywood Studios and the Magic Kingdom. Sadly, we didn't take to many pictures that day. But, we did, indeed, have a magical day (complete with the most amazing fireworks show I have EVER seen).

This is us at the Sci-Fi Drive-In restaurant... pretty much the only pic we took all day. hahaha

Friday was a relaxing day with Taylor's parents. We went to their beautiful home in Windermere and had some yummy Mexican food for dinner.

So, all in all, our honeymoon was amazing. It really was a dream come true for both of us and we made some wonderful memories that we'll be able to look back on for the rest of our lives. I'm so grateful for our wonderful family and friends who went through so so much to make that happen for us. We truly are blessed. :)

Epic Weekend

This weekend was definitely amazing. It was my birthday on Saturday and then Valentine's Day today. So we basically spent the entire weekend surprising each other and celebrating. I'm so incredibly grateful for Taylor and all he does for me. I'm so excited to marry this man in a few weeks! Here's some photos from the last week. :)

The night we had breakfast for dinner. Yes, those are Mickey Mouse pancakes. :)

My picture perfect apple pie. Quite an accomplishment, I know. :)

My birthday surprise: roses!

My Valentine's Day surprise: chocolate covered strawberries! 

Out at Spark Lounge on my birthday.

My kiwi "martini" at Spark.

Part of Taylor's V-Day surprise.

The big hearts had names of rock and roll love songs on them.

You'd Have To See It To Believe It

Or in this case, eat it. Ladies and gentleman, for the first time in my life I did something I never thought I'd do:

I cooked in a Crock Pot!

I know this doesn't sound like very much of an accomplishment, but allow me to explain. I was raised in a very Italian family who cooks everything fried, baked, or sauteed. Pretty sure people in Italy have never even heard of a CrockPot! But as I get ready to marry my dearest Taylor, (in 24 days and 17 hours, I might add!) who has a very American appetite, I realize that I need to expand my cooking horizons. So I've made meatloaf (which he LOVED), but that's about the extent of American cooking in my family. haha

But enter my amazing in-laws and the amazing bridal shower they threw my last week! I received not one, but TWO Crock Pots, and I took that as a sign that it was time for me to buckle down and get cooking. So, tonight, I rolled up my sleeves and started with something simple and that I knew Taylor would go ga-ga over: Barbecue Chicken! It was DELICIOUS! Not to mention that our apartment smelled like the deep south for the rest of the night. I just defrosted 2 chicken breasts and placed them in the Crock Pot with a cup of barbecue sauce and about 1/2 cup of apple juice; put the heat on high and 3 hours later dinner was served! I served the chicken with scalloped potatoes and sauteed green beans. What a yummy dinner! Now, I'm not trying to toot my own horn but... TOOT TOOT!

I'm extra excited for this Sunday, too. I plan on making the first of many Sunday pot roasts with carrots and potatoes and my much-requested homemade rolls. :) If I remember I'll take some photos for the blog.

In other news, we are just weeks away from the wedding and both Taylor and I are getting so anxious! Taylor's parents came in from Florida last week and we had a wonderful visit! My sister-in-law Rachael threw me a wonderful bridal shower with all of Taylor's family. Our kitchen is now pretty much fully stocked with dishes, glasses, and silverware and all kinds of pleasantries. :) I am so grateful for all their love and support. They truly welcomed me with open arms.

I'll be sure to update after this weekend, because it's both my birthday and Valentine's day! What a weekend this will be!!

Home Sweet Home

I think the word for the month is: NEW. We are in a variable whirlwind of newness as we start our life together and it's both breathtaking and nauseating. Let's go over the highlights:

NEW BLOG!
Obviously, I have abandoned my old, single blog and have begun the adventure of publishing our lives as a (soon-to-be) married couple. :)

NEW APARTMENT!
Taylor moved into our married apartment at Cambridge Court about a month ago. I spend most of my time here: cooking, baking, and nesting. :) We are really loving our little home and I can't wait to move in when we get married. Here are some "before" photos so that you can all be utterly amazed when it's all decorated!

Our kitchen

Our living room/dining area

Our bedroom

Our especially spacious bathroom

NEW DRESS!

I picked up my wedding gown last week and it is PERFECT! I won't be posting photos of it until the actual day, but trust me when I say it is absolutely lovely. :)

So, all in all, life is crazy, wonderful, and new. Taylor and I get married in exactly four weeks from Saturday and it cannot get here fast enough. And, just to satisfy your curiosity, here are some other photos of what we've been doing over the past month or so...

Visiting Temple Square

The Wedding Cake I Made!