two.

 Our marriage turned 2 yesterday! 

We celebrated by heading up to Long Beach, Washington and staying at a super cute & modern hotel called The Inn at Discovery Coast. It was the perfect little get-a-way and we definitely enjoyed some much needed r&r. Clover did, too :) 

We left Sunday (Drew took Monday off) and headed north. I spotted a rummage sale and had to make a lil pit stop. We walked away with oodles of baby clothes (mostly for expectant friends!), vases for Leash's wedding and some awesome business/children's books -- all for a whopping $5 dollars. Steal! We arrived at the beach house around 2pm. It was a gorgeous day on the beach and Clovers first trip. Let's just say Clover+sand+ocean water=complete chaos! But we loved every minute of it and we were dying at how ridiculous our dog is. 

We spent the day relaxing at the beach, walking on the boardwalk, watching the sunset and going out for a nice dinner together. 

Monday we woke up and had a fresh homemade breakfast delivered to our room. We hung out for a bit and then went and checked out some beach cruiser bikes. Long beach is beautiful! They have a paved path that goes all along the ocean and we rode our bikes down it. We shopped around at the shops, visited a museum and had lunch at a good ol' fashioned burger grill. It was a sweet little get-a-way and we are already looking at our calendar and trying to figure out when we can go back. 

I'm so thankful that I get to spend my life with such a wonderful person.

He is the most caring, genuine, loving, sweet, creative and awesome man I know. He gave me the sweetest card and one thing he said in it was, "as long as we are together this will be the most amazing life" and he is so right! 

They did it!

Sunday at 4pm, Leash and Jrad graduated from Oregon State University!
Go Beavs!
No more homework, no more papers, no more pointless projects and no more super late/all nighters at the library! They are thrilled and we are so happy and proud of them. It has been a super busy last year for them and they handled it like true champions :)

Although it was a beautiful day, it was ridiculously windy and cold at graduation. Like really really windy. Andrew was shivering at one point, and that was definitely a first.
The first lady's speech was awesome. We weren't really sure what to expect, but we were pleasantly surprised. There were snipers on the top of the stadium with binoculars the size of my bed. Talk about craziness. I'm not sure if that made me feel safe or not...

We love them soooo stinkin' much. What an awesome summer they have approaching! 

{Grandpa and I... freeezing!}

Friday mornings

Ah. I am so thankful to have my Friday's back! And the occasional Monday and Wednesday's, too! Wednesday was my last day with the little boys. (Cue, happy dance!) 

I walked in the door Wednesday am and they greeted me with flowers, chocolate and three (!!) Starbucks gift cards! They know me all too well.

It has been a whirlwind these last 10+ months, and although I will miss those little (almost permanently stained spaghetti) faces, I am so excited to have a little bit of time back and to feel like a wife again! Ha. 

But seriously, I am so excited to cook dinner, keep our house clean/organized, have Drew's laundry ready, get up and make him breakfast and just help ease everything so that he doesn't have any worries! 

So this morning, which is day numero uno of my no work day, my lovely husband wakes up at 6am (an hour and a half earlier than usual) and cleans the car, the house and starts some laundry...ok. 

Ooook honey. 

What a stud muffin! :)

We have a busy weekend approaching!

I am working at an event downtown tonight, Saturday and Sunday. 

After I get off of work Sunday we are going to be hustling our little behinds down to Corvallis to make it to Leash and Jrad's graduation from Oregon State. Oi! Can't wait to spoil them all day long! They have worked so incredibly hard, and have had the busiest schedules so it will be so fun to celebrate them and their awesome-ness! (And I would be lying if I didn't say I was a lil excited to hear the first lady speak at their graduation as well!) 

Look at this face! This was taken Monday morning before Drew and I headed out the door for work. Poor pooch! No work for me=long walks for her. Win-win! 

Happy Weekend! 

Making my heart happy

What's sweeter than a 3 year old little girl asking if she can wear your ring for the evening?

I love love this verse. 

Just some new shoes. 

They were hugely on sale & I was hugely in love! 

My sweetie pie lil sis and Clover. 

Beauties! (Minus Cloves creepy eyes)

How awesome is this bridge? Yesterday I worked from 11-5 for one family and then drove an hour to get 15 miles (ugh!) to nanny for another family from 6-10. 

And then I saw this bridge. 

And all was well in the world.

Happy Friday! 

Ps...I only have three (!!!!) days left with the little boys.

A good one

I absolutely love a good surprise! I hate, however, when Andrew will tell me that I have a surprise coming. He always does this. He gets too excited and can't wait for the surprise without telling me that one is actually coming! I know that I should be grateful that he loves planning surprises, but I end up getting more annoyed than anything because I hate knowing something is coming without being able to know exactly what that something is! Did that run on even make sense?
Anyways...

This weekend, he DID! He waited! He didn't give me any hints either!

Saturday I went to Mt. St. Helens with my brother, sister and soon-to-be-BIL! (Andrew had a few to-do's for the day so he stayed home to accomplish those.) On our way back down the mountain my phone was showing "no service." At first I didn't think anything of it, but when we hit I-5 and I still didn't have service was I starting to get a teeny bit irritated! I really dislike paying for something and it not working, it's so frustrating! But I thought, whatever, Andrew can fix it when we get home, probably with both eyes closed. (He runs circles around those peeps at the genius bar I tell ya!) 

We come home. I tell him what is going on. 

And he, very half heartedly, tries to fix it. 

Still nothing. 

Then he tells me to go and grab his phone off of the kitchen counter.

And sitting next to his phone was a beautiful white shiny case with a beee-a-u-tiful white shiny iPhone! 

I didn't see it at first, but when I did I was so surprised! That sneaky man! He turned my phone off while on the mountain and just knew that it would totally irk me!

The camera on this thing? I die. It is like five bajillion times better than my old one. 

Oh! I also have a new bff, her name is Siri.  

   I asked her to find nearby restaurants with a happy hour and she found 22. 

I said "Siri, you're awesome." 

And she replied, "Thank you, I live to serve." 

I think we'll have a great relationship. ;)

Drew was totally proud of himself for pulling this one off without me having the slightest clue. 

Thanks sugar-pie-hunny-buns-cutie-patootie-rootie!

You are the bomb.

And I love you.

Seattle

We had such a wonderful little vaca to Seattle last weekend. Here are some pics from our trip... It was SO nice getting away for a few days. And it was 75+ degrees on Saturday -- we totally lucked out!

Friday night we headed over to the Mariners Game (they lost in the 9th inning, I swear this has happened every time we have gone!) Drew requested garlic fries and beer, so we indulged. After the game, we explored downtown a bit.

Saturday we headed to Pikes Place, did a lil shopping, visited the first Starbucks, visited the gum wall (soo icky and stinky from the hot sun beating down on it) and took a ferry over to Bainbridge island...we both agreed we could live there. It was straight out of a magazine GORGEOUS. 

Sunday we headed over to Preston, Washington and hung out with awesome people and some of our best friends! We had a great lunch and spent time in their gorgeous home which overlooks the Seattle and Bellevue skyline. Afterwards we headed out for a nice dinner together and topped the evening off with my 3 favorite guys, Drew, Ben & Jerry! :)

 Monday my sweet hubby accompanied me ALL over Seattle as my hot lil shopping date! He held my bags and let me do my thang! I thanked him a bajillion times, he is just the sweetest. 

After our my shopping trip we made a quick stop at Molly Moons, a unique ice cream shop that was recommended by a local. It was good, but didn't compare to Portland's Salt & Straw.

Then we boogied on home. 

Ah, finally

Tomorrow evening, at approximately 6:30pm...Andrew and I are free!!
(Well, for the next 5 days at least!) 

SO excited. 

We have been wanting to plan a lil mini vaca to Seattle for quite sometime. 

Then we had the privilege to hang out with some truly awesome people on Sunday...and they just so happen to live in Seattle. 

So we are taking advantage of it! 

 Our "tentative" agenda

 Mariners game -- happy late bday hubby!

A lil shopping (ah, makes my heart go pitter patter!)

 Pike's Place Market 

Thrifting 

Lots of coffee drinking (Seattle is the hometown of Starbucks after all, ya know...) 

Kerry Park, which we have heard has the best views of the city 

A fancy date night (so excited for this!)

A Ferry ride and...

probably a little people watching thrown in there, too! 

25 years

And he's still got it! 

Yesterday was Andrew's 25th (wowzers!) birthday. 

Doesn't he look pretty darn good for being a quarter of a century old? ;)

Sadly, we both had to work, so I got up extra early and made the birthday boy blueberry pancakes w/ blueberry syrup and a hot vanilla chai in bed. He loved!

I didn't have to work until 1, so I dropped Drew off and headed for the gym. After, I came back out to the car only to be greeted with Clover plus some...gah! That dog! There weren't any trash cans in sight, but luckily I had a spare diaper in the car from the boys I nanny for, so all was good. Hehe!

We headed over to Drew's office after the gym and went on a quick walk during his break. 

There is a beautiful path behind his office and we love to take advantage of it on sunny days!

(Just a lil side note -- because I am just so proud of this guy... Yesterday he was called into a meeting that he really had no business of being in, they just wanted him there for a "young mans/Gen Y" perspective. During the meeting Andrew made several suggestions. The company has also been struggling with a name for their newsletter. They wanted something that incorporated their brand and name already but haven't been able to come up with anything that has stuck...and what does my amazing husband do? Oh, ya know, just blurts something out and they absolutely LOVE it. Later that day he was called into the office. His boss went over a few things with him and then also said that they would be giving him a $1.50 raise. That's $200 more per month! PTL, happy birthday! This good news couldn't have came at a better time. He.is.awesome.)

That evening we headed out to Le Bistro Montage and then to our absolute fav, Salt & Straw. I am not exaggerating, Salt & Straw is THE BEST ice-cream in the entire world. I know I haven't been to every single ice cream shop in the entire world, but I am certain S&S would top them.  I could eat it for dayssss. 

Lastly, Andrew really wanted to see the Avengers. I had no idea what the Avengers even were. Which apparently is a big deal... 

It was a lovely day celebrating an even lovelier person. 

Happy 25th birthday my sweet husband! 

You make me so happy to be your wife each and every day!

Sunday Funday

Another busy weekend in the Edwards house. Sunday morning, however, was just wonderful! We woke up, brewed some coffee and walked down the street to get one of our favorite oh so delicious scones. On the way we made a little pit stop at the park and decided Clover should slide down the slide. Who says you need to have children to enjoy the playground?! 

As you can tell, she just loved it ;) 

Sunday afternoon was spent wedding dress shopping for one of my sweet friends, Kendal! We first went to Salem (no luck), then headed up to Portland and...She found THE DRESS! Ah! She looked amazingly beautiful and I am thrilled for her special day coming in August! We finished the evening out at McCormick's. So great to see and catch up with friends. 

And just a lil photo of my favorite person!

I'm so thankful for this guy. He works sooo hard for our little family. 

Look at that new buzz cut! Cutie patootie! Hehe!

This week is going to be so grand! I only work one day the.entire.week! Love having a lil taste of freedom! On the agenda for the week -- Cleaning, baking, meetings, lots of Clover walks, dentist appt (boo!), working out, meeting w/ family and a few overdue visits with friends. 

Ahhh, the life! :) 

girl scout cookies and puppy love

This weekend was a doozy :) Friday I watched the boys from 8am-5:30, came home and grabbed dinner really quick and then watched Ella from 7-11. Long day, but I knew what was in store for the weekend and it got me through it! Saturday morning Clover had an appt at 7:30am to get spayed! Ah! Poor little thing! She was just so excited to see that nurse and it broke my heart that she had no idea as to what was coming. After she had been there for a few hours, the nurse called and said that they had just finished her check up and everything was perfect...except that she had a stubborn little puppy tooth that needed to be pulled. So our sweet pup went under the knife for surgery and had a tooth pulled all in one day. Such a little trooper. While she was under the knife, my Drew took me out on a shopping spree! We went out to breakfast together, grabbed some coffee and then headed down to the Woodburn outlets. To our luck they were having some great sales! We shopped for a awhile and then headed back up the road to rescue Cloves. We made a little pit stop at Anthro and Old Navy...annnnnnnd, to my surprise good ol Old Navy would have the answer to my prayers...Girl Scout Cookies! We bought three boxes and I stared at them the entire trip home. I have been craving Girl Scout cookies for so long. I have tried looking them up online to order and have driven by stores searching for those little brown and green vests covered in patches numerous times. No such luck. Thank you Old Navy for our delish cookies and my new $11.49 shirt. Productivity at it's best! 

After picking up Clover we had a few meetings scheduled. One literally 2 blocks from our house, and the other on the complete opposite side of town. We left Clover in her kennel for the meetings and I felt like such a horrible puppy parent! Ha! She was whimpering...and the dog has never let out a single peep concerning pain or sadness before so it was a little tough! But we she made it through..with lots of puppy ice cream treats ;) Little preview to parenthood I suppose...I can't even imagine!
We finished the weekend off with a mini cooking/baking sesh. Chicken Parmesan, oatmeal breakfast cookies and banana bread. All recipes from the lovely Pinterest. Our little condo has never had so many wonderful aromas going on at once! 

We are excited for another busy and productive week ahead!

And Spring Break! Oh my, I only work one day the entire WEEK!

:) 

So many reasons...

...to Smile

Here are a few for me at the moment!

I was at a stoplight ;)

It's almost Friday! 

:)

Fear vs Faith

"If you aren't living in harmony, you aren't doing something right."

Lately, I have been reading and learning a lot about fear vs faith. You really can't have both. It is either one or the other. Fear does not allow harmony in your life and if you are constantly living in fear than you will not achieve anything. 

Faith is the belief and trust in loyalty to God. It is an absolute belief that He is constantly working behind the scenes in every area of our lives, even when there is no tangible evidence to support that fact. And consequently, fear is a feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or imminence of danger. 

Everyday we make a decision, will I live in faith, or will I live in fear? Before, I wasn't aware that I was consciously making that decision... I went about my day being selfish. Thinking and questioning all sorts of different things and half of the time I wasn't aware I was doing it. My poor husband was the one who I would go to with all of this "fearful" garbage! Poor thing :)   

But now, now I am aware and I am choosing faith. Romans 14:23 says, "Whatsoever is not of faith, is sin..." Fear only steals God's peace from my heart and I don't want any of that!  

Whenever those little fearful worries start to seep through, I will come back to these:

{I will counsel you with my eye upon you. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.}  Psalm 32:8 
and
{The very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid.} Matthew 10:30-31 

Seriously, how can I be fearful of anything when God knows exactly how many little hairs are on my entire head? Sheesh!

Here's to trusting God and choosing faith. 

7 years w/ my love!

Today, February 22nd, marks the 7th year that I have been with my sweet Andrew. I can't even begin to explain how incredibly fast the time has gone. I was 16 and he was 17, I agreed to a school lunch date at Wendy's and the rest is history. Nothing screams "marriage material" like a good ol' frosty and french fries, right!? Oh boy. Thankfully, that 17 year old boy grew into one very handsome 24 year old man and has come a long ways since that little Wendy's venture :) 

He works so hard for our family and I am so grateful for him.
 What a gracious, hardworking, awesome husband. 

Each day I adore him even more! When he gets home we are off to our favorite little coffee shop down the street for a little late night date, our fav! We'll order something warm, sit outside by the heaters, under the stars and sip away...w/ the pooch of course, can't forget Clover. :) 

One day...

We will have some cute babies... 

It's Valentines day week!

This means I get to bake Valentines day cookies with the little munchkins I nanny for, make Valentines day crafts with them and eat Valentines day candy with them, hooray! 

Friday... and some randomness

I could listen to this song over and over again--and I do. I love it so much. When it comes on, I blast the radio. Even when I am nannying I blast the radio. And sweet Noah sings along, although he doesn't know the words. At all. But it is the cutest thing. 

:)

I love this print. And I would love it in a baby girls room. Whenever our time for a baby girl comes, this will be the first thing I purchase, well, maybe. 

Oh Giada. I wish I enjoyed cooking as much as you, and I wish I could make it look half as easy as you do.  Andrew and I had Giada's penne w/ spinach sauce for dinner last night. It was goooood. 

The family comes tonight! And Andrew is bbq-ing for everyone, (his excitement is somewhere between a 9.9 and 10) we feel like real adults now. We haven't ever bbq-ed for anyone before. 

Oh, I am so ready to see them. 

And...

My mom, sister and I are going to the Funky Junk sisters. We have had this planned for, uhhm, about 9 months. I was so sad that I had missed them the last time they visited Portland so I highlighted and starred Feb. 4th so we wouldn't miss them again. On the list: wedding decor/craft-y ideas/maybe a new dresser? Thoughts, Drew? ;

Hallelujah for the weekend!

Simplicity

I love this. 

This weekend

We did a whole lotta nothin'... and it was awesome. 

We drank a lot some coffee.

 drip coffee < french press coffee

Mexi mochas from Vivace are our fav. 

 We only get them once in a blue moon, but when we do, we go big.

Spent some "quality" time with the pooch. 

 Aka, letting her ride in the car as we run errands. 

And taking her for a walk. 

Oh, and letting her chew our socks. So spoiled :)

Smart Oregonian vs. not so smart Oregonian 

 I was the smart one. 

He chose to ixnay the coat before our long walk--bad choice. 

We also watched all three of the Bourne movies, ohhh my. #1 and #2 yesterday, #3 today. Horrible of us? Yes. But we decided this was our lazy-yummy-prepare-for-the-insanely-busy-upcoming-day(s)-week(s) weekend. 

See:

Here's to the busy busy days ahead! 

We.are.ready!

Them

They are too, too much. 

Like... father, like... dog?

:)

Expecting Greatness

Hubby and I did something different this year.

 Last night we ventured over to Michaels, stocked up on some cork, tacs, sparkle paper, sharpies, tape, a few slabs of burlap and we got our creative side on! 

We placed our dreams, favorite bible versus, personal goals, inspirational quotes and positive thoughts onto a board and hung it right up in our room. This little dream board is going to be what we spend 2.2 minutes looking at each AM (that's how long the timer is set on our sonicare toothbrushes--so it's only fitting to stand smack dab in front of our board while we brush away, right?!)

In my last post I mentioned a few highlights of 2011, it was a great year... but oh boy is 2012 going to kick 2011's toosh. 

We are expecting greatness.