Happy Veteran's Day!

Obviously veterans are important to me so I just wanted to wish everyone a happy Veteran's Day!

especially the two veterans in my life:

and in addition to hubs and my daddy there is my grandpa, father-in-law, grandfather-in-law, and (we're pretty sure) great grandfather-in-law (all Navy) (I wish I had all the pics!) as well as countless friends! 

Thank you so much! Be sure to go get you're free blommin onion and krispy kreme doughnut (among other things) !!

Just jumping in real quick

to say I'm still alive

and I'll be back soon

and the giveaway is still coming

*pinky swear*

family portrait

we're missing sassy but i love it still!!!

on this memorial day

so i have to say that today is the first year i've ever really thought about what this day really means

as a kid it was a warm day off of school that consisted of bbqs and possibly swimming

i knew it had something to do with the military but most of the time i would confuse memorial day and veterans day and could never remember which was which

as i got older i just never really thought about it. i didn't know many people who had been in the military and the ones close to me who had were out of the service long before i was even born

this year it hit much closer to home

because i never want to have to spend a memorial day remembering 

my husband's best friend,

one of my best friend's boyfriend,

my sorority sister's husband,

a girl i work with's father

a girl i used to work with,

the husband's of many wonderful friends i've met through blogging, twitter, and facebook,

the friends my husband has made at boot camp,

and the many more people we will undoubtedly meet and grow close to in the coming years,

and mostly, my husband

just thinking about it makes me cry

i pray that this day will never hit closer to home then is does now, but at the same time i know that there are many people out there experiencing all of those above loses, so i pray for them too

and hope that one day no one else will have to suffer with the loss of their loved one on this day or any other

i've seen the signs a million times but i've never so perfectly understood that the freedoms we have, cherish, and often take for granted truly are not free

thank you to all those who have served and continue to serve our country, and happy memorial day!

it does seem a little strange now to say happy memorial day, but i suppose you should be happy. this day shows us that time is valuable and possibly short so we should make the most of it

and i plan on doing that by writing a long letter to my husband, snuggling with my dog far to much and spending time with family and friends...at a bbq :)

happy mother's day mommy!

i ♥ you!


AND this is the first year i have two mothers to wish happy mothers day to cause i have my mother-in-law



and she's basically the best mother-in-law ever...we don't have any crazy in-laws here on either side praise the lord!




and happy mothers day to all the other mommys out there!

trip to the zoo

so a couple weeks ago my nephews stayed a my parents house for the week

one day we decided to take them to the zoo

i absolutley love the zoo!

no really, i try to get hubbers to take me on dates here all the time (he's done it once and almost two other times)

anyway here's some pics

the giraffes were liams favorite...can't you tel lol!

gus chilled in the stroller

doesn't this chimp have the cutest look on it's face?

the otters were hannah's favorite

my favorite animal at the zoo is a panda

unfortunately there are no pandas at the sacramento zoo, but it was fun noentheless

sadly i did not get an animal juicy




...you know those plastic colorful animals with the pop top and each animal is a different flavor juice

happy birthday daddy!

today is my daddys birthday!

people always joke that he was almost a leap year baby

...too bad it wasnt a leap year when he was born

this is my favorite picture of him

...even though i think he looks totally weird without his mustache

and this is my daddys favorite picture of us (or favorite memory at least) 

he gave me a lick of his fudgesicle (my first taste of chocolate) and i crawled all over him to get more

i love you daddy! happy birthday!

*yes im 24, married, and still call my dad daddy...i doubt it will ever change :)

things i am loving this week

a teacup full of strawberries...

pretty vintage (and not so vintage) buttons...

this little curly tail...

oh! and this little nose (cant forget the nose!)...

a super cute valentine from my two nephews...

white chocolate chips, yum...

and this guy, of course!

hope youre having a fabulous weekend!

before i recap our valentines day...

i have to recap my birthday weekend

(im all about order...except for im not :)

my birthday is my favorite day of the year! its the one day that you can do whatever you want (and get other people to do whatever you want) its the best

so anyway i watch these three movies and hubby didnt complain at all:

...actually thats not entirely ture, he did complain about the ugly faces miley cyrus makes lol!

i got this book from my mother-in-law for my bridal shower and husband made my this dish (with lingunie):

it was so scrummy!

and for dessert we had some of our wedding cake

it was still yummy except for the fresh strawberries that were in there, so we just ate around those

saturday morning my family took us to tower cafe for birthday breakfast, and saturday night my in-laws took us to sushi for birthday dinner

and on sunday i got my traditional birthday present to myself...

...sees candy!

all in all a fabulous birthday!

oh! and i spent as much time with my birthday present as i could

wedding: bridesmaids pt4 (final)

so my final bridesmaid to post about is my maid of honor, my sister hannah

i was 10 when hannah was born and for a good long while she was my own personal live doll that i got to dress up and take pictures of (which i still do btw)

she calls me sissy and i call her lots of things ha!

then as we got older there were time i didnt always want her around cause i was a teenager and she messed up all my stuff but i love her to pieces and even though we are so far apart in age she is one of my best friends and we talk all the time

her and hubby get along super well...in fact they like to join forces and gang up on me

and they txt each other more than either one txts me!

it was funny, before brian and i got married hannah said she doesnt remember not knowing him (we first started dating when she was 5)

so there are other better pictures i could use of me and hannah (cause there are probably thousands) but these are some of my favorites that i could find online and on my computer already

at the wedding

and another at the wedding

us picking the music for the wedding (apparently we like this song)

a couple years ago for a christmas card and calendar for my mom (hubby took these pics)

since hannah is taller and bigger than i am whenever we piggyback shes the one holding me

...actually weve been doing this a long time even when she was smaller

(shes stronger and dead weight and i was a flyer and know how to hold my weight)

...you see? this is what happens when we switch

we like to be goofy

in mexico at this cool bar that had swings for seats

1. we were not drinking (shes only 12 here! ...though she probably could have there)

2. this seems like a highly dangerous way for a drunk person to sit at a bar

in mexico again

at some shopping mall in mexico

and again (we took a lot of pictures with strange things on this trip)

at disney land on the peter pan ride (our favorite)

we took this picture at disneyland the first christmas after hannah was born

(fyi i was getting sick and thats why i look so rough)

and 10 years later (we decided to try and take it the same)

at the nutcracker last year (we did not plan on matching)

and again

and this year

at my graduation

us playing cats cradle

and messing around on my computer

and to answer your questions:

yes she is only 13

yes i know she looks 16