Wedding Inspirations

Have I mentioned Paul and I set a date?! Well, sort of! We are tentatively planning on getting married on September 17th, 2011 in Aptos! Here's an inspiration board I threw together to help visulaize the style for the wedding;

 

Style File: elegant casual with a bit of a bohemian surf vibe 
Color Scheme: loads of white and cream with hints of magenta, turquoise, and yellow

Elements: orchids, succulents, capiz shells, mason jars, sand, burlap, and hemp

Stay tuned for more wedding plans, projects, and info!

WOW, where does the time go?! It seems like yesterday Paul and I started this blog to document our adventures together (back in April, I believe.) Here we are at the end of December, the end of the year and I honestly don't know where the time has gone! Thanksgiving flew by, then now here we are, two days after Christmas and making plans for New Years. I haven't been taking as many pictures lately as I usually do, which is probably the reason for the lacks of posts. . . Here's a picture of the kids on Christmas day at Paul's parent's house.

It's the best picture we've gotten of the three kids, all year! I think I'll have to frame it :)

It's official. . .

PO has a herf shack!

Since sitting on the front patio or in the backyard this time of year is just plain silly (it's been super cold out lately - I guess it is December after all!) PO hangs out in the garage when he wants to enjoy a cigar and some peace and quiet. Good thing there isn't a 'No Girls Allowed' sign on the door, cause I like to join him sometimes!

Daytrippers

Saturday PO and I took a drive to Santa Cruz to go check out a few places to potentially have our wedding. It was fun to get away for the day, see the ocean and hang out in our favorite town!

I had never been to Natural Bridges so we stopped there to check it out. Although it was cold and a little wet out, nothing compares to being near the ocean!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Where the magic happens

Hehehe, I just couldn't help referencing that cheesy line that is sputtered out of the mouths of people whose homes are featured on MTV Cribs. Anyways, here's a shot of our Master Bedroom :)

Dear PO,

I love you more than a fat kid loves chocolate.

Love,
MJ

Halloween!

Saturday night Jake and I helped Jordyn carve her pumpkin on the back patio

 

Sunday, Paul's parents and my parents came over for Halloween and to watch the world series! It was so convenient that the official colors for Halloween and the SF Giants are both orange and black!

Jordyn was a cowgirl! Check out our spooky decorations in the background!

Jordyn and I made a spiderweb cheesecake for everyone. I think it turned out cuter than it actually tasted, but it was fun none the less to bake with Jordyn!

 

Mark & Casandra and the little boys came over to go trick or treating. Here's a shot of the cowgirl with the ghost! 

And here's the baby pumpkin!

Here's PO and I dressed in our orange and black! Go Giants!!!

Jordyn the Soccer Star

Here's a few shots from Jordyn's soccer game a few weeks ago.

Engagement Announcement

We took a day trip to Santa Cruz on October 3rd. My parents were there for a long weekend to celebrate my mom's birthday. We thought it would be an excellent time to break the news that we are getting married!

It was our first time taking the kids with us to SC so we did a little sight seeing. As it usually is in the morning and afternoon, it was super foggy.

We had brunch at Stagnaro's on the wharf and I made a special little toast and announced to my family that we are engaged! Everyone was ecstatic!! 

We spent the rest of the day at the boardwalk, shopping around town and hanging out at my parent's trailer parked at the harbor. It was an awesome, fun day filled with all my favorite people!!

Happiest day of my life :)

Football Star

Jake is playing freshman football for Lodi High School!

That's him, number 23!!

A little secret. . .

Ok, so I didn't mention EVERYTHING that happened while we were in Yosemite
. . . Here's a little hint. . . It involves a ring, a rock, a super sweet guy, and a question he asked me. . .  :)

More on the surprise later!!

Trip to Yosemite

Paul and I had an amazing weekend getaway, just the two of us! We got the cabin for the weekend and made plans to do all sorts of hiking in the valley. That got derailed when PO hurt his back the week before we left. We ended up having a blast anyways, as we always do when we are together! Here's a few highlights from our trip;

We walked around the meadow in Foresta and checked out the old cemetery.

 We hung out by the barns near the meadow and actually explored the inside of one of them! PO and I were so intrigued by the way these old barns were built and it was so cool to poke around inside!

 

We tried hiking out to the big rocks in the meadow, but I got scared of rattlesnakes, so we turned around!

 We headed into the valley to do some exploring and stopped at the old church and took some pictures of the amazing scenery!

 PO purchased an awesome little gadget, the Joby, so we were able to attach our camera to a tree branch (or wherever!) and take some cool pictures of ourselves!

 Here's a shot of the sun setting on our first night at the cabin. The view from the deck is spectacular!!

 Saturday morning we got up early and drove to Wawona and walked around the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias.

The Australian woman we passed was "Just not impressed" with the grove, but we had fun hiking around and taking pictures! 

 We stopped at Cascade Creek and took a very quick dip in the COLD water! This place reminds me of being a kid and jumping off the rock!

Saturday evening we kicked back and relaxed and enjoyed the peace and quiet. I cooked an Italian dinner (gargonzola gnocchi, roasted roma tomatoes, and asparagus with bacon bits) and we enjoyed some wine. It was an amazing way to wrap up our AWESOME weekend!