Cruisin to the Bahamas and Sewin with Mom!

Whoa...it has been quite a while since I last blogged. We have been so busy with lots of company and even a vacation! So a week after my little sis and cousin left, our friends Dan and Kelsey came out for a visit! We stayed so busy and had a blast. We even went on a three day cruise to the Bahamas. It was so much fun but holy cow did we eat...not good Hawaii prep I might add. Looks like two a days at the gym might be in my near future. Anyway...haha I got a little off track. Here are some pics! Of course I forgot to swap photos with Kelsey and she took all the good ones...but these will do!

Our first night at the Welcome Aboard Show

Kelsey and Dan

Coco Cay....holy beautiful

All dressed up for formal night

Beautiful water and cruise boats all lined up at Nassau

What's a cruise without an awkward pic with the funny looking towel animals?

I can't believe the cruise is over....all good things must come to an end though. While Dan and Kelsey were here, the Phillies just happened to be in town and they are HUGE Phillies fans so of course we went to see them play the Marlins.

Then I dropped Dan and Kels off at the airport on Wednesday.....one hour later they called me and their flight was cancelled due to weather so they got to stay another night! We are grateful to have great friends willing to come visit us!

So they left on Thursday and my Momma flew in on Saturday morning. It was so great to have her in town, I just love my mom. We went to the beach, attempted to shop at Ikea (which always seems to go horribly wrong and was no exception this time), hit up one of my mom's favorite restaurants (Bahama Breeze), and sewed 8 baby quilts. Yeah that last part wasn't a typo. For the service project at Girl's Camp (which my mom is part of planning) they wanted to have the girls tie baby quilts. The only issue with this is getting the quilts for them to tie off. So we managed to make 8.  It was a good way to spend time with my mom b/c we like to sew together and how can you not love little baby quilts? Of course I didn't take any pics the whole weekend, I need to get out of my picture taking lapse, but I did manage to take one picture of our collage of quilts.

My personal favorite

I wish I knew how to put into words how grateful I am for my Momma. She is amazing and has no idea how inspiring she is to me. She always puts others before herself and truly loves to serve. She has given me so much and taught me everything I know. I hope that I can be half the mother she is one day. Thank you for everything Maja! I love you!

Things Currently Occupying My Mind....

So my mind is constantly racing and thinking of a million things at once. Today is no different. So I decided to give you the run down of what I'm obsessing over at the moment.

- My friends...all of my best friends are going through very different things right now and I wish I could be with all of them. From pregnancy, to illness, to new moms, to the loss of loved ones, these girls are defining the word Strength. I love them all more than they know and am truly appreciative of the poise they all embody. I miss ya'll.

- Making THIS Buttermilk Banana Bread...I have overripe bananas and buttermilk in my fridge right now...it's perfect.

- The Cruise we are going on THIS FRIDAY and my new cute swim suit I got just for the occasion

- Having THIS for lunch every day of my life

- The fact that I have been in search of the perfect scripture case for FOREVER and I FINALLY found IT! Can't wait to get this bad boy made...

- Planning and thinking of creative ideas for my cousin's high school graduation party coming up in June...seriously....I love it. Its a Hollywood party with a red, black, and white color scheme. I'm going nuts.

- How much I love bread and how excited I am to try THIS recipe...braided bread? Yum! Please don't miss the little gem at the bottom about turning it into cinnamon bread...oh yeah.

- And last but not least...BLOOMING WHERE I AM PLANTED. I repeat this mantra to myself everyday. Dan and I have no idea where we are going to end up calling home and that drives me insane. We are leaving Miami in 2 measly months and are not quite sure what is next between two different options. Doesn't look any more stable for about 2 more years, therefore, I'm blooming where I am planted. Although that may be in several different places for the next little while. One day we will be all settled and I'm sure I will miss the days of starting a new adventure every few months, so I better enjoy it while it lasts!

So I told you I am random. Thanks for indulging me.

Food Trucks, Golf Balls, and Groupon Dinner!

Today Dan and I decided to check out something we have been hearing about for awhile, the Miami Food Trucks. We hit the Street Food Festival today for lunch and it was delicious! We sampled some Garlic Wings, Fried Mac n Cheese, and a Gyro. The fried mac n cheese was my personal fave. We will definitely be hitting up those food trucks in the future. They are so fun...I kind of want to own one....just a thought.

Just a few of the trucks...there must have been about 30

Dan enjoying his fine food truck cuisine!

Then we decided to hit up the driving range because Dan has been dying to hit some golf balls. We ended up at this cool range where they filmed "There's Something about Mary". You hit the balls into the lake. Dan did great and I.....well I'm terrible. But it was a good time!

This stance is goofy...I am aware

Oddly enough this is the only decent shot I had all day...I guess I was showing off for the camera

For dinner we went to this BBQ restaurant we have had our eye on for a while. It just happened to have a deal on Groupon recently, our lucky day. So we got the dinner we had been wanting with the discount we ALWAYS love. Not too shabby!

On a final note, I finally participated in the change of season tradition all women are aware of....the changing of the purse. As you will note, my purses are not too different. I got the black one for Christmas then found the Gold one on clearance at the New Year's Day sale. Haha, when something works it works!

Easter in Miami!

Whoa, I have been so slack with my blogging. I will get better...promise. So for the past week I have been slack because my little sister Caroline and cousin Courtney came to visit me for their Spring Break! We had so much fun and it was great to have them here with us for Easter! We got to go to the beach, shop till we drop, cook and eat an Easter feast, color Easter eggs, catch a movie, and lounge around in our PJs! They even got to stay an extra day due to a lot of canceled flights. They are such fabulous girls and I can't BELIEVE Courtney is graduating from High School in just one short month. Wow. Time flies.

Living the High Life in the comfy chairs at South Beach

Love these girls

Easter Photo Shoot...I made everyone take pics after church

It doesn't take much to keep Caroline occupied...

Pretty Girls

The Easter Bunny found Us!

What the Easter Bunny brought Care Bear....that easter bunny must love Forever 21...

Dan's first Holiday as the man of the house...carving up the ham...(i epically failed at the ham....don't plan on doing that again)

Coloring Easter Eggs!

I wasn't messing around...

I love Easter! Not only for the food, candy, and colored eggs...but for the reason we even have the holiday to begin with. I am so grateful for my Savior and for His Atonement. I look forward to celebrating his Resurrection every year. The words of the hymn, "I Stand All Amazed" sum my feelings up pretty well.

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,

Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.

I tremble to know that for me he was crucified,

That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.

Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me

Enough to die for me!

Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

Bend it Like Ting Ting

So when I was home this past weekend I had the chance to go see my little sister, Caroline, play her soccer game. She plays on the Varsity High School Team as a sophomore and for a traveling club team in the high school off season. I don't get many opportunities to see her play so I really treasure the games I get to go to. I am so amazed at how far Caroline has come since she started at six years old. She went from the cutest little little girl running around anywhere but near the ball, to an aggressive sweeper! I'm so proud of her, she really does rock! Love you Care Bear! Here are some shots of her in action!

Lined up for the National Anthem, of course Caroline (#5) found the camera from all the way across the field

High fives with the refs (is somebody sucking up?)

Tucking in her shirt...haha I just found this funny

Action shot of Carrie running to the ball!

Defense! Pretty blurry, darn it, but I love it!

Go Caroline! Love ya!

Steph's Baby Shower!

So I mentioned in a previous post going with my best friend Stephanie to register for her new baby boy. What an experience that was! I planned the shower along with my bestie Kelly and Steph's fabulous cousin Sara. This shower has been in the forefront of my mind for quite some time, and after lots of planning and creating we finally had her shower in Goose Creek this past Saturday! It was so much fun and it made it seem more real that Steph is actually having a baby! Not to mention it was amazing to see friends that I barely get to see. These weddings and showers are really coming in handy for keeping in touch with friends and family from home! Here are some pics...

So these are one of my favorite parts of the shower....water bottles with homemade labels! It's super easy and cheap and you can find out how to do it here!

 So I wanted to do something a little different than a cake or cupcakes (mostly b/c I was doing everything homemade and didn't feel too confident in creating an attractive cake or cupcakes), so I decided to go with cake pops! They were super yummy and pretty easy to make. I got the recipe from none other than bakerella! (Ps...while you are on that website check out the featured sweet, made these for breakfast for conference weekend and they were amazing!) I used white candy coating for my pops and finished them off with chocolate drizzle on half, and white candy coating with green food coloring for the other half. I then got candy wrappers to cover them with and tied them off with ribbon. My next dilemma was how to display them. I ended up finding these cute pails at the one stop in Target, put some floral Styrofoam in them, and topped that off with easter grass. I displayed them at different heights with some daisies and there ya go! So cute!

 Kelly made this amazing diaper cake. I wish I had a more close up view!

 This is the present table. We decorated it with the cutest homemade onesie line and tissue paper hanging decor! We got these ideas and how-to's here!

Here is a close-up of the onesies Kelly and I made for the line, it turned out adorable!

 Jackie and Schayla!

 The Wyatt Layne banner! We got the idea from the same blog we got our tissue paper and onesie line ideas from! I love everything homemade!

 For the centerpieces we found this fabulous fabric and cut it into big squares that we laid on the table in the diamond shape. Then we rotated tulip vases with the following adorable baby pics of Steph and her husband Chad!

 Lauren brought her beautiful little girl Ava! She is only ten days old and just adorable in her new head band!

 Steph opening her presents, with me trying to keep enough focus to write everything she got. (sometimes I got so caught up in cute baby stuff I had to back up and figure out what I presents I forgot to write down!)

 The beautiful momma-to-be!

 All of us girls at the shower! So good to see all of you!

 Steph with her momma Luanne and little sis Maggie, beauty runs in the fam I guess!

 Kelly, Steph, and I. Can't believe one of us is going to be a mom! We missed you Kris!

 This is how we hug Steph and Wyatt at the same time....its not weird at all....

It was such a fun time and I feel so blessed to be here in Miami so that I can be a part of Steph's life as she preps for little Wyatt! I had so miuch fun planning this shower with Kel and Sara. I was actually kind of sad when it was over....what was I going to obsess over now? Never fear....my little cousin Courtney is graduating High School in June....let the planning begin!