St. Valentine's Day Weekend - 2016

Hiiii peoples!

Well look at that, it's still February and I'm posting my Valentine's Day post in the same month that it happened! Am I good or what? You should be nodding. Are you nodding? Good.

This may be one of our best heart days yet! Mainly because instead of venturing out into the mad crowds of crazy people, trying to book a reservation and all that hullabaloo, we stayed HOME. 

Introvert. Heaven. *cue angelic singing*

Home is nice. It's my favorite-est place to be. A place where after being peopled out after a long week (my poor little introverted self can only take so much), I can just relax and be myself and not say a thing, if I want to. And Robert is my introvert buddy, so he understands!

We started out Saturday morning with this lovely breakfast:

GF Chocolate Chip Waffles WITH Chocolate Syrup (Mmmhmm, I did that) and Orange Slices.

 
We spent Saturday catching up on suuuper fuuuun things like dishes, and tidying up the house after the work week. Friday evening we went grocery shopping early because we didn't want to get caught in the crowds of men storming the store for last minute Valentine gifts :P Robert picked out a bouquet of flowers for me while we were there! Lol, we're such an old married couple. IT WAS a surprise! I wasn't in that area when he picked them out, BUT I did know he was going to get some for me before we left the house, cuz I hinted that there would be a better selection to choose from if we went early.  :) I HAVE picked out my own flowers before, but not until recently. It's because I'm an artsy person! I like looking at  all the different flowers and seeing what I'm in the mood for, but this time I wanted him to pick. And chose well, he did.

Are they not lovely? He knew exactly what I wanted before I did.

The spread for the next day.

Pink Moscato Champagne (Birthday present from my mother-in-law), Juniper Berry and Bay Leaf infused Olive Oil (Aldi's), Almond and Hazelnut stuffed Green Olives (Aldi's), Turkish Figs (Aldi's), Herb and Pepper encrusted Salami (Aldi's), Hawaiian BBQ and Himalayan Sea Salt Kettle Brand chips with Avocado oil (Krogers), Chocolove brand chocolate, "Spicing Up Married Life" book by Father Leo Patalinghug, and "The Vow" movie, one of my faves.

Aldi's had a BUNCH of specialty items on sale after Christmas and we stocked up for this!

 Speaking of Father Leo Patalinghug, guess who came to our church? You betcha, the man himself. HE WAS AWESOME! He came for our annual Mission and spoke at our Church for 3 nights and boy were they memorable evenings. If you haven't heard of him before, he is a chef and has a cooking show on EWTN called Savoring the Faith; he is also kind of a celebrity now after beating Bobby Flay on Food Network in a fajita cooking competition about 6 years or so ago.
 BUT THE WAY HE SPEAKS. OH MY GOODNESS. He just ignites you with a blazing fire for your faith And he's hilarious. He has published three books, and we have them all now, including the marriage one pictured above. They have recipes in them :) Including the fajita recipe he beat Bobby Flay with! Before priesthood he used to teach martial arts and self defense, and is pretty awesome at breakdancing. I mean, HOW COOL IS THAT?! Including videos below so you can get to know him:

Of course we got a picture with him! He told us we looked like we got married when we were 12 XD

Selfies with the marriage book!

Heart Strawbs, something I started doing last year. Just cut a V in the top of the whole strawberry before cutting and you'll have cutesie little hearts!

Breakfast on Sunday morning. Almond flour pancakes with strawberries hearts, part of a Pumelo (The ancestor of the grapefruit, and much better I think. Less bitter.), and pork sausage patties.

It's not a Valentine's Day post without at least one picture of us.

Champagne and Roses.

Foccacia Bread! I used the recipe in Cybele Paschal's ' The Baker's Handbook'. I loooove her cookbooks. Here is the link if you are interested in the cookbook. I added the grapes and majoram on top and it was amazing. It was hard to refrain from eating the whole thing between the two of us!

Ze romantic dinner. Complete with candles.

Bubbly in the candlelight.

So we ate our finger food, sipped the bubbly, watched The Vow, gobbled up as much foccacia as we could get away with, and it was such a nice evening, just being home together. We're realizing how precious moments like these are, so for us this Valentine's Day was more about making uninterrupted time for each other (and good food) instead of extravagant gifts. Not that I don't like extravagant gifts *hint hint*. Buuuut time is priceless and we never know how much we have until we lose it.

So cherish the people you love!

How did you guys spend your Valentine's Day??? I hope it was amazing whether you're are in a relationship or not :)

Cheers!

Things I've Been Obsessed With Lately...

I need to post something right now. I feel so behind!! June is pretty much over already and yesterday  I looked at my schedule for the rest of this month and almost passed out. June gets the prize for being the most insanely busy month this year yet! It's ridiculous. I hate being this busy.

If I don't have at least half of a day completely to myself just once a week, I get very agitated. It's not that I don't like people! I do! I just need that time to catch up on things, do something I like doing, reading, or just plain thinking. Now, I know I won't get this kind of time when I have kids, but I also (hopefully) won't be working when children pop into my life, so therefore I'll have more time just being at home. Which I don't get much of these days. That leads to me feeling like I'm behind on everything at home and then I spend all my free time doing house work instead of blogging or crafting :P I've been stressed out a lot this month and having frequent headaches, so blogging has been put on the back burner lately (as I'm sure you've noticed) and I'm not happy about it. So here I am.

I thought I would share things I have been obsessing about recently. Music, movies, books, etc. Am I the only person who has a specific soundtrack for each year?

For example, 2009 included:

-Pretty much the entire "Letters to the President" Hawk Nelson CD
-Just Dance by Lady Gaga (I'm sorry! It was catchy :P I changed the lyrics up a bit to make it better, okay?)
-Disturbia by Rihanna (Also needed some editing)
-Real Life Fairytale by Plumb
-Awake and Alive by Skillet
-Feel So Right by Krystal Meyers
-Barbie Girl by Aqua (Edited)
-Love Story by Taylor Swift
-Only You Can Love Me This Way by Keith Urban

And more, but you get the idea! These songs remind me of that year, so yeah they're my soundtrack :)

First, I'll do the music I've been obsessed with and singing ALL the time:

Pompeii by Bastille. This is my favorite song this year. I love it! I sing it with the accent...uh, yeah you get the picture.

Royals by Lorde. I couldn't believe it when I found out she is 17!!!! GAH! I need to up my game. She makes me feel old and unaccomplished ;)
I also like "Team" by her as well.

Happy - Covered by - Walk Off The Earth (feat. Parachute).

I LOVE WOTE! Every cover they do is better than the original and their own music is just awesome. Check them out! They've done covers of Somebody That I Used To Know, Royals, Say Something, Wrecking Ball, I Knew You Were Trouble,  Somebody Like You, Little Boxes, etc.

Let Her Go - Covered by - Jasmine Thompson. This girl is amazing. I also like her cover of Pompeii!!!


2nd: Movies I've Been Obsessed With

I haven't been watching many movies lately, but I did go see Maleficent in theaters a couple of weeks ago! I really liked it! I liked their take on Maleficent's story and it had a good ending :)

I loved this scene! ADORBS.

3rdly: Books I've Been Reading Lately (I'm not obsessed with any books at the moment)

I've been reading a lot lately. I finally made a trip to the library and have a nice stack of books by my bedside :) Right now I am currently reading "Sorcery and Cecila Or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot". I took your advice, Treskie! I'll let you know what I think of it when I'm finished :)

So I just finished this yesterday:

I liked it. It's taken me a loooong time to even request it, but I finally did it :) I didn't LOVE it though...it definitely has some adult parts in it (at the beginning) and I don't like sex in books, even if it's just mentioned. I like romance, but not that kind in books. (I'm not looking for any arguments here, this is just my opinion. As a Catholic, I try to stay away from that kind of stuff.) So yeah, that was a turn off but the book got better and I loved the characters! I am looking forward to reading the rest of the books :)

This one was pretty good too :) Although I feel the same way about this one, with the adult stuff in it (not much, but enough to make me hurl). I really liked the sisters' relationship in this story, very realistic :D And I liked the Red Riding Hood twist, anything similar to fairy tales is awesome :)

I really liked this one! I loved the plot, it wasn't predictable and it kept me guessing and that is ALWAYS a win with any book. No adult stuff that I can remember, so yes, a very enjoyable read. I even got a little emotional at the end, so definitely a plus! :D

I recently joined GoodReads, so if you are also on there send me a request or just check out my page to see what I'm reading!

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31767526-mary

So that's is what has been going on with me lately....I have a few more posts that I need to finish, so don't worry, you'll hear from me soon :)

P.S. I drove all by myself for the first time last week!!!! It was scary and liberating at the same time. Then I drove to the library and the recycling place the other day and discovered that my library has an adult summer reading program!!!!!! With PRIZES like a Kindle eReader! More incentive for reading this year :) YAY!

Cheers!

Random Things About Me No. 2

HI!

It's time for one of these again.

I find it fun because it makes me think up all the weird things about myself. Some things I do or like you might like also.....or not. And that's okay! I love hearing what other peoples' habits and likes and dislikes are! It really amazes me when I see how much talent each person has, even if they don't see it themselves.

So, here you go.

1. I come from a homeschool family. I was homeschooled all the way up to graduation and I absolutely loved it!

2. I have never planned on going to college. *gasp*

3. I love vanilla ice cream cones covered in colorful sprinkles. And I mean covered. Sprinkles make the world go round :)

4. I'm a movie buff. I quote them a lot. I can also pin-point which actors have been in this or that movie or TV episode. It's kind of annoying for other people. If someone says "Hey! Wasn't so-and-so in that movie?" my usual reply is "Nope". I'm almost always right, too.

5. I'm a book worm. Lately I haven't been reading as much as I used to. Once you have a job and a house to take care of it's hard to get that reading time in. I'm trying to though! My husband and I are planning to read 52 books each this year. Originally I had said 50, but I can't let him two-up me! I'm actually surprised at how far I've gotten. I've read 32 books already! And it's only May O_O Maybe I should change my goal to 100?

6. I wanted to be an Egyptologist when I was little. All thanks to seeing The Mummy movies! It still interests me, but I don't think that would have been the career for me. I like traveling, but not to that extent.

7. I like to channel Krystal Meyer's (Christian music artist) style.

8. I prefer fantasy to reality. I would live in a medieval kind of world with faeries, mermaids, gnomes, etc. if it were at all possible. In a small cottage in the forest. With seven dwarves ;)
Maybe that is why Ireland is so appealing to me :D It's similar to a fairy tale world, and it has definitely had more fairy and mermaid activity then in the United States! According to all the legends, anyway ;)

9. I hope to have a little girl like Elizabeth (Batty) Penderwick in The Penderwicks series. I fell in love with her character. She is so hilarious! I spent most of the first book just laughing and remembering what it was like to be her age.

10. My favorite actress is Keira Knightley. When she's in something good. Like Pirates of the Caribbean, Pride and Prejudice, The Treasure Seekers, and Princess of Thieves! Lately I've been disappointed in the movies she has chosen to appear in.
She got married the day after I did, which I thought was pretty cool! Whether or not her marriage will last is another question entirely :P
Happy Anniversary, Keira! I guess she forgot about it, which I thought was rather funny! Usually that's the guys job :D

Her wedding style was interesting....I did like the little flower garland she wore, and the fact that she had already worn her dress a couple of times before. Who says you only have to wear it once?

Thinking up things about myself was way harder than I thought it was going to be this time. I guess I have to delve deeper. Or shorten my list, hehe :D

I hope you enjoy!

Cheers!

Catching Up and Catching Fire

Hello world!

My blog has been pretty quiet for the past few months, I'm sorry to say. I had every good intention of blogging (at least) monthly, but life caught up with me. There was always something else that needed to be done :P Like dreadful housework! It's never ending. I need to learn how to juggle things better or at least set a time or day to do this and that.

But, here I am now! I'll just fill you in on a few things that happened these past few months....

The Halloween party was a success! I'll try to post pictures soon, even though it's December already! Yikes! Where does time go?
I was able to throw a costume together for myself and Robert. I was very pleased with the result. I mostly used things I already had for both of our costumes. Robert's Phantom costume consisted of his black wedding suit w/ a black dress shirt, a black cloak I had made him several years ago, black gloves, a black tie that I tied to look like a cravat ( I wanted to make one, but ran out of time), his black dress shoes, and a phantom mask I made out of plaster cloth to fit his face. That was a bit of a challenge, but it turned out all right for my first one :)

For my costume I used my white lace cami from Maurices, a medium length, white slip, my white nylon stockings, a lacey sleeveless, V-neck shirt that I found at a garage sale for 25 cents (SCORE!), a 2 yds. length of lacey white material my Dad brought home for me, which I used for the skirt ( I just pinned it where I wanted it) and finally, a dressing gown made from leftover lace from my wedding and my nieces baptism. I made my own pattern out of newspaper for that. I LOVE it!!! It came together so perfectly AND I didn't have to spend much on it!

So yes, pictures. SOON!

Thanksgiving was nice and relaxing. We went to my Mom and Dad's on the day, ate far too much, and watched behind the scenes on "The Hobbit - The Extended Edition". We also played games.
The Saturday after we went to Robert's family's Thanksgiving and did about the same thing except for watching Hobbit stuff :D

We also saw two movies in theaters over the weekend.

Number 1: Frozen

I LOVED it! Lots of singing and I especially liked that it was roughly based off of Hans Christen Anderson's "Snow Queen", which is one of my favorite fairy tales :)

Guess who my favorite character was?






Did you guess yet?






How 'bout now?








If you guessed right, then yes, it was Olaf!

                                                                  He is hilarious!



Number 2: Catching Fire

I liked it and I THINK it stuck to the book pretty well. I read it over a year ago so it's hard to remember.
I loved the costumes! There could have been a bit more coverage on some of Katniss' outfits but that's Hollywood for ya. I didn't really like the wedding dress they picked for her though, it looked really uncomfortable.

         I loved their entrance costumes in both 1 and 2. The hair and make-up were awesome.


So after a fun weekend I'm back to the grind. I'll be working on Christmas presents for the next few weeks and other decorations. I need to finish decorating tonight. This year we are doing a combination of themes: Snow Queen/Polar Bear King/Narnia.

 It shall be epic.


~Mary