oops....

i am a bad blogger!!  i have completely failed all those who have been following my blog... which is probably only my wonderful mother ;o)  i can't promise that i will get much better, but i can promise that i will {try}. 

so.... what have i been up to these last three months?

we went to oregon in june to hang out with moondooggie's family!!  we spent the entire week at his families house on the oregon coast.  it was a great weekend, and so nice to spend some quality time with his sister!!  in july, his brother and sister came to spend time with us in the middle of the hot-as-heck arizona summer.  in august, we put an offer on a house.  the appraisal went through perfectly, the inspection was awesome, now we just wait to close!!  the house is less than a mile from my parents house, and less than 5 miles from where we both work.  it's a little bit older home, but the location is PERFECT!!! we are crossing our fingers that everything goes through and hopefully we could be in a new home by the end of summer!!  here is a little sneak peak...

what have you been up to the last three months??

my first 30 years

yesterday was my half birthday... i am officially 30 1/2!!  i had not started this blog when i turned 30 - so i thought today would be a fun day to share this!! ha ha -- where did the time go {and how come i can't get my next thirty years by tim mcgraw out of my head?!?!}  I know this sounds a little cheesy, but i've spent a lot of time reflecting on these last thirty years, probably since this is the first time that I actually feel like an adult.   i think i will keep these fun thoughts for another post -- but i really did have something i wanted to share with you!!  at least once a month {if not more often} i am told that i look like I am anywhere from 15-21 years old.  apparently thats a fabulous thing - but it can be a little discouraging when you're thirty, own a home, work full time, and people treat you like a teenager. i guess i have been blessed with a very youthful appearance  ;o) 

it did make me wonder, do i really look any different than i did at 15?  so... i found a picture for every age!!  personally, i think i look a lot different than i did at 15.   what do you think?

wise words

"A woman knows that the power of her femininity is very important." 

Oscar de la Renta

{via}

anthro love

am i the only person with a ridiculous obsession to anything anthropolgie?  i love almost everything about it... their clothes, their bedding **sigh**, their jewelry, the fact that i fit into smaller sizes of their clothes than any other store ;o)  what i don't love is their prices.  it breaks the bank everytime i make a purchase.  so i decided to go web shopping today, and this is what i came up with!! 

what do you think? what would you buy?

b day

today is a big day for my family...
{1} it is my dad's birthday --  i feel like i need to make a really long pause hear and give this the credit it deserves, because my dad is the most fabulous father.  never in my life have i questioned how much he loves me, in fact most of the time i am blown away by it.  my dad is one of the most amazing people to be around, and he really has such compassion for everyone!! thank you dad, for making me the girl i am today!! you are one of my most constant supports in life



{2} it is my mother in-laws birthday --  my mother in law is an amazing woman and has opened her arms, heart and home to me.  i hear these nightmare stories of girls dealing with their mother-in-laws.  not me... she is fabulous!!  i hit the jackpot in this area!!



{3} both of my in-laws are coming into town today -  yipee! we are so excited to spend the whole weekend with them.  we just wish we had more time.



{4} my dad and my husband are getting baptized today!!  PRIASE GOD!!! both my dad and my moondoggies have grown so much in their faith in the last year.  my dad always thought he was baptized when he was younger, but when he went back home to where he grew up, he went to the church and checked the records and realized he wasn't.  so after 30 years of going to the same church he is getting baptized, and he wanted it to be on his birthday!! how cool is that?  when he told moondoggie that is what he was doing, moondoggie jumped all over it.  he has been ready to make this public affirmation of his faith for a while, and was thrilled that his parents would be in town to witness it. we have several friends and family members who have taken time off of work today to come and celebrate this incredible time in both of their lives.  we are so blessed to have such an amazing community of believers surround us!!

this post was sponsored by the letter b ;o)

coolest guy ever

i just got this email from my sister-in-law, and i have to admit that this guy is really just as cool as she claims him to be.  pandora is going to be taking a break on my computer, while i check out these fabulous mixes.  for your listening pleasure:

Check this website out http://www.patestapes.com

So, this guy started making mixed tapes in the 70s (he worked in the music business). He started posting his mixed tapes online. You can go to the website, pick a category and pick one of his awesome mixed tapes. They are really, really good.

I became a fan of his on facebook and he personally wrote me a message, thanking me and such, and then I wrote him back and told him how much we enjoyed his tapes during the work day (my office mate loves to play them). He told me in his message that he's only uploaded about 10% of his tapes! It's so cool.

So, when you're hanging out at your computer and want some tunes, go listen to him.

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top 10 chick flicks

i was checking out an old blog post on la belle vie for valentines day 2010 that had her top 10 favorite chick flicks!! i enjoyed it so much that i had to create my own list. boy of boy, this was not an easy task! i am a sucker for chick flicks, and my list of favorites is quite long. narrowing it down to 10 was not easy. these are in no particular order, a list of my top 10 favorite chick flicks. enjoy!!

1. you've got mail - it doesn't get much better than having tom hanks and meg ryan together in a movie. their chemistry is so cute in this film, and the fact that they can't stand each other in real life but are in love with each other over the internet is fun to watch. not to mention, almost any love story in nyc will have me sucked in within a matter of minutes.

2. beaches - this is one of my favorite "go-to" movies when i am feeling really emotional and just need to have a little cry-fest. it's a beautiful movie of friendship and loyalty (not to mention there are a ton of bette midler songs - and lets not lie, ms. midler is fabulous!!)

3. love actually - love actually IS all around!! disclaimer: i am not at all in support of people falling in love with their friends wives. actually, i am quite against it. but the picture below from this movie was one of my favorite parts. what girls doesn't dream of a guy saying "to me, you are perfect"

4. grease - no explanation needed. absolutely classic!!

5. dirty dancing - "Nobody puts Baby in a corner". the dancing... the songs... patrick swayze **sigh**

6. gidget - it comes as no surprise that this movie makes the list ;o) this movie has been one of my all time favorites for as long as i can remember. and is probably in fact the reason that i am so intrigued with surfing and living on (or near) the beach sometime in my life. coincidence that the man i married looks a little like moondoggie... i think not =)

7. the wedding date - i'm not sure what it is about this movie that i love. the fact that she is so desperate to impress her ex (because be honest, we have all been there at one point in time or another), or maybe its just dermot mulroney ;o)

8. the notebook - this is by far one of the sweetest love stories ever. it's every girls dream to be pursued with such passion, and to be absolutely captivated by THE ONE.

9. serendipity - leave it all up to fate. it's a movie of will they or won't they find each other. AND... it takes place in nyc. **sigh** nyc=romance♥

10. gone with the wind - anyone who knows me, knows that this is by far my most favorite movie ever. it is the most incredible movie of an independent woman who goes out and gets what she wants. and... clark gable is just a little dreamy (i don't care if he's been dead for 50 years and was old enough to be my great grandfather).

honorable mention: steel magnolias and letters to juliet

whats in your top 10?

a great weekend

i had such a fun weekend spending lots of time with two people that i absolutely adore - my moondoggie (aka - my hubby) and my niece!!

my moondoggie is in a grad program so he spends a lot of time studying and doing homework. i'm so thankful that he is doing the program now, when we don't have any little ones running around. and i am so proud of him for all the hard work he does!! but... all in all we don't get to spend that much time together.

my niece, is really not my niece, but she may as well be. her mother, is my cousin and practically my sister. we were born within two days of each other and the first 20 years of our lives we lived less than 2 miles away from each other. since i'm an only child, she is my sister and her daughter means the absolute world to me. i'm not lying when i say i am crazy about my niece. she makes my world so much happier.

this weekend was her 2nd birthday. saturday morning we went to her birthday party at a park by her house, and then that evening we got to spend more time together. we had some great moments together, she read to me, and i got to put her down for the evening. my niece is not much of a cuddler, so those rare moments when i can hold her for more than a minute really pull at my maternal heart strings.

the next day my moondoggie and i took her to the aquarium... and we had a blast!! she was in such a good mood, and we had so much fun with her. here are a few fun pictures of our weekend together!!