Proud to be an American

Happy 4th of July y'all! I'm so thankful for this country, the land of the free, and grateful to call myself an American! This is a majorly fun holiday consisting of family time, yummy food, summer weather, swimming, grilling, humming patriotic tunes, my Mom's yogurt jello, my nephews crying when they have to get out of the pool, watching fireworks, and making jokes about tater tots! I love my family to bits, Independence day, is a great time to relax all together! 

here's some pictures from our fun day!

"He makes me melt like a popsicle on the fourth of July" ~'Little Rascals'

I am really loving photo collages lately! This one I made on my phone with the Photo Grid app for android 

 The gang!:  Bro, Dad, Mama, Hubby, Mother, Father

lots of love

The one and only good picture of the beautiful fireworks

I'm so thankful to God for the founding of this nation, the land of the free, and also want to say a big "Thank You!" to the brave men and women of the armed forces who continue to keep us free. 

I hope everyone had a great holiday, a safe holiday, fun times with your friends and family! Take care y'all! 

love, Cait

Photo Collages!

Hey, 

Just wanted to share some cute photo collages I have done recently using PicMonkey. It's fun and free, easy to use, so check it out for your photos if you like!

I have enjoyed using this site on occasion. There are cute layouts and lots of free filters and editing options. It's like scrapbook but with out the mess ;) 

Fun birthday date nights :)

*click 'em to see the larger version

Kirby is 1!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIRBY!!!!

Kirby was adopted to our home when he was eight weeks old. Ever since June of 2013 he has blessed us with his cuteness, his sweetness, and his playfulness! He loves to talk to us with his meows and he purrs when we wake up in the morning. He has given us lots of laughs and he is a great addition to our little family!

We love you Kirby!

Oopps! It's a.... BOY

So my sis goes in for another ultrasound to see how our future niece is doing and the doctor says, looks like it's a boy! Say Wha??? Apparently this little boy has a few tricks up his sleeves and he is mighty funny! We had a party and everything for this little 'girl' but at least we got some cake! haha! The whole family, though shocked at the sudden change, is super excited to welcome baby boy number three! They will be the 3 Musketeers and this will be a funny story to tell him as he grows!

We love you so much already little boy!!! 

We can't wait to meet our newest nephew, coming in August!!

Gutiar

I'm practicing guitar again!! Beau is trying to re-learn on the other hand (because he's cray-cray like that) so I thought this would be the perfect time to review and start over my learning with him! It's so great to do things together and we had a wonderful night last night playing together! 

E-Chord

 G-Chord

C-Chord 

D-Chord 

First Family Photo!

I came across this photo out of place on my computer today and I thought this would make the perfect throwback Thursday (since it is Thursday) The only issue is I can't instagram it without cropping out one of my beloved family members so I just decided this blog post is my instagram for today! lol!

Happy #tbt Y'all 

A Get Away With My Love

Here are some pictures of our sweet weekend at Pismo Beach CA

our beach access hotel and one of the rooms behind us with the ocean view was ours for the weekend! my man did such a great job picking the hotel!!!

lovey dovey

The Pier

Morrow Bay

beach handstands

jumping on the bed! I love the 'burst' mode on my new camera! 

eating calzones at Del's

arabesque 

sunset

sweet

kisses

girly girl

handsome guy

hey crane, you look like a Charles!

This weekend was a perfect amount of rest and relaxation! We got to recharge our minds, our bodies, and our marriage by spending some quality time at Pismo Beach. It was so nice to have each other's undivided attention and spend our time one on one for a whole weekend! The sights were beautiful, the sun was warm, the water was cold, and the sound of the ocean each night was soothing! 

Some Highlights: 

Adventures:
Our EPIC walk:  we worked our legs hard core on Saturday when we walked from the hotel along the beach all the way to the pier, out onto the pier, back up into the downtown area, ate at Splash cafe for lunch, and then walked all the way back to the hotel! 

Morrow Bay: Giant Rock!!! So great to see and walk around this beautiful state park!

Wine tasting: we got to learn a little more about wine at Tolosa winery in San Luis Obispo. We did a customized tasting in their tasting room of their signature white wines. 

Beach Time: our hotel was perfectly positioned above the beach with great access down to it, each day we walked down there and enjoyed the sand, sights, and surf. The weather was fantastic and I loved the feel of the beach at sunset! Added bonus was the sound of the crashing waves each night that sent us straight to zzzzz's land ;)

Food: Calzones ant Del's pizza,Fresh clam chowder at Splash, salad and sandwiches at Paneras, burritos at Chipotle, and cinnamon rolls at Old West Cinnamon Rolls.

Items: we bought salt water taffies, 2 bottles of wine, new shorts for the Mr. new sandals for the Mrs. and a sweet little outfit for our future Niece :) We collected 1 intact sand dollar, 1 very cool gray and black square rock and 3 sea shells. 

It's a....

Adorable gender cake reveal!

Little KiKi went straight for the frosting ;)

Girl!!!

Grandma Hilda did the happy dance and grandma Kerry felt relief because she had already started shopping for baby girl gifts!!!! hahahaha!

 This cake was delicious too! Ice Cream Cake comprised of strawberry ice cream with chocolate cake! 

This picture has little to nothing to do with baby girl (except maybe that it's a pink flower that reminds me i'm going to have a niece in August! omaigosh!!)

This lovely flower is a camellia and the petite tree is blooming in our front yard! These bloom before spring really hits and I love them because it signals the hope that spring will be coming soon.

happy spring everyone!

Dying of (Auntie)cipation!

This post is simply a mess of my joy, excitement, and 'auntieness' as I gush over the exciting news that I very discretely announced in one of my family Christmas posts, my beautiful sister Allison, is having another baby!!!

This is Baby 3 for her and also the third grandchild in the family! She already has two boys so a third boy would be great, haha! ...everyone's hoping for a girl! A healthy baby 3 is all we really ask for though of course :)  and having another one of these boys would be AWESOME!

Anyways... She had an ultrasound recently and now they want the family all together ... I'm guessing to announce the gender!!! on Thursday!!! oh mai gosh!!! hehe...happy auntie here! 

I love the adorable ideas I've seen (friends use and ones from pinterest) to announce gender lately! 

The gender cake -cake inside is either pink or blue food dyed
balloon release - mom and dad open a box of helium filled blue or pink balloons
Balloon picture - mom and dad each try to blow up a balloon and the one that actually blows up is either pink or blue
silly string fights in either blue or pink silly sting from unmarked cans
paint colors/paint war - mom and dad wear white and fill bottles with either blue or pink paint

The best thing is that we celebrate every aspect of growing our families! From announcing pregnancy at Christmas, to gender reveals, baby showers, giving gifts, and supporting on baby's birthday and everyday there after. Being an Aunt has been a great blessing and these babies, my nephews and this future little one, amaze me! God's handiwork is all around us and within us! 

Psalm 19:1 The heavens tell of the glory of God. The skies display his marvelous craftsmanship.

*bonus thought for me and Beau: Our future babes will have the cutest, silliest, and sweetest cousins! Yay!

Beau's Birthday!!

Yesterday was my man's birthday!!! WooT! 

We had a small get together to celebrate him by having our parents over! This is the first birthday of his that we've been married and this was the very first time we've had our parents over and cooked for them. I was feeling the pressure but once our guests came we had a great time, they enjoyed the food we made and we all had fun celebrating Beau!!! 

Here's some of the pictures, recipes, and activities of the night: 

Father and son...and grandson (Kirby) haha!

They are happy he was born :)

My birthday man!!


Beer Cheese Appetizer:

in a small sauce pan I heated up a 12 oz bottle of blue moon beer (use a beer you like because the taste will come through!)
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
I whisked theses together and kept it heating up on low while I turned my attention to grating the cheese. We have a really handy 'salad shooter' we got as a wedding present and it makes grating cheese so simple. Anyways I used approximately four cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Slowly add the cheese along with 2 tablespoons cornstarch. Whisk it up until it's smooth and creamy. 
Slice up your favorite bread for dipping ...we used sour dough but french bread or a multi-grain baguette would work well also. I also I sliced up a granny smith apple I liked that with the cheese dip as well. I finally got to use the beautiful serving dish from my friend Heather! 

Our mac n' cheese: 
This is a recipe we have been perfecting since about two months into our marriage! Haha! Mac n' cheese is beau's favorite dish and we have made many variations from this main recipe. Bring water to a boil in a medium pot. Boil two cups of noodles (macaroni, large elbows, small shells, endless other noodles work here too...) follow package directions for cooking length. Meanwhile grate 3 cups of preferred cheese, we like sharp cheddar the best but we have tried many others. In a small mixing bowl add 6 oz. evaporated milk, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon ground mustard, salt, and pepper. Whisk together. (I love to add in more spices like red pepper flakes, chili powder, onion powder, oregano, and garlic powder are some of our favorites.) Beau has taught me that it is so fun to cook with spices! He has helped me get out of the recipe box and try making my own dishes and renditions. Once the noodles are done strain and discard water. Melt a half a stick of butter in the pot  (we continue to use the same pot that we used with the noodles) add the noodles back to the pot and add the milk/egg mixture. turn on the stove top t low heat and stat to slowly melt in the three cups of cheese. Once it's all melted and the mixture is creamy and smooth it's ready!!!

We also had a spinach salad, with optional mix-ins of blueberries, blackberries, and slivered almonds and a homemade olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette.  

And the main dish was our mini corn dogs in the fondue pot.This is a testimate to my parents first months of marriage when they lived in a temporary apartment in Florida while my dad finished a training before being stationed in Hawaii. (but something went wrong with either the heat of the oil or the batter mix because it kept falling off of our hot dogs.) we enjoyed them anyways and also just heated the dogs up in the oil. 

All his birthday cards were great! Janay and Steven's unicorn card is hilarious, the chef from my mom and dad is adorable, the one from Beau's parents is beautiful, and my homemade one.

so much birthday love! 

Here's a picture of our spread: We have a small table for four so I put two of our TV stands together and covered them with a table cloth :) 

After dinner and presents we played UNO!!!

uno is such a fun game with a big group and we like to add in some fun rules to keep it interesting. Our favorite optional rule is to allow jump ins. This means that if someone plays a card and you have the exact same card in your hand you are permitted to play out of turn and the play continues from you so players get skipped. It's exciting and fast paced. 

Mom and Daughter Workout

Hey everyone! I wanted to share a workout my mom and I did last night :) I loved the feel of it because it was nice to chit chat with my momma and the workout was gentle on our bodies. Great for a day that you're already spent after work (this was the case for us) or a Saturday after a week filled with tough workouts that made your body sore.

Here's what we did:

We started with light stretching:
neck roll and look from side to side
shoulders roll forward and back
arms across body and over head
soft lunge to stretch the calves gently
forward bend and down dog (for me the yogi wannabe)
and seated glute stretch on the floor or balance ball.

Next we walked on the treadmill for about ten minutes .65 miles for me, speed was 2.8 at the highest (short legs) walking peppy but not fast. 

I like to use my back warmer during cardio workouts for the extra warmth in winter and the extra sweat. It's probably weird but I love to sweat! Just had to share lol! 
My mom wears a turtle neck for extra warmth during winter workouts, if you don't like the extra sweat factor but you want some warmth or you don't have a back warmer.
The reason I added this tid bit is because it is very important to be warm during stretching and workouts to prevent injuries like pulled or strained muscles. And it's a good idea to always wear a sweater when you leave the gym to walk outside to prevent the shock f cooling off to fast. (i do this even in the summer because if there's a breeze at it it will cool me off too fast, all that sweat and all haha!)

Then we kicked it up a notch on the elliptical (my personal fav)
I started with a resistance level 5, three minutes forward and three minutes backward 
then I dropped the level of resistance down to 4 and jogged until I reached 1 mile (according to the machine)

We finished with more stretching:
soft lunge for calves
toes on the wall and lean forward for a more in depth calf stretch
seated forward bend for hamstrings and low back
side lying quad stretch
butterfly stretch for inner thighs
I always like to finish with a gentle roll up for good measure

Here's how I roll up:
 feet parallel, knees bent, curved spine like you're slumped over, engaged abdominals and roll up one vertebrae at a time until you're standing upright, roll the shoulders back and stand straight, muscles engaged while you inhale and exhale to finish a job well done!

My Ballet teacher always reminded her students to be gentle with our bodies because they are our instruments. My husband has a few guitars and he keeps them in pristine condition, cleaning them and handling them gently and with caution. Good imagery right? 

Anyways, I sometimes over work out and this causes too much soreness. This soreness makes me want to just lay around and heal for a few days but it seems like this method only makes the soreness last longer. It also causes me to lose flexibility. So I'm working on being more gentle, doing strenuous work out on non-consecutive days and in between those days doing some moving like this work out along with stretching to keep up my flexibility and heal my soreness faster. 

I'll add some pic soon :) just for fun, but enjoy the workout and modify to fit your needs!

Our First Christmas Time in Our First Home

Our first st of Christmas Decorations! 

 Our Patio:

Multi-colored Christmas lights :)

 Our Christmas Tree

no ornaments near the bottom because of Kirby ;)

Merry Christmas love, The Mr. and Mrs.

 Merry Christmas love, Kirby!

Here's our tag along who comes to our front door.. we call her Little Girl.

Merry Christmas love, Little Girl

Happy Thanksgiving 2013

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's a few photos of our first thanksgiving 2013! 

I'm so proud of my husband for making us a beautiful bird to eat and for being 'all in' on our first thanksgiving dinner together! I loved shopping with him, cooking with him and the feeling of our relationship coming full circle. You see on November 25, 2009 we spent our very first Thanksgiving together with each of our families and that night at midnight November 26th, 2009 he asked if we could make it official, I said yes, then he asked if he could kiss me for the very first time and I said yes of course! Four years ago this was all taking place and now we are married and I couldn't (and don't want to) imagine my life without this man! 

Le Turkey

us figuring out ways to set the camera so we are both in the shot lol!

 All golden brown rubbed with butter and spices!

Smells so yummy!

 Kirby is ready to grub!!!

"come on mom, lets eat!" 

-Kirby

Thanks for enjoying the pics of our first Thanksgiving in our sweet little home! We hope you had a great Thanksgiving too and wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Enjoy this season and stay warm!!