Valentine's Day 2012

This year for Valentine's Day we spent the evening at home! Being home, having a nice meal and staying away from the crazy busy restaurants is my fav! The day started off great when I woke up and found a card, some chocolate and a movie from my sweet hubby. He had bought me a plane ticket the week before to go to Dallas to see my parents (which I'm doing this weekend) so I told him that was my V-day present and not to do much. But I was still excited to wake up on Valentine's Day and find a sweet card and sweet treats! He got me the movie 'Friends with Benefits' - which I love. Such a cute movie!

For our Valentine's meal I had: turkey meatballs for an appetizer, mini manicotti, and our annual I.heart.U. pizza, which I usually make every year, and red wine of course.

Then for dessert we had chocolate covered strawberries (my fav) and a slice of our favorite strawberry cake from a local bakery here called Sugaree's Bakery!! Their cakes are to die for!!

After we ate we snuggled up on the couch and watched a movie! Perfect, low key Valentine's - just the way I like it!

Got to hit the sack because I've got lots to do tomorrow to pack and get ready to go to Dallas for the weekend to see my parents! Can't wait!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Weekend & Valentines Double Date

Just got done watching the Grammy's! What a show! Great tribute to Whitney Houston, yay for Adele winning big tonight, and WHAT was that performance by Niki Minaj? I'm not gonna lie - I like some of her songs, but I'm NOT at all into sacrilegious performances like she did tonight!

That said, I had a good weekend! I went to Urban Outfitters Friday after work and made an exchange and tried very hard not to look around and get tempted, but I ended up in the dressing room! I'm so weak! However I did snag an adorable heart pillow from the sale bin. I put it on my black bench under my wedding dress portrait (by the talented Kristin Wolfson Artist out of New Orleans.) I also got a cute little heart dish this week from Target. Gotta have a few Valentine's Day touches around the house!

Saturday night we had double date plans with my good good friend Jamie and her bf. We went to eat dinner at The Butcher Shop then went and had a few drinks! It was a great time! Jamie makes me laugh SO much!! We could be stuck on a deserted island and still have a ball!!! I love her to death!!

Oh and when I went to Urban Outfitters Friday I had to exchange a dress I had purchased a couple weeks before - which is this red one I am wearing. I have it in black too! I just love shoulder cut outs!!

{me and my valentine}

{me & Jamie}

{made a valentine card for Jamie - she loved it! LOL}

Pucker up buttercup!

In case I'm not back before the 14th. . . .

Happy Valentine's Day!

xoxo

L.O.V.E. is in the Air

Valentine's Day is in just a few days!! While some people hate this holiday - I happen to "love" it! It doesn't have to be a big "to do" - but it's just a fun day to celebrate with someone you love.

Growing up my Mom always made sure we had treats and some fun little gifts on Valentine's day! She always did so good and made us feel so special. There were also times as I got older that I wouldn't be dating anyone around Valentine's Day - and while many of my single friends would feel sad and depressed on this day - I never did! I never did because my Mom always made me feel loved. To me - Valentine's Day doesn't have to be a romantic significant other to make you feel special - it can be anyone in your life that loves you and that you love! Not only did my Mom always spread the love on Valentine's Day - but I can remember several years when this day rolled around that my parents would take me and my little brother out to a nice dinner. They could have gotten a sitter and done something together without us kids - but most of the time they always made it a family affair and we would go out for a nice dinner!

While I do love having my husband as my Valentine and enjoying this day with him - I remember the special days growing up and how I never really felt sad on Valentine's day if I didn't have a guy to share it with!

So as Valentine's Day quickly approaches - remember one thing - your Valentine can be anyone in your life that you love and that loves you in return! There are no rules!

Oh and I was looking back at some photos this week and ran across one from Valentine's Day last year and one of my little festive "love" nooks I had decorated in pink and red!

Happy Valentine's Weekend!

Happy Birthday Lil Bro!

Happy 23rd Birthday to my little brother, Casey!!

I'm so proud of him and his amazing talent as a drummer AND that he is traveling around the country with his band Darling Parade, doing what he loves! Today he is in San Diego and I'm hoping he and his band mates get to enjoy some of the beautiful scenery before their big show tonight!

Happy Birthday - make it a great one.

These are the years you will look back on, so make them count and enjoy!!

How do I love thee?

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

I love thee to the level of everyday's

Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.

I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;

I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints,—I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life!—and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.

{Elizabeth Barrett Browning}

A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes

I'm up late, as usual, although I told myself I was going to get in the bed earlier tonight. I don't know what it is, but my mind comes alive at night and I have all kinds of ideas, thoughts, visions & tonight DREAMS! Do you ever have an idea and it continues to get bigger and bigger in your head? Often times I do - but then I do nothing to pursue those ideas, thoughts, visions and dreams.

I want that to change! I can't expect my dreams and passions to come to life if I don't do something about them myself! I also believe that things are not going to happen for us unless it is in God's plan for our lives! With that said - some thoughts, ideas, visions and dreams I had tonight - I gave to God. If it's meant to happen, if it's meant to be, if it's meant to be a success - God will do it and put the resources, people and path my way! I'm not going to worry about it - but will simply BELIEVE!

Sweet "dreams" . . .

{quotes via: http://pinterest.com/search/?q=dreams}

Happy New Year!!

We are getting ready for a small, but fun and festive New Years Eve here at home tonight!

Wishing everyone a safe, happy and prosperous New Year!

Cheers to 2012!!!

Happy Anniversary to US!

Today is our 4th Anniversary! Boy how these 4 years have flown by! I am so incredibly blessed to be married to my best friend who always has my back and who is always looking out for me! I love him so!

I'm looking forward to the nice relaxing night we have planned!

I started the anniversary festivities off this morning and I had a little treat waiting for hubby. I made a heart shaped breakfast casserole and had it waiting for him with a special anniversary note with a little poem I wrote. I wanted to do a little something to start the day off in an "anniversary" mood and there's no better way to a mans heart than food! Plus it didn't cost a dime. You don't have to spend a lot of money to make something sweet and special!

Lastly, here is a short video from our wedding! I watch it every year on our anniversary (and usually more than once!)

Nabors Wedding Video from EllaJude on Vimeo.

BUSY December

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We sure did! It was great spending time with my family, and enjoying all of the wonderful eats and treats!

I have a lot of pictures to post, but am not going to take time to do that today. It's my hubby's birthday!! He is 33! I have to get out and run a few errands before he gets home from work today. My brother is still here and instead of us all going out to dinner tonight, I am going to a do a "favorite things" meal and get some of his favorite foods. Not going to be the healthiest meal - but it will be his favorite things that he doesn't eat that often!

Have a great week and I will be back in a few days! We will be celebrating our 4th anniversary on the 29th! We have a lot going on in December! Christmas, hubby's birthday on the 27th, then our anniversary on the 29th! Whew! Let's just hope we don't have kids in December! lol!!

{Here is one photo of me on Christmas night! You can't really tell, but I was wearing some new, beautiful green earrings! A lot like the ones that Angelina Jolie wore one year to the Oscars! Love them - just hard to tell with me standing against a green tree!}

All I Want For Christmas Is You

Tonight we took some photos at home for our Christmas cards! This year due to The Mr.'s work schedule - we didn't get to have any professional photos taken. But that's okay - I am working on cards now and I think I can do something fun with the photos we took tonight. I will probably end up using a black and white image - but we shall see.

In the meantime, here is one of my favorites! I have been saving this dress that I got from Dillard's for 3 months now. I knew I wanted to wait and wear it around the Holiday's and I think it was perfect tonight for our photos!

Catching up - Thanksgiving

I hate that I'm just now posting about Thanksgiving, but I have been out of town and haven't had much time!

Thanksgiving was great! My parents came in from Dallas, and my brother from Nashville and we were all together - which is what Thanksgiving is all about! We were with my dad's side of the family on Thanksgiving day - which was so much fun as usual! We had a great meal and visit with everyone.

{Us on Thanksgiving day at my uncles house. If you look behind me - there is an old pie safe - which was my great grandmothers! I always love looking at it!}

After we ate and visited at my Uncles house - we went to my grandparents to visit for a while! My grandparents have a dog that they are just crazy about - and a cat! The cat and dog are friendly and I captured the cutest photo of my Grandpa in his chair with his 2 pets! SO cute!!!

I always think half the fun of Thanksgiving is having leftovers to enjoy - so since we were going out of town for the day for Thanksgiving - I decided to fix some things at my house for us to enjoy and eat on for a couple days. I made my first Turkey. I was pretty nervous about it and did the typical mistake of buying the Turkey the day before I was planning to cook it. I googled some tips on thawing it out and once it was all said and done - it was perfect! Not bad for my very FIRST turkey - If I do say so myself! My family loved it too and said it tasted great! Score!!

Another first for me for Thanksgiving was making a Pumpkin Pie! I cook quite a bit but this is one thing I have never made. I guess because my Mom is always the one who makes it and so I have never tried. Since my parents were traveling over the holiday - I took it upon myself to give pumpkin pie a try! And like the turkey - I think it was a success!! Pretty proud of how it turned out! I added some pecans for decoration!

I have some more pictures of Thanksgiving, but these are the main ones I wanted to share. I will share one more though that I just LOVE - my dad was sitting on our couch relaxing and my sweet baby boy, Mr. Big was hanging out with him! Love this!! I had Mr. Big in his cute Thanksgiving scarf too! He has scarves for each season! He's a festive, fashionable little fellow!

Sweets for my sweetie!

Yesterday was a long day! I worked late but did manage to run home and leave a little something "sweet" for my sweetie when he got home from work! Since it was National Chocolate Chip Day yesterday and I didn't have time to bake anything myself, I ran up to the local bakery and got some chocolate chip cookies. Then came home and had it all waiting for my hubby before I went back to work.

It wasn't much, but it's the simple things that make life "sweet!"

Happy weekend to you all!!

The Happy Couple: The Gibbs

2 weekends ago we attended a wedding for friends of ours Collin & Shelly! Collin and M work together and he was one of M's best men in our wedding 3 years ago.

Collin and Shelly are the cutest couple and we are so very happy for them!

The wedding was beautiful, as well as the reception!!

When you entered the reception, the long flower arrangements was AMAZING!!

Hubby & The Groom

Instead of doing favors, the couple did such a cool thing and made a donation to St. Jude! They had lovely table setup for the guests with cards explaining what they had done! It was so cool!

It was such a great night! Congrats to The Gibbs!!!

The Most Amazing Man I Know: My Father

I could sit here all night, tell stories and reasons why my Dad is the most AMAZING Dad on earth, but the truth is, there would never be enough space for me to type or enough time in the world for me to say all I would want to say about my Dad! He has always loved us, worked so hard for his family, always been there, and always put everyone before himself!

I get a lump in my throat just thinking about all he has done for me growing up (and all he put up with too.) Now that I am getting older and thinking about having a family of my own, I realize more and more everyday how hard being a parent is! I know it is not easy, but I also know that while parents say there's nothing in the world like being a parent, I know that there's nothing in the world like being a daughter!

One thing I will share - is that all my life my Dad ALWAYS kissed me and my little brother good night! He always made a point to tell us he loved us and give us a kiss every day! Even today, now that we are all grown up and when we are all together, he still does that! I love that I have that memory! I know that not all Dad's are affectionate or express their love in words, and while it doesn't mean that a father doesn't love his child if he doesn't say it - I can't imagine growing up and not hearing my Dad say " I love you." While to him it was just what he did each day, it was the greatest gift he could have ever given me and my younger brother growing up! I know some people would have loved to have heard those words growing up and I am so grateful I always did!

Happy Father's Day to my hero, my bestfriend, MY DAD!!

I love you.

P.S. Dad, can I have a few bucks??? haha!!

{had to say it for old times sake!!}