Friday, March 31, 2017

March 31st, 2017

My amazingly talented boyfriend finished the bathroom job he's been working on all week today! And boy, does it look beautiful! Michael constantly amazes and impresses me on a daily basis with all his hard work. I know to some of you these might not be the most "interesting" photos of the day, but to me there's nothing else I'd rather show today! Mike does such fantastic work and it deserves recognition—especially when it's this amazing. :)

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Thursday, March 30, 2017

March 30th, 2017

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Another lazy day with these two cuties. :)

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

March 29th, 2017

After the dogs were all fed and tended to, Michael and I decided to go out for dinner and a movie. We went to one of our favorite spots: BD's Mongolian Grill. As usual, the food was scrumptious! Afterwards, we headed to a theater near Doc's house to see Life. Wow, what a movie. It was super intense and honestly had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I walked out of there feeling all anxious and worked up. 😬 It was a great movie though! Jake Gyllenhaal completely crushed his role. But that's no surprise—he is amazing after all! ;)

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Tuesday, March 28, 2017

March 28th, 2017

Tonight we finally went to the Green Day concert! I bought tickets for Michael for his birthday back in January, and he's been eagerly looking forward to today since then! Green Day is one of Mike's all-time favorite bands, so he was practically bouncing with joy as we drove to the State Farm Center. The seats I bought turned out to be perfect—we had front row of our section, so no one was in front of us and we had plenty of leg room. We were in the 200's instead of the 100's, which actually was better because we were more elevated and had an eye-level view of the stage! The concert itself was phenomenal. I'm not as big of a Green Day fan as Mike (I'm an "oldschool Green Day fan", meaning that I primarily only know their old albums...whereas Mike knows like all of their music 😉), but the concert was still awesome for me as well! I bought both of us t-shirts and also got Mike a hat. He had such a great time and I was so thankful. Definitely a great birthday gift. :)

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Monday, March 27, 2017

March 27th, 2017

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These have got to be the laziest dogs I've ever met!!

Sunday, March 26, 2017

March 26th, 2017

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These two had a lot of fun running around and playing with us today! They are very lively dogs. :)

Saturday, March 25, 2017

March 25th, 2017

And so begins our week of dog-sitting! Today I headed over to my boss's place to say goodbye as they left on their vacation to California. It was early, so after they headed out I curled up on the couch to take a nap. The dogs, Scarlett and Stanley, adorably snuggled up beside me. I took that as a sign that we would all get along nicely and have a pleasant week together. :)

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Mike got off work in the afternoon and headed over to Doc's place as well. The dogs were excited to see another face and showered him with sloppy kisses. :) We spent most of the day exploring the gigantic house and playing with our new furry companions. At dinnertime, we prepared the pups' feast of a meal. They get one whole rotisserie chicken a day, plus a cup of dog food. Thankfully, Doc had already pulled apart several chickens for us in advance, so we didn't have to get our hands all yucky. We poured all the food into a pan, warmed it up, then let the dogs chow down. Honestly, the preparations for dinner were a little much, but it wasn't that bad. Other than their meals, the dogs are super laidback, low maintenance, and easy to take care of.

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When it came time for bed, the dogs followed us upstairs and slept in the guest bedroom with us. It was so cute, and definitely made us feel like they were growing fond of us. :) 

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This week is going to be a breeze, I'd say. I'm definitely going to enjoy my time with the dogs, and I'm definitely going to take advantage of all the perks in the house—like the theater room in the basement or the sauna shower. :D   

Friday, March 24, 2017

March 24th, 2017

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Here's my cutie running DC's table at the Menard's contractors event! :)

Thursday, March 23, 2017

March 23rd, 2017



I Appreciate You, My Love

The kindness within your heart touches me so much
Your acts of compassion warm my heart

People don't understand how special and kind you are
And some may even take advantage of your charity

But I appreciate everything that you do for me
You should never forget how special you are

If I could I would give you all that your heart wants and needs
And I would ask for nothing in return

For your happiness is my reward

Always stay true to who you are
For you are truly a wonderful man

You are pieces of perfect all fit together
Just like the tiles you so neatly put in

I love you darling, always and forever

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

March 22nd, 2017



Lately I have been up to my elbows in all sorts of things—work, school, keeping the house clean, planning events, writing, and so on! I don't know how I keep up with me, let alone anyone else. But whenever I get these seemingly simple, work-in-progress photos from Mike it seriously just makes my day. It warms my heart and fills me with pride and thankfulness. So I just wanted to take some time out of my schedule and write this humble little message to express my deep, sincere thanks and appreciation for all that a special someone in my life has done for me. ❤️

My Michael, thank you:

1. For choosing me. Spending my life by your side as your partner has been the greatest blessing of my existence.

2. For putting up with me. I know I’m far from perfect. But thank you for loving me anyway.

4. For your endless patience every day. You put up with all my endless morning/evening routines. You don't take it personally when I go into "work/homework" mode and practically become unresponsive. You don't get annoyed when I go on a cleaning spree and whirl around the house doing fifty things at once. You don't mind tagging along when I decide we need to go out and get that thing we needed right there and then.

5. For working so hard for us. For going out there and doing your best despite all the frustrations and obstacles. I really really really appreciate that—beyond any words I can express. These photos you send remind me how hard you're working and what talent you have. You don't just "go to work" because you have to—you do it for us. And I will never be able to thank you enough for that.

6. For teaching me so many things about life. You’ve opened my eyes to this great world we live in, shown me different perspectives. This life we have is so valuable and I’m a better person because you're in mine.

7. For your constant encouragement and belief in me. Listening to all my rants or complaints after work and keeping me on my toes on all that I need to get done. I’m not sure I could have made it this far in life if it wasn’t for your daily encouragement.

8. For keeping your cool when I lose mine. You know I need that.

9. For being so darn handsome! :)

I could go on and on forever...but I'll stop here for now. I really and truly appreciate and love you for all of this and more. I love you always, baby! ❤️

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

March 21st, 2017

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This is what my wonderful boyfriend does when he finds out I got all A's on my midterms. :) Michael is such a huge sweetheart! I am constantly finding myself feeling so grateful for all the adorably thoughtful things he does for me! ❤

Monday, March 20, 2017

March 20th, 2017

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Spinach, deep dish pizza. Mmm...

Sunday, March 19, 2017

March 19th, 2017

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In about a week, Michael and I will be dog-sitting for Patty and Scott (the doctor I work for). Today we headed over to their house to go over the care instructions and say hi to the dogs. While I've already met Scarlett and Stanley a few times, they wanted to make sure the dogs knew me well enough before they just up and left. The dogs, as usual, were overly excited to see us. Scott and Patty, as expected, had a whole list of instructions. Scarlett and Stanley are basically like their children, so those two dogs are super spoiled. I got food instructions (which are practically gourmet meals) as well as anything else you could possibly think of. Patty was very specific and thorough with her list. Scott showed us how to use their home theater downstairs (and seriously, it's like a mini theater!) so the two of us are definitely looking forward to getting to utilize that while we're there. The two of them wanted Mike and I to actually stay over at their house while they're away, not just come over to feed and let the dogs out. They have a huge house, so it'll definitely be nice to live a little more luxuriously for a week! Having dogs around us again 24/7 will also be very nice. I'm definitely missing having my two babies around, especially at bedtime. :( I'll be sure to write about our adventures in dog-sitting next week, so look forward to those posts!

Saturday, March 18, 2017

March 18th, 2017

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!! 🍀

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Do I look Irish yet? ;)

Friday, March 17, 2017

March 17th, 2017

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We finally got around to watching Tangled Before Ever After tonight!! I will admit that even despite my gushing excitement I was rather skeptical. However, the show was just so lovely. The art style was completely different than the movie, but still it was just so fitting. It had the feel of a drawing and the colors were just absolutely gorgeous! So vibrant and brilliant! The characters were voiced by all the original cast which I was so thrilled about. Flynn was his usual, charming self and Rapunzel was as bubbly and beautiful as ever! The new characters like Cassandra were also enjoyable! I'm looking forward to seeing more of them when the show starts next week. And the hair is back!! And it's as beautiful as it always was. :) The songs were super adorable and all the animal sidekicks were just as hilarious as before. Overall, I adored every bit of it. I'm so happy that Tangled is getting more and that we get to watch more adventures of Flynn and Rapunzel. I am one very happy girl!

Thursday, March 16, 2017

March 16th, 2017

Tonight we saw Beauty and the Beast!!!!! It was SO GOOD!

The cast was brilliant. Emma Watson (Belle) was phenomenal. Disagree with me if you want, but I was very impressed with her singing—seeing as she had no musical background beforehand. She honestly was the perfect choice for Belle. Dan Stevens (Beast) had arguably the best new song in the movie: "Evermore". It was so good. Luke Evans, whom I knew from The Hobbit trilogy, was fantastic as Gaston! He actually made me somewhat like the awful character that he was cast as! Josh Gad played his sidekick (LeFou) and boy was he a favorite of mine. Seriously, his casting was spot on. LeFou's character was hilarious, lovable, and much more dynamic than the original. His rendition of "Gaston" was outstanding. I cannot gush enough about Mr. Gad. Ian McKellen (Cogsworth) was delightful. Emma Thompson (Mrs. Potts) was a lovely. And Ewan McGregir (Lumiere) was just perfect.

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Seriously, everything about this movie was to die for. The music was heavenly. "Belle" was just as catchy as always. I've already gushed about the brilliance of Josh Gad's "Gaston". "Beauty and the Beast" was full of so much emotion! "Evermore" is certainly my new favorite song from the film. And "Something More" was equally as delighting as the rest.

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This movie captured the wonder and magic of the original, but while also adding new elements and fixing bits and pieces that didn't make sense before. (For example, things like the curse, beast's parents, and Belle's mother.)

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You all need to go out today and see this film. Really, you must. It is so wonderful and I recommend it to anyone!!!   

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

March 15th, 2017

Happy March 15th! I hope everyone's Ides of March went better than Caesar's. ;)

Ha ha ha... Ahem.

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So, as some of you may or may not know, I am a total nightowl. However, this is a trait I have gained unintentionally. I suffer from minor insomnia. I say minor because that's all I consider it, though Michael assures me that it's full-blown insomnia. I say it's debatable. What this means is that I have a very hard time falling asleep. And, when I finally do fall asleep, I have a very hard time staying asleep. I typically do not pass out until after 2AM. I typically wake up in the middle of the night about two or three times. In the morning I have a very hard time getting up for the day because, shockingly, I haven't gotten much sleep! While this is annoying and sometimes downright awful, it is something I've learned to live with and it hardly bothers me much anymore. My body needs less sleep than most to function off of, so I guess there's that too. ;P

I have tried just about everything you can think of to try and help me fall asleep. TV on. TV off. Less pillows. More pillows. Warm milk. Heated blankets. Sleeping aid pills from Walgreens. Reading before bed. Exercising/doing strenuous activity to wear myself out before bed. Listening to music. Laying in complete silence. Laying on my back, side, stomach, upside down, etc. Nothing works. 😅

My cousin Jon's girlfriend Jess was over the other day at my parent's house and she started talking about this tea she drinks to help her relax and fall asleep. It's called Sleepytime Celestial Seasonings. Mike was instantly intrigued (on my behalf) and asked her for more details. Impressively enough, Jess used to take like 2-3 prescription sleeping pills every night to help her sleep. Since she started drinking this tea she no longer needs to and she falls asleep quicker. Michael instantly ordered a box and told me I had to give it a try when it came. Well, today it came!

I just started drinking my glass now and I am very interested to see how it all goes. I myself am very skeptical, though Mike is very optimistic. We're in the middle of watching a movie now so I'm not sure how well the tea will work. You're supposed to drink it and then go and lay down. The tea is supposed to deeply relax you—not just make you pass right out. So since I'm sitting and am engaged with the TV, I'm not sure how that'll change things. We shall see! 

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

March 14th, 2017

I realized today that I never posted any final photos of our home! So I went around the place today and snapped a whole bunch for you guys to see. :) I apologize in advance for the lousy lighting in some of the photos—it was already sunset when I finally got around to doing this.

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Here's the lovely couch from my parents! It looks so perfect in our living room! It matches the wall colors and "earthy feel" to the room so well!

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This is our living room! We bought the entertainment center for the TV after we fell in love with it at IKEA. It holds all of our electronics wonderfully!

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Here's my beloved bookcase (full of all my beautiful books!) and our cute little Disney display case! :)

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This is the dinner table, which is next to the kitchen of course.

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This is our adorable little kitchen. Nothing fancy, but perfect for us!   

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Pascal watches over the kitchen for us. ;)   

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Here's the bathroom! We absolutely adore how the wall color came out and how well everything matches it!

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Our bedroom. :) I love the color of the comforter we picked out—it contrasts against the pretty deep blue of the walls so nicely!   

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And lastly our door—which I am enjoying decorating per the season. :)   

Monday, March 13, 2017

March 13th, 2017

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I love stopping back at my family's house & seeing my furry babies. I seriously miss them so much. :'(

Sunday, March 12, 2017

March 12th, 2017

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You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs
I look around me and I see it isn't so

Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs
And what's wrong with that?