January 3rd, 2023

 Disney Vacation: Day 9 (Islands Of Adventure)

January 3rd, 2022

Happy 7th Relationship Anniversary to us!!

January 3rd, 2021*

Happy 6th Relationship Anniversary to us!!

Janaury 3rd, 2020

Happy 5th Relationship Anniversary to us!!

text

January 5th, 2019

With a full day to continue celebrating our anniversary, we went back to George’s (the place he asked me to be his girlfriend all those years ago!) for our special breakfast.

Afterward we did a fun escape room! We escaped from "Shanghaied" with 24:40 to spare! Our best time yet!! ⛵️⚓️

And then, later into the evening, we met up with my family to do yet ANOTHER escape room! 😄  We took on "The Victorian Room", which is an awesome generation one escape room that not only has puzzles/locks but also has an unique murder mystery aspect! 🔪🕵🏼‍♀️ You not only have to find all the keys to unlock clues, you then have to figure out which of the twelve suspects was the killer! While we found all the clues in a flash and narrowed it down to two people, we ended up picking the wrong person. 😫 What a fun time it was though!! Such an interesting twist on the usual style!

I am so thankful for my amazing husband and all the fantastic memories we’ve made so far! I love you so much my darling! Here’s to fifty more. 😉♥️☀️🐊

January 3rd, 2019

Happy 4th Relationship Anniversary to us!!



Today officially marks four years around the sun with the most wonderful man on this planet! 🥰♥️ Even though we’re married now and have a "new anniversary", January 3rd will always and forever be a very treasured day for us. After all, one-three-fifteen officially marks day one of us! 😚 We spent a lovely night together on the third getting an amazing dinner at Rosebud—the food was simply phenomenal!

January 3rd, 2018

Happy 3rd Relationship Anniversary to us!!

Happy 3rd Anniversary, my love! 😍 What a beautiful journey it has been so far—I can’t wait to see all the wonderful things life has in store for us in the years to come!! 😘

As of today, Michael Donelson and Jordan Gembara represent: 4.5 years of friendship 👫; 3 years of love ❤️; 2 months of espousal 💍; and minus 10 months of marriage. 😉💒

Today we started off our anniversary as we have for the past two years: with lunch at George's. :) I love that little diner so much! Aside from the fact that it's the place Michael asked me to be his girlfriend ;), it has delicious food and a super friendly staff. I changed it up and actually had lunch food for a change, instead of my usual breakfast platter, lol. After we were full, we headed to the iPic theater in Bolingbrook to watch a movie in luxury!

We saw Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle, and wow did I love it! I expected the movie to be funny, but it completely exceeded my expectations. It was laugh-out-loud funny the whole way through, plus it actually had a great plot! I loved the casting choices—Jack Black was probably my favorite of the bunch. I especially loved all the little tie-ins to the old movie! We also ordered some yummy dessert while we watched—I had cheesecake and Mike had ice cream. :)

After the movie Mike drove us straight over to Jared's, much to my surprise. He insisted that he wanted to buy me a charm or two to add to my new Pandora bracelet! He is such a sweetheart, that man. He never stops spoiling me! I ended up picking the Princess Jasmine Dress charm and the Princess Rapunzel themed bead.

We stopped home after that (but not before getting a cute picture at the gazebo at our complex!), thinking the festivities were through for the evening. However, shortly after walking into the door Mike suggested we head to the mall. I wasn't ready to stay in for the night yet, so I happily agreed.

We went to the Fox Valley Mall, where Mike immediately took us to the carousel. We ended up being the only two people on! No one got into line, so the lady let us ride extra long. It was so wonderful. :)

We didn't end up buying anything from the mall, just enjoyed browsing around together and enjoying one another's company. As always, I loved looking in the Disney store. :) We also ended up getting a really cute picture together by the huge Christmas tree up in the center of the mall (they hadn't taken it down yet).

After we finally got home (for good this time!), we ate a little something before getting ready to workout. That's right! We did P-90x on our anniversary. Talk about a #FitCouple. ;) It was Plyo, which totally kicked my butt, but it was a good workout overall! Really loving getting to workout alongside my sweetheart every day—it really motivates me to keep at it and try harder every time! :)



We ended the evening snuggled up together under some blankets watching a movie. Overall, it was such a lovely day. I am so blessed to have spent three wonderful years with this amazing man. It's crazy to think that we have a second anniversary to celebrate this year, too! On November 18th it will be the first anniversary of our engagement! :) Some people may not celebrate or even acknowledge that date, especially after they've gotten married, but Mike and I are different. We love and cherish every special moment in our lives! Every milestone of ourselves should be celebrated. I look forward to celebrating any and all anniversaries Michael and I have in the years to come! :)

January 3rd, 2017

Happy 2nd Relationship Anniversary to us!!

"May you never steal, lie, or cheat. But if you must steal, then steal away my sorrows. And if you must lie, lie with me all the nights of my life. And if you must cheat, then please cheat death...because I couldn't live a day on this Earth without you." 💗

Two years have passed since that day we sat across from each other at that very restaurant and you asked me one question that forever since made my life all the more better. I loved you then, I love you now, and I will love you always. I never knew I was living in a black and white world until you came and brought color to my life. ☀️ Happy 2nd Anniversary honey pie! ❤☝

After our traditional breakfast at our favorite restaurant (George's in Lockport), we headed downtown for a day full of activities! First we headed over to Maggie Daley Park to go skating on the ribbon. I've never been skating downtown, so I was very excited. Michael had never skated on the ribbon before, so it would be both of our first times. We brought our own skates so we got to skip the long line, which was nice. When we got out onto the ice it honestly was the coolest thing I've ever done. To have one long continuous skating path was totally unique! Even stranger was the constant change in elevation. Usually, you're on a flat surface. But here you'd sometimes pick up speed as you went downhill or have to skate harder if you were going uphill. It was super different and definitely awesome. It was drizzling when we got there, which we didn't mind. It made the ice less crowded too! Eventually we got a little chilly, so we headed off the ribbon. It was so much fun and I definitely want to go back again!

After skating, we of course had to go visit the Bean in Millennium Park. How can you go downtown and not do that? ;) We got some cute photos and had a nice time just hanging out in the area and enjoying the scenery. It was a very foggy day today, so there was a very pretty mist hanging around the tops of the buildings. Thankfully it hardly rained, only sprinkled a little bit here and there when we first arrived. After that, it didn't rain again all evening!

     

     

We took a nice walk along the Magnificent Mile and did some shopping. Of course we hit up the Disney store (my favorite!). There was a cute little Pua (the pig from Moana) stuffed animal sitting on one of the shelves and Mike insisted he get it for me. Turns out it must've been fate, because that was the last one they had! We checked out several other stores and overall had a lovely time browsing around and enjoying one another's company. :)

After shopping was through, we dropped our stuff off at the car before heading over to the Museum of Contemporary Art. Neither of us had ever been there before, which is especially surprising because Mike loves contemporary art! The museum was super cool and very unique. I loved all the projections onto the walls. Some were still images while others played video clips. My favorite piece out of them all was definitely the two large moons in the hallway. One was gold and one was blue. And they were enormous! Not to mention absolutely breathtaking.

Once we had checked out every inch of the museum, we headed back out to the Magnificent Mile to do some more shopping. We decided to escape the chilly air for a little while and ended up spending a lot of time in the Watertower Place mall.

It was getting later and closer to dinnertime, so we started to head in the direction of the restaurant we'd be eating at. I assumed all the shopping was done for the day, since we had browsed just about every store it felt like, but Michael wasn't done yet. He decided to make things all the more amazing by buying this GORGEOUS rosegold, mother-of-pearl, plumeria necklace from this stored called Na Hoku. This adorable little Hawaiian shop is 100% authentic; each piece of jewelry is handcrafted with resources found from the islands. I'm so in love with everything about it! From the authenticity, to the meaning behind the plumeria, to the pure Hawaiian roots. Thank you SO much for this beautiful gift baby! It was so unexpected, so perfect, and I love it so much. 💕

I wore my beautiful new necklace to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Man, do they make some of the best food! I got a yummy shrimp and pasta dish along with Oreo cheesecake. I was definitely stuffed when we walked out. :) Everything was just so perfect. From the flowers he surprised me with this morning, to breakfast at our favorite spot, to skating on the ribbon at Maggie Daley Park, to shopping along the Magnificent Mile, to visiting the Museum of Contemporary Art, to spoiling me with new jewelry, to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory...it was seriously a wonderful day.

Happy 2nd Anniversary sweetheart! I love you so very much!! 😍🌺✨

January 3rd, 2016

Happy 1st Relationship Anniversary to us!!

"In you I've found the love of my life and my closest, truest friend." 1.3.2015 ❤️☝



I can't believe it was a year ago today we were sitting across one another at that table in George's for breakfast. We were talking about New Years resolutions, and then suddenly you had asked me a question I hadn't expected (though I'll admit it was one I had been waiting for). I said "yes!" and then it was history from there. Thank you for all that you are. I love you Michael Richard! 😘💍

This morning we got breakfast at the place it all began: George's. Then we went bowling, where I kicked Mike's butt.

Later we went and saw an Ice Hogs game. It was my first time ever going to one, so I was super excited! Overall it was a wonderful, amazing day. ❤



Happy 1st Anniversary to us!! And to many, many more. ❤

January 2nd, 2016

The two of us are celebrating our anniversary this weekend! Today was my day to make plans for us. :) We saw a movie (Daddy's Home) in luxury at the iPic, and then later we relived one of our very first dates while ice skating at Rocket Ice.

January 1st, 2016

Happy New Year!! 🎊

As usual, Mike couldn't wait to open his gifts...and I couldn't wait to give them! I gave my darling a PS4 for our first anniversary. It's safe to say he was completely ecstatic.