Disneyland 2019

Every year we take trips on our birthdays. What last longer... cake or a memory of travel? In my book... it's travel so every year we take a trip on my birthday and my husbands. This year for the second year in a row we packed our bags and headed to Disneyland. 

Presley loved all of the characters. He met Minnie, Mickey, Donald Duck, Chip and Goofy. We also saw so many other characters and in different outfits. He met two different Mickey's, two different Goofy's and two different Minnie's. We saw Winnie the Pooh, Gaston and so many other characters this was the most we had ever seen in one trip. We also rode a ton of rides. Presley in one day rode seven. 

We had a great time and already trying to figure out when to take him back to see all the characters again.

Presley’s First Birthday

Last week Presley turned ONE! 

We didn’t celebrate with a huge, blowout party. We just had a few family members over and friends. We didn’t even do party invites that’s how small we kept it. We did eat cake though!

We opened gifts all day long, we played with our new gifts then we would repeat that cycle. In true fashion, Presley was having so much fun he refused to take his last nap so by the end of the night he had been up for almost 8 hours. I was rewarded with him sleeping the majority of the night and getting up at 6:25 a.m. 

The weather was not cooperating on his birthday so we had to wait till President's Day to take him to the Zoo and boy did he LOVE it! He got to see all kinds of different animals and reptiles, take part in the Giraffe encounter and even saw some real life water hogs from the Lion King. 

I think for a first birthday party we did pretty good! Next year will be completely different because he will be so much more aware. We will have to start planning a great birthday theme and plans!

Happy Birthday Presley

Today Presley turns ONE!

I can’t even begin to wrap my mind around the fact that my tiny, newborn son is now a year old. It feels like just yesterday I was being rushed in for that emergency c-section. I can remember how scared I was when they handed him to me, swollen, red, dark eyes and crying. I didn’t know what to think. All I knew was that I had this tiny, little human to care for and keep safe. I have a confession... before Presley I had never changed a diaper, never fed a baby, never dressed one. I was never a baby sitter. I only had a few cousins growing up and I never watched them. So Presley was it for me. 

Those first few days in the hospital were scary and even scarier when he had to go into the NICU due to his sugar. I don’t think I had ever prayed that hard in my life or even asked people to pray. Thankfully, he was able to get control of his sugar and we were discharged. Due to being in the hospital for so many days my poor mom had to leave the evening that we were discharged and my husband had to go back to work the next day (the joys of owning your own business). That next morning it was just Presley and I and for the next three months we had to find our rhythm. 

I would be lying if I said those days were easy because they weren’t. Presley cried a lot. The doctor even called him colic. I would walk him up and down our long hallway and sing to him and call my mom and cry because I didn’t know what to do. I was getting up every 90 minutes in the night and breastfeeding was/is so hard. But then three months hit and we started to get past the colic. That’s when I think a lot turned around. It was like I had this happy, little baby who wanted to start playing and loved everything I said and did. It’s still that way most of the time but now it’s the teething. You can tell when he doesn’t feel good because of his gums. 

We got pretty lucky with Presley because he’s usually a pretty happy guy. I can’t imagine the world without him and while it’s the most exhausting thing I’ve ever done in my life, I love him with all my heart and wouldn’t change my days with him. 

Happy Birthday My Precious Presley

33 -Age Is Just A Number

Tomorrow I am 33 years old. Where has the last year gone? Scratch that. Where has the last few years gone? Time is flying and it's insane to think that I'm almost to my mid-thirties! I want time to slow down a little and let my brain catch up to this new number.

I thought it would be fun to do a little post where you get to know me better. I've done some posts in the past, but since then I've gathered a lot more people reading. I always love reading posts like these, and sitting here trying to figure out what to share was fun! In honor of my 33rd birthday, I'm sharing 33 things you may not know about me. Not going to lie... it started getting tricky around 18. It's hard to come up with things about yourself! So... let's get started shall we?

33 Things You May Not Know About Me

 

 

1. I use to twirl baton. As in competitive twirling. I also twirled in high school and college.

2. I majored in Criminal Justice and Foreign Language- German in college. That's also what I received my undergraduate degree in.

3. I studied overseas in college in London and Paris.

4. My first job out of college was for NASA's U.S. Space and Rocket Center.

5. My husband and I met at work (not my current job).

6. We had a winter wonderland/Christmas theme wedding.

7. I'm not a fan of sauce. Any kind of sauce actually. The only sauce I'll eat is a light spread of pizza sauce and fettuccini sauce.

8. My favorite movie of all time is Romancing the Stone. I've talked about my deep love for it several times here, here and here.

9. I was born in Huntington, West Virginia. #countryroads

10. Two years ago I collapsed and since then I'm obsessed with making sure I have enough electrolytes. I'm all about some Smart Water.

11. I put up a minimum of seven Christmas trees. This year I'm going for eight. Don't judge me! I love Christmas.

12. Speaking of which... Christmas is my favorite holiday!

13. I had a miscarriage and a nasty nail fungus all in the same year. I talked about them both here and here.

14. My favorite vacation spot in Pigeon Forge/ Gatlinburg, Tennessee. If you told me that we were buying a home there tomorrow and we were going to retire there, I'd say LET'S GO!

15. I have a gift for watching movies over and over and never getting tired of them.

16. This December is two years of marriage and four years of togetherness.

17. The older I've become the more I hate wearing open toed shoes/ sandals.

18. I'm excellent at cooking breakfast. The rest of the meals... not so much. But I can bake!

19. I love to read mystery novels. My favorite author is Stuart Woods.

20. When I was a kid I wanted to either be a dentist or a travel agent.

21. I love eating food off the grill. Give me a hot dog or a grilled steak and I am one happy camper! But without the camping.

22. Which brings me to... I have never been camping. No thank you! Which brings me to another point...

23. I am deathly petrified of snakes. Yuck, just thinking about them to type the name gives me the heebie jeebies.

24. I Skype with my mom almost every weekend.

25. I'm cold about 89.9 percent of the time and have a sweater or jacket with me at all times.

26. Gouda Cheese is my favorite but I wont snub my nose at other cheeses. Yum!

27. I cannot stand the Kardashians. Go AWAY!

28. The O.J. Simpson bronco chase happened on my 10th Birthday. I've talked about it here.

29. I've travelled quite a bit but I'd love to go to Italy, Greece and Australia still!

30. My favorite board game is Clue.

31. I have a collection of miniature alcohol bottles.

32. I love eating Spam!

33. I love freshly vacuumed carpet.

Birthday Wish List

This year I'm turning the big 33. While I'm not too excited about the age, I am excited to celebrate my birthday! I always have my mom and boo asking for ideas of things they can get me for my birthday so here's a few things that I would love to call mine.

1. Toms.

I have a pair of canvas shoes that I recently pulled back out and I realized how much I love wearing those kinds of shoes. I recently saw a pair of Toms that would go with a lot of things that I wear and would be great for summer! Their in the color Ash.

2. Village Pieces.

On my recent trip to Tennessee, I was able to get several pieces for great prices. I want to keep adding to it and since all the pieces are so cute, it's hard not to! I got a great Marilyn who stands outside a theater, now I just need the theater! I love this Victory Theater! I also want the Griswold House because I have several pieces from the National Lampoon Series. I would also like to get Boss Shirley's house because I feel it's not as popular and they will discontinue it quickly.

3. Beauty & The Beast Mystery Mini.

I had no memory of ever seeing the original Beauty and the Beast animated movie. I think as a kid, I was just way more into 80s movies so I hardly remember watching any of the "classic" Disney movies. When the new movie came out, we went to see it and I really liked it! Funko came out with these Mystery Mini's of all the characters. Unfortunately, you don't know which one you are getting until you open the box and they made several of them available only at certain stores. I have got the entire set except one... Cogsworth the clock! I keep these little figures on my dresser and look at them every morning when I get up so I'd like to finish my set!

4. Books and Movies.

 

I love reading and I love movies. I'm still trying to get these movies (I've wanted them for quite some time) and I love books! I've been reading a lot this year! I need several of my favorite author- Stuart Woods.

Of course, I would just be happy to spend time with my boo and my mom! I wish we could spend my birthday together but this year Skype will have to do!

Happy Birthday Elvis

Yesterday would have been Elvis' 82nd Birthday!

Elvis loved celebrating his birthday and to honor him and his legacy, Graceland honor's throws him a little party featuring a spectacular cake! Each year crowds gather for the annual Birthday cake cutting. Usually the event features either Lisa Marie or Priscilla cutting the cake and saying a few special words about Elvis. They also have events featuring people who knew Elvis, working with him on music or movies and much more. This year the cake had a blue theme featuring musical notes.

Photo from @carolineloveselvis

I have never been fortunate enough to go to Memphis for the Birthday celebration weekends but I have been able to go to Graceland and an Elvis Week. Each year once the birthday celebration takes place, I instantly try to see the fabulous cake! Each year is a different color and theme. I love seeing these outrageous, Elvis inspired cakes. Take a look at just a few of the previous years...

Aren't they just amazing? I already can't wait to see what they bring out in 2018! Have you ever been to the Elvis Birthday celebration? How about an Elvis Week event? Either way all of these events are about celebrating the music, life and legend of Elvis Presley.

Happy Birthday Elvis!

Seattle Sunsets

For my husbands birthday we headed to Seattle to celebrate! We have been wanting to go to Seattle for forever and we finally made it happen. We had a great time and loved it. We can't wait to go back! The weather was amazing the three days we were there. The first night we have maybe five minutes of sprinkling rain and then it was dry the rest of the trip. We were also blessed with an amazing sunset the first night.

 

Our hotel was right by the Pike Place Market so we had an amazing spot to just stand there and stare at the horizon. It felt very surreal to finally be in Seattle. I grew up loving and still do love the movie Sleepless In Seattle. So to actually be walking around the Market where some of the movie was filmed and to be in the city was so cool.

We explored the city until are feet were aching. Thank goodness for Uber and Lyft! We also discovered the monorail which was cheap, clean and took us from point a to point b. We hit the majority of the major tourist attractions since this was our first trip. We saw the Gum Wall, went to Pike Market, ate at The Metropolitan Grill, visited the Space Needle, saw Escala, visited the Columbia Center Sky View, got coffee from the first Starbucks and toured the Chihuly Art Glass Museum. And of course I'm going to share all of our travels on here.

When I'm not writing up my reviews of all the amazing stuff we saw and did in Seattle, I'll be planning my next visit to Washington. Next time we want to fly into Seattle and then drive further north and visit other areas of the state. Have you ever been to the Pacific Northwest? If so what's some of your favorite places in Washington?

Happy Birthday Boo!

Today is my husbands 34th Birthday! Today we are celebrating his birthday together and beginning his 34th year while having fun. I love you boo and I can't wait to celebrate all of your birthdays together!

 I love you!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mother's Birthday!

I hate that we can't spend the day together but thank goodness for technology. I love you and can't wait to see you! Happy Birthday!