upward focused.

It’s been 470 days, 15 hours, 4 minutes, and about 18 seconds since I said those two daunting words that locked me in forever, “I do”. Who knew marriage would be so challenging?! Oh wait- everyone. Everyone always warned us about the difficulties and challenges in marriage and thank goodness they did because at least I knew what I was getting myself into. Arthur and I recently taught the High School group at our church and we asked them to name forms of captivity. One boy blurted out “marriage!” Arthur and I turned and looked at each other and nodded in agreement.  Marriage is like being in handcuffs, tied down, behind bars, in a strait jacket, in Guantanamo bay.  Before ya’ll freak out, I’m basically joking.  Marriage is the best. Going to sleep cuddling with your favorite person in the world is almost as good as waking up with their bed-head, bad-breath, tired self. I would be content spending every Saturday in bed eating pancakes and watching movies together (no, not because of t

SHOUT OUT TO ALL MY FANS!!!!  **NOTE: I wrote this post in September after my mom and Rich left but I've been meaning to add pictures (because what is a blog without cool pics) and I didn't get to it until JUST NOW so it's a tad bit late. Ah there is so much to say and so much has happened but time just flies by and I forget so bear with me :).  I hope you enjoy this update! Although it's very late and very long (sorry I went picture crazy).  Because Okinawa is still beautiful and I'm still in awe every sunset.  It has been a busy, wonderful couple months, hence why I have not written a blog post in a while. Aside from the "routine" of going to work, cooking dinner, and binge-watching Chuck (the show), some exciting things have been happening.  Prepare yourselves people.  1.  Arthur and I celebrated our one year anniversary and if you didn't catch our cheesy love-bird Facebook posts, now you know.  This year has honestly been amazing.  I

I once saw a quote that said “Today is the oldest you've ever been, and the youngest you'll ever be again.”   It’s kind of crazy to think about that.   A little scary too!   Life is moving quickly and I am the youngest I will ever be again. (Physically, maybe not mentally J ).   I’m not saying that getting older is a bad thing, because with age comes even more blessings every day, I just find it interesting to think that I’m another year older and supposedly another year wiser. Each year I get older means that there will be another year full of surprises, challenges, heartache, love, joy, and knowledge.  I think I get excited about that.  The part that makes me sad about getting older each year is that life has really started to move quickly.  I’ve already been married for almost 11 months- which is crazy because I feel like I just started wedding planning. I’ve already graduated college- something else that blows my mind because I feel like I just was studying for tests a

We just went into TCCOR 1 ( T ropical C yclone C onditions o f R eadiness), which means destructive sustained winds of 50 knots or greater are expected within 12 hours... kind of scary,  but more so kind of exciting!  This will be our first typhoon that we are going through and as of now, I'm excited!  We've downloaded movies, have lots of snacks and water ready, and I get to spend time with the hubster... what more could I want?! ....  I wrote that last night. and now it's 7:30AM.  Nothing big happened last night, just kind of windy but nothing crazy.  SOOO Arthur and I both got ready for work this morning and just as I finished getting ready and was walking downstairs to my car, Arthur yelled for me to come back up.  We went into TCCOR 1C (Caution) which means no work for the two of us as of now!  YAY!!!

My hair is a piece of work.  I am thankful for my hair and most times I love it, but it just can be difficult to work with sometimes. I can't even begin to explain how much effort goes into it, buying hair gel, moisturizers, conditioners, detanglers, special combs... the list goes on.  It's always pretty fun to try different hair products. The texture and curl of my hair changes a lot strangely, so I always like to use different products to see how they work.  I have recently been using WonderCurl Hair Gel which you can buy here .  I tried the "Butter than Love Pudding" which seriously smells so good.  (Makes a difference when buying hair products- more apt to put good smelling product in my hair ;)).  This product is more of a cream or moisturizer rather than a gel however, but it does have a light hold to it so you don't need to apply a gel in addition to the cream, and you can use it as a stand-alone product.The company also sent me two sample sizes of "Ge

YOU GUYS.  I found thee tastiest "dessert" recipe EVER.  It is healthy, filling, super sweet, and just plain good.  Plus- it's so easy to make, and only takes a couple ingredients.  Are you ready?!?

Spring is right around the corner... which means putting away the winter coats (for the most part) and bringing out the bright colors, white jeans, cardigans, sunnies, and hopefully dresses and skirts too!  I compiled a list of 30 spring fashion trends that will hopefully bring you some inspiration!   HAPPY SPRING. BRING ON THE SUNSHINE :) ☀

So I originally found a version of this quesadilla here  but I changed it up a bit with what we had available in our pantry.  I don't usually make this for myself just because it's pretty dense but my husband loves it. The great thing is it's super quick and easy to make! AND you can make it for a (semi-unhealthy) breakfast or a mid-day snack or even an after dinner dessert. Ingredients: SunButter (you can use any type of nut butter you like) 1 Banana Honey Cinnamon Chocolate Chips Tortillas Directions: -->I usually make a half size because it's pretty filling but today I decided to make a whole. Smear SunButter over one of the tortillas if making a whole, or half of the tortilla if only making a half size. -->Cut up one banana and scatter it around on the tortilla.   -->I didn't have chocolate chips so I cut up some chocolate I had and sprinkled it all over A close up- because it looks DELICIOUS Finally, heat it up on