Valentines Day

B whisked me away to Fredericksburg this past weekend as a Valentine's Day treat. It was GLORIOUS.

We stayed in a beautiful cottage.

It had it own living room, bathroom and bedroom - different from your "typical" bed and breakfast - as it was our little cottage all to ourselves.

 

It was a romantic getaway which consisted of relaxing, hiking up Enchanted Rock - going to a few wineries, walking the main street and just being together.

 

I loved it.

 

The view from the top of the Rock was amazing:

 

 

What a wonderful weekend with my wonderful husband.

Green Juice/ Green Smoothies

This past weekend B and I used some of our William Sonoma gift cards for a new Vita-mix.  I have a love obsession with this tool. (Don't call it a blender otherwise I will tell you all of the things that it does!)

So- I have wanted a Vitamix for over 2 years. If you google them - you will know why I never bought one before now - the price. This kitchen tool is EASILY the most expensive one item I have in my kitchen (and I have a Kitchen-Aid and All Clad pots and pans- of which I adore and think they were 1000000% worth their prices!)

So for 2 years B had to endure watching QVC Vitamix shows (so much so that he actually put a parental lock on anything "Vitamix" on our cable box), he saw me always go to them at Williams Sonoma, and he saw me pet them in Costco/Sams.  So yes- I have been wanting one badly.

We were in the Hill Country this weekend for a Valentine's Day getaway - which was amazing, and wonderful to just get away from it all (post up next!) and we went to the outlets on our way home. As we were leaving the Williams Sonoma outlet - B saw a Vitamix box - and I went into absolute panic- "did that lady get the last one" "where is that" "where did she find it" AHHHH- and B found them.

So now on my kitchen counter I am the proud owner of a Vitamix.

 

We bought it yesterday and so far I have made 3 things - tomato basil soup, salsa and a green juice this morning. I will get my "cost per use down quickly!!"

 

So now I need help- does anyone have green juice recipes, soup recipes or anything to make with this? I want to incorporate more veggies and fruits into my diet!

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day

I have to say - finding a Valentines Day card that says Husband is SO MUCH easier than boyfriend, fiancé or any other name.

B came home from work yesterday with roses and I know he has a few surprises this weekend.



May you each have a wonderful Valentine's day - full of love and laughter and being with those you love - friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, family, husbands, wives - however you get your love, may you be with them.

Cuba part 2

For a few days we just stayed at the resort enjoying the beach. I think my grandfather wasn't sure about truly going to visit where he came from, so we relaxed and enjoyed the most beautiful beach. I would say it is right up there with Thailand and Greece. (And so much closer to home, if only we could visit more often!)


So here are a few pictures from the days just hanging out at the resort.

B, Me, Abuelo and my Brother 

B, Me and my cousin CR 

Family dinner - for my birthday - I turned 31 in Cuba!

 

 My brother and I

 

 

As an American visiting family in Cuba for the very first time - we didn't really know what to look for - we just wanted to make sure if it all sucked - at least we enjoyed the beach.

 

Little did we know - we truly LOVED everything.

 

What isn't to love about seeing your family's homes for the first time, or the churches they built (yes a Cathedral and a Church!) and all of the stories that go with it - or cousins that my grandfather hadn't seen in 50 years? It was amazing.

There are so many more stories and pictures to come



Cuba - getting there

On December 19, B and I flew to Miami and stayed on South Beach. We enjoyed a great night on the town and got to have our last night just the two of us for a LONG time. While I love family vacations - it is very different to be 31 and living on your own, married and having your own life to be thrown into an 8 day vacation of TOGETHERNESS with 9 people. We had a lot of fun!

So a day in South Beach, enjoying cocktails and great seafood was wonderful.

We met up with the other 7 people in our family on the 20th around 4pm at Miami International airport. Our flight was supposed to leave at 8pm - it did not leave until almost 12AM. Apparently this is very "typical" for the charter flights to Cuba. Never in my life have I been on a plane where everyone clapped when it took off and clapped when it landed.

Here is the plane....not exactly what we thought we would be taking - no wonder everyone clapped! 

My mom and dad after landing in Camaguey

We were through customs and onto our bus at around 1:30AM.

My grandfather, dad, husband and the bus driver. I am sure my grandfather is telling one of his MANY stories! 

At about 3AM, our bus driver needed to stop to get coffee

Here is the place we stopped for coffee - until we saw they had Havana Club rum. Then the party started. 

The whole family with our Rum! (and Cuban coke). We were all dead asleep until we got to this stop at 3AM and then we were awake for the next 2.5 hours to our hotel. The party started and we didn't sleep until the following night. We couldn't believe we were actually in CUBA actually seeing and being in the place we never thought we would be! 

We got the hotel in time to see the sunrise:

Sunrise in Puerto Padre, Cuba. 

The sand was so soft and so white.

We played a game called heads up and truly just couldn't believe we were here. In my grandfather's home town! 

It was a magical start to a true TRIP OF A LIFETIME. 

I cannot believe in 2013 I had 2 trips of a lifetime and I married my best friend. It was truly a year for the books! 

Next up - visiting my grandparents homes, cities, where they were married and the family we met along the way.

What happened to January?

2014 seems to be flying by so incredibly quickly!

January went by so fast!

So here is a quick run down of the first month of the year- and then I will work backwards for updates on all of our trips!

We spent new years in Dallas with my in-laws. After traveling so much during Christmas it was lovely to have a few days relaxing by the fire, playing games, eating pizza and just enjoying time with family. I feel so incredibly fortunate that I have in laws that I love being around. I know this isn't always the case - but truly, they have been such a blessing! We got to see all of B's grand parents (both of his father's parents are still with us and his mother's dad is still with us as well. He lost his mother's mother while in college.) His grandmother was very ill over new years and had to go to the hospital with Pneumonia- thank goodness she is doing SO MUCH better!  We also got to visit with his great grandmother (his mother's grandmother). As always she was lovely and so fun. I still remember when we told her we were engaged and she said "honey I'm not sure you want to join this family we are all crazy, I should know, I am the oldest!" 

The weekend of the 25th we went back to Dallas  to celebrate my little brother's 28th birthday. I cannot believe he is 28! We spent it at: Medieval Times

It was fun and ridiculous - and obviously the 2nd time around we had enjoyed quite a few beverages! (The first picture I think I was about 11 and he was about 8....now we are 31 and 28)  After that we went out- as the Medieval Times was really more of a joke - although 25 people showed up and it was a lot of fun - thank goodness they sat all the obnoxious adults in one area to not ruin the fun for the children.

Lastly - we went to a Super Bowl party last night - and the party was great. The game was boring.

Hopefully I will be so much better this month!