Hi everyone!
I know it’s been a while! Unfortunately, my computer is broken! (I’m typing this up on the tumblr app on my phone)
I’m heading to the Genius Bar later this afternoon to hopefully get it fixed and then I will be back in action!
I’ve got some really great posts coming your way! I have had lots of great ideas and have been getting all my research together to write up the pieces. Be on the lookout for:
Clean eating grocery list
What’s in my kitchen/healthy food products I can’t live without!
Healthy options from fast food restaurants when you’re in a bind
Healthy alternatives to your favorite junk foods
Living with someone who doesn’t share your same healthy goals
Quinoa encrusted chicken tenders recipe
I can’t wait to write everything up and share what I’ve been working on with you!
And that’s okay. Sometimes things are hard. Sometimes things aren’t perfect. And that’s okay.
Marriage, however wonderful, is a big adjustment. I’ve found one of the hardest parts has been keeping up with a social life. Getting married at only 21 years old has put me in a weird and complicated stage of life. A stage where other people my age aren’t married, and other married people aren’t my age (and probably have a few kids). I have a few friends from high school who are now married or engaged, but life has them in different areas, geographically speaking.
All of our friends have been great throughout this time in our newlywedded lives. We still treasure all our friendships and keep up with them as best as we can. I love having my girlfriends over on nights when Kurtis is working late. And he loves going and having guys nights with his friends, but we have trouble including each other in those things. And we’ve found we have our relationship separate from our friendships and don’t have many friends together. Which seems so odd! But while our friends are going to concerts and clubs and staying up until 3 in the morning, we’re working full time, paying rent, grocery shopping, and trying to go to bed at a reasonable time. It’s so odd and I wish I could explain it better. It’s almost like being in limbo. Everything about my life screams adult, but everything inside of me still feels so…little. Is it weird to feel I don’t have much in common with people my own age, but I also don’t have much in common with other married people given that they are much older? It’s weird the way life can twist and turn. (I hate when people say we’re an “old married couple now.” Just because we got married doesn’t mean we magically aged 20 years! We’re only 5 months older than we were before!)
Sometimes I wonder how my life can seem so ‘adult’ on paper and still feel so unreal to me. I have many of the responsibilities of a typical 30 year old and sometimes I have to remind myself that I’m 21. And maybe I should be having more fun. I can get so wound up in making sure the rent is paid on time and figuring out what I’m making for dinner that I can forget to schedule time to hang out with friends or relax with my husband.
But now, as he’s snoring beside me I wouldn’t have it any other way. He is my best friend, and if he’s my only friend for the rest of my life I would still be perfectly happy. Luckily, that isn’t the case, but it’s comforting to know that however fleeting life may be, he will always be here, snoring right next to me. We’re still figuring this whole “marriage” thing out, but we’re slowly finding balance between being responsible and finding time to enjoy our youth. But we’ll get there, and one day this will all be normal, and we’ll be pros at this thing called marriage. …right?
I know it’s been forever since I’ve posted. I’ve been really busy! Sometimes I feel like maintaining a home is like a second job. When I get home from work there’s always something to do. Whether it’s dinner to cook, dishes to wash, laundry to do, etc. And then you know, I need my laying around time as well 😉
I wanted to write a review on something I’ve been passionate about for about a year now. I’ve mentioned it in my posts before, it’s a nutrition plan and workout schedule called Tone it Up!
I discovered Tone It Up a little over a year ago. It’s an amazing organization by two girls who are real life best friends and personal trainers (Karena and Katrina). To get started with the program is free. Just sign up on their website! They post a weekly workout schedule on their websites with both printable and video workouts also for FREE. Their actual nutrition plan is a little bit pricey. It’s $150 but they do have a payment plan option. I did Tone It Up for a few months without purchasing the Nutrition Plan. They post so many free recipes on their website I didn’t feel the need to! The jist of the nutrition plan is pretty simple. Do 20-30 min of cardio first thing in the morning to get your blood pumping. Then do a toning routine (which they post in the weekly schedule) in the evening! Their workouts are amazing! For food it’s pretty simple, eat clean. There are many other rules and regulations to it that I won’t spoil (you’ll have to buy the plan!), such as, they suggest you eat all your fruit and carbs in the morning, and keep it lean and green after lunch! You eat 5 meals a day on this plan so you are NOT hungry! I love it!
After I got engaged I purchased the actual Nutrition Plan and loved it! The recipes are out of this world and it really breaks down the types of things you should be eating and when. I learned so much about food and nutrition by studying this plan! Money well spent. Tone It Up helped me get in great shape for my wedding.
After the wedding I went a little nuts. I had been SO good in the 6 months leading up to it, that I wanted to let loose a little bit with my diet and exercise. Which was a bad call. Now I’m back where I started before the wedding and I am not happy about that. Luckily, I decided I wanted to get back in shape just in time for the 2014 Bikini Series! Tone it Up does lots of different series throughout the year, but the Bikini Series is their most popular. It goes from the end of April until the first day of Summer (June 21st). It’s 8 weeks of following the plan and their weekly workout schedule to help you get in the best shape for summer. I’m loving it so far. There are all these challenges, amazing workouts, and fun new recipes! To join the bikini series is FREE and it’s not too late! There’s still 6 weeks left!
One of the huge perks about the Bikini Series is the community. They encourage you to set up a separate Instagram or Twitter account to “check-in” with your trainers and the other girls involved in this years Bikini Series. You post pictures of all your food and workouts to hold each other accountable! It’s great! I’ve received support and encouragement from so many wonderful women on the same journey as me! I’ve even connected with some other girls on the TIU plan that live in the denver area. To see what I’m talking about you can check out my TIU account (@tiu_katiebrown) or just look under the hashtag #bikiniseries. You will see some awesome recipes and workouts! Here are some of the things I’ve been up to
M1, M2, M3, M4, etc stands for Meal 1, 2, 3 etc.
X2 means I did that workout two times through
I use the app Beautiful Mess to edit my photos! It’s awesome!
The pancake from my M1 is Tone it Up approved! Yes, you can have pancakes! These are both dairy-less and flour-less, super healthy and good for you! (and yes, they actually taste good!) You can find the recipe here: http://toneitup.com/2011/06/protein-pancakes-tone-it-up/
I have a protein shake for my M2 almost everyday. They’re amazing! (Turkey bacon is also TIU approved, which I LOVE)
They encourage you to do what they call a “Meal Prep Sunday” when you get all your food ready for the week! I even got Kurtis in on it and prepped baggies filled with healthy snacks for him to take to work. His bags have Cliff Bars, Slim Jims, 100 calorie packets of almonds, some have dried apricots, wasabi peas, or dairy-free, gluten free oatmeal cookies (Trader Joes).
Air popped popcorn is one of my favorite snacks! Popcorn is actually really good for you when it’s not drowned in oil and butter! Some of my favorites are Boom Chicka Pop (sea salted or kettle corn) which you can find at Sprouts, or Herbs and Spice popcorn and olive oil popcorn, found at Trader Joes.
For Cinco De Mayo they released a healthy taco recipe called bikini bite tacos, and a healthy margarita recipe called beach babe margaritas. I made both! (I added fresh watermelon juice from out juicer to the margaritas and they were extra delicious)
Kurtis and I started making our own fresh juices to use in our protein smoothies and fell in love. He especially loves watermelon juice and I love fresh squeezed orange juice!
All of these pictures are from my Instagram @tiu_katiebrown.
If you are interested in anything I posted above it can ALL be found at http://toneitup.com/ ! You can also follow them on Insta @karenakatrina and @toneitup. Check them out I promise you won’t regret it! You will feel amazing and still be able to enjoy food. Remember, it’s free to join and the bikini series is still going on! Oh, and did I mention there are prizes? There are winners each week getting goodies from checking in! And the grand prize winners win a trip to anywhere in the world with their girlfriends! Just for joining! Check it out, you won’t regret it.
Things tend to get pretty hectic around here. I don’t know how this happened but I did 4 loads of laundry last Wednesday and have still not folded and put it away. Today I’m gonna do a few more loads and then put ALL of it away. There’s a pile of dishes in my kitchen sink, I REALLY need to sweep, mop, and vacuum the whole house, and I haven’t been grocery shopping in almost a week. I’m ashamed to admit it’s not because I was working extra hours, or hitting the gym super hard…it’s because I have been watching The Vampire Diaries.
Yes, you read correctly. Kurtis and I stayed at my parents house a few weeks ago to watch my brother and sister while my parents were out of town. My sister had just started watching Season 1 of The Vampire Diaries on Netflix. So, we watched it with her. And we got HOOKED. For the past few weeks it’s all we’ve been doing. When we both get home from work we sit down and watch it for hours. A few days ago I made us get up and go for a walk around the neighborhood just to take a break from staring at the TV. It got out of control. But I am happy to say we finished all 4 seasons that Netflix offers (in record time) and will be resuming our normal lives. I have today off and I have some serious work to do around the house.
Dance Exploration
I started a new job! I’ve been working as a dance teacher for a company called Dance Exploration and I love it so far! They don’t have an actual studio. Instead, the company offers dance classes to places like summer camps, after school programs, and day cares. Right now I’m teaching Pre-Ballet to 3-7 year olds every Thursday at the Rock-A-My-Baby care center, and Broadway Dance to an Elementary School after school program for the next 3 Fridays. It’s been so much fun! I love that I am dancing again and am getting to share it with kids!
Echo
This month for Echo was my favorite yet. For anyone who doesn’t know what Echo is, it’s an outreach done by my church on the last Friday of every month. There’s awesome music by a band called Felling Giants, a message, and a food bar afterwards! I usually organize the food bars and have so much fun doing it! In the past we’ve done things like a Mac and Cheese Bar, a Biscuit Bar, Nacho Bar, Hot Dog Bar, etc. Last night I organized a French Fry Bar and it was the best. For the first time everything got completely cleaned out! I was so glad everyone enjoyed it!
Everyone started with a plate of french fries and then got to put whatever they wanted on top of it! We had chilli and shredded cheese for chilli cheese fries, queso and bacon bits for bacon cheese fries, plain ketchup or ranch if you wanted to be boring, and everyone’s favorite…carne asad fries. Carne asada fries were inspired by some Mexican restaurant that serves them that a family at our church really likes. We bough 12lbs of delicious carne asada, grilled it up, and offered toppings like cheese, sour cream, guacamole, and salsa. They rocked.
This is the plate I took home for Kurtis. (There’s fries under there somewhere) Mine very boring in comparison since I can’t have anything with dairy!
Tone it Up!
I’ve been seriously slacking in my health and fitness aspect of life lately. But, my best friend Jessi and I just signed up for the Tone It Up 2014 Bikini Series to whip our butts into shape before Summer. I’m actually kind of excited about it! We’ll also both be going back on the Tone It Up Nutrition Plan. I spent so much money on it, I need to start using it again. Tone It Up is a super cool health and fitness organization for women. I discovered it about a year ago and love it! Check them out at:
Last week, Kurtis and I went with his family to Breckenridge for three days. It was really fun! We stayed at the same resort we went to for our honeymoon (his family has a timeshare there) and relaxed and had a great time.
On our first night, we went and walked around town and got dinner at the crepe stand which is my favorite. Afterwards, we went down to the hottub and had a few drinks and just hung out and relaxed! It was so great to take a few days off of work and just hang out with my husband and his family.
The next morning everyone but me went skiing/snowboarding (I’m not a huge fan since all the bad luck we had when we went skiing on our honeymoon!). That night we all went out to dinner at Bubba Gumps to celebrate the anniversary of the adoption of his two younger brothers.
Rosie and I went to this cute shop after dinner called Cheese and Chocolate and had these french macaroons!
The next day we ALL went skiing. I decided to give it another try and I’m glad I did! This time was SO much better. It was warm, which helped a lot. My feet weren’t killing me (something was seriously wrong with my boots last time), I didn’t break my pole in half, and I didn’t fall down. (Yes, last time I broke a pole. Luckily we paid for the rental insurance). I ended up having a great time and it’s something I can see my self enjoying more in the future. Which is good because I married into a family who LOVES to ski!
One of the things I love most about being married (and by far the biggest adjustment) is sharing a bed with and waking up next to my husband. A lot of people questioned how we could get married if we never lived together and therefore didn’t really “know” each other. That’s a pretty dumb argument in my opinion. I already knew he was gonna throw his towel on the floor, leave dirty dishes in the sink, and take up most of the bed. He is a boy after all. I’m not gonna throw knives over it. I love him more than I love clean dishes. (If you do live with a significant other, I’m not trying to make you feel bad. I just don’t feel its a REQUIREMENT for marriage to have lived together beforehand.)
Mornings like today make waking up next to him my favorite. He had the day off and I didn’t have to be at work until 4:00. We slept until about noon (yes we are THOSE people who sleep in way too late whenever we can) and slowly but surely woke up shortly after that. We then spent a significant amount of time talking, laughing, teasing, wrestling, and watching funny vine videos on our phones. After a while, Kurtis got up to shower and I went downstairs to make breakfast (even though it was way past lunchtime but whatever). I whipped up eggs, ham, toast, smoothies and coffee. We sat down to breakfast together (which NEVER happens) and caught up on life. Everything about this morning was lovely.
I highly suggest everyone marry their best friend 🙂
I LOVE being a wife. It’s so weird how much joy I get out of things that were previously chores. I love when my house looks nice, so I don’t mind cleaning it. I love when my husband is appreciative of a meal I make him, so I don’t mind cooking it (actually, I love it). I somehow enjoy going to the grocery store and doing laundry (Okay, I tolerate laundry), because I know it blesses my husband and makes our home better. He works so hard to provide for us so that we can live as comfortably as we do. The least I can do is make sure there’s a hot meal when he gets home.
Ribs!
Roasted Orange Rosemary Chicken
Steak, green beans, and lighter dairy-free mashed potatoes. The jist of making them dairy-free is using coconut oil and almond milk to make them creamy. But the full recipe is below, as promised!
RECIPE FOR DAIRY-FREE MASHED POTATOES: (In the Kitchenaid!)
Peel and cube 6 potatoes (Yes, CUBE! It makes them easier for the kitchen aid to mash)
Put potatoes in a pot, add water until potatoes are submerged, sprinkle with salt
Bring water to a boil and boil for 20-30 minutes or until potatoes are soft
Drain water and put potatoes back on the stove on LOW for 15 additional minutes
Add 4 tablespoons of coconut oil to your Kitchenaid mixing bowl
Add potatoes and cover with almond milk. I used 1 ½ cups but you can add more/less depending on how creamy you want them!
Turn the Kitchenaid on a low setting at first but gradually increase the speed until potatoes are completely mashed and as smooth as you want them.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
(For the purpose of not seeming like a hypocrite, you all should know all these pictures and all the food pictures I post on Instagram are of KURTIS’ plate, not mine! I choose to post pictures of his plates because they usually have more stuff on it which makes it look nicer! I usually have a slightly-healthier version of whatever he’s having. For instance, with the chicken dish, I didn’t have any rice and only had the meat and veggies! I usually skip whatever carbs I’m giving him and give myself a smaller portion size as well.)
In an effort to make everything I cook a slightly-healthier version of the recipe I have, I have a few go-to tricks!
If the recipe calls for butter, I use coconut oil instead.
If a recipe calls for milk, I use almond milk instead.
If a recipe calls for sugar, I use stevia instead. (Stevia is an all-natural 0 calorie sweetener that comes from a plant! The only place I’ve been able to find stevia is Trader Joe’s. Everywhere else it’s stevia blend, and you don’t want to get Truvia either, which is the processed version of it.)
I just enjoy being a homemaker! I have thoroughly enjoyed decorating the condo and am still adding finishing touches here and there. Today we went to IKEA to spend a giftcard and we got some new artwork for the wall, a clock, and some patio furniture for our back porch! Hopefully next week I’ll be able to finish putting the guest room together. I can’t wait! I love our little home and can’t wait for everything to finish coming together.
If you know me, you know how exciting this is! Some of you may recall I posted an Instagram picture about a month ago describing how I had been to the doctor and hopefully with some diet changes and supplements, my migraines would go away or at least become less frequent.
Well I cannot tell you how much feedback I got on that post! So many people reached out to me, stating that they suffered from migraines too and wanted to know what the doctor suggested for me so that they may try it too.
Well, now I haven’t had one in a month! I’ve had one since my doctors visit. (I started counting after) But it was short, and my symptoms subsided after just about an hour, which the doctor said might happen, and I haven’t had one since then. So, I decided to make a post about what I did to get healthy so that everyone who reached out to me earlier could know all my tips and tricks! And maybe they can start feeling better too.
I suffer from migraines with auras, which is a tad less common than just a regular migraine headache. It means, in addition to the headache, I lose my vision, slur my words, get nauseous, and my hands and face go numb. It truly keeps me from leading a normal life. I have gotten migraines since I was about 13, but only 3 or 4 a year. For some reason, after the wedding, I was getting 1 or 2 a week! There are many reasons as to why I could’ve started getting them after the wedding. I started taking a new medication, I moved into a new environment, and my diet was really bad! I was so good in the six months leading up to the wedding, I wanted to look my best on my big day so I was eating really clean and working out! By the time the wedding was over I went a little nuts. Lots of pizza, pasta, chips, you name it. It was probably a big shock to my system!
Eventually, the migraines really started interfering with work! I was constantly asking people to cover for me when I got a migraine at the last minute. Once, no one was able to cover my shift and Kurtis had to come to work with me to help me. (Luckily I have awesome bosses who are cool with stuff like this!) So, I knew something had to be done. So I went to the doctor.
Before I continue you should know he is an alternative medicine doctor. So I’m not on some sort of prescribed medication with weird side effects. That’s the last thing I want. (I tend to be anti-medication, unless it’s absolutely necessary, in which case go for it, by all means) Basically after running some tests, he concluded that I had a food sensitivity to dairy, my dopamine levels were high, and my saratonin levels were low (Or possibly vice versa) so I needed to stay away from dairy and take supplements to get my system back on track. If you suffer from frequent migraines they can almost always be triggered by a certain food. Track what foods you eat and see if there’s a common denominator on the days you get migraine headaches and then cut that food from your diet!
So, in addition to staying away from dairy and taking the supplements, I did some research on my own as to what causes migraines and cut out everything that could be a possible trigger. My whole daily routine has to do with preventing migraines, but so far everything is working for me!
1. I have a cup of tea every morning to ensure there is caffeine in my system.
2. I always have a water bottle with me. I’ve always been good about drinking enough water, but its essential now more than ever that I stay hydrated. Dehydration has been known to cause migraines.
3. I steer clear of dark alcohols (red wine, etc.)
4. And bacon. (*sob*)
5. Every time the weather is nice I open all my windows and air my house out to get rid of any toxins or allergens in the air that could be possible triggers.
6. My mom and I also changed the filters in the heater to ensure clean air.
7. I eat a relatively clean diet. Lots of protein and veggies. I’ve found that when I have an upset stomach, I tend to have migraines, and I tend to have an upset stomach when I’m not eating well.
8. I try to be active everyday. Some days I do a serious workout, other days I just walk my dog. As long as I’m moving.
9. I try not to stress out. If I’m running around too much, I stop and take a breath. I have lots of anxiety when it comes to my migraines. I’m constantly reading signage to make sure my vision isn’t blurry, and scratching my hands to make sure they aren’t numb. After a few weeks went by without one, I’ve calmed down a little, and it’s no longer at the front of my mind which has helped a lot.
10. This is gonna sound lame but when I watch movies and there’s a part with a LOT of action or flashing colors…I close my eyes. Same goes for anything that has to do with a strobe light. Nope. Can’t do it.
11. I went off a certain hormonal medicine I was taking (sorry, it’s so awkward I can’t even say it.) WebMD says that excessive estrogen is a known trigger.
I hope this helps all of you that reached out to me a few weeks ago! I have my one-month check up with my doctor tomorrow and I’m so very excited to go and give him my positive feedback! You have no idea how great its been not getting migraines so frequently. Kurtis is pretty happy too now that our lives are going back to normal. If anyone needs any advice on how to deal with a condition like this, please feel free to contact me!
UPDATE: Today, (4/1) I had my first migraine in over a month! And it wasn’t bad. The spottiness in my vision still caused me to be unable to drive to work so I had to stay home, but it only lasted a little over an hour and I had very little symptoms. Hope to continue on this path!
As most of you know I went to visit my sister in California this weekend! She’s going to school out there, and I was overdue for a California visit anyways. (It has been like…eight whole months)
I planned the trip weeks ago and told my sister the dates when I would be there and arranged to stay with my aunt and uncle. Then, I did something sneaky. I texted her best friend Alina, and told her when I was going and just opened the invitation that if she had the money and wanted to come, she was more than welcome! (Alina has always been a great friend of mine as well, so no awkwardness there! My sister and I have always tended to “share” friends) So she asked her parents and we were extremely surprised that they actually said yes! We were overwhelmed with excitement and decided it would be better not to tell Mollie she was coming and make it a surprise!
So all the while Mollie and I talked and planned about my visit. She was so excited I was coming, I knew she would be absolutely elated once she found out Alina was there too! So Mollie and I made many plans for me to meet her friends and boyfriend, sit in on her classes, and go to Disneyland together! Little did she know Alina would be joining us too!
Finally, the day arrived, and after a difficult goodbye with my husband (it was our first time apart!) we were on our way! We giggled as Mollie called me at the airport with Alina sitting right next to me unable to say a word, we planned the surprise down to the minute while on the plane and were giddy with anticipation. Finally we landed, and we waited anxiously for Mollie and Brad to arrive to pick us up. I gave Alina my black sweatshirt, and she stood with the hood up a few feet away from me while we waited on the curb.
Anyways, after some screaming and tears (she didn’t suspect a thing and had no idea! Score!) we were on our way! Mollie was staying with us at my Aunt and Uncles for two nights until she had to be back at school.
The next morning we slept in, and spent the rest of our day tanning, swimming, and hanging out. Our grandparents came down for a visit too and I showed her all the wedding pictures. It was a lovely day, and the weather was great! It didn’t drop below 70 the whole time we were there!
My Aunt and Uncle’s gorgeous pool!
That night we went down to Mollie’s school for chapel, which was amazing! After that we went out for a late dinner with her roommates and then headed to the grocery store to pick up some snacks for Disneyland!
The next morning we woke up and got ready for Disney. Mollie and I have these cute Disney outfits. I didn’t want Alina to feel left out so I bought her one too! They are shirts from Hot Topic of our favorite movies (Peter Pan for Mollie, The Little Mermaid for me, and Alice in Wonderland for Alina) and bows inspired by the movies! (And yes, I have a million different “favorites” I went with Ariel this time around haha) After getting ready and dragging my cousin Austin (who was coming along) out of bed, we were on our way!
It was an amazing day! We met lots of characters (which is actually my favorite part), ate lots of delicious food, and went on rides! My Uncle Johnathan, Aunt Sarah, and cousin Scarlett coincidentally happened to be there on the same day, and we were able to meet up with them to go on Star Tours! So fun. The only bummer was we waited in line for a while to go on the Matterhorn and when we got to the front it broke down and didn’t open again all day. And then when we went to Space Mountain it was also closed down and when it started running again we didn’t have time to wait! I called Kurtis really upset and he said we would go again this summer and ride everything. Winner.
Waiting in the ticket line
DISNEYLAND!
It was Alina’s first time!
Mickey!
Definitely my favorite picture from the day. It turned out so cute!
Goofy was giving me a hard time.
I LOVE this shot. Mollie and Alina on the Dumbo ride. I purposefully sat behind them so I could try and get a picture like this, and I’m so glad I did.
Mint Juleps and Mickey Beignets. My favorite Disneyland snack!
Selfie!
Lunch! Disneyland has the absolute best corn dogs! Mollie, Alina, and Austin all had hot dogs with mac and cheese and bacon bits on top. I couldn’t have one because of my dairy allergy but they looked delicious! And they gobbled them down before I could snap a picture.
My favorite ride, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, has been closed for refurbishment for over a year. And we just so happened to go to Disneyland on the day it reopened! I was ecstatic!
Simba in the parade!
At this point in the day, one of us had pushed something on my camera that made it not focus so the rest of the pictures were taken with phones and aren’t as good 🙁 Still trying to figure my camera out!
Me standing alone at the spot where Kurtis proposed to me and missing him greatly! Also, a slight outfit change had taken place! It got a little chilly, so I put on this sweatshirt (which I got at wet seal!) and my bow was giving me a headache so I took it off and put my ears on instead! (Which were a gift from Kurtis’ mom. They are from Animal Kingdom in Disneyworld!)
Mollie insisted on reenacting the proposal!
It was a really great day!
On our way home from Disneyland we dropped Mollie back off at school because she had classes the next day. On Tuesday, Alina and I hung out by the pool all day and then drove down to Mollie’s school to sit in on her night class with her. After class, we went to Vital, a rock climbing gym that she likes to go to (She’s been really into climbing and has gotten really good!) and did some climbing and hung out! We drove back up to Corona to sleep and then met her back on campus the next day to go drive up to San Diego before our flight out.
We spent the afternoon at my grandparents house. Snacking, hanging out, and watching Frozen. A few of my aunts and uncles and cousins were there, which was really fun! I’m glad we got to stop by for a few hours before we left, I don’t get to see them nearly enough!
My grandparents gorgeous backyard/pool
My cousin Scarlett refused to stand still for a picture and this is the best I got!
By then, I was really missing Kurtis and was anxious to get home! Luckily, we were only gone 4 days but our newlywed stage hasn’t quite fizzled out yet and sleeping apart was really weird!
We had an amazing time! I’m so glad the surprise went so great and I was able to see my sister and family! I can’t wait to go back!
Rosie and I went to this cute shop after dinner called Cheese and Chocolate and had these french macaroons!
Ribs!
