Marriage so far . . .

I tried my best to go into marriage with no expectations.

Who would ever expect a near naked boy interrupting your bath time with a banjo serenade?

I had no clue what it would be like to have a full-time boy roommate (plus a dog roommate).

The occasional couch and rug stain frustrations (via man and dog) are immediately erased after sweet mornings like this. 

Before we got married, I always wondered if I would get sick of Josh being there 24/7 and feel the need to have some "me time"

Not the case.

I'm pretty sure Charlie is the only one feeling the need for "me time" after the psychological abuse he receives. 

I also wondered if we would succumb to the oh-so-common post-marriage weight gain phenomenon.

Guilty.

BUT staying active with this guy isn't the problem, the endless food and drink options around Dallas is the problem.

In the future, when I think back on our first year of marriage, I think my memory will be primarily filled with images similar to this.

I don't think I say it enough, but I'm terribly thankful for these two boys.

Two-for-Tunesday: Josh covers Bob Dylan + Avett Brothers New Song

Finally.

We get some Dylan from Josh

P.S.

. . . all the magic that comes after the two minute mark stays on repeat in my car.

. . . in case that didn't tickle your fancy (if it didn't then we can't be friends, sorry) there's this:
The Avett Brothers performed a "never-before-heard" song backstage at the Newport Folk Festival. 

Happy Tunesday, folks.

Once upon a time . . .

 . . . Josh thought he would be hilarious by writing a country song about college.

I may be biased, but in my humble opinion I believe that it ended up being more awesome than funny.

I cried.

It made me miss college. 

So much.
He included references to their old house where everyone would gather after the bar to play music (after they had gained some liquid courage, of course) and references to our favorite restaurant (Sundown) and even a reference to the time period where I was in grad school and driving back and forth on the weekends to visit everyone. 

P.S.

This is the first song Josh has ever written himself and recorded.

It only took me 6 months to convince him to let me post it on the internet.

His one stipulation was that I state that this was only a country imitation and that he was not being serious by any means.

(I mean, didn't the cheesy grin and flailing eyebrows not make that clear enough?)

He's slowly but surely gaining confidence.

Cross your fingers for a new recording next week.

My vote goes towards either The Avett Brothers or Bob Dylan.

Happy Friday!

Josh's 26th Birthday Celebration(s)

Last week was Josh's birthday.

I wanted to let him know how much he is loved and appreciated, so I turned his birth day into a birth week.
Truthfully, the day of his birthday I planned to have the morning off from work. I wanted us to be able to sleep in and then I was hoping to surprise him with breakfast.
Well work has a tendency to not let things happen as planned (plus I was on call) so needless to say Josh's birthday morning and rest and breakfast in bed didn't happen.
That night I didn't get home from work until 7pm.
I felt so bad about it, that I figured the only way I could make his birthday not suck would be to give him an entire week of celebrations.
I tried to have something fun planned for each night (along with taking on the task of cooking dinner and cleaning the dishes myself while he rested on the couch, deservingly)

Monday night I made gluten free blueberry pancakes and candied bacon for dinner.
You just can't go wrong with breakfast for dinner!

Tuesday night we watched the NBA playoff game and Josh got to eat his favorite meal:

Chicken and kale stuffed sweet potatoes!

Wednesday night was bingo at The GingerMan.
We actually both lost, for the first time ever.

Thursday afternoon we brought Charlie to the nature preserve, and managed to find waterfall.
Yes, thats right.
Plano, Texas has a waterfall.
My mind is still blown.

Also, my mind is still blown that Henry's Tavern was selling each one of their 100 beers on tap for a penny each all week.

Usually their beers run from $7-$10 each, so having a tab under 10 cents was mind blowing.

Friday night, we celebrated the summer solstice in the pool!

Saturday, we finally got to experience the Deep Ellum Brewery!
We've been wanting to go on their brewery tour for a while now, and this was actually the first weekend we stayed in Dallas that I wasn't on call.
. . . another post about this coming soon!

Sunday, we went to church, Josh picked out a new bike (no roomba for us!) and then we got to try out the iPic movie theater, which was a blast.

Watching a movie, which eating dinner, drinking a beer, and sitting in a huge cozy leather seat with a pillow and a blanket is definitely the way to do it!

As much as this week wore me out, I loved having the opportunity to spoil this awesome man of mine!
I'm so thankful to have him in my life, and I pray to God our future kiddos have at least an ounce of his looks, and laid-back, happy spirit.
I love you Josh!

Tunesday: Another cover song by the one and only

It's quite the challenge to get this kiddo to let me post videos of him singing online.

. . . but after being on call the other night at at the ER for 5 hours, I came home to another good'n from my sweet little husband.
(He only records himself when I'm not home, so I'll take that as a hint to just shop more or something, ya know, for the sake of good music)

This one gave me chills and brought a few tears to my eyes.

Since he was SO awesome and let me post two whole videos of him singing last week, I bought him a ukelele.

. . . and even though he had never touched one before Saturday, as soon as he picked it up he was already strumming away like he had been playing for years.

He's not human.

Fingers crossed for more tunes coming soon.

Go here to go to his youtube channel!

Fridays Letters

Dear Louisiana,

I had a fantastic weekend and I kinda miss you.

Dear Dallas sun,

You should come out to play more.

I'm pale.

Dear Charlie,

Thanks for protecting us from the ever threatening rabbit.

Dear Mrs. Laura,

Silly cards make me happy.

. . . especially sweet cards with Charlie's long eared twin brother on the front.

Dear wedding video,

Since you took 4 months to get created I learned a valuable lesson regarding patience.

. . . but the stress I endured that the music was going to be unbearable about did me in.

Thank goodness for no Rascal Flats or Nickleback. 

Dear everyone in the entire world,

Watch this.

How did I get lucky enough to be able to marry him?

Major kudos to Josh for being so brave this week.

Next step, encouraging him to record an original song.

It's gonna happen.

Tunesday: Josh takes on The Lumineers

I have no words.

Well actually I do.

This is by far my favorite of Josh's covers (he would only let me post it if I edited out the end because he claims he messed up, whatever) 

Coming soon: Chicago, Jackson Hole, and wedding updates!
I'm back home for good (until the Bachelorette Party in VEGAS at least!) but I have SO much blogging to do in the meantime and I can't wait!
Please don't hate me :)

A weekend of celebrations!

My dad's birthday was last Wednesday, mom's was Friday, and Josh's was yesterday (along with Father's Day)

Cake. Overload.

I'm so blessed to have each of them in my life, and celebrating birthdays is no small occasion around our home.

(Even though this year I have completely failed at documenting these events, and I'm sorry)

Wednesday we decorated dad's office, and instead of sending us a text at 6am to thank us he wrote this little note.

So considerate, huh?

Ellie and I decided we needed to upgrade mom's workout ensemble for her birthday.

Isn't she gorge?

Friday night we celebrated Josh's birthday with a little flashback to college.

Sushi at Raw, followed by Ponchatoula's, then San Miguels for late bar.

. . . and somehow this is the only picture I have from the entire night.

Entire bowl of soy sauce in the lap=shower in the sink.

Sunday we got to celebrate my two favorite men, with it being Josh's birthday and Father's Day.

 I'm so blessed to have both of y'all in my life, and you each have made a huge impact on who I have become! 

. . . but I'm mostly excited because we can now get rental cars without the underage fee! 

Yay for being 25! 

Charlie lovvvvvves coming to the Rat household.

These two don't cooperate very well for pictures.

He is normal, I swear.
Sometimes.

Tunesday: [My fiance]

Remember my post a few months back, The Greatest Tunesday Yet?

Well this one has the last video beat.

Oh you know, just an Avett Brother cover song by the great singer in America.

. . . who I just so happen to be marrying in five months.
Yes.
Five. Months.
Freaky.

P.S. Hold out til the 5 min 50 second mark and you'll have chill bumps, too

If I only I could get him to the look at the camera and throw some charm to all three of his adoring fans.

Please don't hate me, Josh.

A little announcement...

We interrupt the regularly scheduled programming to bring you this message . . . 

We're engaged!

After five and a half short years together, I'm so happy to be able to say I get to marry the little boy I met at the beach 13 years ago.

We are so blessed to have been surrounded with so much love and support from our friends and family this weekend.

I can't wait to begin planning our wedding (that feels SO weird to type) as well as our future together! 

More details coming soon . . . back to the Original Dashboard Diary reposts.

Must. Study. 

The Butcher

I often refer to Josh & my brother (and their friends) as THE funniest people I know, and this little story takes the cake for funniest moments as of lately . . . 

Backstory: Bart (Josh's best friend, I don't claim him, wink wink) was shackin up in Dallas with Josh for a month before he headed to Denver for a training program. 

These two boys are rather mischievous, and that's putting it lightly.

Case in point: They found a freshly killed squirrel on the side of the road, tied it up to fishing line, put it in a tree, tugged it down, and then let Charlie chase it around the apartment complex for a good 20 minutes. 

Imagine: two dudes running around with a dead squirrel on a string.

Back to the funny story . . . 

Before Bart left for Colorado, we enjoyed one last night out in Dallas. 

At the bar, Josh and I were approached by two girls that recognized the guys. 

Josh introduced one of the girls to me as his leasing agent from his apartment. 

Soon therafter Bart walked up and throws his arms up in the air and screams "Da Butchaaaaa".

We all looked at each other in confusion, including the butcher.

Side note: How pissed/confused would you be if you were approached by a random dude calling you The Butcher?

Apparently, Josh and Bart ran into them previously at the gym, and on a whim (an incredibly witty whim) Josh informed Bart that this girl was his butcher from Kroger.

Two weeks later, Bart truly believed he was meeting a mid twenties cute butcher from Kroger, and nearly convinced her she was a butcher.

She never questioned it once.

. . . and they lived happily ever after.

Just kidding, they never spoke again, thank God.

I always feel the need to include a picture, and upon googling "The Butcher" I found this: 

Oh and this was on my phone from our college days working at the best restaurant in town:

No worries, just a dull knife and ketchup.

Happy Thursday!

This is why I love Josh . . .

Write that down. Pinterest it. Instagram it. Whatever you do with cool/inspirational quotes.

Josh officially started his real job yesterday and I couldn't be more proud!

I even received this picture of his newest business partner:

Unfortunately, now that Josh is officially an adult a businessman, that means no more dress up play time for him and Charles, right?

What a shame.

The weekend of many dates

Sweet little Amanda at The Daily Sweatpants is hosting a "Date Your Man" link party, (and due to the whole "long distance relationship" thing/lack of dates I had to this old post from my arsenal.

Feel free to hop on over to Amanda's blog and join the fun!

(Originally posted on October 9, 2011)

This weekend was jam packed with millions of billions of dates . . . 

We actually started dating 5 years ago this week, which gave us the perfect excuse to celebrate.

I had a nice date with Charles at the Nature Preserve.

. . . followed by a pretty mouth watering date with this caramel apple cupcake from Sprinkles.

Next up was a date with Ikea to plan and decorate my future imaginary home.

Josh and I got to refresh our climbing skills at the Exposure indoor rock climbing gym.

 . . . followed by a Whole Foods date.

(Team Ron Paul!)

Yiiiiiiikes.

. . . but the best date of probably my whole lifetime was this one.

It's not that often that we get to dress up all fancy and go on a reaaaaaaal date.

Josh pulled a fast one on me by taking me downtown to Nobu for probably the best meal of my existence.

I was so stunned, I told Josh he could order everything for me. 

(Mainly because I didn't wanna put too big of a dent in his checkbook, and partly because I was just freaking out.)

Josh chose for each of us to get a prepaid (8 course!) meal where the chef chooses each course for you.

Coming from someone who hates ketchup and vegetables, this was a very brave move for me.

It turned out to be the best decision ever, because I have rarely eaten anything this fresh/tasty/amazing/savory/mouth watering/ridiculous.

Naturally, I documented most of it so that we wouldn't forget it.

Judge me.

(True story: an NBA player who will remain nameless was sitting at the table beside me and imitated me taking pictures of our food so that all of his friends could have a good laugh)

First course: 

Toro tartar with caviar.

True story.

The best part was the Japanese mountain peach to cleanse our palates.

Fancy stuff, right there.

Seared Ahi Tuna sashimi salad with natsuhisa dressing.

Broiled Alaskan black cod with miso sauce wrapped in a bamboo leaf.

. . . and it had another Japanese mountain peach, my fav!

Kobe beef grilled at the table with asparagus, shallots, onions, and mushrooms sauteed in truffle oil.

Our fav course.

. . . an assortment of sushi.

. . . and then the cutest little mushroom soup I have EVER seen.

 Dessert was a strawberry tofu concoction . . . I didn't pay attention to many details, because I kinda panicked after I heard the word tofu.

Even though we were completely stuffed, this dessert was perfectly sweet and light.

Maybe we can go back in 5 more years?

(Todays reaaal post is coming later, no worries!)