Hello there, 1 year anniversary!

A year ago this weekend, we got MARRIED!

It's amazing to me how fast time flies. 
Our wedding feels like it happened yesterday.

I tried my very best to remember every detail of that beautiful September day.  All of my friends who were married before me told me, "It goes by so fast, so remember every moment!" Needless to say, I don't remember every single detail, but I do remember what an unbelievably gorgeous day it was and how powerful the Lord's presence was as we celebrated our union as husband & wife!

Without further adieu, here are a few photos from September 4, 2010...enjoy!

It's been an adventurous and joyful journey.

We're loving every minute of being married & can't wait for the many years to come!

So, to celebrate our first anniversary, we are going to....

FT. LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA!!!
(Our senior year we went with Travis, Lindsay & Sandy-Mom to Ft. Laud over spring break! This is us @ the beach!)


While we're in Florida this weekend, we are also making a trip to Orlando to go to DISNEYWORLD!
(Yay for wonderful in-laws who are willing to let us enjoy the family condo in Ft. Laud to celebrate our anniversary!)

Hope everyone has a wonderful Labor Day Weekend!

Strawberry-Avocado Salsa & Cinnamon Tortilla Chips

 Sweet.

Salty.

Spicey.

It's all combined into this one delicious recipe!

Now I absolutely cannot take credit for this deliciousness!

This salsa was so yummy, I decided I had to share it with you guys...

The recipe came from a Cooking Light magazine. You can view it online, here .

I found this over the weekend & tried it out last night as an appetizer before dinner.

 It was a huge hit with the hubs and myself, as well!

This salsa is the perfect way to wrap up the end of summer

...you have to try it!  

The above photo is from the website, and the below photos are my own thanks to my iphone camera. :)

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 6 (6-inch) whole-wheat flour tortillas
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped peeled ripe avocado (about 2)
• 1 cup finely chopped strawberries
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
• 1 teaspoon minced seeded jalapeño pepper
• 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
• 3/8 teaspoon salt

Preparation

• 1. Preheat oven to 350°.
• 2. To prepare chips, brush oil evenly over one side of each tortilla. Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle evenly over oil-coated sides of tortillas. Cut each tortilla into 12 wedges; arrange wedges in a single layer on two baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until crisp.
• 3. Combine avocado and remaining ingredients; stir gently to combine. Serve with chips.

 ** It makes about 12 servings and takes about 20 minutes to make.  

*Warning: If you don't like your salsa too spicey, be extra careful to get all of the seeds out of the jalapeno before chopping! If not, you may end up teary eyed and chugging a glass of water....just sayin! :)

ENJOY!

Nautical Wreath: Yarn & Recycled Fabric

 The first weekend in August, my family joined my husband's family at the lakehouse in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin!

It was an absolute blast.

I'll give more on the trip later in this post...

For now,  I'm so excited to show this little "thank you" gift I made for my mother-in-law for hosting all of us for the weekend!

I've been wanting to make a yarn/fabric wreath for quite awhile. I just didn't have a reason to make one. So, when the opportunity presented itself, I jumped on it! 

 To make it I used a 14 inch straw wreath, lots of red & white yarn, various fabrics, my husband's old dress shirt fabric & buttons, and jute.

A few weeks ago, I walked into our pantry/laundry room and found something unusual in the trash. 

I pulled out a perfectly worn light blue button up shirt. 

My husband, had thrown it away!

Being the craft-a-holic and DIY project creator around our home, I began brainstorming what I could make with this old shirt....

 See the light blue rosette in the picture below? 

 Yep. That is the sleeve & a button from the cuff!

Considering the fact that I had no idea what I was doing when I began,  I love the way it turned out! Hope my mother-in-law likes it, too! :)

 Thanks to Jen over at Scissors and Spatulas, I was able to create a super fun wreath! She has some incredible talents and has created beautiful wreaths herself.  Check out her summer wreath & tutorial here.  Love it!

Here are a few pictures from our wonderful weekend trip to Lake Geneva!

We enjoyed boat rides...

celebrated my little bro's 22nd birthday...

enjoyed the refreshingly clear & cool lake water...

ate some delicious food...

watched some unbelievable sunsets...

loved on our Momma's...

(my beautiful mom & mom-in-law!)

and spent some good Phillip/Fowler quality time together!

Everyone had a great time & we're sad the weekend its over.

Maybe we'll just have to do it all again next summer?! :)

Our Alaskan Adventure

A few weeks ago, Kyle and I went with his family on an incredible Alaskan vacation to celebrate his parent's 30th wedding anniversary! We toured Alaska's Inside Passage on the Coral Princess Cruise, then continued our journey on a Denali Land Cruise.  Needless to say, it was a trip of a lifetime. If you ever get a chance to see Alaska, I would highly recommend it-- just bring LOTS of layers & warm clothes. :)

Kyle and I took close to 800 pictures on the trip, ha! Don't worry! I won't post all 800 but, I will attempt to display a few of our favorites.  Here's a glimpse of God's beautiful creation in the 49th state...

Goodbye Vancouver!

Happy Anniversary Don & Sandy!

Ketchikan, Alaska

 Lumberjack Show!

Guys went fishing! Below is the float plane they flew in!

Juneau, Alaska

We took a float plane as a family...

and we flew over some incredible glaciers...

 then we landed at the Taku River Lodge...

 where they were cooking up some fresh King Salmon just for us!

Oh. My. Goodness. It was the best meal I've ever had.

My Brother-In-Laws and Sister-In-Law watching for some bears.

 We also went ziplining in Juneau, which was a total blast!

Chris & Jodi!

Skagway, Alaska

We took the White Pass Train Route into Canada to go kayaking!

Entering back into Alaska!

 This old White Pass train was used as a snow plow for the tracks

 Jewlry Stores were everywhere..

Glacier Bay

 My husband is an amazing photographer...check out the bald eagle flying over the glacier!

Absolutely incredible.

Lots of game nights. Playing some Up the River, Down the River...so much fun!

Whales we saw from the ship!

We finished the cruise in Anchorage, Alaska.

Then we jumped on a train and went up to Denali National Park.

Above is where Mt. McKinley is supposed to be...however, it is only seen 20% of the time because of the clouds.  Bummer, but still beautiful.

 Fireweed was all over Alaska! It was gorgeous.

Mt. McKinley climbers come back to Talkeetna to celebrate their accomplishment.

...such a funky little town.  

This is an airport runway in Talkeetna. 

Most Alaskans have their own personal plane to get around because everything is so spread out! 

Kyle went on the fishing trip of his life in Denali.  He caught up to 40 something trout & loved every minute.  He also caught a few salmon..

Here are the King Salmon "running"...

Fresh bear paw print...yikes!

What an absolute wonderful vacation!

We are incredibly blessed.