A Month With Us: Ok, maybe not!

Alright... alright... alright... so big fatty fail on my goal to blog every day... I KNOW! I was feeling a little bummed that I didn't exactly follow through with what I had started out with. This is not a super common thing for me, I am not a flake, but sometimes when it comes to things like this, I don't follow through... blah. However, after I had my little pity party, I realized something. I may not have blogged everyday, or even come close to it but I DID shoot nearly every day (I think I only missed 3 days) and I blogged more in a month than I ever have before. I didn't make my goal, but I did better than I have done in the past. I know this is a little step forward, but it is a step- and that was the whole point of my goal. Moving forward is something that I really desire in my business right now... even if it is really tiny baby steps.

Anyhow, I will at least catch you all up on the second half of the month...

 The week before Christian's birthday, we drove to the High Desert to visit family and some of our closest friends. Christian's car has been giving us a little trouble, so first stop was my dad's garage. All fixed thanks to the guys!

While the boys worked and fixed things, my mom and I decided to join them in the garage. It was really hot, but my mom has been begging me to cut her hair (I think I have only done it twice now since getting licensed... oops!), so we tried to ignore the sweat and snipped away.

This is my parent's dog, Mason. I like him a lot. He didn't like my camera quire as much. This was only a moment before he ran at it, slobbering tongue in tow.

After we left my parents, we headed to Christian's parents for a little birthday celebration. This is my Dad-in-Law scoping out the table scape. With seafood pasta, salad, and fresh bread, there was VERY little to complain about. Yum!

The next morning at church, Christian wrestled the camera from me and snapped the next few.

For his birthday party with my family, he was required to open presents IN FRONT OF EVERYONE! You would have thought he was being tortured.

My brother actually took this of my cousin's baby girl, Alexia. I just want to squeeze her. She is my stand in niece until I get a real one. But I like her so much I may just keep her as one permanently!

Christian's first day of school! I know... I am a dweeb and embarrassment, but I wanted this picture and I got it.

Later that week, Christian and I went to support our alma mater's annual Master's Cup. The dorm we lived in, Hotchkiss, is full of tradition, which I love. This was their grand entrance... they won.

AND the moment you have all been waiting for... or at the least the one I have been waiting for. One of the biggest reasons I have been MIA on the blog is because I surprised Christian with a kitten for his birthday. As cute as this little guy is, he is a lot of work. He was only 5 weeks old when I rescued him from the shelter, so we had our hands full! His name is Warfield and I love him! He brings an awful lot of entertainment to our lives.

Please excuse these first few pictures, he was a little energetic and it was getting dark. This was on his first day home with us. He was so tiny- only weighed one and a half pounds!

This is his favorite spot in the house. He will sit there for hours and usually falls asleep after a while.

This is one week after we brought our little monster home. He is almost doubled in size, weight AND energy.
 This is his favorite of my chores. By the time I get around to folding them, he has usually burrowed halfway to the bottom.

One more of Christian. One of my favorite things about being married is having a date for dinner every night.

Ok then! If you made it all the way through this post, I commend you! I know it was forever long, but I didn't want to leave my goal completely hanging. Now it is wrapped up and my new goal is to continue shooting every day and blog as often as a husband, kitten, housework and school will let me!

Happy Tuesday!

A Month With Us: Days 13, 14, 15 and 16

Goodness it has been a really busy week! The funny thing is that a busy week means lots of good stuff to post BUT no time to post it. Ironic. Saturday was a really fun day. My mom was here all day and I was so blessed by the fun and fellowship with her. We went shopping all day and really enjoyed our time. I was excited because I got to use some gift cards I had been waiting to spend forever. The fantastic thing about them is you get to shop and get things and then NO SHOPPERS GUILT! That is amazing : ) After she drove home, Christian and I drove to Pasadena for an evening out on the town with two very dear friends of ours, Eric and Peter.

First time we have dressed up for an outing in a while... except for church of course.

MY NEW SHOES! Courtesy of my gift card.... I love them!

I love city life. The music. The lights. The grime and grit. The liveliness.

This is our friend Eric. He is as deep of a thinker as he looks. And I may steal his glasses one day.

Cheesecake. That is all I have to say.

Sunday I woke up sick. I had an icky sore throat and body aches and mirgrane... blah. Needless to say, I only dragged myself out of bed to make us hot dogs for dinner. It was a nasty day. Christian was in charge of the camera that day. That means there were more pictures of me than usual.

Not feeling standing in the kitchen cooking. I lasted about five minutes. And was grouchy the whole time.

Monday I was feeling MUCH better. I made my Mama's tacos for dinner. Unfortunately they were not as good as hers. Fortunately they were not too bad. Pretty tasty.

I then procedeed to burn the cookies. I blamed it on my sickness the day before. Christian still ate every single one of them. He is far too nice and I love him for it.

How my kitchen looks after a night of cooking.

Tuesday night was, as you can see, Salmon and Rice night. I always have fun with this meal since it is one of my favorites. I couldn't decided between garlic and lemon pepper and spice so we did as little of both.

My husband... I never tire of calling him that. It is still very surreal to me. I love him : )

Think the bananas are almost ready to be made into bread?! I think so...

And in other news... I got my business cards FINALLY! The backs are all different. Each has a different photo I have taken. I love these little cards. Now please, help me get rid of them!

A Month with Us: Day 9, 10, 11 and 12

Goodness I guess I am getting good at this whole wait-three-days-before-you-post-again thing! It has been a fun but very busy week in the Rodriguez household. So far, most nights consist of us coming home from work, making dinner, trying to clean/organize some part of the apartment and just enjoying each other. This week it included all of the above plus a few visits with friends as well.

Tuesday we made chili cheese dogs from the left over chili we had the other night. They were tasty! And easy! Christian turned the camera on me and caught all sorts of odd faces. This was the closest face to normal out of the whole bunch. If you know me... you know my face expressions are typically nothing close to normal!

On Wednesday, Chrish and I went to have dinner and desert with some new friends from church. We had so much fun. We enjoyed the evening with two couples and three toddlers. So entertaining- we loved it though! As you can see my husband tends to provide as much entertainment as the kids do. I like him...

Thursday we made pizza again! It is definitely one of our favorite meals for summer time. Our friend James came over to enjoy it with us but I forgot to take a picture of him. Oops! He went to Israel with Christian and has come over a few times to hang out with us since they have been back. He is always a joy to have around and always provides great fellowship for both of us.

Tonight my Mama came to visit us! I haven't gotten to see her much since the wedding because we live nearly two hours away form both my parents and Christian's parents. It is so nice to have her here. Tomorrow we are having a girl day- much needed. I love her so.

A Month With Us: Days 5, 6, 7 and 8

Sheesh I lost track of the days. I am sure the last four days haven't passed- its still Friday isn't it?! This whole being a wife thing makes the days pass by very, very quickly. I am exhausted so this may be more of a simple informative post rather than a deep thinking one. Though I don't think most of them are- I need to start putting more time into these. Anyhow...

On Friday we decided to make kabobs. Since it's been so hot we have been trying to stay out of the hot kitchen. The BBQ and our homey little porch have been good friends of ours. By the way, Christian is fantastic at the grill... mmm mmm mmm!

Outside eating done right at the Rodriguez residence.

Yummy cheese garlic bread. I kinda went on a whim to make it but we liked it. It has butter and chive/onion cream cheese, mozzarella cheese and garlic salt. Tasty and gooey cheesy goodness!

Christian's handiwork... so so good.

We enjoyed a lovely outside dinner. We have these big trees outside the fence that keep us nice and shady.

Saturday I ran around all day doing errands and grocery shopping. Saturdays are my prepare-for-the-whole-week day. It is my productive day. It was productive...

My To Do List... there were two pages. I try and keep the list long so I can stay busy. Its hard to stay busy (riiiiight!) so I try and come up with things- or keep up with them! Sheesh!

I would appreciate it if gas prices went back down.

I used the crock pot for the first time. It was nice to pour a bunch of stuff into the slow cooker and come home from errands and have chili! Magic!

Sunday we went to church. We have been attending Faith Community Church in Oxnard and absolutely love it. It is starting to feel like home already.

Pastor Rick Anderson's pulpit. He is an amazing shepherd of his congregation. We love sitting under him on Sundays.

Monday is work day. This is my space in the office. The office is actually under renovation right at the moment. This is not my usual desk- in fact, its not a desk. It is a big tall project table. My feet don't reach the floor. This is the transition desk so that I don't have to sit on the floor this week. We are going to get new desks, a window so I can see outside (most excited about this), and painting the walls a fresh new color. I'll be sure to keep you posted on the changes.

My time sheet that proves how hard I work :)

My coffee and keyboard are my companions for most of the morning.

Hopefully these posts will come more frequently so that they are not so long and I can focus on writing a little more. Happy Monday everyone!