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!

A Month With Us: Day 4

OK, you you may be thinking. Stacey, Day 4 does not follow Day 2- do the math. I know, I know. But between getting a little sick the other day (no, I'm not pregnant Internet) and having a surprise visitor (you'll be introduced to him later) blogging just didn't happen. I did however, shoot every day, which is my biggest goal. I want to practice my art. I want to be good- not just because I got lucky, but because I intrinsically understand what I am doing. I have a long way to go but that is another story for another day. So this is a catch up post from the 2nd, 3rd and 4th (today!).

A few days ago, Christian took me out on a date- the first one since being back home. We had such a fantastic time, just hanging out. We had a gift card from the wedding, so we got to eat from the special side of the menu: Steak and Seafood! We party pretty hard, I know. Any how, I brought along my camera and Christian snapped the above shot. I like him.

Our yummy dinner, right before it was consumed! But the best part? No clean up!

Last night our good friend Jamison came to hang out with us. We told him he wins the award of being our first friend to drop by and hang with the scary married couple :) It was fun. We had dinner and watched Walk the Line and goofed off. This is him showing off Thunder to Christian (the other one is Lightning, but its too fast and furious to be caught on film).

If you know Jamison, you know why this picture is just him. He's a ham. He never comes through my front door, but instead always hops over my fence and knocks on my sliding glass door. He buys us Otter Pops and imitates Stevie Wonder. Jamison is the entertainment in our household- we don't have TV.

Today I made homemade pizza for dinner. It was delicious if I do say so myself! We had fun trying to get the raw pizza dough on the grill and not through it. It was a fun night though. Christian and I hung out on our patio and grilled and talked- nice and simple. I like nice and simple.

I did shoot today, but Christian was on photo duty while I cooked (the shot above was his too). I like the way he sees things- simply. Like I said earlier, I like simple.

Happy August 4th everyone. See you all again tomorrow! Be here or be square :)

A Month With Us: Day 2

This post is sort of from yesterday... but it still applies for today. I'll explain, Internet, I'll explain. Yesterday, my parents-in-love drove to our neck of the woods not to visit (although we would have loved that too!), but to bring us our wedding present! While Christian and I were at work, his mom and dad unloaded, built and moved into the apartment our new bedroom set. We are so excited. Our little apartment is starting to feel more and more like a home- our home. So I figured, I would give to all a little before and after of the place we call ours. Don't hate on the before pictures, they were taken with my ghetto camera (when I say ghetto, I mean it- I bought it in 7th grade for $30, but my real camera was packed in a box somewhere). Welcome to the Rodriguez residence!

Our little outside area isn't much... but we have big plans! I want to put a little herb garden in, hang a hammock chair, put up lights and maybe a few signs.

Christian got this from his Groom's Day shower along with a whole closet full of knives, tools and manly man things!

Our living room! This is the room closest to being done- or at least just put together and presentable looking.

Christian whipped out the camera and documented our vast book collection. He had twelve boxes of books when we moved in and I had six. We. Love. To. Read.

This is the other half of the living room... ignore the kitchen, I'll get to it in just a second.

He likes to sit and read in the middle of his miniature library. I am nervous to see how big it will get one day!

My kitchen was one of my favorite places when we first moved in. Even undecorated, I loved the dark wood cabinets and bright white appliances. Looked so new and fresh.

Now its even better because we have things like coffee and tea...

a microwave...

COOKIES! (these are peanut butter and chocolate chip cookie bars yum)...

and wall art from the kiddos!

For the first week, I slept in the corner of our room on the floor.

Now we have a bed! Its so comfy... the bed and coverings were all gifts from my parents. The furniture pieces are gifts from Christian's parents.

Our sink/closet area still needs A LOT of work!

I love the little toilet hutch. We almost didn't keep it, but I'm glad we did. It's cute!

Our first night here, Christian's mom brought us Pick Up Stix. We didn't have a table so...

We have a table now, but don't look cause everything is everywhere! Agh moving is crazy.

First night!

Last night!