My mom's birthday was in May, but I figured it's better to post about it now than never :) My sister made hawaiian kabobs, and Sam cooked them. They were DELICIOUS.

She also made a strawberry salad, and we had corn on the cob and sun chips. Perfect combination.

This was when Rebecca and I told my mom we were taking her to the Tulip Festival in Holland. She's always wanted to go and was SO excited!

I made a Triple Chocolate Torte. It was AWESOME. That filling is to DIE for. Seriously. When I made it, Tim and I were just eating the filling. It's so good. You should definitely make it.

Today I'm spending the day in bed. Tim was out super late last night with friends, so he's still sleeping; he'll probably sleep until noon. So I'm relaxing, drinking some tea, spending the morning writing up some blog posts for the week, pinteresting, and everything else I love wasting my time doing online :). 

I did see this quote on Pinterest, so I guess I'm not "technically" wasting my time :)

I am in LOVE with this cup. I got it at T.J.Maxx, but it reminds me of something you'd get at Anthropologie. I also love this candle, you can get it at Bath & Body Works :)

One of our clients brought in shakes for us...this always happens on days when I'm detoxing and trying to eat/drink healthy...obviously my stomach didn't like it very much haha. I do my best to not eat fast food; so as dumb as it sounds, drinking this was difficult for me: all I could think about were all the ingredients in it that shouldn't be in food. 

Anyway, I've been having many issues with my car, brakes being one of them. I'm so glad I'm with a man who knows how to work on cars. He saves us a lot of money :)

Buster is my parent's dog; however, once we move into our home (which should be in about THREE WEEKS :D), he'll become ours. My parent's have him as an outside dog, and we felt that living with us he'd have more attention and wouldn't have to be outside during the super hot summer days and the frigid winters. It'll definitely be interesting because he's such a HUGE dog! Moving into a new home, hurrying up and painting the rooms, and then having an almost completely untrained dog in our home will be crazy!

I think someone's got a new pal :)

I'm looking forward to some excitement in our life though---these past couple of months waiting to hear about this house we're buying has everything else on hold...shopping, eating out...etc.; we're trying to save money. I can't wait until we close on the house! It'll be so much fun decorating our very own home! (And going on a shopping spree..perhaps....honey???)

Back in the first part of July, Rebecca, Micah, and I went strawberry picking. We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather. It started getting a bit too hot right as we were finishing up :)

Micah loved finding a mini loaf of bread :)

Delicious cauliflower and bacon soup, mac & cheese casserole, and a taco for lunch at my sister's house. Nothin' better than someone else's leftovers :)

Fresh strawberry and watermelon juice out on the deck with the kitty.

Fourth of July colors :)

Fun at the fair :)

Bubblegum ice cream from House of Flavors :)

We ended the day at the beach watching the fireworks. So much fun :)

Love languages tote bag :)

A package came in the mail (granted it was five months ago, but I still want to share about this cute etsy shop!)….

As always, the cat IMMEDIATELY had to smell everything and check it out to make sure it's okay :)

Then she had to make sure it was big enough for her to be carried in...

I absolutely love these bags! The yellow one I bought for myself, the red one for my sister.

I put this together for my sister when she gave birth to my nephew. It has a bunch of things in it she loves. I also looked on her Pinterest and was able to find different things on her wish list she liked, thus finding the bag (actually, I think it was on my etsy favorites; but still, I knew she'd like it :D). It was so much fun!

I purchased these from the etsy shop bucktoothedbunny and LOVE them! The shop has switched to making white bags with colored lettering, but they're still super cute! Definitely something adorable to put your belongings in-I use mine all the time :)

Wedding planning...

Tim HATES wedding planning. And I want the help. Most girls would love to hear "Whatever you want", but I hate it. I need his input. He would love to elope and throw a party when we get back; I'm seriously considering that. Anyway, I was getting super stressed a while ago with just thinking of all the money we would need for my dream wedding...you know, the one you envision yourself having ever since you were a kid? Well, if I got what I wanted, we'd be spending almost $5000 on the location alone. $5000! Even if we had that money, what a waste to spend for one day, and that ONLY includes the location fee, nothing else. So yes, I'd been stressed trying to figure out how to alter my dream wedding so we stay in budget. Tim sat down with me and talked for like an house about wedding plans. It was just what I needed. Granted, I think I'll be slightly stressed until after the wedding is over, but him just giving some input helped me refocus on what's important about that day: him and I. 

Also, last month we found our reception location, so I can breathe a sigh of relief about that:

It's at a local state park; and from 8am-10pm, we can rent it for only $100!!! WHAT?????!!!!!! It comes with 16 picnic tables; and there's two fireplaces, one on each end. And I love all the lights. All the side doors can be rolled up to show the beautiful view:

This is where all the food will be set up, and there's an area right outside that open area where we'll set up the grill for the burgers and hot dogs.

I am super excited! I had always wanted a big white tent with lights around it or a reception in a barn. This is a mixture of both. I'm wanting a very relaxed wedding and reception. I think this will help. Now if only we could find a ceremony site!

This past weekend a 29-year-old woman in Traverse City was killed after someone hit her while she was biking at night. She got tangled up in the bottom of their vehicle, and they dragged her for a block. Then they drove off. Apparently investigators believe this killing along with two other bicyclists being hit in the past two years around the same time of year and same place have something in common. Rather, someone in common. Apparently the vehicle's description in each case has been the same.

This woman was married. She had two jobs and was saving for her future so her and her husband could travel. Her husband was a musician, and she was on her way home at 2am from one of his shows. From what I can tell, they were recently married. Last August. And so in love.

I've been a wreck today. I can't stop thinking about this. What kind of human being intentionally runs over a woman and drags her? She had her whole life ahead of her. I can't stop thinking about how awful her husband must be feeling, his heart completely torn out. And I can't stop thinking about her, in her last seconds of living. What an awful way to die.

It made me realize how short life is. So short.

I hugged Tim tight today when I got home. And I cried telling him the story. I don't know what I would do if he died. I don't know if I could function without him. He's the one for me. Nobody knows how to make the fluffiest eggs like he can. I seriously don't know what he does to them. Nobody else would come up to me when I'm working out and hand me a Dorito... Nobody else could put up with my crazy, crazy mood swings. He's so calm, and I'm all over the place. Nobody else actually enjoys cleaning the house like he does. Nobody else has such passion for video games or drumming like he does, even if at times it gets annoying... He's constantly trying to better himself and our life together. One of my favorite things he does this: As long as he doesn't have to work the next day, Tim will stay up super late playing a video game or something. I stay awake as long as I can until I end up falling asleep on the couch. He'll get me a cup of water and my cell phone (I use it as an alarm), put them on my nightstand, turn the blankets down, and spray my pillow spray (I use either lavender, mint, or jasmine vanilla-all super relaxing smells I highly recommend). He'll then wake me up and carry me to bed. It's the sweetest thing ever. And he does it without complaint. He seriously never complains. Makes me realize how much I complain to him, now that I think about it. 

Anyway, the whole point of this post is just as a reminder: "Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity" (something I saw somewhere on Pinterest). You don't know when your time will be up. Spend time with your family. Super hug a loved one today. Seriously. Long hug. Let them know you love them. I know because of this 29-year-old woman, many people will be doing that more often. 

I know because of her, I'll be hugging this man a lot more for sure. 

After Heather and I got back from Salem, we met up with the guys and headed to Bobby Flay's Burger Palace. I REALLY wish that we hadn't just gone out to eat at Finz restaurant because I was still super full...Bobby's place is one of the restaurants I had really wanted to eat at. Considering it was our last night in Boston, we wanted to at least go and check it out. I got some sort of pomegranate milkshake. It was okay, nothing spectacular.

Seriously, Ben?

Tim acting regal.

Seriously? The little movie clip we saw on youtube of Bobby's "crunchified" idea had WAY more than like FIVE chips. I was disappointed. Tim still listened for the crunch sound though, and it was there. He actually said that the burger itself was really good.

Um, holy onion rings!

Tim got some delicious homestyle fries.

Tim always saves his gum :)

Since Heather and I already ate, we decided to roam around the mall that was nearby. Problem was it was closed. So we decided to walk around for a while :)

It was pretty creepy. I was fully expecting to see zombies walking around or something :)

But nope, just creepy mannequins.

And creepy Heather.

I think we were getting really tired at this point :)

I decided to be rebellious and get a picture taken where the Easter bunny normally is and it's blocked off.

Then we went back to the hotel. And I saw this...three grown men playing Magic. It was pretty funny.

We left bright and early the next morning to head home. I'll be honest with you-I drove the first seven hours? Not too sure if I was completely awake the entire time. I probably shouldn't have been driving. Anyhow, have you ever driven through New York? It's AMAZING. Rolling hills and little towns in the valleys. So cool. We stopped at a rest stop in New York that had a Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, a health shop, and a souvenir shop, where I got this mug:

What, not cute enough for you??? 

How 'bout this, me first thing in the morning? I know you're jealous of my beautiful knotted hair...how does it even get like that???

Sitting outside (first thing in the morning) reading about meatball tacos. Okay then, Emily. Weirdo.

Actually, if you want to call someone weird, it should be my fiancé.  I decided to be healthy at the rest stop and got a kid's meal :). My little toy was that random green thing, and it came with a Pharaoh's hat? That Tim proceeded to wear and then forget about it and walk around wondering why people are smiling at him?...Yeah.

Anyhow, Tim drove the rest of the way home. I slept the ENTIRE way. Told you I was tired :) We got home a little after midnight. And I worked the next day. You know those people who tell you to not work the day you get home from vacation? They're totally right. 

So....overall, is Boston a trip you want to take? ABSOLUTELY! The little shops and restaurants, taking the metro, never knowing what you'll find around the next corner, the HISTORY, yes, you want to go to Boston. Just don't take four other people with you crammed into a small car for a ride that ends up taking 19 hours...Other than that, it was awesome :) I can't WAIT to plan our next trip!