thankfulness

We had such a wonderful thanksgiving celebration with Ryan's family. Spending time together is always something to be extremely grateful for, not to mention the amazing feast we got to share. Kristen got up early and made us all pumpkin/banana muffins, accompanied by fresh VitaMix orange juice. Some favorites were the herb-stuffed turkey breast and the rye-seeded sourdough and herb stuffing. I have to say our whole menu really did come together beautifully, thanks to every single person rolling up their sleeves & pitching in.


Some things we're especially thankful for this year:

• Enjoying the ordinary moments in life with each other
• A house we can actually unpack in
• Not just one, but TWO amazing wonderful, supportive families

or play?

AND if that alone wasn't rad enough, on Monday, Captain TJ took us sailing for our very first time. Let's just say this-- I could get used to that kind of an afternoon. Cruising along with only sounds of water lapping against the boat, chatting with friends, eating yummy food, loving on adorable baby Sailor, eeking over the dolphin trailing alongside us, & soaking up the 70 degree weather in November. I loved absolutely everything about Florida except the humidity. You'll understand better when you see my hair in these pictures. 

business?

Ryan booked a wedding in Florida and instead of using the travel funds for a solo flight, we decided to put it towards gas so both of us could go. We stayed at sweet Jared's parent's house in St. Pete for the wedding and then got a bonus day in Clearwater with our dear friends TJ & Sheena. While our entire Saturday was consumed with wedding festivities, we were able to fill our Sunday with kayaking on the ocean, "sexy man" sushi, and almost partying in downtown Tampa. Almost because by the time Jared drove us there, Ryan was sound asleep in the front seat and I was not far behind. Party poopers, we know.

fellow west coasters

Right when we started to actually get to know and hang out with our two amazingly wonderful friends, Mo & Jordan, they decided to move back home to California. While I could not be happier that they get to share their new baby with their for-reals family, we are selfishly sad that we won't be able to enjoy their company on a regular basis anymore.

Ryan took some maternity pictures for them and I'm so impressed with how they turned out. Besides the fact that Mo & Jordan are such a good-looking couple, I think my husband is so incredibly talented... and yet somehow he keeps getting EVEN better.

it's a halloween kind of a weekend

I'm certainly not the biggest Halloween enthusiast, but there is something undeniably fun about dressing up. A few years ago, I even convinced my dear friends to dress up as the cast of Gilligan's Island in a day's notice. Unfortunately, the only group picture we got was from someone with a disposable camera. But I have to say, Sarah makes a smokin hot "Ginger", Jared apparently IS "Skipper", and the candid photo of Ryan and I really warms my heart. 

This year, we had really good intentions of dressing up for a Halloween party. Instead, we decided to save our idea for costumes for next year and have a low-key night with our friends Mo & Jordan. It was a good decision on our part.

the season of autumn

After we saw the forecast for this week, we thought that we ought to enjoy the outdoors as much as possible over the weekend since fall is swiftly transitioning into winter.

So that's what we did. We rode our bikes pretty much everywhere we went, we walked at the lake, and we even picked out a few pumpkins to decorate our little home. This weekend, I'm going to convince Ryan it's a good idea to stud them... I'll let you know how that goes.
 

here's to wishing

For fall break last year, my WHOLE immediate family got to be together in Nashville. Even though the quantity of times like those is not nearly enough to meet my standards, I can honestly say that living far away from them has made me appreciate the quality of moments like that.

I wish I was rich enough to buy them all tickets out here so we could celebrate Jessica's birthday together again with some scrabble/picnic/wine/frizbee at Arrington Vineyards and surprise birthday serenades at Italian dinners. 

But instead, I'll just cherish the memories we have from last year and look forward to making more when I see them at Christmas time this year.

We also are wishing the happiest birthday to my not-so-baby-anymore sister Jessica Cherise. I kind of like her a LOT. 

Our 9-month-iversary

I really CANNOT believe that 9 months ago [this past Saturday to be exact] I got to marry my best friend. Around this time last year, we were busily planning out all the details of our special day. In the meantime, several of our friends who had gotten engaged AFTER us, were beating us to the punch. As much as I remember wishing our day would come sooner, I kept telling myself to cherish the anticipation. Looking back, I'm so glad we didn't rush things. Being engaged for what now seems like 9 SHORT months was a wonderful season in our lives, filled with very special memories.

One of those memories was Britta & Elliott's wedding celebration, which was one [everything from their rehearsal dinner to their reception]  that we mimicked a lot of elements in our wedding after. We're wishing them a happy 1 year today... & having a hard time believing that we're not too far behind!

PS: the last photo was taken on Shelby Street bridge in downtown Nashville, where their lovely ceremony took place... if you look closely, you can see the letters WKDF in red to the right of my head. That's the building I lived in for the first 6 months in Nashville before Ryan and I got married. It was definitely a fun experience to live downtown-- but the constant noise and traffic definitely outweighed the perks.

As of late

Last weekend, we made another batch of our all-fruit VitaMix margaritas for our friends Britta & Elliot, and Ryan cooked up some of his specialty stuffed peppers. He has been cooking [& grocery shopping] a lot lately, and I feel quite spoiled.

We also finally made time to try and salvage our succulents that I so proudly brought home from AZ at the beginning of summer. I have always heard what resilient plants they are, but they did NOT love the TN climate to say the least [Or at least that's my excuse for not being able to keep them alive... and I'm stickin to it]. We bought the soil here this time & I'm hoping that they will thrive better separately-- as hard as it is to find non-conflicting information about how to take care of these supposedly hardy little guys, I thoroughly enjoy having a little piece of the desert around.

buddy passes = our bffs

what is one to do when one's friends uninvite them on the trip that was supposed to be happening that day?

if you are fortunate enough to have the best parents in the world like me, then you just hop on the next flight home and celebrate the occasion in even better company and fashion.

while in zona, we: packed in as much quality time with family and friends as possible; squeezed in a bit more summer on the family boat; ate at our favorite restaurants in the world: pita jungle & mint thai cafe; attended our dearly missed home church; remembered why we miss living there so stinking much.

my haz-been

i made the mistake of jokingly calling ryan this. don't worry, i already know how mean i am. but i guess i feel like i can joke like that since i always gush about how much i love my husband. it's really no secret how great i think he is. it's just that he's getting so old.


today just so happens to be his birthday. and we are thrilled to be spending it in arizona with some of our best friends, obviously my super rad family, and of course, the birthday meal TRIFECTA. seriously thank you, joe.


i'll share pictures of our unbelievably last-minute yet incredibly special trip later this week. but for now, i'll reflect on our celebration last year that involved a canoe, a legit picnic basket, and fancy glass goblets. 


happy birthday to my gem of a husband [whose work was so kindly featured here recently]. i really could not be more proud or in LOVE.

summers fleeting

prior to nashville dropping 50 degrees in one day, we had a beautiful, sunny saturday that was too hot to enjoy without some sort of water involved. so we took the whole bernal clan down the harpeth river c/o canoe music city. the last time we went was on ryan's 25th birthday almost exactly one year ago and it was just as peaceful and relaxing as we remembered. we keep missing the "prime" season for canoeing around here so i'm starting to wonder if rapids even exist in nashville?

the rest of the labor day weekend was spent eating delicious food [surprise, surprise] and antique shopping. we are becoming so spoiled we don't know what to do with ourselves without our beloved parents or siblings around. it's a good thing the holidays aren't too far away.

a look back

last year over the labor day weekend,  we traveled to lynchburg to celebrate my lovely friend leslie's marriage. 

i still can't get over the fact that the two of us have been friends since we were in diapers. all the way from our throwing-books-in-the-pool stage through undergraduate school at liberty. & as if we weren't keeping it real enough, we both got engaged and married in the same year as each other.

i guess at this rate, we basically HAVE to plan our childbearing years around each other's timelines. 

 

the bobands

boy, do we know how to show our company a good time. last time my parents came to nashville, they helped us paint our entire house. then ryan's mom and sister come down and spend a whole weekend packing our entire house. fast forward to my parent's most recent visit, where they landscaped our entire yard with us. it's a good thing nashville has great, local restaurants and shops :]

i know i'm not biased or anything, but i seriously think i am the luckiest girl alive to be raised by such loving, giving, fun, Godly people. i am so thankful for the time we had together and am praying that one day we won't be separated by so many miles.

the guestroom and their guest room

a few weekends ago, my dear friend leslie came to visit. she had the luxury of sleeping on our air mattress and memory-foam topper, nestled right between the drums and the guitar filled closet. while we may not have the ideal studio setup and certainly not the most conducive guestroom, we are thrilled with our new home in our adorable neighborhood and cannot wait to have more visitors 

::come visit us::

we packed her one fleeting day with everything we love about nashville so far-- its quirky little festivals (tomato fest), its delicious restaurants (silly goose & burger up), and its bike-ability (i think i just made that word up). we had a really sweet time, filled with sincere conversations and a vitamix or two. i feel extremely blessed to have a lifelong friend like her.

on a side note, ryan and i attempted writing a song together for the first time and it was surprisingly challenging but really fun. now that we have a home with a makeshift studio, we are working towards ryan's lifelong goal of recording a full-length album and pressing it to vinyl. and when i say we, i mean ryan bernal, ryan sullivan, and michael christmas. i haven't really contributed much so far.