Oh My Gourd!

Last summer, Zac and I thought that it would be nice to build a little compost area in our backyard. Now that we were no longer living in an apartment and had plenty of space outside, we could make it happen.

Zac removed the railroad ties that lined the length of the back fence and used them to construct a good sized compost bin. He filled it up with dirt that had been dug out of another part of our backyard (more details on that later), and we began to use our new compost pile regularly.

The majority of things that found their way to the compost pile included peelings from cucumbers, potatoes, bananas, zucchini, squash, oranges, etc. We also threw in grass trimmings, strawberry stems, watermelon rinds and our carved pumpkins after Halloween was over.  All in all our compost pile was working out just as we'd hoped. The railroad ties fit together nicely so we didn't have to worry about leakage of dirt through the walls of the bin. Plus Zac had constructed it along the fence furthest from the patio door which prevented us from being pestered by flies who found the compost pile to be their new hot spot.

A few months ago Zac and I started to notice a little plant growing in the middle of our compost pile. We had no idea what it was but we were curious to find out. Although we still used the compost pile for its original purpose, Zac also began to start watering the little plant that had sprouted up. As if it had grown overnight, our little plant had taken over the compost space and now it looks like this:

We were amazed at how big the plant had gotten in such a short amount of time. The leaves that are growing suggest that the plant is in the squash family. Zac and I started to think back on all of the things that we had thrown away in the compost pile that could have resulted in such a big plant. The very first thing that came to mind were the pumpkins that were tossed in at the beginning of November. Not only had we thrown in whole pumpkins but when we were carving them we disposed of their inner plant parts and threw those in the compost pile as well. Other thoughts on the potential result of this plant included squash, zucchini, and watermelon.

After the leaves filled in the entire bin the flowers started to bloom. Big, beautiful, yellow flowers started sprouting up all over the compost pile.

We also noticed a little fruit or veggie starting to grow. The first time we saw it, it was as small and green as a ripe lime.

Now it has grown to the size of a football. It seems to be the only one of its kind. Out of all the blooms on this plant this has been the only thing that has started to grow. From the coloring and shape our best bet is that we have a watermelon plant on our hands. No complaints from us there! We LOVE watermelon.

Perhaps soon we'll know for sure what this is.....we'll keep you updated.

Wearing His Heart On His Sleeve

Zac and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary just a few days ago. As we opted for a low-key celebration since we're saving money for the big day we also decided not to get too crazy with the gifts. So when it came time to pick out a gift for Zac I decided that although the gift was going to be inexpensive it didn't mean that it couldn't also be pretty meaningful. My sweet Zac is quite the romantic and has always worn his heart on his sleeve. I thought that our wedding day should be no different.

For Zac's anniversary gift I diy'ed a little heart out of a fun yellow and white print fabric. Inside the heart I hand stiched a 'T *heart* Z'.

This little piece of fabric is going to be sewn on the inside of Zac's sleeve on the suit jacket he plans to wear when we get married so that Zac can carry around his own hidden 'T + Z' on the big day. Zac loved the heart.

On our wedding day, not only will Zac be wearing his own heart on his sleeve, but he'll be wearing my heart as well.

Love is in the Air

We all know that weddings can get to be pretty expensive. Zac and I have been watching our spending and resisting the urge to splurge on big items or go out to eat often. Our families are also giving us some help (which we are unbelievably grateful for!!!) in having a beautiful wedding. Though we couldn't afford to splurge and take a mini vacation or road trip, Zac and I weren't going to let our budget get in our way of having a good time on our anniversary. We decided to have a laid back celebration together at home. It's nice to think that this time next year we will perhaps be on our honeymoon. Plus years from now when we're married with children we'll look back on the celebration of our sixth year together and remember it as the year that we were saving for our wedding. It's a sweet thought.

Before we settled in for a nice evening in we had a whole afternoon of fun planned. First we went shopping for supplies to work on what we're calling 'Project Wonderland' (don't worry...we'll be revealing details later about this fun project in the near future) and secondly, we were meeting up with some friends and co-workers of mine to have some drinks and celebrate the union of Josh and Matt who are newly married. After a little rearranging of plans we all met up at Chevy's to celebrate over margaritas. Here are some shots from the afternoon.

Gabe and Danielle being goofy.

I love my Mattie!

Josh and Mattie as cute as ever! Congratulations guys!

Claire-bear enjoying a margarita.

Just the girlies....Danielle, me, and Claire.

Bailey and Jeremy just started dating. Aren't they so cute.

Love was definitely in the air.

Miss Kelly giving us a cheesy smile.

Hey, hey, Natalie!

This was a fun moment. Anyone want to guess what was going on in Mattie's mind at this moment?

A little goofy after one margarita.

Danielle always does a self portrait at ocassions like this.

The margaritas really were yummy.

Anniversary kisses...even if he was eating chips and wasn't ready for it. \

Of course we couldn't end the afternoon without a silly moment from Mr. Mattie.

I just love him.

We had such a good time catching up with everyone, joking, laughing, and celebrating.

When the afternoon of margaritas at Chevy's was over, Zac and I began our prepping for our anniversary date night in. We decided that rather than making a big dinner at home we would put together a bunch of little treats to snack on during our movie. Having never been into Whole Foods (I'm sure a hear some gasping out there...no we've never been to Whole Foods) we decided to venture into the grocery store to get everything we needed for a yummy spread.

Fresh ciabatta bread, a variety of cheeses (swiss, smoked gouda, mounster, sharp cheddar, pepper jack, and a goat gouda), and an assortment of crackers.

White chocolate, milk chocolate, dark choclate.

Strawberries, apple, and wine to go with the chocolate.

Zac also made some yummy bruschetta using the ciabatta bread, tomatoes, basil, and olive oil.

In the end we had quite a spread that included 2 mini pizzas (one that had some delicious egglplant on it), ciabatta bread, bruschetta, organic white bread, chocolate, apple, strawberries, hummus, cheese, wine, and champagne.

Zac and I had a wonderful night together just hanging out in our house, watching movies and snacking. It couldn't have been a better way to spend our 6 year anniversary...just being home.



6 Years Together

Six years ago today Zac and I went on our first date.

We worked together at Applebee's and had been flirting harmlessly for months. On June 27, 2005 we met with a group of our co-workers for lunch at The Spaghetti Factory. The lunch turned into an afternoon dessert and eventually became a movie date with just the two of us. After the movie, Zac invited me to a birthday dinner for his sister's friend, Erica. Zac was surprised that, having never met any of the people at the birthday dinner, I went along for the ride. After driving for a while, I eventually asked him where we were going. He smiled and replied, "Forward"...and that's where we've been headed ever since.

Happy Anniversary Cheaterpants!

-Love, Sparkles

Congratulations!

Last night Zac and I went to a housewarming party for our friends Matt and Josh. The two just bought their first home and we were so excited to see it and celebrate this amazing accomplishment. Mattie is one of the sweetest people I have ever met and although I've only met Josh on two occasions it's clear to see why they make such a great match. Josh is just as fun and sweet as Mattie is. Here is a picture of Matt (in the red shirt) with Josh (in the black shirt) hanging out in Yosemite last month:

Just a few days ago Matt announced that he and Josh had made the ultimate commitment....they got married!! He posted this picture on his Facebook page to announce the great news:

So we all had another reason to celebrate at the housewarming party. Zac and I had such a great time checking out the happy couple's new home and celebrating their union. Congratulations Matt and Josh!!!!

When I got home from the party last night, I was excited to find out that another couple had some good news as well. My friend Holly (a coworker of mine, and frequent reader of this little blog...hi Holly!!) announced last night that she is engaged! How exciting right?! 

Another big congratulations goes out to Holly and Ryan. :) Holly and I have had many wedding related conversations in the last few months. Whenever I see her at work she asks me how wedding planning is going and is interested to know all the newest details. Now that Miss Holly is tying the knot I can't wait to hear all about her planning and her coastal wedding! I'm sure it will be a spectacular event.

A HUGE congratulations to my friends and the wonderful changes going on in their lives. I may complain about my job and serving in general but there is one great thing that has come out of working in the restaurant world. I have met some great people and made some amazing friends. Both Matt and Holly started out as my coworkers but now we're much more than that......now we are friends first and coworkers second. I am so happy for them!

Congratulations you guys!

Waterboy

A few nights ago Zac and I had a little fun with Jim. My mom had come over earlier in the day and left a mini water bottle. Once it was empty Zac had the fun idea of placing it on the floor and seeing how Jim would react. Our poor little guy. His little mouth was just too small to pick up the water bottle. The new toy totally freaked him out and he came to us more than once during this little game to get reassurance that the water bottle was okay and not out to get him. Here's a small clip of Jim's 3rd interaction with the water bottle. I wish that I would have gotten his initial reaction. It was the funniest thing I've ever witnessed. He freaked out and ran circles around the living room in what seemed like a panicked state. Although at this point Jim had already been introduced to the new toy this video is still pretty entertaining.

*Sorry in advance for the dark video. It was around 9pm and my camera doesn't have a flash while it videotapes. The glare of the lights from the room on our shiny tile floor didn't really help matters, but you can still tell what is going on. At the beginning of the video the water bottle is in front of Jim in the middle of the floor. I only say this because it's kind of hard to see.....anyways, here's the video.*

Enjoy!

Eventually he got a good grip on the water bottle and smashed it with his jaws, ending the game. It was fun while it last, though.

Baby Talk

This is me:

Yup, that was me at age 4. I was quite the stubborn child and tired of my mother taking so many photos of me, I decided that I wasn't going to smile. Can't you see the determination? No matter what she said or did I was going to hold strong ....or at least try to. I think this was the closest my mom came to getting me to crack a smile during that photoshoot. My poor mom. All she wanted was a nice photo of me in the cute outfit she so happily picked out. They say that however you were as a child, is how your own children will be. With my luck this will mean that Zac and I will have some very stubborn little ones to deal with.

Back in 2005, the idea of motherhood scared me to death. Looking back, it definitely should have. I was barely 20 years old, I was still living at home with my parents, and Zac and I had just started dating.

Six years later, a lot of things have changed. Zac and I live together in a beautiful home that we love. I graduated from college and am looking to get my masters degree. We are engaged and are just over 10 months away from saying 'I do'. Together, Zac and I have a solid, loving relationship. We've grown over these last six years, both individually and as a couple. It's clear that we've become very mature adults:

In all seriousness though, our priorities have certainly changed over the time that we've been together. The biggest change has been the idea of parenthood. Don't get me wrong, there are still some things about motherhood that concern me (Will I know what to do? Will I be a good mom? Will I really be able to do this?). The difference these days is that the happy, excited feelings of becoming a mother and having children with Zac seriously outweigh any of my fears.

Zac and I have been talking about children for a few years now. We even have a small collection of baby onesies. We bought these onesies a few years ago. Call it stupid, call it weird, say whatever you will, but we like our little collection.

Even with our small collection of baby onesies our baby conversations have only gotten really serious in the last year or so. Back in 2009, we said that 2012 would be a good year to have children. At the time 2012 seemed long enough away that we would have time to prepare ourselves for this life changing decision, but not too far off that we would regret waiting. Our own ages have been a factor in our discussions. Zac has said that he wanted to have his first child by the time that he was 30 and I would like to be done having children by the time that I reach 30. Zac's 30th birthday is just a few months away. Obviously, as we are not already expecting, Zac won't be a daddy on his 30th but we've made the decision that he won't have to wait too long after this milestone birthday to get that title.

Another factor to consider in our decision regarding when to have children has been the topic of marriage. I am not a traditional girl (I moved in with Zac right after our 1 year anniversary...clearly long before we were ever engaged) but I have always said that I want to be married before I have children. I have no judgements on other peole who have children before getting married (my own mother had babies before she got married to my dad) but it just isn't the way I saw my adult life playing out. So, although Zac and I have had conversations over the years about having children, we both knew that it wouldn't happen until after we walked down the aisle and officially became a Mr. and Mrs.

Now that Zac and I are engaged, I get asked (frequently) when we plan on starting a family. Zac is more than ready to be a daddy. He has jokingly said that we have plenty of time now for me to get pregnant and have a baby before we get married. As wonderful as it would be to have a baby right now, that won't be happening. Breastfeeding at the altar is not really what I have been envisioning for our wedding. Now is just not the right time. Planning a wedding can get a little stressful and I've heard secondhand how stressful having a baby can be. Putting the two together and experiencing both at the same time does not seem like something we would like to or should do. One step at a time is the best way to go, so that's our plan.

This doesn't mean that we're going to wait a long time after the wedding to start expanding our family. If all goes well (I had a weird dream last week in which I couldn't have babies) we'll be planning to add to our family shortly after our spring wedding. Zac and I are calling it "reception conception". Funny, right? Well, we thought that it was funny. While no shenanigans will be going down at our wedding (at least not between us...I can't speak for a few of our guests), a honeymoon baby isn't out of the question. We may not be having a 2012 baby but a 2013 baby will be just as wonderful (plus it isn't too far off our originally discussed plan).

We're already excited for the wedding, but having this post wedding baby plan really amplifies the excitement for next year. There's just so much to look forward to. As much as we're excited to be parents I'm sure our little nephew Grayson will be happy to have a cousin. Zac and I just love little Grayson. Seriously, just look at his little face. How could you not be in love with him?!

Having little Grayson around really proved for Zac and I that having a baby sooner rather than waiting a year or two after the wedding is the right decision. It was so great having Grayson (and Sarah and the rest of the family) in our house. The house seemed a little too quiet when everyone left....there was definitely something missing.

It was only a week or so after everyone left that we got our pup Jim. People have been joking that Jim is our practice child. While having Jim is an added responsibility, we know that it in no way prepares us to be parents. (Could you imagine if we left our baby alone with a stash of food and water and a few toys while we went off to work? Ha ha ha, I'd call CPS on myself!) Extending our family with a furry friend is not the same as building our family with a baby but it is still a great experience. Getting a dog was not something I ever expected that we would do and I certainly didn't think that the first time I purchased a baby gate that it would be for a four legged little pup. Though we won't have to worry about having any baby clothes in the laundry any time soon, it's kind of fun to see Jim's little shirts ready to be washed.  

Zac and I haven't added to our collection of onesies and don't plan on buying any more until we have a bun in the oven but every once in a while I find something super cute that catches my eyes. Just a few days ago I came across this baby bikini in a size 18 months.

How adorable is that? Who even makes these things?! (It was Old Navy in case you were wondering.) I resisted the urge to buy it and put it away for later. (With our luck I'd buy this baby bikini and we'd have three little boys running around.) Soon enough we'll be able to go shopping for a little one so we'll save the excitement of picking out clothes until then.

There is no doubt that Zac and I want to start a family. Who knows? Maybe this time next year we'll be able to happily announce that we're expecting. But for now I'll enjoy the time we have together, just the two of us...

...well the three of us.

Monogrammed

Don't you just love these monogrammed coffee mugs from Anthropologie?

I do! That's why, last year on our 5 year anniversary, Zac and I popped into Anthropologie and picked up two mugs; a 'T' (for Teeny) and a 'Z' (for Zac). We had taken a trip to San Francisco to celebrate 5 years together and thought that it would be nice to bring back a little something that would remind us of our trip. These mugs were perfect! I picked up some fabric flowers from Michael's Craft Supply and then Zac and I found a home for the mugs on the bookshelf in our office.

Zac and I have put a few other little 'T's and 'Z's hidden in the house. When Zac made pillows for the entryway (yes he's a straight man with a sewing machine) he added A 'T' and 'Z' to one of them.

Our bedroom features a frame wall with a bunch of different prints. In one of the frames we've added a 'T' and 'Z'  print.

It's always a treat to walk by the entryway bench or take a peek at the frame wall in our bedroom and see the 'T' and 'Z'. It's a wonderful reminder of how much I love my Zac. The  monogrammed mugs are sweet addition to our office decor. After looking through various wedding blogs and inspiration websites, I found a few pictures of these monogrammed mugs on one of my favorite wedding blogs, Style Me Pretty. It looks like several people have chosen to use these mugs as decor for their wedding receptions. Several of the photos I saw had mugs that spelled out 'LOVE'.  

I thought that it was such a cute idea. The mugs would look so nice on the entry table, or gift table, or even on the head table. It definitely gave me a few ideas for some decorations to use in our wedding. After we got engaged, Zac and I headed to our local Anthropologie and picked up a third monogrammed mug, a 'C' for Chapman.

I don't think that we'll go back and get mugs to spell out 'LOVE' but we'll definitely use the monogrammed mugs that we already have somewhere in our wedding decor. I'm thinking of replacing the pink flowers that we have with some yellow flowers and putting the mugs on our guestbook table. Though the wedding invitation and all the formal stationary regarding the wedding will say 'Cristina', I am most commonly known as Teeny. So, any initials that appear in the wedding decor will reflect that.

Looking at other wedding decoration ideas of various websites, I found these items that might serve as some great inspiration once we get down those smaller details:

1. Centerpieces

TheKnot.com had this cute idea to use initials on the centerpieces or other floral decorations.

2. Favors

Weddingbycolor.com had ideas for using initials on wedding favors.



3. Water Bottle Labels

I also found these water bottle labels that were pretty cute.

Over the next few months we'll keep looking up different ideas and perhaps may include other monogrammed items in our wedding decor. For now I'm excited to have our Anthropologie mugs on display.