Love.

I know I gave you a photo overload earlier today, but I don't care. While Kevin and I were at Gray's Lake yesterday just hanging out, I of course had to pester him with a photo opportunity. Let's just say it got a little out of hand and this is what happened.

Weekend

Sadly, it's Sunday already. I had a really great weekend spent with family. My parents were in town this weekend for the JDRF Walk for the Cure. They came Friday night and we enjoyed dinner and some drinks. We took them to a few small town bars and it was a lot of fun.

Grandma and Grandpa were also in town and Grandma made us zucchini bread and scotcheroos! 

 On Saturday morning, we walked in the JDRF Walk to Cure downtown in the skywalks. So many people and such a great cause!

Saturday night we had some serious storms run through. Nothing serious came of it, but there was a lot of "hype" leading up to it. Here's a look at the radar. I like storms up to a point, then I get scared. When I was little I used to be terrified of tornadoes, and I ALWAYS had dreams about them. I still do to this day! I found out this weekend my dad also has lots of dreams about tornadoes. Could dreams be genetic?

 I was going to do something exciting Saturday night (more info to come later this week) but it didn't work out, so I decided to color my hair instead. I was in the mood to do something drastic (always a great mood to be in when picking out hair color, right...?) I usually dye my hair "Light Auburn Brown" but I decided to go "Rich Auburn" this time. It wasn't as drastic as I'd hoped, but I do love the outcome. I'm wanting to go lighter red, I'm thinking the summer sun will help with that.

And here's the final product! Definitely a more vibrant red than before. 

Today I pretty much bummed all day. I did make a trip to the mall with a gift card Kevin won at work. What a nice boy, letting me have it! :) I put it to good use and managed to come home with money to spare! I'm most excited to try out my new Sephora eye liner. I've never boughten anything there (remember, I'm frugal) but Tonia has been suggesting I try it and it is the same price as my Target-bought stuff that has pretty well dried out. I also got a light and summery cardigan, sunnies, and some other cheap-o accessories from F21. Word to the wise--F21/Heritage has super cheap cami's ($2.80 each!) that I love. You can never have enough cami's. Anyway, I'm sure you don't care about my adventures at the mall so I will wrap this up before you call asleep at the computer.

Kevin and I are off to the grocery store, which as become somewhat of a Sunday tradition for us. Exciting things are happening in my life this week, I'll be back Wednesday with exciting news! (Don't get your hopes up, it's not a job. I wish!)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and make it a great week!

P.S. I am always on the lookout for new blogs to love, so feel free to send me suggestions anytime! If you are on the lookout for new blogs, all the blogs I read daily are listed on the righthand side over there. I love taking a half hour of my day to relax and become inspired by other bloggers. My friend Kelli just started her own blog this month! I love reading it and I know you will, too. We are VERY similar, so chances are, if you like reading this, you will like reading hers, too. You can check it out her blog, Thrive, here!

Cedar Falls Weekend

This weekend we went back to Cedar Falls (where both Kevin and I went to college) to help my brothers celebrate their 21st birthday. We got to spend time with lots of friends and family and it was a really great, but exhausting, weekend. I saw so many friends and loved being back at UNI. I never realize how much I miss it until I go back. I so badly want to be in college again. It was fun pretending for a weekend. Today I'm playing catch up--sleep, rehydrating, and blogging. I took a little blog break last week but I'm ready to get back into the swing of things this week.

Here are some photos from the weekend! 

The bar we went to has a traditional shot called the "Blue Wave." On your birthday, you take the shot and then they shower you with a pitcher of water. We told my brothers they should take the shot since it was their birthday. They were aaaaaall about it, and then this happened :)

Oddly enough neither side of our families have met yet, but this weekend my brothers met Kevin's sister.

We sang karaoke

For the first time, like, ever, Kevin asked ME to dance. Someone was nice enough to take some lovely pictures on my phone, which I was found today :) 

Chris and Allison are one of my favorite couples to hang out with! They're getting married in September, so I love talking to Allison about wedding planning. :) 

Chris is the most entertaining karaoke-er ever! These photos are priceless.

 We stayed with Heather and she has two cats. As you probably know, I am not fond of pets but something magical happened this weekend and now I want a cat. There, I said it.

And this is what I'm doing today. Recovering. It was such a fun weekend and I'm not ready for Monday to be here.

Life Lately

I had myself a nice and relaxing spring break. It felt rather unproductive until this weekend, but I was able to relax and read and get some things done around the house. Here is a glimpse into my last few weeks. [Warning: photo overload coming your way.]

I've been spending a lot of time on the patio reading as of late! (I finished The Help! Read my review here.)

I have been WAITING and WAITING for grapes to come into the grocery stores around here. This week I finally found some good ones and I will admit I'm onto my 2nd bag :).

I also bought a whole pineapple for the first time and I will never go back! It was sooo much better than the canned stuff. I know, I don't know why I sound so surprised. Yum yum yum.

The spiders are starting to creep in on my territory! Bleh!

Seriously, how does every wedding magazine/advertisement guide/photographer/venue find me?! I get so much damn wedding mail!

Went on a road trip to Webster City with Brian and Kevin over St. Patty's Day!

It was sooo nice out! We played ladder golf and drank a few. This was Brian winning and Kevin losing.

Any excuse to wear green shoes!

Came home and enjoyed some nice weather "laying out" (sans swimsuit) on the patio reading my book.

And then it was my spring break! Unfortunately, it rained. A lot.

 And stormed. I enjoy a good thunderstorm.

 So I read inside.

 I made breakfast for supper a few times this week. I just love breakfast for supper!

I got my ring cleaned at the jeweler! I looove when I ring is sparkly!

Kevin and I had a weekend long date and it was glorious! Friday night we went to a local wine bar for some live music.

I went shopping! But didn't buy anything. Kevin won a gift card to the mall at work and he is giving it to me :) but it won't come till next week. I was just scoping out my assault on Forever 21! Here are some of the dresses I tried on but painfully didn't buy. I also thought I'd photograph them to see if I still want them when I go back next week!

This is what I wore shopping :)

 We grilled out all weekend and had a nice dinner out on the patio. It was so nice out!

It was actually hot enough and I had enough outdoor time that I had to go buy SUNSCREEN! So exciting. I got a little color this weekend :)

I made a delicious veggie stir fry! I pretty much don't really like vegetables (except peas and raw carrots, and potatoes, everyone loves potatoes) so I went outside of my comfort zone and I must say I loved this! I would have added chicken but I was of course too impatient and too hungry to be bothered with that.

There you have it! It's been a wonderful few weeks but it was good to head back to the classroom today. I didn't realize how much I missed the kiddos! It was great to interact with them again and hear about their breaks.

This week I'll be subbing by day and working out by night. Hoping to get 8 miles in this week on top of boot camp! The extra running seemed to pay off last week so I'm hoping to keep it up again this week! I'm feeling great!

Hope you all have a great week!