Love – Page 2

A LITTLE BIRTHDAY SURPRISE!

A Little Birthday Surprise took place 3 days ago in our home! My sweet hubby had a special Birthday to celebrate.. His big quarter of a century birthday. I think anyone who has read my blogs, knows how I feel about the big 25! To me its a special day! Unlike me, birthday’s are not that ‘big of a deal’ to my fiancé! He doesn’t like to make a big deal about them and rather just lay low. Trust me it’s not because he’s getting old.. lol.. I mean… OLDER! lol. He’s just a lay low kinda guy, especially for birthdays.

None the less, I wanted to make it a little special. He made it quite hard for me actually, he had no idea what he wanted or what he even wanted to do. So it was up to me, to make his day a little special. I wanted to do something he would never even think I would do… So I got my crafts out and got to work. A morning surprise was what he woke up to! I also gathered some ideas and began to think of some things we had talked about doing in the future. So with no help from him, and a little stress later, I came up with a simple idea. On his birthday we would paint!! I’m sure everyone has heard of BYOB painting classes, where you bring your own booze and snacks and paint away! Well we kept it classy with some wine, grapes and muffins (lol) and got to work! And no better way to end the night off than by sharing it with family and having dinner with the ones you love on your birthday. Thats exactly what we did! Thank you to everyone who was there to share it with him!

Even though it was a simple day, I know my hubby appreciated it. Like I said, he’d rather lay low. He’s a simple kinda guy and I love that about him. We always talk about keeping the small things in our relationship alive and full of love and I really think this was one of those days. It was small, quaint, relaxing and full of fun and love. And what better day to experience something new than on a birthday?? Plus, we surprised ourselves with our art skills! Which by the way,our art pieces are a little glimpse into our wedding!

All I know is this… I can’t wait to share more Birthday’s with my future husband! Wish you so many more my love. May God bless you with many more full of health, love and happiness. Love you!

Love…

Jen ❤

And Yes! I made the ‘happy birthday’ banner and notes. Did i mention I love washi tape and that i woke up at 7 am to surprise him with this while he was sleeping?!? oh for the love of…LOVE & Birthdays..lol. The Final Product and a glimpse into our wedding next year! And yes, we did paint our wedding venue! Thats a Picasso for you! 😉Such a lovely day! Thank you to Painting with a Twist: Ft. Lauderdale for having us for a day! A special thank you also for allowing us to paint our venue and letting our creativity run wild and helping us every step of the way!

-Jen<3

PUMPKINS UNDER PALM TREES

In on honor of Fall, and its last month with us for this year… A day full of pumpkins.. Florida style under palm trees! A couple of weeks back we paid a visit to our local farmers market, Flamingo Road Nursery. It’s probably one of the most known farmer’s market in the Ft. Lauderdale area for their pumpkin patch. We made it on the last day that the farmer’s market was offering the pumpkin patch. It was full of people eager to get their hands on the most orange and roundest pumpkin there!

Down here in South Florida, our pumpkin patch experience is quite different from up north. Last year we sweat up a storm in probably 90 degree weather… Don’t worry we had a little better luck this year. It wasn’t as hot this year and we had a nice breeze to cool us off! None-the less, we kinda made it a quick trip! Drank some cold apple cider, rode the hayride and picked our pumpkins and headed home! The amount of people there was kinda crazy… we don’t do big crowds well.. so it was a trip, quick and to the point! It still was a great day spent with my honey and little sister!

What we were most excited for was really choosing the pumpkins to take them home and carve! Believe it or not, none of us had ever carved a pumpkin. There’s a first time for everything and we can now scratch that off our to-do list because it was a great success! First stop after was to our local arts & craft store, Michael’s, to pick up some necessities for our pumpkins. Well lucky for us, they had pumpkin carving tools on sale for 88 cents! score!

We headed over to my parents house and set up our work station and began to get our hands dirty!! Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I do! Every time I look back on them it reminds me of the fun we shared with my little sister and how great of a day we had! It was so heartwarming to see the excitement and the twinkle in my sisters eyes as she carved away her own pumpkin. She’s growing too fast and I’m making sure to cherish all the little moments with her. It’s always so joyous seeing her be proud of herself! (because yes, she carved it herself after we cleaned it out for her) It was also fun to do something new with Xavier. I must say we make one heck of a team! Not only did we enjoy the day but being able to spend time with my family and having my parents watch us is always special!We made more memories, and good memories are always welcomed in my book!

Here is our day captured on my iPhone! Enjoy! Show us your pumpkin carving designs… we would love to see them!

We hope your fall has been full of wonderful memories too!

Jen<3

THE PROPOSAL!

The proposal! Yes, our proposal! It was simply perfect. Xavier and I are officially engaged and we could not be more excited! Not only are we excited but we are so remarkably blessed! Our relationship has been a blessing in disguise from the very beginning. Xavier and I met in Nursing school and to many’s surprise, he and I were not even friends in the beginning. I was a little apprehensive to start a friendship with Xavier, mostly because of his “I’m a stud and I know it” kinda walk he had, lol. According to him, he always just “wanted my attention.” I didn’t give him my attention until some semesters after in school where we actually had to be in clinical’s together. We got to know each other some more and we actually became great friends. Towards the end of nursing school our good friend Anita, aka cupid, started stirring things up for us and long behold the truth came out! We actually liked each other and we both were okay with it. Our last semester in nursing school, Xavier and I were pretty much inseparable and he asked me to be his girlfriend! That moment alone was unforgettable… picnic by the bay, asking me to be his girlfriend and dolphins swimming right by the water. No seriously, that’s exactly how it went! Just lovely. We also have been so blessed to share graduation together, passing our boards together and being hired as Nurses weeks apart! Some months into working we even got our own place! So many memories.. and to think that we have so many more in our future together fills my heart with so much love. God has truly been watching over us and for that we are grateful.

For those of you that have followed my blog, you’ll know that Xavier and I had a trip planned to NYC this past week. That trip was ‘supposedly’ meant to be a mini-vacation to NYC and to attend an event in Madison square garden. Little did I know, one of the most important questions in my life would be asked. On that day, Xavier and I woke up to the usual New York city noise and the hustle of the crowd. Little did I know Xavier had been planning this day for some months. Our day started by getting some very delicious breakfast and a walk in the park. After our bellies were full we headed to the world trade center memorial. From there we had plans to meet up with Xavier’s friend and his girlfriend to head to Brooklyn. After some debating on where we were really going to meet them and lots of painful walking, Xavier told me that we would meet them at the Brooklyn bridge, so we could walk across it. Lets jut say I was not a happy camper and my feet were in so much pain that I quickly told him, “I am not walking the bridge!” Well to my surprise, Xavier turned around and gave me a very sturdy and loud “WE ARE WALKING THE BRIDGE!” I was so stunned that I just stayed quiet and agreed,lol. I gave in, sucked up the pain and headed to the bridge in pain but excited to see the great Brooklyn bridge! Little did I know, this was all planned.

THE PROPOSAL: We got to the start of the bridge, Xavier stopped to put his jacket on and get his camera ready so we could take some awesome shots! I quickly followed his steps so that we wouldn’t have to stop in the middle of the bridge and hold up people who were doing the same. ( This was the moment that he very sneakily put the ring in his pocket that he had been carrying in his camera bag!) I was so blinded by the view that I didn’t even notice this! lol. Well, we walked close to the middle of the bridge were we met up with his friend and his girlfriend and we all kept walking together. To my surprise as well, they were in on the plan! Just about midway on the bridge we all stopped to take some shots. Xavier asked to use my camera so he could take a panorama shot while I took a picture of his friend and his girlfriend. ( This was the moment he took a picture of a small piece of paper with some very important words) Once again, I of course did not even notice, lol. Well right after, Xavier asked me to give his camera to his friend so he could take a picture of us on the bridge. The next part, is the best part of this story!!

On October 17, at 3:20 in the afternoon, Xavier and I made one of the best memories in our lives thus far. He asked me to grab my camera and look at the cool shot he had taken with my camera. To my surprise, and it was a very unexpected surprise! It was the most beautiful picture i had ever seen! It was him holding a little piece of paper with the best words on it… “WILL YOU MARRY ME?” The moment was perfect, the timing was perfect and the setting was breathtaking! A this moment all I could do was cry. I literally threw myself on him while he was on one knee and ended up on my knees too! lol. I cried out of excitement and the feeling of love that was rushing through me. It was a feeling like no other and a feeling that I cannot even describe with words. Knowing that you will spend the rest of your life along with the love of your life, your soul mate and your lover is the best feeling ever.

It was a moment that I will cherish for the rest of my life and that when thinking back on it, will always bring a smile to my face. It will be a memory that will be in our hearts forever and a moment that will remind us of our love. Our proposal was perfect for us in every way possible. We were experiencing a new place together, doing something that we enjoy doing as a couple (taking pictures.)Our story thus far has always had ‘unexpected moments’ and this is another that will be added to our list. These ‘unexpected’ moments for Xavier and I have been the best moments and moments that show us our endless blessings.

We are so thrilled for our future ahead. I know that I cannot imagine spending a future without him. He makes me better, he supports me, takes care of me, loves me unconditionally and makes me complete. I know that we will always be there for each other through the good times and the bad. I can only pray that God continues to bless us in our future ahead. We are very excited to share this moment with all our loved ones and with you all. So here are our perfect pictures captured by Mike, Xavier’s friend. THE PROPOSAL.

ps. It was a little windy that day.. lol

love,

Jen and Xavier.

Thanks to everyone who has already congratulated us and to our families for giving us your blessing. It means the world to us and we love you all.

A special thanks to Mike and Jisbely for helping Xavier capture this special moment in our lives.

Jen & X.

*all images are property of La Vida, life as it comes

MEN TELL ALL!

MEN TELL ALL!! Yes! I was so excited to share this once i ran into it following some fellow bloggers. It was such a great idea! What is it?? Well the ‘link-up’ is called; ” Blogger men tell all.” It’s basically a way to have our readers get to know the man behind the girl who blogs! Neat right? Well even though I’m a little late, since the ‘link-up’ is the last Tuesday of every month.. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for September’s link up! FYI, we had fun with the question and answer’s! It was funny because once I presented the idea to Xavier, he was so willing to participate. My favorite part had to be having him ask ‘me’ what ‘his’ answers to his questions would be..lol.. Especially in question one. Well he finally figured it out and here it is!

Here’s a little piece of my handsome boyfriend for you all.. Enjoy! ~Xavier

Isn't he handsome? Love him! — Isn’t he handsome? Love him!

Link-Up #1:

1. If you had a blog what would you call it and what would it be about? It would be called “Experience it with ME.” And it would be about Life, Music and Electronics.

2. If you could live inside any video game, which would it be? “If I could live in any video game which one would it be? WOW!” “World of warcraft. One: its my favorite game of all time. Two: The world in-game is immense, explorable, and interactive. Three: I always wanted to be a warrior that fights giant bosses, kills them for awesome items in order to be and look the best in storm wind! and Four: I get to fly on a unique mount to get from place to place!”

3. Who is your best player on your fantasy football team this season? “I’m not in a fantasy football team this season. I usually do, but not this one.”
4. If you could play for any professional sports team, which would it be? “Whatever team Lebron is in, but if I had to choose one specific.. Id choose the Miami Heat.”
5. What do you typically do with an hour of free time? “Lately, its been playing on my Xbox one, but if not I’d be on my computer that I built.”

-Xavier

Hope you all enjoy and hope you all come back for round two at the end of the month! -Jen ❤

The link to the girls who started it all Here!

HELLO 25.. HELLO ST.AUGUSTINE!

I think Birthday’s are just another day to be thankful and to realize how much we are blessed. Usually my birthday’s consist of a nice family dinner and day out! Well this year, for the big 25 it was more than just a dinner and day out. Thanks to my lovely boyfriend and family, it was a Birthday weekend getaway! It was so great and special of him. Since Xavier and I started dating, I have always made comments on how lovely it would be to just take a drive up to St. Augustine, FL. Well about a month before my big 25, I made it known that for this birthday I really wanted to go somewhere that I had never been to before and to be able to share it with his and my family. I think he got the point because one, he told me to stop worrying about it and two, he secretly planned the whole thing. He got my parents and his family all on the same page and they agreed to make the drive up for my birthday for the weekend.

I think one thing we did learn throughout his planning is how hard it is for both of our families to keep secrets,haha. We had a couple of people slip throughout the process. My mom during the week, slipped and asked me how the weather was in St. Augustine. His Aunt mentioned St.Augustine in a conversation about hotel rooms. And our friend Anita during lunch made it known that we weren’t going to be here for the weekend. Needless to say, I kind of had an idea a day or two before the actual trip. haha, my babe at least tried. Don’t get me wrong, I was still pretty surprised. Surprised because even though I kind of knew, I was surprised that not only did my parents go but also his parents and his aunt and uncle and their daughters. It was definitely shocking that he was able to get both of our families together, since we’ve failed several times at doing so. With the exception of some other individuals that I wish could have made it. It was still so special to have the ones that were able to make it, get away with me and leave their busy schedules behind.

The night before the trip, midnight to be exact, I got my Happy Birthday wishes and a beautiful watch and a card stating that we were leaving for the weekend! He can be so sweet. So the day of my birthday we got our bags and headed to my parents house. Turned out we were driving up with them, so off we were! Xavier than let me know that his parents would be driving up the next day since they had to work. Long behold, after a 4 1/2 hour drive we were there! Xavier’s parents and aunt and uncle would meet us there the next day.

All in all y’all, it was such a great birthday weekend! It meant the world to me that my family was able to be a part of yet another birthday. Turning a quarter of a century old is a big deal after all! I truly feel beyond blessed to have such a caring family, not just MY OWN but also Xavier’s. My family and his, are all so supportive of our relationship and have such loving hearts for both of us. I really feel thankful of everyone who put their time and effort on making this birthday special for me, especially Xavier for making the plans. Life can be overwhelming at times, but life can also be wonderful if we choose to make it that way. Life is also about all the little moments we get to experience and who we get to experience them with. This past weekend the moments were memories I will cherish for a life time. THANK YOU EVERYONE!!! You all made me a very happy birthday girl.

And just so you all know, St. Augustine, FL is a beautiful little city! It is full of history, scenery, relaxation and so much more! Being known to be the oldest city, it is so incredibly cute and charming. There was so much to see and experience all in this little place. The views and the stories behind every thing you saw were remarkable. I highly recommend a trip to this charming little city! You truly will be taken back by all it has to offer. It is romantic, relaxing, exciting, and full of charm all at the same time. It was definitely a hot hot summer weekend, with much walking, but it was so worth it! We all fought through the heat and soaked up all that we had to see and learn there. I won’t tell you too much so you all experience it yourselves one day but here are some shots we took while there. Some of our stops throughout the city included: The Fountain of Youth, Castillo de San Marcos, Flagler College, St. Augustine Lighthouse and museum, and a couple of the oldest churches in the city. Those were a few of our city stops to just name a few! Lets just say my camera was very happy there!! And so were we!! (unfortunately I don’t have too many pictures of Xavier’s family since we split up for some of the day they were there for different activities, but they very much were a huge part of my celebration!)

Again, a big THANK YOU to all my loved ones for making memories with me. Love you all. ❤

And to the Love of my Life… thank you for all your efforts in making this birthday extra special for me. Love you to the moon and back times infinity! ❤

-Jen<3

PS. I had an obsession with the beautiful doors

Thank You for the wonderful memories St. Augustine, see you soon! Thank you to my family and most importantly.. Thank you God for giving me yet another day & another year, to share with my loved ones and to enjoy this life you have given us! I am so grateful.

So what places have you all visited recently? =)
*all images are property of La Vida, life as it comes

SEE YOU SOON PRIMA

See you soon prima! For my non spanish speaking followers, prima means; cousin in spanish. And let’s just say that I have one special cousin that is so dear to my heart. She was here for her summer vacation from college. Yesterday she left sunny South Florida back for another semester in North Carolina. She is one of my best friends aside from being my cousin. No questions about it. Her name is Natalie. Natalie is 19 years old, going on 35. haha. I really don’t mean that in a bad way. You see..the point that I am trying to make is that she’s not your average 19-year-old. I have watched Natalie grow over the years and the change is remarkable. Remarkable in such an amazing way. I think what bonded us over the years, with me being some years older than her, is her sense of maturity. Watching her grow up from this little spunky girl to such a mature lady has been an honor of mine as her older cousin. I may be older, but I admire her in so many ways.

Natalie is one of the most DETERMINED individuals I have personally met and have had the chance to see the determination in full effect! When she put’s her mind into doing something, anything at all.. you better believe that she will deliver! I have been able to see her work hard for what she has and its honestly inspiring. When she was in high school she came up to me one day and said she was trying out for the “lacrosse club.” I remember looking at her and thinking “Since when does she even know what lacrosse is?!” Well, needless to say, she joined the “club” and taught herself and learned from those who were willing to teach her and soaked up all things lacrosse. That lacrosse “club” soon turned into a “team.” Soon after, we were headed out to her high school lacrosse games and watching her kick some lacrosse butt! Turns out the girl was good! SO good that she managed to be the first in our family to get a full ride scholarship to a University in North Carolina playing lacrosse. Her determination is so great that it never seems to fail her. And I pray that it never does =)

You see, besides being so determined..Natalie is such a loving individual. If and when you meet her, she seems a little straight forward and a bit standoffish. But once you get to know her and draws you in to her fun and laid back personality, you see all the love she has in her. She is so humble at heart, something I hope she never looses. Because Humility is a precious gift to have when you really possess it. She’s also a little jokester at heart and I love that about her because I think its something we both have in common. Laughing is always great, but when we laugh together its even better! I’m so glad that her and I will have so many memories to last us a lifetime. But I’m especially excited for all the future memories we will make!

So the day before she left, we did something we never get tired of doing in this family! Kayaking! Xavier and I packed our little bags and took her to our favorite park to kayak! It was such a beautiful day! The water was amazingly calm and clear, so we took advantage and kayaked out to this amazing sandbar in the Miami bay. It was like being on a little island surrounded by the clear waters. The view is always pretty awesome with the Miami skyline and the palm trees from a far. Breathtaking! I wish that we would’ve spent more time while she was here for the summer. But being a grown up sometimes limits our time. But at the same time, the time we did spend together was great and memorable and full of good laughs!

Were hoping that we can pay her a visit soon to her School and add to the memory book we already have. So dear prima, you will be missed while away at school but I couldn’t be more proud of all your accomplishments thus far. I already cannot wait to see you the next time. Never forget that your favorite cousin is just a phone call away and will always be here for you! Keep your head up at all times and never lose your humility and that happiness you carry on a daily basis. Keep grounded always and always remember to keep God in your heart! It’s so great to be the audience of your life as of now. I am so proud of the woman you have become and all that you have left to be. I hope you have an amazing season and a great semester! Love you Prima!

❤ Jen

Here is our amazing shots from our day kayaking with the Prima!