red hearts & brain waves

Thursday night, a dream literally came true for me-

we had a Valentine's Party! 

I know there are a lot of mixed feelings out there about Valentine's day, 

but I am, and have always been, a HUGE fan.

Partly because I love hype, sweets, little crafts and gifts, 

and of course, love.

Two of my good friends from work started planning this a couple of weeks ago, 

and the prepping, baking & crafting side of this party

may or may not have been my favorite part. 

Let get's real, those are the reasons I always want to have parties.

And my friend Kelley's love language is parties, so she totally gets it too.

strawberry cake balls by kelley

sugar cookie cupcakes

mason jar + burlap + lace +wooden heart = v-day vase 

the cuuutest felt heart garland, also by kelley

please note Roux checking out the snack table...

This table was full by the end of the night,

so many sweet friends brought awesome desserts that disappeared quickly.

Ross even made pigs in the blanket for the first time!

empty tazo tea box + burlap + string + a doily = v-day candle holder

The Mexican Valentines flags were my absolute favorite!

Kelley simply folded tissue paper, cut holes, and then taped the flags to ribbon.

Super cheap & easy, and they were a hit!

Remember the hearts everyone wore in Julie & Julia?

That was my favorite part for sure. 

Kelley's sister brought over this game...

it is so crazy...

you control the movement of this ball with your brain waves.

I'm still not sure I believe it, but everyone loved it!

It was such a wonderful night, 

and we feel so blessed by our friends here. 

Our hearts are full to the brim.

Looking forward to more Valentine's celebrating to come!

where are the kolaches?

the start of this year has been so much different
 from the beginning of last's. 

we're a little more established
and are incredibly blessed with good friends.

we're parents to a great little puppy,
and i absolutely love my new job.

all that to say, this year we are truly happy
living here in college station.

(though, to be honest, i am still struggling with my road rage issues
 due to the freakishly slow drivers in this city,
but that's neither here nor there.)

yesterday we ventured to a nearby city, caldwell,
 for the annual kolache festival.

apparently, caldwell is the czech capital of texas.

and of course we brought the baby puppies :)

poor roux slept all day yesterday after we got home.
thankfully roux's best friend clive has a super cool traveling water bowl
(from REI, of course) which he shared with roux.

the only downside to the kolache fest. was the extreme heat...
we are so ready for fall to get here!

labor day: roux makes a friend and digs to china

this is a story about a puppy named roux
and a slightly bigger puppy named nessie.

the happiest puppy named roux

met the prettiest puppy named nessie

and she showed him how to play in the pool.

she showed roux the way

so he gave it a try

and he played, and played...

and he played, played, played.

roux loved this pretty lady named nessie

 so the played chase all through the yard.

yes roux is the happiest puppy

and he loves to play all day

and he probably dreams of going back to see

our friends on white rock lake.

summer days

kebobs on our porch are our new favorite thing.

especially when enjoyed with friends & followed up with cranium.

when we got married, we started our quest for recipes that were easy, cheap, healthy and good- and since last night's dinner fits the bill, i figured it might be worth sharing on here:

our kebobs were inexpensive, easy to make, and surprisingly filling. we just used mushrooms, onions, green & red bell peppers, pineapple, tomatoes, and chicken. to season them we just threw on some salt & pepper, lemon juice, soy sauce on some, and of course, tonys. next time we want to find a good marinade (any suggestions??), but our make shift flavoring worked out pretty well. for sides we grilled some deliciously sweet corn on the cob & christa made some awesome rice with lime that i might have had three servings of.

i only have two weeks left with ross this summer before he leaves for 5 weeks of air force officer training, so we hope to enjoy the heck out of our time together. heres to more grilling, time with friends, little adventures, and time with each other. he's my favorite.

sarahsatterlee.com

my college roommate is such an incredible artist,

and now has a great site to showcase her beautiful work.

check it out!!

www.sarahsatterlee.com

p.s. this one was her wedding gift to us:

the light, colors, motion,

and quote from a favorite book (sex god by rob bell), 

brighten up our home like nothing else.

how to have a perfect day

step one: begin the day in your favorite city with some of your favorite people

step two: big brek. freshly brewed coffee, homemade crepes, fresh fruit, turkey bacon, scrambled eggs and plenty of sunlight.

step three: go kayaking on town lake to burn off big brek and work on tan.

step four: afternoon snack. mighty cone & daily juice = perfect.

step five: walk around fun streets & stop in interesting shops.

step six: play with puppies.

start serious discussion of when you can adopt some puppies of your own.

step seven: watch your true love fall in love with puppies.

step eight: afternoon work out with jillian so you can better enjoy

step nine: enjoy incredible food with even better company.

step ten: finish the meal with some happy birthday creme brulee.

final step: go out. dance. listen to live music.

feel the fresh night air & be grateful to be alive and loved.