March Happiness :)

Wow! Forget "March Madness" - my month was terrific! Let's call it "March Happiness" instead because it was FULL of happy times!

Let's highlight those :)

(1) Participated in my very first 5k race in Seattle with the most incredible group of friends in honor of the most amazing little girl!
*there is an entire blog post in the works devoted to this event, stay tuned*


(2) Bought this little beauty and fell in love! Her name is Daisy and we are good buddies on non-rainy days. We go on rides to work, on the trails, and to the new frozen yogurt shop in town. She's the best and so stinkin' cute!


(3) Had a surprise date with my love in Seattle to go see a new Cirque Du Soleil show - it was super! As always, full of the craziest stunts. We were definitely entertained. :)






(4) Wrapped up this season of "The Bachelor" with a finale viewing party. It is so much fun to watch the show from week to week with friends...SO MUCH FUN! Rebekah hosted the last party and even dished out some "final roses" for us all. Glad she didn't have to choose between us and that no one went home crying. :)

Final Contestants: Crystal, Sarah, Me, Katie, & Laura w/Rebekah and her sweet little sister on the top row

(5) Katie hosted a super fun St. Patrick's Day lunch for our life group girls. She made the most delicious Irish stew and had a fun craft planned for us. Loved it!

Bottom: Katie, Rebekah, Jennie
Top: Mary-Hayden, Sarah, Me, & Cassi

(6) Capri Isla Officer made her world debut on March 21st! She is the beautiful daughter of our friends Justin & Sarah. I am so in love with her. She melts me.


(7) We had a great time hanging out with friends in Ballard, an area of Seattle that was new to us. We tagged along with Drew, Laura, and Rebekah and did some thrift store exploring, had the most delicious cup of chai at a local coffee shop, and ended the night with a beyond-amazing dinner at Bitterroot BBQ. So fun!



Loving these gorgeous signs of spring!

(8) And then, just as March was wrapping up, this lady flew into town!

Can't wait to blog about precious time spent with my Moma. :)

(9) Went to a hockey game with my Mom and our Tuesday night life group friends. T-birds won in overtime, woohoo!!


(10) Best possible way to end the month - celebrating the death, burial, and resurrection of our beloved Savior! Easter Sunday was just beautiful at LIFE Church DuPont and I'm so glad to have been a part of it.


I recently read a devotion by Lysa TerKeurst about letting Easter linger in our hearts a bit longer and I loved her words.

One of my favorite quotes:

"I feel like the girl who wears the same outfit to school two days in a row. Easter is a bit done now. Time to put it back in the closet. Only for me it isn’t. I want to wear it again today, tomorrow, and many more tomorrows. After all, Easter is no longer a ritual to me. It’s a revelation."

Here is a link to the full article if you want to check it out...and you should want to check it out. :)

http://lysaterkeurst.com/2013/04/easter-might-you-linger-a-bit-longer/

Hope your March was full of happiness, too! :)

Home for the Holidays!

Even though I am 29 years old, Christmas just wouldn't be the same if I didn't get to spend it at home with our families. :) It's just so special to be with those you love the most during the holidays. This year, we said goodbye to Washington on Christmas Eve and were south bound!

We pulled up at Derek's parents' house to find it all lit up - so fun! Mr. Darron even had some music playing so that the lights would work in sync with the Christmas tunes. It was great!


With Mrs. Joanna, Maw Maw Betty and Trev :)


The Annual Taylor Family Christmas Photo


Christmas with the Taylor's typically looks like this:

The men watching tv (sports, hunting specials, etc.)


The ladies chattin' it up in the kitchen...


The big kids playing videos games...


And the littles going to town on some presents...


Zack wasn't sure what to think about opening this bag of marshmallows from Kitty & D.


Until he opened the next box which held a marshmallow shooter - let the fun begin!

It was hilarious to watch Zack shoot the gun and then eat every single marshmallow. He definitely preferred consuming to reloading, ha!

Pictures like this make me so happy...I can't help but think how happy my Granny would be to know that we're all still together for the holidays. Gosh, I miss her.


After the Christmas fun, we still had plenty of time to spend with our families, hooray!

Zack couldn't wait for us to go see "Rise of the Guardians." I am glad he waited for me to get home to see it because it was super cute!


On another day, I also got to go to the movies with my parents to see "Lincoln." The last movie my Dad had seen in the theater was "Unforgiven" so I was really happy to get the chance to go on a fun outing with them. And I totally didn't mind that this was my second time seeing the movie, it was just that good.

Lunch with my beautiful Jenn was a big highlight - love and miss this girl like crazy!! I'm so glad that we always pick up right where we left off the last time we were together.


And one more BIG highlight for me...being able to take this box of deliciousness home to Washington! I do love my king cake!


We also had lots of time for lunch dates and even a special breakfast date with Mrs. Joanna. We got to hang out and watch (or not watch in those really icky bloody moments) the UFC pay-per-view fights with Derek's family. It was just so nice to have that special time together. I helped my baby sister move out of her apartment and Derek helped his brother get ready to move into his new place, too. So thankful for those memories. So thankful for our family and being able to spend the holidays with them. :)

Christmas With My Sweetheart

It looks a lot like Christmas around here. :)

And honestly, it's looked that way for some time now. I tried to wait until Thanksgiving to start decorating, but I just couldn't help myself. I'm just SO thankful for Christmas that I have to get that tree up when I start to get the itch.











Since we'll be flying out shortly (in the next 6 hours shortly!), we chose to celebrate Christmas together this last Saturday.







Stockings first! All full of our favorite treats!




I unwrapped my gifts under the tree to find some clues that led me elsewhere...


...to this beautiful shiny red cruiser bicycle. Do you remember that being on my wishlist ever since we went to Long Beach? Wish granted. Thanks babe!




Derek's presents were full of clues, too.


#1 - Something you asked for.
He asked for "a book." I bought him an outdoor survival guide.


#2 - Something you need.
A pocketknife...every man needs a pocketknife.


#3 - Something that will save your life.
A life jacket...he still wasn't quite sure what this was leading up to.


#4 - Something you aren't expecting (ever).
A garage door opener to our neighbors' garage.


So we went to check it out!

Getting excited...


Ta-da! A kayak of your very own!


VERY excited! :)


Merry Christmas love!

Winter Fun with Friends

Oh man, do I love winter festivities! Especially when they involve two of my favorite things: 1) Christmas Lights 2) Friends

In keeping with tradition, we took a little drive down to our local zoo to check out the "Zoolights"...always fun!

A beautiful light display of Mt. Rainier and the Tacoma Narrows Bridge


Jason, Rebekah, Laura, & Drew - we love them!


This year they added a giant octopus on top of the aquarium...legend has it that the world's largest species of octopus lives under the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. I will not be checking that out for myself, I'll take their word for it.


Beautiful!







We also got to "oooo" and "aaahhh" over these adorable tiger cubs. They just looks so darn snuggly and cute!


Found our favorite tree!


And had to have our picture in front of it...tradition. :)


It was a fun night! Our friends CR & Tara also met up with us and then we all went out to dinner at one of our favorite places in Tacoma - Joeseppi's - for their all you can eat pasta special...mmmm...

Got to have a wonderful Christmas dinner celebration with these fabulous people!

We love, love, LOVE doing life with Arin, Kristy, Kyle, Terry, & their families. It really is a blessing to serve Jesus here in the Northwest with them & I can't imagine doing it any other way.

We also got the chance to hang out with our friends Mark & Tif at the restaurant on the top of this place...




See that red scarf? I MADE THAT! Seriously...I made it myself. My friend Laura taught me some crocheting basics and I was actually able to produce something cute. Yeah, I am a little proud. :)


Love the 360 degree view of Seattle that you get to experience from this rotating restaurant!


This beautiful tree was all lit up outside and I am a sucker for a photo opportunity. :)






Another fun, wonderful adventure with our friends. We are blessed. :)