*New Chapter, New Blog*

We have a new chapter in our life, so with a new chapter, comes a new blog address.  Please bookmark the new address and follow me on my new blog :)  (This current one, musingsfromnewlyweds, will eventually be deleted).

http://bradandjessplusone.blogspot.com/ 

Old Sacramento

Yesterday Brad and I met up with my in-laws in Old Sacramento to have lunch at Joe's Crab Shack.  Since we arrived earlier than them, we decided to walk across the Tower Bridge to see how high the river was.  It has been raining nonstop for the past week and I had seen on the news about the elevating river.

 Candy stores always bring back memories of being a kid, so we walked around, but left empty-handed

And on our way home we stopped at Kaiser to pick up a prescription.

Brad went to go get some hand sanitizer and they also had masks.  I joked and said, "Well, get a mask too!"  I didn't actually think he'd wear it...

So his response to wearing it was, "Well Jess, hospitals are filled with old people.  You know what happens to old people?  They die.  I don't want to die yet."

I was DYING of laughter.  He wore that thing all the way out to the car, until I pulled back the string to snap it against his face, and broke it.  Ooops.  He'll just have to wait until our next Kaiser visit I guess.

 

Still Here

I'm still here.  I read all your blogs, I just have nothing to blog about right now :)  In the meantime, I'll leave you with some pictures of my furbabies ♥

Enough with the pictures, mom, I'm trying to sleep...

He has learned to sit on his hind legs for treats

Brad came home early this morning with Starbucks, coffee cake, and flowers.

Perfect morning, even on this stormy day.

A little peak of sunshine - finally!  

It has rained and rained and then rained some more.

(our little dog statue even got blown away)

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful dad - I hope you have a great day.  We love you! :)

Our New Backyard

Since our house was brand new, it didn't come with backyard landscaping.  Brad and I had planned on looking into it this coming Spring, however, we got a knock on our door from a landscape contractor who really impressed us.  We liked his vision and price, but we still wanted to get other quotes.  After receiving other bids, we decided to go with the original contractor, Bella Vista Landscaping, and are so happy with the end result!  I'm so excited to see the plants and trees bloom, especially the pink cherry blossom.  All along the back fence are red and yellow camellias, which will grow to about 5 feet tall and completely cover the fence eventually.  We also have different varieties of lavender, which will hopefully bring out a great smell (and not attract too many bees!)

Candy-Gram

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day.  Ours was low-key.  I kept thinking about Valentine's last year; we were setting sail on a 7 day cruise to the Mexican Riviera....ahhhh.  This year, we've tightened things up and are laying low because of the house we bought and the backyard landscaping we just finished (post on that next).  

This was my gift to Brad:

So fun to make and you can do it for really any event.  I got the idea from The Dating Divas, but changed things to make it my own.

Birthday Bash

I had a great day yesterday; thank you everyone for the birthday wishes!  After breakfast, my neighbor came over and brought this darling cupcake "flower" bouquet

My in-laws then came up and spent the day with us.  They gave me birthday cash and these DARLING little guys (they're solar too!) that we already have set up in our backyard

They also gave us this Valentine's basket full of goodies - we love it!

And last but not least, Brad cooked up my favorite meal - barbecued ribs!

Another year older, another year wiser (I hope) ;)

Off To A Good Start

My birthday is off to a great start, thank you to my wonderful husband!

delicious homemade breakfast sandwich

egg whites, canadian bacon, cheese - yummy!

Couch to 5k

Last week I started the Couch to 5k program.  Brad has been running with our neighbor, so I decided to jump on board with my own "running" program.  Neither Brad or I are runners, but we want to get to the point where we can run together and maybe even slightly enjoy it.  Ha!

Don't I look thrilled?  

It was freezing cold this morning

I'll keep you updated on how it's going.  It's only week 2; 7 weeks to go!

Birthday Baking

My birthday is coming up in a couple weeks, but I just received an early birthday present from my parents. This beauty:

I LOVE it!  I have made biscotti and cupcakes so far.  It'll be especially awesome for all my holiday baking this coming year.  Thank you, thank you, thank you mom and dad!  Next time you come visit, I'll whip you up a delicious treat :)

Deliciousness, I Think

I was in the cooking spirit this morning, so I browsed my recipe book and picked out 2 dishes - Corn Potato Chowder and Chocolate Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting (both recipes from Shape Magazine).
I went to the grocery store and got to work.  The soup was so easy to make and only took 30 minutes.  I added leftover rotisserie chicken from Costco to give it a little protein.  Without the chicken it's only 178 calories for 2 cups - not bad!

While the soup was simmering, I got to work on the cupcakes.  Each cupcake is only 139 calories.

So this all looks delicious, but I can't enjoy it.  For the past 2+ weeks I've been without taste or smell.  (Yes mom, I *promise* to call the doctor on Monday...)  I had a cold that seemed to turn into allergies, that seemed to turn into who knows what.  I'm still slightly congested and no matter what I do, can't seem to regain my taste or smell.  In the meantime, all this yumminess is left for Brad.

"We're Real Adults Now"

Yesterday Brad and I spent the morning pulling weeds in our yard....ugh!  It took us a few hours to deadhead flowers and pull the weeds that seem to be taking over faster than we can keep up with.  Does anyone have any good tips to keep weeds at bay?  We bought screen to lay down but haven't installed it yet.  What about sprays or pellets?  Oh the joys of home ownership...

After that, we did something a little more fun - we headed to the Sacramento Home and Landscape Expo.  I know this might sound weird, but I loved it!  Now that we're homeowners, I have a real interest in landscaping, gardening; anything house related (minus weeds!)  I told Brad while we were at the expo, "I feel like we're real adults now, going to a home and garden show on a Friday night." :)  

While we were there, I entered to win a garage makeover - how amazing does that look?  It's a $10,000 value, so the only way we're getting that is if we win

Our $5 entry fee into the show, gave us 4 River Cats (a local minor league baseball team) tickets, good for anytime during the season.  I can't wait for the springtime, to be outside enjoying the sunshine.

After the expo, we went and saw True Grit.  I'll be honest.  Brad has been wanting to see this since it first came out and I was dragging my feet.  After saying that he was going to go by himself to see it, I sucked it up and went along.  The movie was EXCELLENT!  Highly recommend seeing.

I hope everyone has a good weekend!

A Man and His Dog

I love these 2 boys.

Arizona

We just returned from 5 days in Tucson, Arizona with my parents.  University of Arizona is my dad's old stomping grounds and he hadn't been back since he graduated 30+ years ago.

It was a sad time to go because of the Tragedy in Tucson that happened last week where 6 people were killed outside a grocery store.  To get to our hotel, we had to drive by the hospital where congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is at.  There were parking lots filled with local and national news vans, as well as flowers and candles surrounding the hospital.  Our thoughts and prayers are with those victims.

Aside from what went on the previous week, our vacation went on.  Our first stop after the airport was to visit the Pima Air and Space Museum where we saw 300+ airplanes from different military branches and wars.  This was Brad's favorite place.

My favorite place on the other hand, was the Tucson-Sonora Desert Museum where we saw tons of adorable animals.

prairie dogs! My mom and my favorite!

hi friends!

After the museum, we headed to the U of A campus where we walked around and then saw a 45-minute Pink Floyd laser light show .

The following day we went to Tombstone, Arizona where the infamous Doc Holliday shooting occured at the OK Corral.  We were able to see an acted-out rendition of the showdown.  I love visiting old towns and stepping back into the past.

That night we went to Laffs Comedy Club and saw Don Barnhart - we had a lot of good laughs from him.

The next day we hiked Sabino Canyon - awesome!  

 we missed our modeling call

the little hut where we ate lunch at Mt. Lemmon

The last day, before heading back to the airport, we went and saw The Dilemma with Vince Vaughn and Kevin James - so funny!

We had such a great time experiencing "The Wild, Wild West".  Thank you mom and dad for everything!!!  We love you!