Weekend Recap {Quinn Wedding}




We spent the weekend celebrating Tracy and Michael tying the knot. We had a blast with the family and WOW everything was absolutely beautiful. It was so fun getting to know Michael's east coast fam and everyone was so friendly. 

The wedding festivities started Thursday night at the Wooster's house (the bride's parents). We ate some delicious Mexican food and got to know some of Michael's family and friends.

On Friday, we went to Coronado for the Rehearsal Dinner. The groom's family hosted the dinner at a house they rented right on the water. It was absolutely beautiful! The views were amazing and we couldn't help but snoop around the whole house. The bed in the master bedroom faces out towards the water... gorgeous! 



As we were eating dinner, a sea plane pulled up to drop off the neighbors and they offered to take the bride and groom on a free ride. Of course they said yes! Michael carried Tracy to the place... a true gentleman! 

Baby Emi- I love her!


The groom and his parents 

The view from the backyard

Saturday morning coffee... Better Buzz, YUM!

On Saturday, Mark and I worked out and then picked up my mother in law to have lunch. We had planned on hanging by the pool all day but sadly the weather was overcast. Bummer!

Later on in the day we headed to the venue to see Tracy and Michael get hitched!

Wedding Ready!




Tracy looked stunning


Collin and Mark

My mother in law, Mark, and myself in the photo booth! So fun!

On Sunday, we went to the farewell brunch at the Riverwalk golf course. It was a nice relaxing morning and a nice way to send off the couple.

Lauren and Emi

Cousins picture!

I can't handle her romper and her jean jacket- this little babe is stylin' 


Sunday night dinner

Monday morning, we woke up early to head up to Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery for the Memorial Day ceremony. We've gone every year for the past 5 years now and it's a beautiful way to remember the real reason for this day.




We had a wonderful weekend and I'm ready to tackle the week. Only 4 more days with the kiddos at school. We can make it :) 

Memorial Day 2016

photo cred: Mark Bradford

Today we remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice to their county. Today we also send extra prayers to those family members who are left behind. Their whole lives have changed because the ones they loved never came home again. Gosh, just wrap your head about that for a moment... never came home again. :( That's basically my nightmare and not something I let myself think about too often. When my hubby is deployed I try to just think of it as a long trip, and not what's truly happening. I walk a fine line between reality and not letting myself go there in my head. Sadly, this is the reality that lots of widows and family members face. We've known several people in the last few years who have been killed and it absolutely breaks my heart thinking about their families today, and let's be real... all days.

Today we thank you for your service to our great country. Today, we pray for people to continue to stand up for the morals and values of this nation. We stand in awe of the sacrifice that these brave men and women have made and we promise to never forget them.  Thank you for the willingness to defend us, because not everyone can do that job.  God bless our military and God bless our military families.

Random Friday Favorites

It's finally Friday! It has felt like Friday since about Wednesday... which is the worst lol! I'm so excited for the weekend and for the wedding festivities to continue. We went to dinner at the bride's parent's house last night and holy moly the food was yummy!! We also got to spend some time with Emiko... I love that little lady!



I've been reading One Plus One by Jojo Moyes and I have to be honest... it didn't start out great. I feel like a lot of Moyes' books start soooo slow. It took me awhile to get into it but I really like it so far. I'm also still reading Weird Sisters but I've had a hard time getting into it. :( I found a few books at Target that I am adding to my reading list as well. I'm so excited about this Mary Kubica book! I LOVED Good Girl. If you haven't read it yet, you need to ASAP!


Can summer be here already so I can actually workout and read lol??? That's what I am most excited about!

We went on a sunset walk the other night and it was perfect. I love walking at the Cliffs and the fact that Mark was there and our pups, made it even better.




I've been sick all week, well recovering from being sick I guess lol, so I've been blowing my nose a ton. Where does it all come from?? Gross! You know when you blow your nose a ton and you end up getting a rash/ dry red area around your nose?? Yep, I had that going on this week. Not cute. Well I used the Rodan+ Fields Soothe step 2 (sensitive skin treatment) and it's GONE!! I'm so excited. I should have taken a picture but of course I didn't think about it at the time. I love this stuff for sunburns, sensitive skin, rashes, and my random red patches I get on my chest.



I'm back to LOVING my It Cosmetics CC cream. I recently repurchased the Medium shade since the Light was looking a little fair on my skin. The Medium is perfect and really blends well with my skin tone. This is must for the summer since it has an SPF of 50. I still use a moisturizer with SPF because too much sun protection can't hurt!

Buy it here


Thank you again for all of the love on my "When Life Doesn't Go As Planned..." post. You guys are the best! :) I hope everyone has a great weekend and remember the reason for the extra day off. So proud to come from a military family!


When Life Doesn't Go As Planned



Raise your hand if you've ever had a plan but then something went haywire. Lol yes, me too! Mark and I joke that every time we planned a surprise or a date for each other, something would go wrong. I got Mark and myself tickets to Opening Day for the Padres one year. I bought the all-you-can-eat section and we came to the game starving. Sadly, when we got to our seats we realized that they were not all-you-can-eat, and $80 later we were full of hotdogs and nachos lol. The good news is that we had GREAT seats!

Another example, Mark planned a romantic getaway to Julian for my birthday/ Valentine's day. The hotel he booked was a cute little hole-in-the-wall hotel, or so we thought. He specifically picked this place because they included a wine tour. When we got to the room to check-in, we found out the wine tours ended the hour before... bummer. The real surprise was when we pulled around to the back to park by our room. The place was super run down and looked like the perfect place for a murder movie to be filmed lol. The water in our room was brown and Mark slept with his gun next to the bed. Also, we both got sick from dinner! Oh man lol. We ended up having a great time but we always laugh at our misadventures.

Well there are some things in life that go wrong and they aren't things that you look back and laugh at, or even think fondly of afterwards. They are heart-wrenching, gut-check type moments/ seasons of life. I feel like we are in one of those seasons right now. I spoke pretty openly about our infertility struggles in a post about a month ago. If you missed it click here to read it. I was shocked by the amount of people who reached out and are going through something similar or who just wanted to send some prayers and love our way. It's amazes me every time I find myself being vulnerable, that people will just surround us with love. It reminds me of how many kind, compassionate, and good people we have in our lives.

I cry just thinking about the sweet texts, emails, and calls I get on a weekly basis from people just checking in. A little note saying, "How's everything going? Any news?" makes my day. Thank you, thank you, thank you! On top of that, the prayer warriors that have come beside me, bless me in more ways than they could ever know.

So are our struggles over? Nope, we are smack dab in the middle of still trying to have a baby and figure out why my body isn't along for the ride. It's frustrating, hurtful, sad, beyond irritating, and can be all-consuming.

So what do we do in the mean time? Sometimes I want to curl up in my bed and cry... and sometimes that happens... whoops. What I really should be doing is focusing on the things I can control, like my attitude and my focus. I didn't come up with this idea on my own though. My friend Katie is an awesome writer and has a blog, A Kup of Katie. She's so stinking adorable and her blog is packed full of positivity and motivational content. You should definitely check it out!

Katie and I recently had a conversation where she reminded me that I can always control how I respond to my situation. We need to give ourselves time to process what is happening and how we are going to look at our circumstances. I can't change the fact that I am not pregnant but I can allow myself time with God to ask for His patience and strength. I can choose to focus on the things that make me happy, not as a distraction but as a way to feel true joy. I am the queen of distracting myself and that's not healthy either.

So I'm making a conscious effort to not let my situation define me and to choose joy despite how I am really feeling.  I'm choosing to thank God for the people He's brought into our lives, especially during this time. I'm choosing to be grateful for the many people who have come along side us and not shied away from this "uncomfortable" topic. I'm choosing to be a prayer warrior myself and pray boldly for those around us dealing with life circumstances that are not what they planned. I am challenging you to do the same. Reach out to someone who is going through a tough time... it doesn't matter if you haven't talked in years. You might just change the way they look at life!

Wedding Weekend

This was a FULL weekend with lots of wedding activities. We had a great time though and we loved celebrating the new Mr. & Mrs. Carroll. Here is a little picture recap...

The Rehearsal dinner was a Harbor cruise- so fun!



My attempt at False lashes- it only took me 6 times lol




The beautiful bride and groom


The reception overlooked the Padres stadium. Such an incredible venue!










We had such a fun weekend! Now for the Quinn wedding festivities! We are ready :)

Confessions: Life Update

Bentley- He's such a cute baby :) 


First of all, this is my 200th post! What??? Crazy right? I've loved having this little space to share my random thoughts and all the things I'm passionate about. Thank you for joining me on this adventure and reading my posts. It means the world! :)

We have been so dang busy and have been out of town the last few weekends. Mark has been gone for work a ton too and he came home on Wednesday! YAY! It was only a few weeks but he's been working out of town so much lately, that it makes me miss him even more.

Slowly but surely, I am starting to feel more comfortable without foundation. I'm only wearing mascara and a little blush here :) Thank you Rodan+ Fields!



We have a busy weekend coming up with a friend's wedding and then another wedding next weekend, with multiple events leading up to it. Mark's cousin is actually the one getting married next weekend and we are so excited to be with the family and of course to see her say "I do!" We love Michael and are so happy that he's joining the family. :)

The school year is coming to an end but this doesn't mean we are winding down yet. Our events seem to triple in the last few weeks of school and its just crazy town right now lol. I will miss my sweet kiddos so much but I'll be so happy for a break. We've already crossed off several things and now we just need to get through an ice cream party (x2 actually), field day, Celebration of Learning practices, an awards party, and the last day of school is the Celebration of Learning performance. We can do this, right??

Sadly, I'm still not pregnant, but we are hoping to get some answers this week. It's frustrating but I'm trying to stay positive and hope for the future. I truly believe the Lord has a plan for us but I would just love a little insight to what that is lol... anyone else with me??

We finally tried the Baked Bear in Pacific Beach yesterday. It's an ice cream sandwich shop, YUM! It might have been a little too rich for me... is that even a thing haha? It was a delicious treat though!




My dear friends Stacee and Matt just welcomed a sweet little baby boy to the world. I couldn't be happier for them!!! :) I can't wait to meet you baby Quinn!

I hope you all have a great weekend!






What to Pack for a Quick Weekend Trip



I am the queen of over-packing. I'm pretty sure it runs in my family because my sister, mom, and grandma all do the same thing. I just don't know what I will be in the mood to wear lol! It's not my fault! It does get annoying to pack all of those outfits though. I only wear a quarter of them and then I have to unpack it all. I've recently decided that I was going to make a change! So here is what I packed for a recent weekend to a warmer climate. :)

Shorts are a must have for the desert heat. I like the 3.5 inch shorts from Old Navy because they aren't super short (where my butt is hanging out hehe) but they also don't go down to my knees. They are a nice happy medium. I wear these black and white polka dot shorts from last season all the time. I also love these pink shorts because you can pretty much throw on any neutral colored top and they would look great. I also recently picked up these striped shorts... they are so comfy!

Right now, I'm loving this off the shoulder ruffled top. It slips up my arms quite often but if you keep your arms down it looks great lol. Also, this chambray peplum is so cute. It's the right amount of flowy so it hides any weekend over-indulgences haha :)  I try to bring tops that can be mixed and matched with a pair of jeans or other bottoms to create new outfits.

A bathing suit is obviously a must... if there is a pool or hot tub. Is it just me or is bathing suit shopping the worst thing ever?? I hate it. I know... hate is a strong word, so maybe I just despise it lol. I bought a couple suits last year and they are still in pretty good shape. I bought these adorable ruffe bottoms from Victoria's Secret, when I had lost weight before my hubby came home. Sadly, these haven't made an appearance since. How cute are they though?? Macy's has a great selection of bathing suits right now too. Sadly, I can't find my suit I bought from there last year.

I think dresses are so perfect for the warmer months. It's a whole outfit in one... what could be better? I love this jean shift dress from Old Navy. It's comfy and doesn't look too over-sized and frumpy. Plus, it barely takes up any room in my suitcase!

I love my gold flip flops from Old Navy. You can't beat the $12 price and they go with everything. I wore mine to death last year so I probably need to get a few more pairs. They don't have the gold online any more but I saw them in store last week. This mint pair is equally as adorable! I'm still loving my lace up sandals from the Gap Factory as well. Old Navy has similar options and these lave even farther up your leg. So cute!

I packed a pair of shorts and one of Mark's t-shirts for PJs. So comfy! I also brought a pair of workout clothes- leggings, and a tank that can double as a driving outfit but also is great to throw on for some exercise.  I'm loving these bottoms!

I try to only take a small amount of jewelry to save space and so I can mix and match them with different outfits. This time I took a mint, gold, and pink hassle necklace, my gold necklace from Mark, a silver cuff, and my Michael Kors rose gold watch. I put the necklaces in their own little bags and then put everything together in a small drawstring bag.

I'm planning on posting my makeup and other product must-haves soon! :)


Culinary Curiosity: Liberty Public Market


We recently went to the new Liberty Public Market in Liberty Station. This is located in Point Loma off of Rosecrans. We've gone to Liberty Station for years and it's awesome that they keep adding and improving the area. The Public Market consists of various shops and booths that contain local vendors and locally grown food. The concept is really neat and I love that they have such a wide variety of food and drinks. Although there are a few booths with merchandise, it's mostly food items at this time.

We wanted to try a variety of food and we made our first stop at the raw bar to get some oysters. We tried three different kinds and they were all delicious. 







We also picked up macaroons to have at home later. They were delicious! We loved the strawberry and pistachio :)





They have an area called the Mess Hall that contains a bar and an area with tons of local beers. You can also take your drinks around the entire Liberty Public Market. So fun!


We ended up having bratwurst because most of the other places closed. Mark was super excited about this but I wasn't lol. That's not my go-to meal and I didn't really love it. Mark thought they were delicious though. :)

One of the down-falls of the Public Market is that the booths close relatively early. Some close by 7 pm and some close not too longer after. They don't seem to have set times yet, which can be a little frustrating. I suggest going earlier in the evening on a weekday because it's still super busy.

There are still several booths I want to eat at and I also want to try their coffee. It smells amazing!
Overall, we have loved every visit! To learn more about the Liberty Public Market click here.