LOVE

With the Passing of Valentines Day this month I decided to do a post about LOVE. There lots of things you love in life, from simple things we take for granted to more complex emotions of Love. However I think even the most simple forms of Love we have for things/events/emotions/people shouldn't be taken for granted. So I decided to make a list of just some of the things I encounter in life that I love.

1. Corey (I know mushy and all but its true, he's the best)

2. My Family (from my amazing parents, siblings, extended family and of course the two little boys in my life)

3. My Job (it is the most rewarding job and I love the families I work with and my coworkers)

4. Our Crazy dogs Mylo and Addie

5. The smell of fresh flowers

6. Falling asleep cuddled up to Corey

7. Trips to Vineyards

8. A Glass of Wine in the evening

9. Holding Hands

10. Warm Weather (I'm a flip flop kind of girl)

11. Family Vacations with Corey and the kids

12. The Beach

13. Spending time with my Parents (even if its just an hour to stop by)

14. Outdoors Activities (walks, the park, anything to enjoy the weather)

15. Hanging out with our Good Friends

16. Trying new recipes

17. Sushi

18. Pickled Okra

19. Cupcakes

20. Fruit (any and every kind...mmmm)

21. Back Rubs

22. Feeling Appreciated (I mean who doesn't love that feeling)

23. Pedicures

24. The Way Corey can make me laugh even when I am trying with all my power to be mad or serious for whatever reason

25. Being Cuddled up in a blanket and reading a good book (done this a lot lately due to all of our snow days)

26. The smell of a fresh fire

27. Watching the innocence of small children

28. A good workout

29. Listening to my IPOD

30. Kisses

Whether its something small or big, I think everyone should try and appreciate the good things of life. The things we love to feel, do, see or experience. It is easy to focus on the bad or negative things, trust me we have had a lot go on this year so far and its only February. Regardless of all of that, I am beyond glad that I am soooooo in Love, and I get to experience all these great things from day to day. Some we experience more regularly and some I long to come back, such as warm weather, family vacations, and flip flop days), but they will be here soon. Take a moment in your busy day to day to think of things you Love, it feels great to think about all the things that truly make you smile.

On a lighter note and related to the topic of LOVE, Corey and I are getting married in 33 days? Really...wow. Time flies and over the last week I meet with the caterer/venue again, the photographer and got all my paperwork done for the DJ. WAHOOOO next on the agenda, a final meeting with the florist. Oh time flies. I am so excited to start my life with Corey as Husband and Wife and Mrs. Taylor. On that happy note, everyone have a good week.

Busy Busy Busy

Okay, well so much for my once a week posting in January. But honestly life has just been that busy lately. First off we have had a slew of birthdays this past month, Corey turned 33 on January 23rd, and I turned 27 on January 27th. Followed closely by my nephew Austin turning 6 on January 29th, and again right behind him was our little Braden aka Brady Bear turning 4 on February 2nd. Look at our big boy with the bright cupcakes he wanted for his birthday. Okay so we were obviously very busy with birthdays....but really there is lots going on besides that.

Besides that last month I had my amazing bridal shower, thrown for me by my matron of honor Amanda, and my mom. Man it was a great party, we had amazing food(thanks mom), great games and everything seemed to go very smoothly. Besides the fact that by the time it was over I was looking around feeling bad because it had been so busy from eating, games, to presents and cake that by the time all of that was accomplished my guests left and I felt like I didn't get to talk to anyone. This made me feel bad since people gave up a Saturday for me, and some traveled pretty far to be there....Oh the stresses of being a bride. I am just thankful to have such great friends and family who came out and celebrated with me. My grandparents bought me this awesome cake for the shower and I adored it, it was perfect.

Not only did I have this very pretty cake but my mom got creative on me ( I know, no surprise at all, since she always is) and bought towels

that were on Corey and my registry and then made them into a wedding cake, while decorating the wedding cake with a picture of Corey and I on top and our cherry blossom themed flowers like our invites.....Isn't the picture so cool. The picture doesn't do it justice, but it was definitely a creative way to give someone a set of the towels they wanted.

All of that aside our wedding is quickly approaching with only a month and 16 days left, I am starting to feel anxious, stressed and a little bit overwhelmed. There is still a lot to be done and it seems like time is closing in on us. We finally ordered on wedding bands on Monday thanks to my mom and dad's prompting us to get them ordered. So that was one sigh of relief....although we still need to save for the honeymoon, finish getting the liquor (that is Corey and my job), the guys are going to get fitted for their tuxes this next Saturday, and there are endless other meetings and loose ends that need to be tied up. I am totally excited about the wedding and it is going to be amazing thanks to my parents, but at the same time I can totally see why bride's get stressed as weddings approach and part of me says we should have just eloped...but with that said I have always dreamed of a fairy tale wedding so I am getting that and I just need to keep reminding myself of that. I am sure when it is said and done it will be nice to just have the normal everyday worries and things to do with Corey, the kids and work and then everyone including my parents will be able to take a deep breath of relief.

So besides all of this wedding mumbo jumbo and birthday's galore, this SNOW is draining me away. While I used to be the first child to wear their pajama's inside out and do all kinds of snow dances and never understand why my dad didn't want it to snow. I can HONESTLY SAY as an adult, I GET IT NOW. Lucky for us the kids have been great and haven't minded being cooped up in any of the storms we have had from December until now....however I on the other hand am going stir crazy.....

I hate not being able to go to work. I miss the little children I work with and like Corey, when I don't go to work there is no paycheck....so needless to say I am beyond ready to get back at. Doing ABA therapy has filled a gap in my life and really there hasn't been one day since I started that I woke up and said, "Man I don't want to work today." I love my job, the families I work with, seeing the kids faces and seeing them hit amazing milestones, and my boss and coworkers couldn't be better. Either way you cut it the snow is killing the extra money we need for wedding/honeymoon expenses and making it that tiny bit more stressful. Especially since even Corey has missed some days due to snow and he too doesn't get paid on snow days. But some how in the mix of all this awful large amounts of snow, I can't help but love this picture of the boys to the left from the first huge snowstorm....They had a ball playing outside in the snow with it and had never made snow angels which was so cute to watch their faces light up as I watched them experience that for the first time. Oh the joys of having children in your life and watching them experience the little things in life...

With all that said and done, I am hoping life gets a little less chaotic the next month or so, but I am sure this is just the rumble before the storm as the wedding gets that much closer. We also dealt with Corey's car dying this past month. It needed more repairs then it was worth so he had to buy a new one....needless to say that wasn't in our wedding/honeymoon saving budget either. Then there of course are other little storms that are underlying with custody of the kids possibly changing soon and all that great stuff. I just pray everyday that everything in our life settles down. I keep telling myself everything happens for a reason, but with the tough last month we had, I can't say I didn't question that quote that I have forever loved. Just trying to keep our heads up, fingers crossed, that everything in our life will work out for the best, whether it involves the endless wedding things we need to get done, the children, finances, weather or just life itself. Either way I am blessed to have a great soon to be husband, two amazing soon to be stepsons who melt my heart when they say, "Marcey I love you," which happens very regularly and two fun dogs that I are great company on these stranded snow days. Not to mention my very supportive family and great friends.....so on that note.

Enjoy the snow, take it for what its worth and most of all....take an extra minute in your SNOWED in DOWNTIME to really appreciate those important people in your life.

Marcey