in 48 hours

I promise I have not fallen off the face of the earth!  This girl decided to plan all her trips back to back in August, and I'm finally catching up (while nannying) and am doing a horrible job. 

I'm so excited to share our trip to San Luis Obispo trip with you, today! Cal Poly is my college alumni, and it still holds a special place in my heart.  Our trip was short...say, 48 hours.  But we squeezed in as much as we could, including seeing three friends.

In 48 hours, you can....

have lunch at the one and only Firestone with Alyssa (aka "sis"), my sweet friend from college. 

drive an extra 40 minutes to wine taste at your favorite winery.

spend Thursday night at the Farmer's Market, the first ever farmer's market you ever attended and it still is the best in my mind.  This corn was something else!  And it was my first time just gnawing down on some corn while walking around and admiring all the vendors and entertainers. 

search high and low for the perfect batch of strawberries.  I'm telling you-central coast strawberries are like candy, nothing compares to them!  P.S: By the time we got home we only had half of one basket left!

randomly remember that your pal from high school works up here now, and is in fact free to grab some tri tip sandwiches at Farmers!  

go get frozen yogurt from Bali's!  When I was here going to college, Bali's was my first experience at serve yourself fro yo.  A new yogurt shop opened up, and oh, the competition was fierce.  Bali's is still my favorite, I just can't turn my back from it!

find out that your old college roommate and best friend (that lives a couple minutes from you) is up in SLO visiting her family with her husband.  So naturally you plan a little picnic and hike, and visit with her adorable niece and nephew. 

take in the breathtaking sights at Montana de Oro!

go on not one, but two bike rides!  The first trip we planned was cut short due to a flat tire.  So, we got our fitness on both mornings we were up in SLO and finally made it to Avila on our second ride.  There is a beautiful and perfect trail that leads you into the cutest little beach town.  It was my first time riding on it, and I was wishing the whole time that we lived back up there so we could enjoy the path all the time. 

take in the breathtaking views of the coast while driving home.  Our drive home was a little sad.  So many amazing memories from college flooded back to me.  Even though the Mr. didn't go there with me, we made many memories on his visits and enjoyed soaking them all in again.  

real talk: words within marriage

Be good.

I remember my mom telling my brother, sister, and I this when I was little.

It was like a blanket to cover all offenses.

Be good...

I've always been good, done everything right, got the grades, took the job, followed directions, lived the plan.  And lately, my perception of what "good" is has been really transformed.

One of this summer's blessings has been the development of She Reads Truth.  If you haven't jumped on the band wagon yet, I urge you to stop reading-like now-and head over HERE!

She Reads Truth has helped me actually do a devotional and stick with it, and I love waking up each morning excited to read my bible.  It takes the guesswork out of where to begin, and it has really helped me to open my mind to what God is trying to teach me.

Our current devotion is through the book of Proverbs.  To some it seems like a ton of fragmented commandments of how to "be good".  It felt a lot like that to me up until now.  Now that I'm actually reading it in its entirety, letting the chapters add onto one another, I'm opening myself up to what I need to really focus on and change.

"The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence." 

-Prov. 10:11

"Like a gold rind in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman without discretion." 

-Prov. 11:22

"Whoever guards his mouth preserves life; he who opens wide his comes comes to ruin."

-Prov. 13:3

Can you tell what God is trying to teach me, yet???

I always thought that I was good with my words, and then I got married.  Being married has really shown me who I am and where my faults lie.  My husband's main love language is words of affirmation.

(Side note: I'm being brave, honest, and open here.  I'm letting you in on one of my weaknesses, knowing that authenticity here on the blog is something that matters to me greatly.)

I learned this quickly and tried to add to my speech and encourage my husband, tell him why I appreciate it, give him praise, and be specific.  I thought I had it down, just add something onto what I already did.  What I've realized through the book of Proverbs is that I don't guard my words with my husband at times, and take it for granted.  I know that I'm human and hopefully am not the only one who realizes this as well.  I took what I was saying to my husband and tried to add onto it by telling him when he did something nice, or why I appreciated him.  The speech that had a tendency to cut cold would still sneak up-counter acting ways I was trying to affirm him.

As I was talking to my husband about this, who was so loving and caring about my newfound knowledge, I realized that God was telling me I need to change the way that I speak to my husband, not just add to it.  True change is looking at how I talk to him, identifying where I'm not guarding my speech and letting emotions take over, and changing that!  Not adding words of kindness onto angry or hurtful words, trying to use it as a bandaid.  But truly loving my husband through my words.

a quick little hello!

Hello!!

I think this past week and the next should be titled "how much can I squeeze in?".  We just got back from a beautiful, quick trip to San Luis Obispo, and had the best time two people can have in 48 hours. Yes, you read that right!  48 hours.  And I can't wait to share with you everything we did in the amazing little town I went to college in.

I'm in the process of unpacking, doing a quick load of laundry, and packing again for a trip to Arizona to visit my sweet grandma with my mom.  Oh, and there's a hair appointment in there somewhere (hello, roots!).

I'm having the time of my life soaking in the last moments of summer, and can't wait to visit family and have a fun little girls trip!  Hope you all had a most enjoyable week and can't wait to share all of our great adventures with you soon.