Date Nights

This week I got the unusual sweetness of having 2 date nights with my Kati! This is especially wonderful this semester for us because, two night of the week I can't even be home with her since I have 2 evening classes that are required in order to graduate in December. While it is tough, a situation like this highlights the time we do get together and makes us both really hold onto the enjoyment of date nights!

So, back to the origin of this post, we got to have 2 date nights this week because it was the last Wednesday of the month last night, when most Wednesdays we would have church small group, this last Wednesday is free!!

But let me back up a little bit! The first date night was Monday night! We agreed, since TV shows can be somewhat of a vice for me to watch episode after episode in succession, to cut out TV shows from our Monday night dates!! This turned out to be a most fantastic idea!! Kati made an amazing dinner using steaks we had been saving, mushrooms in a soy sauce based sauce, and risotto!! It was delicious and paired really well with some red wine! After that we hung out and chatted and told each other our thoughts and perspectives, which is always enjoyable! We ended the night starting a game of Scrabble, which is a different activity and an opportunity to be sweetly competitive and yet build each other up!! We both really had a great time!! Date number 1!!

Coming away from that experience, Tuesday and Wednesday days were spent anticipating our second date night of the week!! We had several plans of what we wanted and needed to do with our evening!! Finally, when the time came to pick Kati up from work we were just so full of excitement to get more time together!! We got home and Kati started making dinner - I pitched in by chopping things with a very big, very sharp knife (fun!)!!! She made oven "fried" chicken and it turned out so perfectly crispy and delicious!! We had sweet potatoes lightly seasoned with salt, pepper, oil and Kati's personal touch of cinnamon which makes the dish, and some crispy green beans with onions and butter!! We paired a white wine with this meal and it was complete!! It was wonderful!!! We ate on the balcony and just enjoyed one of the last warm evenings together!! The next part of date night was Kati giving me a much needed hair cut!! This was her first time cutting my hair so we were both holding our breath a little...she did an AMAZING job!!! It was a really sweet thing for her to cut my hair and soon after we realized it was storming outside so we went to sit on the balcony again and just enjoy the sounds of the rain and thunder!! It was a most delightful second date night!!!!

We both are heading toward this weekend feeling so refreshed and grateful for each other and thankful to God for bringing us together and allowing us the specific pleasure of having two date nights this week!! :D

what do you do when you're sick?

was sick yesterday, and today is gloomy.  so thought i'd share some of my favorite laugh-inspiring pics.....big laughs, people, it's friday!

 

and my all-time, so-immature favorite - let the giggles commence:

jackie's surprise party!

we threw a surprise party for jackie this past saturday at muv and dad's house - it was a blast!  in spite of me emailing the evite to jackie on thursday (i know, who does that???  thankfully, she didn't open the link!), she was surprised!

i took some pics of the party, but my phone ate them.  :-(  i'm especially sorry for this because they were shots of jackie with her favorite little guys (tyler, jack, and dylan!) who she babysits for, crowded around her as she open the gift from their family.....a redskins jersey!!!  and then the skins won yesterday, by the skin of their teeth - coincidence? i think not.

this pic is not from this weekend, or even this summer, but still a good one......happy birthday, jackie!!!!  you're an amazing blessing to those around you - i hope that this weekend reflected some of our gratefulness for you!!

whole foods on a budget

one of my favorite blogs.....whole foods on a budget.  very grate to christy for sharing her knowledge with newbies like me!

A typical Sunday?

Watching the skins game at Chevy's w our Jackie, with some flowers from a bridal shower I attended earlier today......just another Sunday in the Mr. and Mrs. Mike DeCarlo's world! ;-)

3 months!!

as mike mentioned in our last post, we celebrated being married three months this past weekend.  i really thought i'd be further along in writing thank you cards at this point.... :-p  but that isn't the point of this post!  mike is.

i am so happy with you, my love.  you are my best friend, who figures me out, comforts me just by your presence, confronts me when i'm sinning, and loves me regardless.  i don't deserve you, but i thank God constantly for letting me be yours.  i love you, michael joseph decarlo.  happy three months!

Pets

So today is mine and Kati's three month anniversary of being married so we went adventuring! Our adventures took us to Northern Virginia to a vineyard called Paradise Springs where we had a tasting of their wines and got to gaze into each other's eyed! It was fantastic and I'm so happy to be in love with my wife!!

Along the way we nearly ended this guy's (or girl's cus we don't know its gender) life! *picture of Living Dead. Beacuse of its red eyes and the fact that it nearly was road kill we thought the name is fitting. We picked it up and decided Living was now our responsibility to care for.

Needing a habitat for Living we needed to make a trip to petsmart. Now, I had long ago promised Kati that we could own a pet fish! Without a doubt she remebered this promised and feeling guilty about it we also brought home this guy! *picture of Napalm. Because of his fiery color (the reason we liked him to begin) we named him Napalm! He had to have an eccentric name just like Living!

We brought them both home and are letting them get acclimated! Next we are off to Mogolian BBQ for dinner! We love adventures!!