Hey yall!  I’m back!  I’m trying to figure out a regular blogging schedule, but life has been so crazy it has been hard to figure out one.  I will eventually… 

This year we spent Christmas in Indianapolis with my in-laws.  It was great… and really cold. Lol! We have been so spoiled by this warm San Antonio weather that we have become babies when it comes to the cold weather.  We just can’t handle it. 🙂 

While in Indy, we spent one night walking around the Art Museum that had the most beautiful display of lights outside.  

Love this sweet guy.  

Love these people. 

This tree was made out of kids toys! So neat!

I love when tree branches are decorated with lights.  They are so pretty!

We got to go inside the Lily House and it was amazing.  Do yall remember making these paper chain links as kids?  I sure do.

The lights outside were going to music and it was spectacular. 

Ah!  So beautiful!!

My brother-in-law drove to spend a few days with us in San Antonio after Christmas.  He and my husband did some projects for the new bathroom (it’s almost done so I will show pictures soon!!), but the only pictures I got when he was in town were these… 

Somehow we ended up back at Betos for their delicious tacos!! I still think they are the best I’ve ever had!  And lots of guacamole! Yum!!

We spent New Year’s in with a few of our friends in San Antonio and it was one of the best ones yet!  I would love to hear all about your holidays in the comments!!

Questions:

1. Did you travel for the holidays?
2. If you are married, do you see both families during the holidays or alternate?
3. What was the best part of the holidays for you this year?

Happy New Year Friends!!!! 

Sorry for the delayed post… again!  Our holidays were kinda crazy because we hanged our plans last minute due to me getting a job and some other family stuff and working a lot.  Lots of fun was had even during the madness! 

2018 has been quite a year for us.  It started out quite rough with all my medical issues/being in the hospital for so long, but it definitely ended on a high note with a fresh start in San Antonio, TX.  We are still loving it, by the way. 

I won’t sugar coat this post though… overall this year was just plain hard.  Really hard.  With all my GI issues that landed me in the hospital for way too long and ended in surgery, to still dealing with chronic neck and back pain, I’m just ready for a clean slate.  We had a lot of plans that had to be cancelled (including a lot of travel plans) so it was just a big bummer.  I am a firm believer that all things happen for a reason and I really did learn and grow so much from my experiences this year.  I think it was a reminder to me to slow down and just enjoy the here and now.  We are usually go go go and sometimes I’m so focused on planning the future, I forget to appreciate and enjoy the present.  

I love the start of a new year.  2019 is a fresh start and I am EXCITED about it.  We have lots of plans and goals and I think 2019 is going to be one of the best years yet.  

I don’t do “resolutions,” but I do set intentions and goals for the new year ahead.  I will tell you guys what I am focusing on this year and I would LOVE to hear your goals or resolutions too!

I’ve always had trouble living in the moment and being spontaneous (I’m a planner!!!), but this is something I want to work on. 

Giving back.  I want to get involved in some volunteer work this year.  I will probably do something with one of the animal shelters here in town (because my husband says I can’t have any more dogs). 

Advancing my career.  I am still liking my new job and there is room for growth so I have big goals for this year.  This is the first job in a while that I have had the opportunity for a lot of growth so you bet I will be working on this!

Being a better wife/partner.  My husband, he’s pretty stinkin’ great.  I’m not sure why he chose me, but I’m sure glad he did.  He deserves the world and each day I am going to focus on giving him just that.  More acts of kindness and love, less demanding, and more alone time and date nights. 

Read more.  I love to read, but lately it has been taking me a long time to get through my books because work and home projects have taken precedence. 

Less screen time.  We are all addicted to our phones (I am SO guilty), but part of being more present is putting away the phone/ipad and having more conversations, playing games, finding new activities, ect. 

I always do sober January every year to give my body a fresh restart and this year will be no different.  My mom and husband are joining in too!!! Are you? 😉

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Our Christmas holiday started on a sad note for us.  We traveled to Dallas to stay overnight with my sister and her boyfriend before hopping on an early flight to Chicago to drive to Indiana to attend my husband’s aunt’s funeral.  She passed away right before Christmas after battling breast cancer.  It was really great to see family, even under the unfortunate circumstances. 

We got Poke in Dallas.. are you shocked?  It is my favorite so I have to get it every time I am there!

My nails have been looking rough from all our home projects so I got them done for the holidays and still love them.  🙂

We got to see this little crazy boy too.  He was pretty excited to see us! 

The sunrise on our early flight. 

My mother-in-law made this delicious salad with roasted cauliflower, arugula, pumpkin seeds, apricots and a homemade tahini dressing.  It was soo yummy!!

Our friend opened up a new bar/coffee shop with ping pong tables so we went to meet him and play a few games.  So fun!

We walked around a nearby town for a bit one day and I made my husband get a picture with his new friend. 😉

Christmas in Indy!

We went to one of our favorite restaurants, Ambrosia, for dinner one night.  I got the salmon special and it was amazing!!

My husband, his brothers, and dad all taught me how to play Poker this year and now I’m obsessed.  I came in third the first night and won it all the second night!!!  They were not thrilled about this…;)

We finally got a rug to go underneath our dining room table.  Woo!!  

We spent new years at our house with some friends and we had a blast.  I took zero pictures of the whole night… who am I?  I will wrap up this post here, but I have one more for you… we went see the Christmas lights at the art museum in Indy and it was so neat! 

Questions:

1. Are you sad the holidays are over?  Or maybe a little relieved?
2. What did you do for New Years Eve?
3. Did you set any intentions, goals, resolutions for 2019?

 

Hey friends!! Just wanted to pop in and wish you all a Merry Christmas (if you celebrate!) from me to you!! We just got back from a long weekend in Indianapolis visiting my in-laws and had our little Christmas morning at home with our pups.  We are busy getting the house ready (finishing up our bathroom remodel!!) and unpacking for one more holiday party next weekend!  I have lots to share with you guys later this week so I’ll be sure to pop n soon once I get my pictures organized!! Love you to all! I hope you are celebrating this season with family and friends and taking in each moment!  XOXO

Good morning friends!!  How was your weekend?  Mine was relaxing and productive with lots of work around the house and in the new bathroom.  The workers should be finished this week!!! The countertops got installed this week and we love them!  We are just waiting on the glass for the shower to arrive and a few more finishing touches and then we will be all done!  Thank the lord!! Once everything is complete, I will show before and after pictures! 

Last weekend we went to Betos with a couple of our friends.  Betos was on Diners DriveIns and Dives so my husband had this place scoped out.  We had the guacamole, ceviche, and I had the fish tacos and you guys, these were the best fish tacos I have ever had.  And I have had a LOT of fish tacos.  The corn tortillas are homemade and were soo delicious. 

Before I bombard yall with food pictures (because let’s be honest, food is a big part of this blog!), I just had to share this sweet doggie picture with you guys.  I just can’t even.  They are my sweet babies and truly make every day so so so special for me.  I should just do a whole blog post on my dogs and all the things I love about them.  🙂  If you are a doggie/animal parent, you know the feeling.  

In case you guys were concerned, yes, salmon is still a huge staple in my diet.  When I don’t have to energy to be creative for dinner, salmon and roasted veggies it is. 

It happens a little more often than I’d like to admit. 😉  Thankfully, my husband is easy to please and happy to just have a meal cooked for him.  I found this package of broccoli slaw at the grocery store and have been sauteing it up with aminos, salt, pepper, and chili powder and my husband is obsessed too.  Such an easy and yummy side dish.  

It’s that time!! I love sending out holiday cards each year.  And I love getting holiday cards in the mail even more!  Such a fun tradition!  Definitely should have ordered return address labels ahead of time… 

I made a huge batch of vegetable soup the other day and ate it all week and froze a few containers of it! I didn’t follow a certain recipe, but this soup was sooo easy.  I just sauteed onions, celery, carrots, then threw in some garlic and ginger.  After a little while I put in chopped sweet potatoes and veggie broth to cover the veggies.  I brought it to a boil then covered it and simmered for about 20-30 minutes or until the potatoes were cooked through.  I added a can of fire roasted tomatoes, frozen corn and frozen peas and let it all simmer for another 30 minutes.  Seasoned it up with salt and pepper and any herbs I had on hand and boom!!!  The best veggie soup ever and it’s soo easy! 

Since I’m in the running for the best wife of the year (yall know this is a JOKE!), I made my husband this leftover turkey and wild rice soup.  I froze a bunch of leftover turkey from Thanksgiving, but my husband told me I threw it out so I just picked up a rotisserie chicken from the store and used it in place of the turkey and it was perfect.  We put half in the fridge and froze half a quick meal in a pinch.  

While I was at the soup making… I decided to make another big batch of butternut squash soup, because yall… this soup does not last long in our house!  I have been making this butternut squash soup for a few years now and it is by far my absolutely favorite.  It is so creamy and doesn’t require a lot of ingredients, which is always nice.  

For a side for dinner one night this week I made green beans (the same recipe I used on Thanksgiving dinner), with lemon, shallots, almonds, and garlic and it was so good.  The trick is to boil the green beans for 2-3 minutes then throw them in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking, then add them in the saute pan with all the fixins and you have got yourself an amazing side dish!

We have been loving the burnt roasted brussels as a side too.  So easy and delicious. 

My husband was out of town on a boys trip this weekend so this means that I ate all.the.veggies.  We have been eating these frozen salmon burgers from costco and they make such a healthy, quick meal.  I put a little olive oil on them with salt, pepper, and chili powder and saute the patty on both sides and it is amazing.  I topped it with avocado.  I roasted some carrots and tomatoes and sauteed spinach, garlic, and artichokes.  Such a random meal, but ended up being a really good one!  

I’m off to get this day started!  I have my radio frequency procedure (nerve burning in my neck) later today so I am hoping it all goes well and I get some relief.  

I will pop back in later this week before we travel for the holidays.  I hope you all have a fantastic week!!! XOXOXO

Questions:

1. Highlight of your weekend?
2. What is your favorite veggie side dish?
3. Are you working this week?  Traveling for the holidays?

Hey yall!!!  How is your week going?  We are still hanging on over here.  Life is good, I’ll never take for granted being alive, healthy (and not in the hospital).  That time in my life still all feels like one big blur even though it was months long.  I owe you guys an update and someday (hopefully sooner rather than later, I will get around to it.  But for now, know that I am still feeling great (regarding the GI/abdominal surgery issues).  I’m still working on getting my neck and back to get back to normal… or at least a more sustainable normal.  I’ll get there… eventually. 

I did actually do a second nerve block injection this week, which was once again successful.  For the nerve block, the doctor just injects a local anesthetic and if you feel relief for at least 8 hours (which I did both times), the doctor will proceed with scheduling the radiofrequency procedure which cauterizes (aka burns it).  So yesterday I got the go ahead to schedule the radiofrequency procedure for next week.  I’m a little nervous, but SO hopeful that this will be a positive step in the right direction to feeling better.  The last couple months I have been in so much pain, it is hard to function and complete daily tasks.  Coupled with the neck and back pain is severe migraines.  This is the worst side effect of the pain because it is very hard to concentrate when you can feel your pulse in your head.  Ugh!! None of the migraine medications have even touched my pain.  It is awful.  

But in true Taylor fashion, I know yall are here for the good stuff.  I’m more than happy to write about more these issues (if yall want to hear about them), but I’m a positive person and I try not to dwell on the crappy parts of life.  I like to focus on the good.  But if yall would like to see more “real talk” about the hard parts of life, I can go on forever. 😉

Now let’s chat about the holidays!  Such a great time of year and it has been so fun decorating our new house.  

I love all things silver, gold, and red for the holidays.   

My favorite wreath that I bought last year from Home Goods.  They have the best stuff, don’t they?

I love these fun dish towels for a pop of red in the kitchen!

We are traveling to see my in-laws for Christmas this year so we decided to just put up the fake tree instead of getting a real one (my favorite!).  

A few Christmas bowels, a santa, and a fun Christmas pillow!

I usually put these gold beads on the tree, but I unpacked them after I decorated my tree this year so I just threw them in some vases.  Does anyone else have like 500 vases like me?  It is becoming a problem. LOL

I love being in my house with a glass of red wine, relaxing with my husband and pups and just soaking in the holiday spirit.

I bought these red throw blankets last year and love adding them to our decor during the holidays. 

More stockings, reindeer, and ornaments!

I put up lights outside on 4 pillars in front of our house, but ofcourse when I was almost finished… they all suddenly went out and we can NOT figure out the issue.  So I suppose it is time to invest in some new, nice lights.  We are thinking LED lights.  Do you guys have any that yall love?  

I am off to work for another day of information overload and taking it all in.  🙂  Is it Friday yet? LOL.  I hope you guys are having a great week!!! 

Questions:

1. Do you decorate for the holidays? 
2. If you celebrate Christmas, do you get a real tree or use a fake one?
3. What is your favorite holiday treat?

Hey friends!! I hope you all had a nice relaxing weekend!!  We did and boy, was it needed.  I was SO exhausted after my first week at my new job.  I know all new jobs are exhausting, but I’ve never learned more in one week than I did this past week.  Pair that with a bathroom remodel and my husband leaving on a business trip… it was quite the week.  But we are on the other side of that crazy, stressful week and I feel well rested and rejuvenated going into a brand new week.  Monday’s can be hard, but I always try to look at them as a new, fresh start and a chance to make this week better than the last.  

Speaking of last weekEND when we were in Nashville for our friends wedding.  My momma and stepdad took us out to dinner Sperrys, which is one of the best restaurants in Nashville, if you haven’t been.  It is perfect for a special occasion.  

I got the red snapper and it was the most amazing piece of fish ever.  SOO tasty!

After dinner, I dropped Jon off with his boys and headed to meet my girlies!!!  My two besties, Rachael and Lissa.

After a couple drinks, Rach and I headed back to her fiance’s shop (he’s a fashion designer), where the boys were having a poker night.  Literally my favorite couple ever!

So while the boys pokered (is that a word??), Rach and I had a fashion show. 😉 

Love this girl more than words can explain. It has been a hard adjustment not being able to just pick up the phone and see my besties that day.  We were so blessed to live in Nashville near family and friends… even if it was only for a year and a half.  One day we will get back there for longer… 🙂

My ride or die. 

My sweet man, Rach, and our bestie, Jason. 

Always having a blast with these guys.  We never miss a beat when we are all back together.  Great friends are hard to find so we aren’t letting these two go …ever!

On Saturday night, we went to our friends wedding.  The ceremony was at a beautiful church in Nashville and the reception was downtown at Woolworth.  This is what I got when I told the boys to smile for a picture… 

My sweet girl, Lissa, was a bridesmaid and looked absolutely stunning!

Such a fun night celebrating good friends!! I love weddings so much!

Me and my forever wedding date. 🙂 

They had a huge buffet with the best food!  It was all sooo yummy! 

My husband and I went home a little before the reception ended because we were exhausted from the night before and we had an early flight on Sunday morning.  My dad was out on Broadway after the Predators game and sent me this picture of him with the bride and groom!!!!!! How freaking funny is that!!

That’s all I’ve got for today, but I’ll be back soon with another weekend recap… and before and after pictures of our bathroom remodel.  We just have to get glass (for the shower) and counter tops installed and we are about done!  I can’t wait.  I would love to hear about your weekend in the comments!!! xoxoxo

Questions:

1. How was your weekend?
2. Have you been to any weddings recently? 
3. How long have you been friends with your very best friend?

Yall, I’m tired.  No, wait.  That doesn’t accurately describe how I have felt this week.  The better word is EXHAUSTED.  I’m not sure I have ever felt this level of exhaustion before.  

We are in the middle of our master bathroom/laundry renovation, still getting settled in our new home, I’ve been meeting with so many new doctors and got a nerve block last week and have one scheduled for next week (the first one was successful and if the second one is successful, they will proceed with the nerve burning in my neck, I have been doing Arrosti therapy a few times per week (it’s a mix between soft tissue work and physical therapy), my husband was out of town for work this week… and I started a new job on Monday!  So to say this week has been crazy is no understatement.  I am so so so tired.  I am ready for the weekend… although we have a to-do list (mostly consisting of things we need to pick out for our new bathroom like countertops, mirrors, light fixtures, ect. 

It’s just all been a lot while starting a new job.  But you guys, this is literally my dream job.  I actually interviewed with this company for a different position and they called me and said, “we really think you are a perfect fit for this other position!” so I interviewed for that one and got a call that same day that they chose me.  And the offer was one that I just could not refuse.  So I am extremely excited about this new position, but with any new job, there is SO much to learn and it is all a bit overwhelming at first.  I like being a month or two into a new job when you hit that sweet spot and feel like you finally know what is expected of you and what your role really is within the team.  

But yall know me, I like to be positive.  I just think perspective is so important in life.  I am beyond grateful for this opportunity and I’m ready to really expand my knowledge and skill set.  So let’s back up and reflect on all the GOOD stuff from last weekend!!! 

Last weekend we headed to Nashville for our good friend’s wedding (this friend is also a realtor and actually sold our Nashville house!!).  It was so nice to travel home after spending Thanksgiving in San Antonio and it was nice to look forward to this trip after feeling a little homesick since moving.  

The weekend was so amazing.  I keep remembering all the fun times and it always just reminds me how lucky I am to have such great friends and family and the opportunity to travel and witness important days in our friends lives.  We are truly so blessed.  

This sweet face was pretty hard to leave.  We found a couple great dog sitters in San Antonio, which I am so grateful for.  We were SO spoiled in Nashville having so many friends (lissa mostly) and family to depend on when we needed help with the pups.  

We arrived in Nashville late on Thursday night and headed to my dad’s house.  My husband planned to work from the Nashville office on Friday so I dropped him off and headed to my mom’s for the day to do our annual Christmas cookie baking!! 

We made about 4 different cookies, my mom had pre-made some gingerbread men (and froze them), and I iced the cookies and made chocolate covered pretzels when I arrived back to San Antonio.  This picture is from the boys poker night in Nashville on Friday.  I asked my friend, Eric, if he had any platters to put the cookies on (they boys played poker at his shop… he is a fashion designer) and this is what he gave me…. 😉 

Once we got home (cookies and all), I assembled cookie boxes for my husband’s coworkers, our neighbors, and friends!

They turned out super cute!

These pups were hoping for some crumbles!!!

I will pick back up with my recap very soon!! Can’t wait to share some more pictures with you guys!!! I have seriously missed yall and I hope you understand that it has just been a crazy time around here!  It will all settle down soon (I hope!!!) so I can get back to regular posts.  

I hope yall are having an amazing week!!

Questions:

1. What is new in your world?
2. Tell me the best thing you ate this week!
3. What are you looking forward to this weekend?