on the 23rd

..i turned 23, felt so loved and so spoiled!

my favorite thing is to stay up til midnight and watch the date turn over.. a split second later i get a call from my parents. wow, they were quick.. i guess since i was the first baby they will never forget and even the three hour time difference can't even throw them off! their call was followed by a call from both of my brothers and sister. i loved it. it's funny how when you move away a simple call/skype from your family can mean the whole world.

i got sister's gift in the mail after work (a few hours before midnight)and was sooo happy! i love it so much!! it's a brass heart and silver band. ( ignore my "nubs"). my fingers do exist, promise.

and we all know that my parents got me the cricit and that can be my birthday present for a couple of years :)

my hubby came home an hour later and told me happy birthday (we weren't together last birthday) the whole week he kept saying ahhh this is the last week i'm going to be married/kiss my twenty two year old wife. i love his sense of humor.

he let me open his present. oh how creative it was. the card read: "to find your birthday present you have to go on a treasure hunt! i am naming it the happy 23rd bday- i love your face treasure hunt. here's the first clue: think of somewhere cold very far away and where they say 'ya tebya lublu' (we have a poster from russia) and so it went on for many clues..on the back they had reasons why he loves me. it was fun and romantic. my favorite types of gifts! it eventually led me to a gift card to my favorite place here panera bread!!

oh how i loved what he had planned!
the next day we had the morning/afternoon together thanks to my manager who switched me shifts. our day would've been me working 10-3, j working 3-2am. glad it wasn't like that.

we slept in, skipped breakfast and went to red robin because they give you a FREE meal on your birthday! i'm alllll about free things!

then we went to hunington beach and walked on the sand bare foot.
oh how i love the skyline of cleveland in the background.
it's crazy how much it feels like the ocean, minus the lack of waves.

love my hansome man
i love these things haha

then we went to crocker park and walked around and got a FREE ice cream at cold stone!

YUMMMY!
this is what my station looked like the whole night of doing hair. it was so much fun:)
and my manager made me a cake from scratch! oh it was delictious! she said she made the icing orange cause that's the color that fits me best in her mind!:)

then after work i grabbed my FAVORITE the veggie bowl at chipoltle

i had 140 texts/facebook messages/cards in the mail.. everyone was so thoughtful. thank you everyone for making it such a special day! the good thing about being married to a man whose seven years older.. you never feel old!!

west side market

is absolutely amazing. they have every type of food you could imagine. cheeses, pasta, spices, smoothies, candy, baked goods, mexican, bread, homemade crepes ect.

the best produce ever and you can negotiate prices.. i got a whole thing of strawberries for a $1 and they were the best i've had which is saying a lot since i eat them in my yogurt every day.
we decided to get crepes! we watched him make them!
yum. nutella crepes with strawberries inside!!

cutest farm stand i've ever seen.
we drove through cleveland, i just love the feel of this city.
the churches get me every time.

j loves how cleveland has such random "art"
cutest yellow apartment!

so colorful!

we drove through little italy. it's adorable. we have to go back to one of the restraunts! oh how i love italian and experiencing new things with my hubby!

small town

corn festival aka fair with corn.

(i was expecting fields of corn, hay rides, that kind of thing) boy, i was wrong.

huuuuge bull.

we had a great time even though we didn't like any of the food we bought. i lucked out with my lemonade though! :) it kind of was a culture shock. i kept saying.. do these people realllly live in our town? haha. gotta love it

my little mommy

came to ohio before i started my job.
it was such a highlight! we had so much fun! justin worked a 95 hour work week so we had lots of girl time!!

between studying, testing and job searching.. there wasn't much time left to decorate. i had all my ideas and mama helped make them come true! we basically started from scratch. we literally crafted and shopped til we dropped!

this explains it all. lets just put it this way.. people in ohio are in NO rush!

antique shopping!

we both have the same taste in antiques!

mom was so excited that she found a quilt using the 1930's fabric she just used on hers!

love this hat. wish i could wear it to a tea party. haha

we weren't going to go but we went into the basement of an antique store and within minutes of browsing my jaw opened. my great grandma recently passed away and left me with half of a set of her china.. i had found the whole entire set of the exact china in a tiny basement in ohio. it gave me chills.

we went to lakewood park and enjoyed lake erie. they even have cute little swinging benches with the view of the lake.

oh so green!

came across this little guy, he's so cute!

we went to the yummiest coffee shop/cafe called root. it is such wonderful healthy food. i could eat there every day!

more crafting/ painting furniture.

yay for a freshly painted front door! yes, my mom is the only one in the world who would look cute painting a door.

mister's trunk on one occassion!
we went to mom and pop's produce and got theeee best fruits and veggies. we made the best meals with them!!

mom really thinks this is her old house in st. louis.

we went on morning walks through our neighborhood and into forest on the walking trails!

justin and i took mom to cleveland and we had dinner at a yummy mexican place!

i don't know how i caught this moment on camera. guess it was a good time to scratch your head haha.

i love east fourth street! it's a street stringed with lights and tons of places to eat!

so lovely!

we went to what was once the largest building in the 1920's (besides new york) i loved the ceilings!

mitch is so silly. he told us he didn't get his call because he didn't get an email that a package came.. well, his friends eventually talked him into going to check the mail.. there it was!! we were very excited!

since it was midnight our time, just was in bed and somehow right before he opened his call, he poked his head in and couldn't miss out on all the excitment!

it was so much fun watching and seeing everyone. he had so many people there (most he had just met!) we are so proud of future elder whiting. spokane here he comes!

it's been a dream of mine to see taylor swift live. i never thought it would come true because her tickets are always sold out in seconds and are expensive. well, my hubby found 2 tickets for $40 bucks 2 days before and mama treated me (christmas). oh how excited i was!

so happy!


the traditional kissy face!
she was absolutely incredible. she is so entertaining and talented!
i feel i got to meet her because she was so personable!

she has helped me get through hard times, she has a way with words. she has also helped me incoroporate being "fearless" into my life.

dear tay swift, please always stay wonderful and wholesome.

don't think my smile could get any bigger!
after church we randomly had a photo shoot in the field by my house...

so since flying into columbus was cheaper, we got a hotel the last night close to the airport. we brought my cricit and made cards for hours!
oh so creative!

and we painted our nails.. actually they are a sticker that hardens into nail polish and stays for weeks. i'm obssessed.

what would a girls night be without a face mask??! we even listened to music mom used to listen to when she was my age.

we sent this picture to justin and dad. here are the responses: justin: where's the cucumber? dad:you look like mulan. hahah.
we stayed up til 3 am.. we didn't want the trip to end. we wanted more time. such a fun girls trip. i felt i was on vacation.. come back mama.. i miss you already.