birthday dinner

Mr. H woke up to this birthday sign up in our bathroom.  Just showing some birthday love! :)

Yesterday was Mr. H's birthday so went out to celebrate at a fancy restaurant, Fearing's, in Dallas.  This was the first time we'd been so it was exciting.  We don't do a lot of fancy dinner dates so this was pretty special!  Mr. H looked very handsome and I got all dolled up.

I would consider myself somewhat of a picky eater and then I don't do seafood (at all!!) so that limits my selections.  Looking at the menu I was a little skeptical; however, I was pleasantly surprised!  I knew what I ordered, but once it came I had no idea what it was.  Haha.  

I had the Maple-Black Peppercorn Soaked Buffalo Tenderloin on Brazos Valley Jalapeno Grits,
Tangle of Greens and Butternut Squash Taquito

Mr. H had Pan Roasted 'BBQ Spiced' Filet and Chicken Fried Maine Lobster on 'L:aded' Whipped
Potatoes and Cynthia's Soft Spinach Taco

The way they display each plate is like a work of art.  It was very tasty and I will certainly add Fearing's to our list of fancy date night restaurants.  It's located in the Ritz-Carlton...who knows, maybe I can talk Mr. H into a weekend getaway in the future. :)  In my dreams!

It wouldn't be a birthday dinner without dessert, right?  Especially since Mr. H and I are huge dessert lovers!!!

Mr. H and I split Caramelized Apple 'Short Stack' Oatmeal Shortdough Cookies with Pecan Pie
Ice Cream and Blackberry Port Jam

We were both intrigued with the pecan pie ice cream so we decided on this dessert.  It was amazing and the cookies were amazing too!

We had a wonderful date night birthday celebration!  I'm so happy to call Mr. H my husband and look forward to another wonderful year.  What's your favorite way to celebrate birthdays...your family/friends, your spouse or yours?

Have a wonderful day FRIENDS!

happy birthday mr. h

26 years ago Mr. H was born and let me tell you how happy I am to celebrate his birthday!

for letterpress tutorial click here.

Mr. H is my best friend and I can't imagine my life any better.  These seven months of marriage have been blissful and it's only because of Mr. H.  He makes me the happiest I've ever been and can't wait to spend forever with him.

little Mr. H.  look how cute he was!

In honor of Mr. H's 26 birthday, here are 26 reasons why I love him...

1. He loves Jesus
2. He is the spiritual leader of our family
3. He encourages me in my walk with the Lord
4. He wants to be a great husband
5. He kisses every morning before he leaves for work
6. He kisses me every evening when he comes home from work
7. He asks how my days are
8. He makes me laugh
9. He watches my TV shows with me
10. He cooks for me
11. He cleans up after dinner
12. He helps clean our house
13. He loves to spend time with me
14. He respects his parents
15. He loves his family
16. He want our relationship to be Christ centered
17. He is honest with me
18. He is a devoted friend
19. He has a strong work ethic
20. He encourages me
21. He communicates well with me
22. He loves desserts like I do!!
23. He cares for me
24. He can always turn a bad day into a good day
25. He makes me feel special
26. He loves me

Dear Mr. H, I hope you have the best birthday today!  You make me feel like the luckiest girl and I just wanted you to know I think you're a pretty cool guy!  Love you lots!

We'll be having a birthday date at a fancy restaurant and we'll certainly order a yummy dessert to celebrate.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mr. H!!!

Have a happy Wednesday FRIENDS!

HE is RISEN!

I'm so excited for a long weekend! However, it's not just a regular weekend...it's Easter weekend.  I'm so blessed to have a Savior who died for me.  It's during this time that I pause to reflect on what HE has done and how I'm so amazed that HE loves me enough to die and carry my burden.

At my home church, they play this awesome video every Easter Sunday.  THAT'S MY KING!!!

I hope you will take the time to remember HIM this Easter season.  Have a very blessed Easter.  I hope it's filled with friends and family.

a touch of floral

Hi FRIENDS!  You made it through the week and it's officially the weekend.  It's Fashion Friday here at Simply Splendid LOVE!!  I'm linking up with long distance loving for my Friday's Fancies.

Today's Friday's Fancies is "flower power".  It's springtime and not only are there beautiful flowers blooming outside, but flowers are popping up in the fashion world too.  I'm loving the floral patterns I've seen recently.

A cute date night inspired floral outfit!!

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 

A breezy beach inspired floral outfit!!

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Now that we've got this beautiful spring weather, I'm looking forward to wearing my floral dresses and I love the floral shorts...hmmm a shopping trip may be in order soon.


Happy Friday FRIENDS!!!

how was your weekend?

Hello friends, I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!!  I sure enjoyed the relaxation, time with friends and lovely weather.

Mr.H and I have a tradition of Friday night pizza.  It's a family tradition Mr.H grew up doing and I'm so glad to carry the tradition on with our family.  After a long week we usually eat our yummy pizza, catch up on our TV shows and relax together.

Saturday morning we met our good friend, Beth, for brunch at a local cafe where we all enjoyed the most amazing French toast, EVER!  It's not your traditional French toast...it's cinnamon crisp French toast!

This picture doesn't do it justice. 

After our yummy brunch, Beth and I went for a little relaxation and catching up time.  What girl doesn't love a pedicure?  That's right, we treated ourselves to a luxurious pedicure.  If you've never had a hot stone pedicure, I'd highly recommend it!!!  It's so relaxing and feels absolutely amazing!  I love spending one on one time with friends and a nail salon is the perfect place for girls to be girls.

I'm wishing I was back in that chair right NOW!

Our fabulous toes!  

Sunday was our date day!  Who likes ice skating?  That's right...ice skating was the date we picked out of our date jar this weekend.  I'm not sure about you, but it's been a long time since I've been ice skating!!!  Needless to say, I was nervous and excited when we picked it as our date.

When we got to the rink, there were lots of people, mostly kids and I immediately got really nervous about getting on the ice.  We put on our fashionable skates and then headed off to the rink.

We both stepped out very carefully, cautiously and tried to grab the edge.  I actually got the hang of it right away and Mr.H was very surprised with my mad skating skills.  Mr.H on the other hand...well, let's just say he was not as graceful on the ice.  He may have had a few falls and unfortunately it was very obvious who had fallen and who hadn't.  Let me paint you a picture...the ice was very watery so if you fell, it basically looked like you had jumped in to a swimming pool.  We spent about as much time on the ice as we did getting our skates on.  Ice skating...I'm sorry, but you will never join Mr.H and I on a date again.

Here I am skating alone...Mr.H had had enough and I decided to do one last lap.

A quick camera pose.

I wanted a picture of us in our skates, but we were too busy trying not to fall (oops).

I look forward to our next date jar date and hope that the outcome will be better than silly ice skating.  Until our next date...

Have a lovely Monday FRIENDS!

what will we do this weekend?

I recently made a date jar for Mr.H and I.  I came across the brilliant idea on Pinterest (where else??).  Life in the Green House and Lovely Little Snippets both had great ideas for the date jar.  I decided to make my own for Mr.H and I and I'm so excited for us to have our first date from it this weekend!!

It was very easy to make.  I picked up a large mason jar, scrapbook paper and large popsicle sticks at my local craft store.  I painted the popsicle stick with acrylic paint I already had.  Each color represents a different date as seen below in my code.  

All I had to do is come up with was the dates Mr.H and I would go on.  I found some good ideas on Life in the Green House, but I also came up with a few of my own.

I will say that all dates were pre-approved by Mr.H.  I wanted to make sure he participated on all of them so ran all them by him.  I also left a few sticks blank in case we want to add a few more dates in the future.  

PINK=Home Dates

Home dates require little planning and usually cost no money or very little.

     -Homemade pizza and a movie

     -Play tennis together

     -Chick flick and popcorn

     -Cook a new meal together

     -Fondu over candle light

     -Order take out and play dominos

     -Make a dessert together (then eat it!)

PURPLE=$ Dates 

These are dates that require a little planning, but not very expensive.  Something you can do really any weekend.

     -Try a new restaurant

     -Miniature golf

     -Dinner and a movie (Mr.H's choice)

     -Dinner and a movie (my choice)

     -Dessert only date

     -Walk down Main St. and have lunch

     -Afternoon at the zoo

     -Go get yogurt

     -Bowling

     -Dallas farmers market and lunch

     -Ice skating

     -Picnic at the Arboretum

BLUE=$$ Dates

These are dates that require planning in advance and are a little pricy.  Notice how few we have :)

     -Dinner at a fancy restaurant

     -Hotel stay for the night

     -Bed and breakfast

     -Couples massage

Where we live, we have so many fun activities around and don't ever take advantage of them.  Honestly, I think we are sometimes too lazy or simply forget about them.  This is a great way for us to spend some time together and do something fun and different.  

For the home and $ (less expensive) dates, I think it will be fun for us to draw one randomly.  It will make it exciting!  

I'm very pumped because this weekend Mr.H and I will pull a PURPLE ($) date.  We've been busy the last few weekends so we haven't had a date out in a while.  The weather is suppose to be beautiful so (fingers crossed) I hope we get an outdoor activity!  

Have a wonderful weekend FRIENDS!

what would i do without mr. h?

I'm reminded of how thankful I am to have married such a godly man.  Mr. H is truly a man of God and continues to amaze me with his wise leadership of our family.  He is an encouragement to me in my daily walk as I see him dig into the word himself everyday.  I'm so blessed beyond belief and thank God so often for such a wonderful example.  

Mr. H and I do a weekly devotional every Sunday morning with each other: Devotions for a Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas.  It's a wonderful time for us to see what the Lord has for us, learn something about marriage and share what God has showed us during the week.  I look forward to this time together every week and so often take it for granted. 

TODAY'S VERSE... 

Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them...When Peter saw him, he asked"Lord, what about him?"  Jesus answered, "If I wanted him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?  You must follow me."  John 21:20-23

It's human nature to look at others and judge.  It's easy for us to look at our spouse (and others too) and find their flaws while disregarding that the real issue may be yourself!  It's no secret that you married a sinner so there will always be flaws in your spouse as well as yourself.  It's our responsibility to focus on ourselves and what we need to change-not what we can change about our spouse!!  

As Mr. Thomas points out, "Marriage is about learning how to respond to a sinful human being in a holy way.  It's also about letting someone else's sin reveal our own."  

Thank you Mr. Thomas for bringing Mr. H and I closer to the Lord through your wonderful devotional.  

Thank you God for Mr. H...I look forward to the rest of my life with him and I can't wait to see how HE brings us closer together.

I hope you have a very blessed Monday!