Prints and Pixels.

Here are a few Pieces and Pixels of the last few weeks of our life. 

My best friend got married to one of my best guy friends. I love their story and I love them and they're one of my favorite couples! The wedding weekend was loads of fun and extremely well done. The rehearsal, bachelorette party, bridal luncheon, rehearsal dinner celebration and wedding day were all amazing. I think it is extremely beneficial for married couples to attend weddings together. We have gone to 4 weddings since ours (everyone is getting married) and every time it has helped us to reflect on our own day and the vows we took. Also, so many people don't believe in marriage anymore (I plan to do a whole post on this), it is good to have so many young thriving marriages to point to as statistic busters. BOOM!

The next weekend, I went to a bridal shower for my other friend. Seriously, EVERYONE is getting married. Why didn't anyone tell me it would be like this? Later that day, we went to an alumni tailgate at our law school and headed to watch the game. We lost -_-. Let's move on. This past weekend, we just relaxed and it was glorious. Vince even took a nap, which was a totally new and awesome concept to him!! I'm glad I could introduce him to my every day routine. Then we taught Sunday school (they don't call it that anymore) to a bunch of really great kids, tweens and teens. I loved doing it with Vince, but I didn't like being the oldest person in the room. The kids and V had a lot of fun with that one. Here are some pics of the happenings.

Stop Child Trafficking

Every year, we try to participate in the nationwide Stop Child Trafficking Day. There is a walk that is hosted in Austin and we usually go with our church members. Austin has actually had the biggest turn out in the nation for 3 years in a row. I first learned about human trafficking about 4 years ago when I watched a documentary that was being screened in Austin. I couldn't believe that people were actually being enslaved during my lifetime and all I knew was that it needed to be stopped. Click HERE.

DNC to Spike Lee

Vince went to the Democratic National Convention (DNC) to serve as a national delegate. We (he may say I) made the decision that I would not go. At the time, I was counting dollar signs in my head and really feeling nervous about asking off from my internship. I definitely learned a couple lessons from that.

First, anytime a really big thing is happening to one of us, we want to experience it together. Somehow I thought I would be fine just talking on the phone with him, but feeling the energy at home wasn't enough. I wanted to be beside him to take in all of the historic moments and I chose to stay back.  I don't think I will be doing that again if I can help it.

Second, the trip was 7 days. That was too long. People kept hinting that it was a good thing because "now you have time just for you," "freedom for 7 whole days." In a way those statements reaffirm people's general view of marriage: it's something that is confining/freedom stripping. We don't feel that way though. We genuinely enjoy each other's company...a lot. It only took half a day before the "I miss you's" were flowing freely and I knew I should not have fought Vince so much on going with him. I definitely had trouble sleeping those 6 nights alone and even resorted to sleeping pills to get through it. He said the same on his end.

Guess the big message was: We want to be together. As much as possible. For a lifetime of big moments. (mushy I know but that's what's real for us).

Anyway, after he got back we went on a date night to see Spike Lee. He was in town giving a talk and doing a Q&A. When I was in 8th grade, I wrote a "bucket list" (it wasn't called that then) and it had at the top "become the female Spike Lee". I was gonna make movies about real stuff that mattered and develop noticeable style like SL. I'm not close to that right now but it meant a lot to see him in person. We then went to eat with some peeps and had an awesome time. I was so happy to be back with Vince, sharing that big moment together.

Twenty Five.

My guy finally turned 25 on September 14th. I must admit that I am awful at planning celebrations, so I went back and forth on what to do. Finally, I landed on what he wanted, which was Dave and Busters. He could play video games with the fellas and watch football simultaneously. MAN HEAVEN!! His friends from Houston came to surprise him and we all had a good time. Here are a few pics (excuse the quality. my iphone camera is getting progressively worse):

Chicago and the places in between

The text message conversation went like this:

Me: Babe, we could drive somewhere. We could just pick up and go. 

Him: Let's go.

Me: Seriously?

Him: Yes. We can look up places when I get home. 

Have I told you how much I love my husband? So approximately 2 hours later we were discussing whether to drive to Chicago or San Diego. We settled on the windy city. Here are some pics from our first road trip together:

Pump before you pay? Amazing.

"I may not get there with you, but we will get there." -MLK, Jr.   

            Blue City Cafe. Memphis, TN.

The BEANNNNNNN!!!

What's a road trip without a flat tire?

 At the beach for a morning walk in Chicago

 Springfield, IL. Vince HAD to see the Capitol building and we got a little tour of the Lincoln family home while we were at it. 

Beautiful Colorado.

Before we took the bar, we took a pre-bar trip. When we got married in January we didn't get to take an official honeymoon. Vince counted this as a honeymoon. I did not. Hahaha! It's fine. I'm sure we will have a lifetime to make up for not taking a honeymoon. Most people take a post-bar trip, which is great, but I also recommend taking a pre-bar trip if you can swing it. The bar is the most horrendous experience ever and you need happiness on both ends if possible.

[Check out my post about our wedding here.}

Colorado was absolutely gorgeous and peaceful. We mainly chose that location because we didn't want to go to a place that was brimming with tourist. We really wanted to getaway from everything and relax. (There was also a big miscommunication that took us from the Dominican Republic and landed us in Colorado. We don't speak of it. ) Colorado ended up being the best place for that and we had an amazing time. The best part was that the trip was so long (7 days), so we really got to take our time and rest. The pics are below!

Our first stop was in Vail, CO which is a very neat resort town that is intimately tucked away in the mountains. We loved this spot and promised that we would spend one of our Christmas' there in the future.  Especially because we didn't get to ski. Skiing closed the day before we got there. This was the view from our room:

This is Vince's attempt at "draw something". I have no idea what this is. We were at a very nice restaurant, but they had crayons on the table, so we got to work! I mean, who can resist crayons?! It's impossible, even if you are at a premium restaurant. 

From Vail, we headed into Denver where we attended the Nuggets v. Lakers game. This is actually a tradition of ours. When we go on trips, we always try to attend a sporting event. (Our other tradition includes me shopping at the local H&M and Vince finding the best seat in the store to wait it out)

As you can see, Vince really enjoyed the beautiful views on our journey to Pikes Peak. 

Hook 'Em!

I love him!! Best friend. 

We don't go ANYWHERE, and I mean anywhere, without getting pizza. Just has to happen. 

Denver zoo! These were Lions and they did not have a glass in front of them. Well, there was a very low one. We got out of there very fast!

Then we went White Water Rafting. I resisted this at first, but V is all about new experiences, so he insisted. It was awesome. I wish we had action shots, but they wanted to charge us like $80 for one pic, so we passed. -_-

 Yeah, I don't know.