from the heART: you're so vain, you probably think this post is about me

At first glance you may be thinking that it is very odd to post photos of oneself. Well fear not, this post is not about me, but is about my extremely talented sister, Lexi. She is not only an incredible sister, loving friend, and a great fiance (to Steve), she is a spectacular photographer. 

Don't believe me? Well look for yourself right here. I guarantee that you won't be disappointed and will surely be impressed.

from the heART: the turkinator

If I didn't have dog fever before, I certainly do now. Spend just 5 minutes with Turkey dog, yes that really is his name, and you too will have dog fever. Turkey, Turkinator, Turks, whatever you call him, he will still be one of the sweetest, spastic, loveable pups ever. 

My sister and her new husband (as of this past Saturday!) moved to Hawaii which has given our family the pleasure of housing their two dogs before they are able to make their way over to the islands. If his looks weren't enough to win you over, his bag-o-tricks surely would be enough. Of course he has the classics down: sit, stay, and down. BUT if you tell him to "gobble" oh yes he barks! AND if you shoot him with a "bang, bang" he growls and rolls over on his back.

Turkey totally has my heart and I will be sad to see him go. Well, oh shucks, I suppose I'll just have to plan a trip to Hawaii. Oh well, what are you going to do.

from the heART: the Lord is risen indeed

Simply put, I love Easter. Time spent reflecting on the Lord and spending time with family is all a blessing. This year in particular may top as one of my favorites.

Late afternoon Friday, my older sister, her fiance, and two dogs left their homes in Tennessee for good and made the long drive out to Arizona for their wedding this coming weekend. Not sure if they would make it by Sunday morning, they pushed through and arrived on Saturday night. Having the whole family together for Easter was an occasion that hasn't happened in a long time and really made it special. BUT it also meant that our egg hunt was kicked way up in intensity! Yup, you read correctly, I said egg hunt. Sure the youngest in the bunch is 22 and the oldest is 33 and no that doesn't stop us. 

The eggs are filled with spare change and candy and is debated every year if the winner is who finds the most eggs or the most cash. This year the wins went to my sister in law for most eggs and my younger sister with most cash. (I do have a strong suspicion that most improved hunter will likely go to B-Wise who walked away with only 4 eggs this year.)  

However, at the end of the day, I think we are all winners because we are grown adults running around the yard searching for easter eggs! 

He is risen! The Lord is risen indeed!

from the heART: you stay classy san diego

This past weekend I took Friday off work and headed to the west coast for a weekend full of surprises. My poolmate Anna was in town for her spring break and I just couldn't pass up an opportunity to be there for her surprise birthday party that her mom put together. 

Before we surprised Anna Friday night, Sasha and I decided to pick up a very berry sundae from Costco then head to the beach for a while. However, after we picked up our tasty  treat and were back on the road, we passed the flowers fields and clearly our plans immediately changed. There are acres upon acres, full of thousands upon thousands of ranunculus of multiple colors. The flowers fields were nothing short of remarkable! 

After the flowers, we headed to happy hour which really was full of happiness! Between spots our group couldn't miss out on the nation wide hype of Mega Millions and so we bought our (losing) tickets. Even though we didn't win, our tickets did bring us much entertainment talking about what we would spend the money on if we were to win. Josh would buy a yacht, Anna would take a trip around the world, and I would buy a puppy, which I was given grief for saying but hey, its my fake money and I'll do what I want! 

The next morning we woke up and Sasha cooked up a storm! We helped where we could and ended up with a fabulous breakfast of monkey bread and a sausage frittata. Afterwards we packed up and headed to the boat for a day on the water. The sun decided it didn't want to come out but we didn't mind. We just bundled up and enjoyed our time together minus my sea sickness (whoops) and a light drizzle. While out we spotted not only sea lions but were fortunate to see a whale! Anna saw its arm and side, I saw its back, and Sasha saw its tail, so pretty much we saw a whole whale which was awesome! 

After the boat we said our fake goodbyes and all went on our fake separate ways. Only to all come back together at John and Whitney's to get ready for Anna's surprise party! Which ended the night and the weekend in a great way! Good food, good conversation, (good March Madness games) with the best of friends! It went quickly but was a lovely weekend overall and I always love spending time with my best friends!