This Weekend I . . .

April Fools day, one of my least favorite days of the entire year.

This girl is about as gullible as it gets.  So to make this day better, I decided to do a link up at Syndal's bloggy blog!

This Weekend I...

Enjoyed the last day of touring wineries on the wine trail we took part in.  We visited two wineries, did tours, and tasted a lot few wines.  

We really enjoy learning about wine and love drinking wine.  Plus it is fun to do something different and get out and about.  It was such a beautiful day, we enjoyed a glass outside at the one winery with this view.  I often do not appreciate the beauty of my state.

This weekend I...

Toured some of the Gettysburg Battles once we were done touring the wineries.  

We've done the entire tour before so we decided to stop at a few of our favorite locations and enjoy more of the beautiful weather.

First we stopped at Vito's favorite spot which is a giant tour that overlooks the Battlefields.  It has 10 flights of stairs and I must really love him for doing it.  Because here I am two days later and my calves still hurt every time I move.

Then we headed over to my favorite spot, Little Round Top, which is a big hill that overlooks a lot of the Battlefield.  It also had a ton of huge rocks for children (and Vito) to climb on. 

This Weekend I...

Watched the long awaited return of Doctor Who.

Then over the past few days since, have been theorizing with Vito and friends through tweets and emails and texts.

This show always leaves me with so many more questions than answers.

And I CAN NOT get enough of it!

This Weekend I... 

 

Had a busy day celebrating Easter

We enjoyed an uplifting church service with friends.

Celebrated how great is our God

Made delicious lemon bars that Vito's family devoured.

Spent lunch with my family and dinner at Vito's Grandparents.

We ate candy out of our Easter "Basket" (tupperware container) from my mommy.

 Took goofy pictures in bunny ears.

And received sweet notes from my Princess.  

Being an aunt is really the biggest blessing in my life.

My heart is bursting.

Overall, it was a busy and exhausting, but amazing weekend!

Now back to reality.

And how was your weekend?

{Wedding Talk} Picking a Perfect Venue

Last month, I told y'all all about the things I didn't want in our wedding venue.  

Then became the fun times of looking at things we liked.

If you know us, you would know we like our wine.

We visit wineries often, attend wine festivals, and take part in the local wine trails.

You will never come to our house and find it wine-less.

So naturally the first places we started looking into were wineries.

Lots of extensive research on winery websites within a 1-1.5 hour radius of where we live.

We even did a tour of our favorite winery.

Which everyone in my family and our friends was convinced it was the perfect place.

Unfortunately, wineries are expensive.  I'm talking WAY expensive.

This was no exception for our favorite one.  

For about half of our budget, we could have the winery for 5 hours.

And just the grounds.  

No chairs, no tables. No tent. 

All would need rented.

Sadly, this seemed to be the norm for wineries around here.

So on to more research.

Then came the ideas of barns.  

If you've been on Pinterest, you know all the barn-inspired pictures that show up.

And they are stunning.

One day while google searching, I stumbled onto a blog mentioning she where was getting married.

And it sounded perfect.

It had a large barn for the reception.  

And lots of weeping willows around a lake.

Weeping Willows are our FAVORITE tree.

I tried to find a website or facebook page and there was nothing.

Only a few pictures on a photographer's blog.

Apparently from reading on the forums, the owners do not advertise and only go by word of mouth.

This sounds good right? 

Insert Vanessa getting her hopes up.

So I call and the lady was super nice and helpful.

The price? As much as the winery.

Insert Vanessa's hopes being crushed here.

So we sat down and tried to work it into the budget.

And we couldn't.  We tried and tried but it just wouldn't fit.

So I went back to researching more and more and still sticking with the barn idea. 

And I found one that is 30 mins from our house.

Another one where they don't advertise and I only found 10 pictures on The Knot, with no reviews.

Too good to be true? Was I going to have my hopes crushed again?

So I sucked it up and called the owner and she was wonderful.

AND it was only a smidge over our budget.

Naturally, we set up an appointment immediately to tour the venue that weekend.

But more on that in the next post. ;)

How many venues did you fall in love with but had to pass on them?

10 Day You Challenge {9 Loves}

I'm so glad so many of you have decided to join in and do the challenge too!

If you haven't yet, feel free to join!

It'll make this Monday more... bearable!

9 Loves

1.

God.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Philippians 4:13

2.

Vito

Because he is my soul's other half.

3.

My Princess.

Because she is the sunshine in my life.

4.

My Loved ones.

Friends & family.

Because they're with me through everything.

Tears & Laughter.

5.

Travel.

Because seeing and experiencing the world is my passion.

6.

Food.

I have way too many favorite foods.

& drinks.

Nom. Nom. Nom.

7.

Music.

There is never a day that passes by where music is not in my life.

Whether I'm just listening or singing, I wouldn't have it any other way.

8.

The Beach.

My most favorite place to be.

9.

Books.

There is no feeling like transporting yourself into a world within a book.

What do you love?

"Just Like The Movies. That's How It Will Be, Cinematic & Dramatic With The Perfect Ending."

Title: Katy Perry "Not Like The Movies"

Saturday night Vito & I had no plans. None. It's a pretty rare & treasured occurrence. I pondered what we could do. Go out? Meh, maybe but I wasn't feeling it. I thought we could cook a nice dinner (there's been a Pioneer Woman recipe that has been haunting my thoughts), enjoy some wine, and rent a movie maybe even go down the street and see one in the movie theater. A relaxed evening.

Sounds perfect right?

Especially because there are A LOT of movies I've been wanting to see.

In the theaters:

1. Source Code.

One word: Jake.

That is all.

2. Hop

I love how adorable & funny this movie looks. Excuse to grab my niece for the day & see it with her instead? Quite possible!

Now for some movies I missed in the theaters and will inevitably Red Box them. Because Red Box is now a verb.

3. I Am Number Four.

I read this booked, loved it, & couldn't wait for it to come to theaters. Did I see it? Ugh, no. I will soon though. But I'm MORE excited for the next book to come out.

4. Love & Other Drugs.

We covered this reason already. Incase you forgot:

Jake.

5. It's Kind of a Funny Story

I've been wanting to see this & read the book. I mean really, it has Marsh from U.S. of Tara in it! Love that show!

6. Tangled

Everyone and their mom has seen this movie and loved it. I neeeeeeed to see this, just so I can understand the amazing hype around it. & really, it's Disney.

Unfortunately we saw none of these but we will. & soon!

Did I miss any other movies in my list that are must-watches?