What is going on with us

Brandon and I have a lot ahead of us for this year. Mostly, we are looking forward to our one year anniversary, Brandon's 30th birthday and finding a beautiful home. Right now we are both working a ton of hours but for a good cause (a future home). However, we still know how to take a break and have fun. Here is a picture of us having a blast bowling at Lucky Strike!

Finally, a chance to blog

I am so thankful I finally have time to blog! A few weeks ago Brandon was in Corey and Becca's wedding. Their wedding was beautiful and Brandon was honored to be a groomsman. Since, Brandon, Katrina, and Jeff were all in the wedding, my lovely date for the evening was my beautiful nephew, Ewan. I took care of him for half the reception, then handed him off to his mom and then me and Brandon danced the night away! While we were eating, dancing and having a great time, it caused us to look back on our gorgeous wedding and made us feel so blessed and lucky to have each other.

The wedding party (Brandon is the 3rd groomsman out from the middle)

Me, my date Ewan and Katrina

Me and Brandon after the ceremony

At the reception

Having fun at the end of the evening

6 months and so happy

Brandon and I are 6 months into our marriage and we couldn't be happier! We are very excited for whats to come in the next few months. We are saving so hard to get into our own house and we are looking forward to searching for the perfect one. If all goes well, we should be in our own home by September. Brandon is also turning 30 this year and I can't wait to throw him a big birthday party. I have been researching dogs to try and find the perfect one for us. We can't wait to go and pick out a little allergy-friendly puppy together. We love each other so much and we feel so blessed.

The quiz results

Brandon informed me that I got one wrong on the how well do you know your spouse quiz. I would definitely be making a cheesecake for his birthday!

How well do you know your spouse?

Even though Brandon and I have only been married 5 months I'm going to try out this quiz to see how well I really know him. Just for fun :)

1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?
Football

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad?
Ranch

3. What's one food he doesn't like?
Mayonnaise

4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What does he order?
A water and a Coors Light

5. Where did he go to high school?
Hamilton High School

6. What size shoe does he wear?
10.5-11

7. If she/he was to collect anything, what would it be?
Baseball Hats

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich?
Spicy Italian from Subway

9. What would this person eat every day if he could?
Steak and chimi churri sauce

10. What is his/ her favorite cereal?
Corn Pops

11. What would she/he never wear?
A Broncos t-shirt

12. What is his favorite sports team?
Raiders and NY Yankees

13. Who did he vote for?
McCain

14. Who is his best friend?
Yours truly

15. What is something you do that she/he wishes you wouldn't do?
Buy shoes all the time

16. What is his heritage?
Irish

17. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake?
Vanilla or Red Velvet

18. Did she/he play sports in high school?
Yes

19. What could he spend hours doing?
Playing PS3

20. What is one unique talent he has?
He can make me laugh until I cry!

Our daily readings

Every night Brandon and I read our Devotions for Couples book. We got this book as a wedding gift from Jonny and Ashley and we love it! It's a time for us to share our thoughts and reflect on the Bible passage. It's time together with Brandon that I cherish. God has truly blessed us and we feel so lucky.

We are the lucky ones

Brandon and I are so blessed! We feel lucky to have each other, have amazing families and friends, and good jobs. God is good!

Sick Couple

Brandon and I have had a tough week. We are both sick and we seem to just keep passing the germs back and forth. I guess that's what happens when you share everything. We have so much medicine lying around that we should open our own hospital. We have been praying that God would heal our sickness, hopefully he starts healing us soon!

Nesting

Lately, Brandon and I have been spending most of our time at home. We love watching Law and Order and Grey's Anatomy together. But every once and a while we like to go out and hang out with our friends. Earlier in the week our friends Mike and Karissa, who just got married, invited us to go to the Ducks game with them. We had so much fun hanging out and being newlyweds :)

Our Christmas Card Picture

Brandon and I finally got to send out a holiday card together! We wanted to take the perfect picture and after a lot of different poses we finally got it! We hope all our family and friends got some holiday cheer from it!

Christmas at the Lykins

Brandon and I can't wait for Christmas! Here are some pictures of our apartment all decorated Christmas style!

Getting in the Christmas spirit

Brandon and I got our very first Christmas tree yesterday! We went around to every place that has Christmas trees to try and find the best deal. The whole time Brandon kept picking out huge trees saying, "go big or go home!" I thought we just needed a nice small tree to get us through the holiday season. In the end, I let Brandon pick out the tree. We got one that was all wrapped up and then we brought it home, cut the strings, and realized that we got a monstrous tree! It takes up half our living room! But we love it! It makes us laugh every time we look at it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Brandon and I were so excited to celebrate our first Thanksgiving as a married couple. We had a great time with our family and friends. My mom cooked the most delicious meal! We can't wait until Christmas!

Doing things together

Brandon and I love doing things together! The other night we went to the Lakers game with my brother and my dad. We had so much fun! Here are the pictures...

Catching up

I haven't written on the blog in awhile because Brandon and I have been so busy starting our new life and decorating the apartment. We have finally put all the wedding stuff behind us and are now experiencing what being married really means. So far, we LOVE being married! We love living together and coming home to each other every night. We both cook, clean, and do laundry. We put in a joint effort for everything. I will put up pictures of the apartment soon!

Honeymoon Photos

Brandon and I had an amazing honeymoon! With an ocean view suite we relaxed and saw some amazing sights. We spent some time with my grandparents at their beautiful home. We also got to spend some time with my aunt, uncle, and cousin. My uncle Kevin taught Brandon how to surf and he caught a few waves his very first time out! We ventured across the ocean to see the Arizona Memorial. We even took a 4 mile bike ride up and down the north shore with my uncle as our guide. We couldn't have asked for a better honeymoon and it was all because of my amazing grandfather!