Happy December Everyone!

 

Kyle and I have officially gotten into the Christmas Spirit! 

Tree is up, lights are glowing, shopping has begun!

What have you done so far to kick off the holiday season?

A Trip To Findlay Market

Shortly before my birthday, Kyle and I decided to take a long-overdue trip to Findlay Market in downtown Cincinnati. Opened in 1855, the market is the oldest continuously operated public markets and one of my hometown's favorite hot spots. I had always heard great things about the vendors and atmosphere of Findlay and since I had never been there before (which is a travesty having lived there for 27 years) I decided to put it on last years "26 Things to Do Before I'm 27" list. Right before my birthday, I got to check it off my list!

Findlay Market Entrance

Kyle enjoying his gyro

Mmmm... hot cinnamon apple cider!

Delicious gyro!

Yummy savory crepe from Taste of Belgium

Me, loving the cider

A close up of my delish veggie crepe

One of the many vendor stands offering scrumptious goodies

The Market is bustling!

Taste of Belgium! Sooo good!

One of our market purchases- Roasted Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese pasta sauce...

... to go on our made-from-scratch fresh pumpkin pasta. HEAVEN!

And to top off a yummy Fall meal, a yummy Fall beverage!

We had such a great day! We will definitely be back to the market soon, but next time we plan to make up a list of items to pick up before we get there. If you're visiting for the first time, the variety can be overwhelming so it's best to have a general idea of what you're looking for beforehand. Can't wait!!

Happy 31st Anniversary to my AMAZING Parents!

They started dating when they were just 14. They got married at just 18. By 23 they had 2 kids, and after 31 years of marriage, 4 kids, and countless house remodels, they are shining examples of how to make a marriage work. Compromise, Hard work, and a whole lot of Love.

Happy Anniversary!

I love you both so much!

Uh Oh....She's a Teenager!

Happy Thirteenth Birthday to my beautiful sister, Briana!!

(woohoo!! yippee!! hooray!!)

Love you, Squirrelfriend.

My Amazing Saturday Night: A Surprise Proposal!

Yesterday was a FABULOUS day! 

Kyle and I have been dating for a little over 15 months and we've been living together for a couple of months now. It has been truly great, yet as many of you know, living together also means getting into a routine and falling into a sort of comfort level that can quickly become a rut. So, to fix this rut we decided to have an overdue date night on Saturday. 

Our very first date happened at Newport on the Levee and included dinner followed by a walk by the river and across into Cincinnati onto Serpentine wall. For our one-year anniversary we relived this date, however we had to skip the walk by the river since we had been getting a lot of rain that month and it was majorly flooded. Yesterday we decided to do our go-to date night and we did dinner and sightseeing down by the river.

We decided to do dinner at Jax Grille since it wasn't very packed and we could be seated right away. We had also both eaten there before and had good experience with their food. It didn't disappoint this time either-- we each got dinner and a beer and sat and chatted about nothing and laughed (as we tend to do).

Before we left the restaurant we got change from our waitress so we could use the sightseeing telescope to check out the city view. It was good weather, a touch humid, but luckily not raining. We walked and talked and once we got closer to the river we found an open telescope. Kyle put the money in and checked out the view first. Then he let me have a try.

As I was peering into the scope he said, "Do you see it?"

I said, "See what?"

"Can you read the words?"

I start searching for words and then I see them.

Across the river from us on Serpentine Wall was a big sign with glowing pink letters that said, 

Marry Me?

Us by our beautiful sign! (Props to my Daddio for his awesome carpentry skills)

I pulled my face away from the telescope to see him on bended knee holding a ring and my mind went fuzzy.

Me: "EEEE!!! BABEROO!!!??" (my nickname for him)

Kyle: "Megan Peters, will you marry me?"

Me: "BABEROOOOOO!!!!!!?"

** I shove my face back into the telescope to make sure I just saw what I saw **

 Me: "YES!!!!"

** I'm still frantic at this point and I keep going back and forth between Kyle and the telescope**

Me: "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"

Kyle: "Well, give me your hand."

** I hold out both hands, too excited to think about which one was which at this point **

Me: "Baberoo! Baberoo! BABEROOOOO!!!"

** smooches and lovey-dovey mushiness ensues**

ENGAGED!

After the proposal we drove across the bridge to where the sign was to be greeted by our cheering family and friends. We got celebratory hugs and handshakes and then went back to my parents house to celebrate with food, drinks, and cake. 

Beyond excited and doing a happy dance!

The entire night was unbelievable and I was TOTALLY SURPRISED! Kyle has since said that he had originally planned to propose the night of our 1-year anniversary but the flooded river put a damper on that plan. I think it definitely turned out for the best because not only was the way he proposed super cute and clever, but doing it on just a random Saturday night led me to not suspect a thing.

Smiles!

 

The Ring (Chocolate Diamond in the center) Baberoo did good.

12 Monthiversary

Sunday, March 13th marked one year since my boyfriend, Kyle, and I began dating. It was this date last year that we met at Brio at Newport on the Levee, had dinner, and then walked for miles by the river just laughing, talking, and getting to know each other. We have been inseparable ever since.

Since we are total nerds, we have been celebrating our "Monthiversaries" since month one. When you are happy and in love, why not celebrate?? We get a lot of crap from family and friends about how cheesy we are sometimes, but we could care less. Let the celebrating continue!

To celebrate the big one-year mark, we decided to spend the day together and revisit our first date.

The morning began with some surprise cuddles from the Cuddlemonster (Sadie). We try very hard to keep the puppies off the bed, but sometimes they are just too darn cute to resist. Sadie thinks she is a "people" so I had to capture her snuggle-tactics. I promise this was not staged. This is her, "wrap my arm around Kyle and bury my giant face into his neck" maneuver. Sneaky, and adorbs!

Next, it was breakfast time. We had to make a little bit of time for chores, so while Kyle sorted the laundry upstairs, I made some surprise "heart" and number "12" whole wheat berry pancakes with blueberry syrup to commemorate the special day. Yummmmy!

We spent a lot of our day just relaxing, watching a bit of TV and such, and then decided to go down to Newport on the Levee for dinner and a movie. We were aiming for the 2:50pm showing of Battle: Los Angeles but arrived too late so we decided to eat an early dinner first at Brio. It was super delicious and so fun to reminisce about our first-date jitters 365 days prior. We each got the same drinks that we did on our first date and just ate and talked about our relationship-- about how far we've come and what we dream about doing in the future. So lovely!

After dinner we walked around the Levee. A year ago, we walked everywhere! Covington landing, across the Purple People Bridge, checked out Serpentine Wall, back across the bridge, etc. etc. This year, we have been having some epic flooding so we didn't get to retrace our footsteps. We walked along Covington landing a bit and it was strange to see the places we went completely under water. Last year we walked down these steps and took a stroll along the riverbank. This year, not so much.

After our stroll, it was movie time! We watched Battle: L.A. Which I wasn't sure I would like, but we both really enjoyed it. Action packed the whole time! Good stuff!

Overall it was a great day! It's strange how emotions and sentimentality can alter your sense of time. A year ago seems like only yesterday, but at the same time, it feels as though Kyle and I have known each other forever. Our lives have turned totally upside down (in a good way) and we cannot wait for the adventures we'll have ahead.

31,536,000 Seconds That Changed My Life

Happy 12-Monthiversary to the love of my life, Kyle! The past 365 days have been amazing, funny, overwhelming, joyful, life-changing... perfect.

I love you more than the 31,536,000 seconds we've shared together. Can't wait to see what's in store for us next!

 

 

 

Belated Valentine's Day

I just wanted to pop in to show you what I made for my favorite little nephew, Gavin, for Valentine's Day! My mom order some vinyl wall decals and they came in a little cardboard tube, which she gave to me to craft with. When it came time to send Gav some Valentine's Day goodies, I thought it would be a perfect little canister to mail to Arkansas.

I covered it in gesso, then painted the tube into Sir Topham Hatt from Thomas and Friends. When he was done, I popped off the top (his hat) and filled it with flimsy paperback books and a handwritten note. 

What are some Valentine's gifts you sent or received this year??

Birthday Shoutout!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEN!!

Just a little blog post to wish my sister, Jennifer, a WONDERFUL birthday!! I wish we lived close enough to celebrate together but we can celebrate long-distance. I love you! Have a fabulous day!

New Snuggie Spokesperson

My older sister Jen (Hi Jen!) lives in Arkansas, which is unfortunate since it's a bazillion miles (give or take) away from me. However, she is REALLY good at keep us connected with her and her family, and she sends us photos of my adorable nephew, Gavin, on a daily basis.

This is the one I got today. And I'm pretty sure that once this Snuggie craze starts to die down, they should use this photo to boost their sales. Because seriously, if I can look THAT cute in a Snuggie, I want one too!

P.S.- I'm digging the coordinated coffee mug

Festival of Lights!

On Friday, December 17th, Kyle and I went to the Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo. It had been years since either of us had been and it was a perfect addition to our holiday festivities! The weather was pretty cold, but we got all bundled up, bought a couple of hot chocolates, and had a great time!

All bundled up! The blue lights were really pretty!

The giant rhino nutcracker that greeted us at the entrance

Snowman family- they lit up to music

Me in the Candy Cane Forest

HUGE and beautiful Christmas tree!

These goats were so cute! They stayed snuggled up like that, keeping each other warm.

Kyle and I in front of the tree.

Prancer?

Blitzen?

Holiday Smooches!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Yesterday was PERFECT! My boyfriend, Kyle, and I spent the whole day getting into the holiday spirit...

We woke up to a beautiful snowy scene!

Some of Kyle's personal ornaments. Cute!

Two peppermint mochas to start the day....check!

Mmmmm!

Loading up our tree!

Sawing off the bottom... much harder than anticipated.

Some of our pretty decorations!

Yay!

So excited about our first Christmas together!