As you can see the warm 70 degree weather quickly turned to low 30s (I know, I know there are many of you who are suffering in much colder weather – but for us it feels freezing) and with a couple hours to spare Bobby took us to this amazing 360 degree view overlooking Austin’s hill country and then to the mural of a cutting board he gave me last year for my birthday (We love having a little bit of Austin in our home)
some may think celebrating LOVE or relationships through the holiday Valentine’s Day is cheesy or overrated… but I say do what you WANT. Celebrate LOVE on a ‘consumer’ holiday if you want too.. There is no harm in showing your love for another.. EVER!
For our ‘love’ celebrations (which started a week early) we each took time out to do what the other person would want to do/appreciate… We got couple massages together… ate at a great restaurant.. on a Saturday morning we had donuts, starbucks and watched cartoons together…hit up Cordie’s fav place to find books we both can read and enjoy (Goodwill – 10 books for 2 dollars – you can’t beat that).. the next day we went to the golf course and played a round of golf (I am the designated caddy)…
Cordie was out to impress me as he played… these three shots below were all from the fairway one from through the trees (in the picture below after I challenged him asking if he could make it to the green) and landed RIGHT next to the red pin. 
Yes, I was impressed.
…fast forward to the end of the next week I made homemade chocolate cookies, received beautiful roses…on Valentines’ morning we got up – exchanged our cards <3… made some biscuits, eggs and bacon… had a nice cup of coffee before trekking out to another part of Jacksonville…for a little Saturday adventure..
we walked 4+ miles through a beautiful reserve…taking in the beauty around us and just being outside… discussing our dreams and goals… it was wonderful… I love my husband, and I know he loves me.
…but its not just about what we did/do for each other… but that as we grow and are learning (yes there is still lots to learn in our third year of marriage… seriously…if you are married you know) together how to love each other and ourselves – life is a celebration of LOVE… we are each making our own choices to get up early, eat a little bit better, exercise more and taking time out to have real talks (without a phone or computer near by) each week.. communication.. I tell ya it really is so important in any type of relationship.
Happy Valentines’ Day or LOVE month as we say around here…
For yourself, family and relationship when life is incredibly busy and has no intention of slowing down anytime soon…
For us its as simple as getting up a little bit earlier than usual, having breakfast together… then heading to the beach to take some fun pictures before we get back to our work for the day!
Sometimes its just a nice long walk through a neighborhood or the beach but we are both very intentional about taking time for each other and our marriage since with how busy we are with our jobs if we didn’t take the time…days could go by without us having a “REAL” conversation with each other…
How do you take time out or balance your busy life with family, friends and for yourself? Do you have something you do once a week or everyday? We’d love to hear! And maybe use for our next day date or time out with each other!
On New Year’s eve we got together at a park to celebrate Jo Rose Boot’s 24th Birthday with the Doerys and a few of her friends…
From there we headed into the downtown part of the city to wait for the fireworks to go off! Below is Flinders Station
Love my sister.
In the Treasury Gardens (about a 6 min walk from Flinders Station) while we waited for the fireworks to go off there was a large light box with music playing… we all went and danced/goofed around for a couple of hours – which really helped keep you warm as it was freezing by 10pm!
LOVE my siblings so much! Can’t wait to be all together again…
Had so much fun with these girls!!!
It was so much fun to just hang out with everyone and relax before the BIG Wedding Day!!!
They have lollies that look like teeth hence the above photo.
On Christmas Eve we got to spend some time with our dear friend Rebekah Page – she is like a sister to both Elizabeth and I – before she left to London for her holidays… We were blessed to stay at her apartment for the remainder of our time in Melbourne.
For dinner the Doerys had us over for a lovely Christmas Eve meal… there was lots of laughter, amazing food, beautiful decor, Christmas carols and learning some Australian Christmas Traditions (like the hats you see on mine and Hannah’s heads above)
The Osborn’s & Doery’s have 5 kids on each side not including partners… Unfortunately we didn’t get a picture of everyone at the table but we were missing Jo (4th daughter on the Doery side) and her husband Ezra along with my brothers Michael and Bobby who arrived the next morning.
After a wonderful Christmas service at Bridge Church a few of us went to find a coffee shop that was open and hung out for a few hours… It really is nice celebrating the holidays in warm weather!
In the afternoon us ‘Osborns’ headed out to the beach to spend some quality time together! We were just missing Hannah who had to work on Christmas Day.
After spending quite a bit of time at the beach we drove south to see the house we lived in 4 years before in a little ‘village’ called Black Rock…the front wall is blocking the pool we had in front of the house.
