courtney rebecca

On on second day in wine country, we decided to explore Sonoma. After a great breakfast at Gaige House, we ventured out to the oldest family owned winery in Sonoma, Gundlach Bundschu ! We didn't have a tour scheduled, so we planned on just sharing a tasting. Had I looked it up sooner, I would've realized that we could do our tastings for free! If you have a Visa Signature credit card, there are a TON of wineries that will let you taste for free. Anyway, it was only $10 and we shared it (since I can't handle that much anyway) and it was delicious! Before we went in for our tasting, we found a bench with a view of this beautiful water. This vacation was all about just enjoying time together and taking it slow. I loved just being able to sit and be with Jason. Gundlach Bundschu is a German family winery, and they had a fantastic Gewurztraminer wine that we loved. We took a bottle home with us, and then we ended up finding it at our local liquor store as well! Hooray!...

On Monday of our trip, after we spent the morning looking at the Golden Gate Bridge and having sushi in Sausalito, we drove out to where we would be staying in Glen Ellen, CA! This town was adorable and tiny. Not even sure I could call it a town, since it was more like a collection of wineries, restaurants, and our amazing hotel. We loved staying at Gaige House ! We got a great deal (stay 1 night get one free) so we ended up getting to stay in one of their nicest suites. Especially compared to our hilariously tiny room in San Francisco, this was an absolute sanctuary for us. We had so much space, including our very own private zen garden and a bathroom with a tub carved from one giant rock. Apparently these tubs are so big, they put them in, and THEN built the suites around it. Amazing! Our beautiful door. The suites were separate from the main house where we had breakfast every morning, fresh baked cookies in the afternoon, and a wine and cheese reception in the evening. ...

I know, I know. I still haven't posted about the holidays or anything. Whatever. Facebook makes things so easy, I just post it over there. But I know someday when Facebook isn't a thing anymore, I will be glad I did this so I can keep it! Jason and I have not taken a vacation for just the two of us (so, not going to visit family or friends) since our honeymoon in August 2007. Yes, it was a bit overdue! We spent the last week in San Francisco and Sonoma Valley, and we had so much fun. It was incredibly relaxing and just nice to spend that much time together. We flew into San Francisco on Saturday evening. Right into the St. Patrick's Day celebrations! Yikes, didn't think about that with the timing of our trip. It was pretty insane that evening, so we walked to a French bistro just a couple of blocks from our hotel and got some great food there. The next day, Sunday, we spent exploring the city on foot. First we walked over to the Ferry Building Marketplace. Such ...

On Halloween this year (last year now, I guess haha), I flew down to Texas to spend some time with my best friend Cayce! She had her first baby in July, so I waited a few months, then went down to meet her little boy! My main agenda was hanging out with this adorable little guy! How can you resist that face?? It was amazing to get to spend time with my best friend. Two full days of just getting to be together and hang out like we used to when we were roommates. It's honestly hard to live far away, especially now that she has a baby. It hurts to be far away as he grows up! But of course, we love it here, so it's all a balance. While I was there, we went through some of his old clothes and got out new ones. If you watch HIMYM you'll understand why I took this picture... tiny sock! While I was in town, I also sneaked in a little time for my high school best friend Lauren. Unfortunately we didn't get a picture together, but I did grab one after our...

Here I am, behind again, but I WILL catch up! At the beginning of August, Jason and I flew to St. Louis for Adam's wedding and to visit Jason's Grandma. We had a great time! Jarrod and Rachel also went and Glenn and Karen met us there. Our sweet friends the Jones kept Kingsley while we were out of town. It was so nice to know he was well taken care of and loved while we were having fun. We flew in on Friday morning and got our rental car. We drove to the hotel with Jarrod and Rachel, but our rooms weren't ready yet. Time for some Steak N' Shake! We met up with Glenn and Karen for lunch, then headed over to see Grandma! We caught up with her a bit, then Jason had to go to the bachelor party. He had a great time with all the guys. I stayed with his family and finally met him back at the hotel for some sleep before the wedding the next day! We got to the wedding venue really early, and it was so beautiful! Adam and Emily got married in a greenhouse filled ...

Christmas was so wonderful this year! We celebrated early with Jason's family when his parents were here for Thanksgiving. We decorated our townhouse really fast to have all the festive decorations up the day after Thanksgiving. It was so much fun having everyone at our house for Christmas, even though it was super early. Sweet Kingsley is the best present! Rachel & Jarrod about to open presents Our next Christmas event was down in Texas with my family! We drove down to DFW last Saturday and spent a few days there. On Sunday of course we went to church and saw my church family, then our friends Kyle & Liz drove in from Abilene to spend the afternoon and evening with us! We went out to Grapevine to see Carlee perform in her seasonal job, the North Pole Express. We even got to ride the train after Carlee's little performance. Carlee in her costume Our good friends! We had Christmas on Christmas Eve with my immediate family and Papaw! He drove fr...

My best friend from high school is the lovely Lauren. Growing up, we were so close that her mom was like my second mom! I started calling her Mom #2 at some point, and it stuck. Mom #2 happens to be a travel agent. And she happened to hear about someone that had won two nights in Breckenridge and couldn't use the voucher. And my wonderful Mom #2 volunteered us to use it! The first weekend of Spring Break at the end of March (I know, this is a delayed reaction), we drove up to Breckenridge and stayed at the Beaver Run Resort in a one bedroom suite. Oh man. This place was so nice!! I couldn't believe we were getting to stay there for free. The view from our room We don't ski or snowboard, so our plan for the weekend was just to explore the town and relax. We were successful! We ate so much good food. Empire Burger, a French bakery, a coffee shop, an amazing steak dinner at the resort that was FREE, and delicious donuts on the way out of town. We seriously had amaz...