My Kind of Day

Braden is notorious for fun, elaborate dates that usually take up an entire day (which I don't mind one bit). Typically they're a surprise and I have no idea what we're doing or where we're going. That has always been one of my favorite things about our relationship, I love surprises no matter how big or how small! We spent the day on the lake again on Friday, but this time it was just the two of us. We love cruising around, looking at houses, and napping on the boat when it's just the two of us. It's definitely the most relaxing date you could possibly ask for and I love every second. 

We went back to the dock around 5 in the afternoon, I thought our day of leisure was coming to a close. To my surprise, Braden walks back down to the dock with a portable grill in hand. He said I had an even bigger surprise inside the grill - it was stocked with marinating chicken, pineapple, and asparagus. The boy knows the way to my heart.. good food! We had been talking about making BBQ Hawaiian chicken for a few weeks now, he just took the initiative to make it!

We anchored by a small little island that had a beach area. We got the grill going, then set up the marinated chicken topped with pineapple. Needless to say it smelled delicious! I had the idea to grill the remaining pineapple slices for dessert, probably the best idea I had of the night haha.

While waiting for the food to cook we spent some time skipping rocks. Bray makes it look so easy, I on the other hand struggle to make it skip more than two times. I guess we all have different gifts and talents right ;)

Our dinner was grilled to perfection, and although I didn't get a picture of the finished product, I did get a picture of our dinner "table" set up! The fish must have keen senses because as soon as we started eating a little school of fish hung out around Braden's toes hopefully waiting for us to drop some leftovers. This turned into an entertaining game on what we could get the fish to eat. I've learned they're fans of chicken but not pineapple haha.

We finished out the night with a sunset ride back to the dock. Sunsets are hands down the best showcase for the Lord's masterpieces, they are always so beautiful and breathtaking. This one was particularly beautiful. I may have been biased because we had such a great afternoon, but I'm thinking that it's definitely on my top 10 list.

Surprise dates are always fun. However, a surprise date in great company always takes the cake. I love spending time with Braden, especially when it feels like we're away from the craziness of reality. We both love to escape for a few hours and just enjoy each others company. 

This week marks the beginning of a crazy semester. Braden started back at his co-op today, which means less time to spend together. Although I won't see Braden nearly as much as I'd like to, I know that the time we do have together will be time well spent.  I'm confident that the Lord is going to use this season for His glory, and I'm excited to see what this semester holds for us!

Days in Pictures

Wednesday was the first day of my Senior year, which does not feel like it's real life. The first day of class was pretty normal, go to class, awkwardly introduce yourself, head to the next class, repeat. After class I got to hang out by the pool for a little while before heading to Crossfit. I also have a night class on Wednesdays, once that was over Bray and I headed to Anderson for dinner with his parents.

I'd say Wednesday was pretty average, with a twist of randomness.

Thursday is a different story. I'll let it speak for itself.

Seriously the most beautiful campus ever!

Ground turkey, sauteed mushrooms and green peppers, taco seasoning, and chili powder

Not from Thursday, but Bray and I experimented with cauliflower rice (put cauliflower in food processor, microwave for 8 minutes, voila!)

Favorite Moments of the Week

It's only Wednesday, I may be getting a little ahead of myself but this week has already been too good to me! What better way to celebrate the not-necessarily-over week than to share a few fun moments that have already made my week! I'll run in reverse and start this list of fav's on Friday night.

1.) Date night with Bray

Braden and I love heading to Greenville for date nights - think about it, you can have dinner, dessert, and entertainment all in one place! Plus we've had so many run-ins with incredibly nice people downtown, so it just makes for a great date place. On Friday we headed to Tako Sushi, one of our favs, and we sat at the end of the bar where we could see the sushi chefs working their magic! We started off with the Pork Pot stickers which were incredibly good! I ordered the Cucumber Salad Roll, Bray ordered the Seared Tilapia Takos, so naturally we shared to get a little taste of southwestern and sushi.

Crab, fresh shrimp, tomato, asparagus, and avocado rolled in cucumber and topped with wasabi vinaigrette!

After dinner we strolled around downtown for a little while and then headed to a new froyo place called Yogurtini. Oh my deliciousness, I'm pretty sure we tried every single flavor and then had the hardest time deciding which ones we wanted! We went with a cappuccino, cake batter, peanut butter, and red velvet cake concoction topped with a random assortment of yummy fruits and candy.

2.) Lake Day with the Nichols Fam.

Saturday we headed to the lake with the Nichols clan. We spent the day cruising and swimming, and eventually went and met up with a few of his parents friends. The afternoon quickly turned into wake surfing lessons for everyone, including the little ones!

If that's not the cutest thing you've ever seen then I don't know what is!

3.) Afternoon Rain Artsy-ness

We've been getting a lot of rain the past two weeks, which I'm not a huge fan of because it makes me want to stay in bed all day watching movies. However, the rain has made for some beautiful rainbows on a daily basis. Aside from the mountains and sunsets, I think rainbows are one of the most magnificent showings of God's beauty!

Even Bray got in on the action and sent me this super artsy photo - which makes me extremely proud :)

4.) CrossFit at Home

This week CrossFit was closed on Tuesday so Braden, Elliot, Alex and I decided that we wouldn't let that keep us from getting in a good work out. We (as in Elliot) came up with the idea to have a hill sprinting workout on the dikes, which initially sounded like a great idea. We came up with a workout of 4 rounds: 10 push ups, sprint up the hill, 10 burpees, back down the hill. Yes, it was as intense as it sounds! Alex and I modified a little and did 10 below-parallel squats in place of burpees, we felt it was necessary to still be able to breathe :)

I felt these socks were necessary, haha

Pre-workout agility

Everything about that picture cracks me up. Bray's just straight chilling, while Alex does a cartwheel warm-up. I guess everyone has their own methods of stretching and warming up prior to a workout, haha!

5.) She-Crab Sweetness

I had a surprise visitor at work today. Yep you guessed it, Braden showed up with she-crab soup from JPeters in hand. He knows me so well, and knows exactly how to make my day with one of my all time favorite soups! I mean really, how'd I get so lucky?!

 Tonight little Alex is coming to CrossFit with me for a trial run, but I already know she's going to love it! After our workout, Bray and Elliot are going to make all of us dinner, while Alex and I make a summer peach pie for Braden's family reunion this weekend. A post will be coming soon on the pie making method and on all of the fun family reunion festivities!

Until then, I hope everyone has a fabulous week - smile because we're halfway to the weekend!

Weekend Recap

This weekend was a great refresher. Friday consisted of planning for the next day, a full day on Lake Jocassee. We had to run around town to get things ready (food, gas, etc), which took a little longer than I had expected. I have never realized how much work goes into preparing for a lake day, major props to my boy who makes it happen! After all of the running around I made enchiladas for the first time, which were surprisingly good! After dinner Braden and I set off on a post-dinner walk to enjoy the weather, which turned into a 3 mile trek.

The sky was absolutely beautiful during our walk, and Bray made a point to pick every pretty flower we passed by! By the end I had a pretty little bouquet, he's quite the keeper :)

We've been on a big movie kick, so we thought we'd give "Like Crazy" a try.. I was so excited about this movie, only to find it highly disappointing. We turned it off after about 20 minutes of confusion and having no idea what's going on. I'd give this one a big bad movie rating.. sad day!

Saturday morning Braden, Elliot, Drew, and myself packed up the car and headed to the lake. I've come to the conclusion that I'll probably be spending lots of time with these 3, but what can I say, they're all great to have around! We spent the day cruising, wake surfing, and the boys climbed up rock walls. It was a pretty perfect day despite our few minor setbacks with boat mishaps.

Yesterday we went to Grace and then to Braden's parents for lunch. Overall a very laid back day with a little grocery shopping thrown in. Now it's the start of the work week, and I'm counting down the minutes until it's the weekend! We'll be attending our fourth wedding of the summer, with 3 more still to go, geez louise wedding season is definitely in full swing! I'm loving it though, I mean really, what girl doesn't?!

Oh side note: I'll be starting my first day at CrossFit today! I'm super pumped, nervous, excited, anxious, you name it I'm feelin' it! I've gotten so run down and bored with my normal weekly workouts (MWF strength and sprints, TTH cardio and stretching) I need something to push me harder and keep me entertained. I'm signing up for a month, so we'll see how this goes!

Tonight I'm making dinner with the lovely Emily, and then watching the Bachelorette with some wonderful ladies. I always look forward to Monday's because I know this time with these girls is always right around the corner. Plus I'm mildly obsessed with watching the guys on the show make fools of them self, but I must say I'm team Sean and I'm not ashamed to say it, haha!

I hope you have a wonderful week!