California Love...

Are you "Tupac-ing" it to "California Love"? Nick and I were invited to a wedding in California two weekends ago back at our old stomping grounds in Orange County! It was the perfect opportunity for a little getaway for us, and to visit our old home. Southern California will always have a special place in our family's heart. It's where both of us spent the majority of our Marine Corps careers, it's where Nick and I met, it's where we bought our first home, and it's where our first child was born! We have wonderful memories there, and it's always a treat to get to go back!

And airport selfie, because we can....

So funny story...

We originally purchased roundtrip tickets to fly out from Texas on Friday and fly home the following Monday.

We made a last minute decision to fly to California a day early so that we could enjoy an extra day to hang out and see friends. 

Since changing our ticket was going to be costly, Nick decided to purchase two one way tickets on Thursday, and just fly back on Monday with our original round trip tickets.

He purchased our tickets online through Expedia....through SPIRIT AIRLINES!

If you know anything about Spirit airlines, you know that they are an ultra low budget airline that nickels and dimes you for EVERYTHING (just google the horrific reviews).

They also have THE WORST reputation in the airline industry for flight cancellations.

You can literally buy a round trip ticket for less than a hundred bucks through spirit, but in the end, you end up paying to print your boarding pass, pay for all your bags (checked or not checked), etc. 

They also have the worst legroom, non reclining seats, no complimentary beverages.

It's basically "bare bones" flying. 

I was SO irritated that Nick did not take this into consideration.

Look, I'm no diva (maybe a little), but I prefer to fly in comfort.

I forced him to pay the extra 50ish bucks for the emergency exit row, because if I'm gonna sit on an airplane for 3.5 hours with non reclining seats, I NEED some legroom.

With that said...

Our flight was not cancelled.

The flight attendants were SUPER friendly.

The money spent on the emergency exit row seat was worth it.

The aircraft was tidy.

Would I fly Spirit again?

Probably not.

The seats were really small, so I felt a little squished on the sides.

Also, I can not gamble with my travel with the possibility of having a cancelled flight.

But, it wasn't a terrible experience.

Our first stop when we arrived in Orange County was San Juan Capistrano!

SJC has a very special place in my heart, because it's where our first home was!

This is a cute little historic area just down the road from where we used to live.

Then we hit up my favorite little bistro/café in SJC, The Sundried Tomato!

Dannika and I used to come here every Saturday morning for brunch when Nick was deployed!

Sundried Tomato soup!

My all time favorite, Dr. Rick's salad.

Spring mix salad with prosciutto wrapped goat cheese and a balsamic glaze over the salad!

absolutely delicious! 

One of my favorite things to do when we lived in Cali was go on runs by the beach!

The views and the ocean breeze made running so enjoyable and fun! 

Of course Nick and I hit up the beach run up and down San Clemente beach.

One of my favorite beaches!

 We stayed at the Laguna Cliffs Resort with the rest of the wedding party.

We love this resort, and it was such a nice treat to come back for old time's sake.

Nick and I spent several anniversaries here for a weekend getaway.

 We hit up our favorite Mexican restaurant, El Adobe...

I had the most delicious lobster tacos.

Because every Aggie always takes photos of their Aggie ring on vacation...

Nick hit up his favorite barber shop for a haircut!

Military bases always have the best barber shops around it!

They give the best razor fades!

 Because food...

We hit up our favorite sushi place in San Clemente, Tak-a-o.

The hummingbird special.

No idea why it's called that.

It's stuffled and fried jalapeño with their special sauce.

Calamari!

THE BEST!

Our good friend Paul met up with us there!

Lounging poolside...

In jeans....

Rehearsal dinner!

 After the rehearsal dinner, Nick and I decided to hit up an old bar that we used to frequent.

We convinced this mom and son who were there for the wedding to join us!

It was so fun!

 More food...

We hit up Wahoos fish tacos!

 And finally, the wedding day! 

The wedding was at the Ritz Carlton at Laguna Niguel.

It was an absolutely breathtaking venue.

The ceremony was on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

A good friend of ours owns a photobooth company, Stay Golden Photobooth.

Nick and I decided to get the bride and groom a photobooth setup as a wedding gift.

It was a big hit!

 Aggie ring pic...

Nick was the lead sword arch for the wedding.

 Because I like taking photos of pretty salads...

The wedding was a blast, and we were so honored to be able to share it with our friends.

Until next time, California....

#peace

A Romer Thanksgiving

I heard on the radio today that there are only 34 days until the New Year.

How the heck did this year fly by so fast? 

I feel like I was still celebrating New Years Eve with our neighbors just a few months ago.

I mean, heck, we started off the year with a 1st grader, and now we have a 2nd grader.

We started with a 2 year old who is now a 3 year old.

We had a guy with no Aggie ring, and now he has one.

They say time flies when you're having fun, and that is the only reason I can think of for the time passing by so fast this year. 

I can honestly say this year has been fun!

This Thanksgiving, our family chose to stay at home and have our own Thanksgiving.

We had a friend who just got stationed in Texas, and wasn't going home for Christmas, so I wanted to have her at our house. 

I also wasn't in the mood to be a part of any weird family tension.

Ever since my grandma passed away, holidays haven't been quite the same for us. 

It was really nice to have Thanksgiving in our own cozy little home with just our family. 

The long weekend went by too quickly, but I am looking forward to getting finals over with!

Some photos recapping our Thanksgiving weekend!

My gal and me got our nails done!

Then took her and her pal to a birthday party at an ice skating rink!

My bookworm finished reading Rosa Parks 📖📖📖

Took the girls to see Moana

(GREAT movie by the way!)

Some park time

And wine time... 🍷🍷🍷

Relaxin'

Put up our Christmas trees...

I have one tree that everyone calls "mom's tree".

It's a tree that i decorate the way I want it.

I'm really digging the "rustic theme" right now...

And then, we have our family tree...

This tree consists of ornaments picked out by each of us, family photos ornaments, and Marine Corps ornaments.

If you look at this tree, it really captures who are family is!

We did some cookie baking and decorating...

Watched some TV with Miss Emilee

My parents even made it up for Dannika's Grandparent's Day at her school!

We had a great long weekend (much needed).

We are also very grateful for each and every one of our wonderful friends!

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Pancakes, Fried Chicken, & Country Music Hall of Fame

It's the first day of SPRING, y'all!

It's one of my favorite seasons of the year.

Unfortunately, we are spending our day at home, and not at our wonderful church today because we have a sick child. 

I guess it gives me a chance to blog though!

I know y'all have been dying to find out about the last part of our trip to Nashville.

We started our third morning in Nashville bright and early to have breakfast at the famous Pancake Pantry!

We got there around 745, and didn't have to wait in line, however, when we left at around 830, there was a line already forming out the door!

People will wait in line for hours to eat here!

Just about everything on the breakfast menu comes with their famous pancakes.

I chose a healthy egg white omelet (no cheese) with jalapeños, mushrooms, and turkey.

It came with 3 fluffy buttermilk pancakes.

All of it was DELICIOUS!

After stuffing our faces, Nick and I went on a 4 (ish) mile run around Nashville to burn off those pancakes!

 Then we headed to a little suburb just 20 minutes out side of Nashville to take the kids to a trampoline park.

They had a blast, and definitely burned some energy off!

Before our trip to Nashville, I told my brother in law that the ONLY place I NEEDED to see in Nashville was the Country Music Hall of Fame.

As big country music fans, we decided this was a "must see".

Besides, how can we go the NASHVILLE...the country music capital of the WORLD, and not see the Country Music Hall of Fame?!

My brother in law is not a fan of country (he didn't know who Johnny Cash was...seriously), so he just dropped us off.

We had lunch at a delicious and way overpriced taco joint (Bajo Sexto Taco) next to the CMHF where they served me wine in a can.

Surprisingly, delicious!

 Even with a military discount, the admission prices were pretty steep.

I'd still say it was worth it though.

Elvis Presley's car.

The entire inside of it was completely gold plated!

Elvis's gold piano

The man in black...the Legend.

Can you guess which blonde famous country singer this outfit belonged to?

Because Reba and George are legends too...

The outfit Carrie Underwood wore the night she won American Idol.

And last but not least...

T-Swift!

The museum was set up so nicely, and just walking through it and seeing the history and roots of country music was just so neat!

Random pic of me and my adorable niece...

We had a little bit of time to kill before dinner, so we took the kids to the park.

I think in our short stay in Nashville, we checked out at least 3 different parks.

There are so many parks to take the kids too, and they all have their own bit of uniqueness to them.

Our last night in Nashville, we went to have dinner at the famous Café Loveless.

If you watch the Food Network, there is a show called "Throwdown With Bobby Flay".

Café Loveless is famous for their homemade biscuits and homemade jams.

Café Loveless was featured on an episode where Bobby Flay competed to make a better biscuit and jam.

If I remember correctly, Bobby Flay lost.

I wanted to try their signature moonshine, but not brave enough to drink it straight.

It literally tastes like gasoline.

So I ordered their famous bloody mary, but instead of vodka, they mix it with their moonshine.

It was a perfect mix of spicy and tang, and the moonshine was delicious.

I ordered their fried chicken, fried okra, and stone ground grits with butter.

Nick had their gigantic chicken fried steak with white gravy and mashed potatoes with brown gravy. 

The food was the DIE FOR.

Not a place to diet!

Google Café Loveless, and read about its' history and why it's so famous in Nashville!

It really has such a cool story on how it came to be!

The grounds of the restaurant has two adorable gift shops where you can purchase their world famous biscuit mix and homemade jams.

There is also plenty of room for the kids to run around and play as well!

D thought this old tractor was pretty cool.

On our last morning in Nashville, Nick and I took the kids to a local coffee shop (walking distance from my sister's house) called Fido.

Like it's name would suggest, it's a pet friendly coffee shop.

I had a "mustachio" latte...basically a latte with sage syrup (delicious!).

They also made the most delicious chocolate milk ever (which the kids got).

This place gets busy too!

We tried to come here our first day in Nashville, and the line was out the door! 

Nick ordered a boring mocha, but they added some coffee art to it.

And like that, our trip to Nashville came to an end.

We flew home out of the Nashville International Airport.

The airport was so cool!

It was all decked out in music decor, and there was live music playing everywhere!

I think even the airport is worth visiting!

We were so sad to leave.

But happy to come home and see our wonderful neighbors!

Seriously, do your neighbors leave your favorite bottle of wine on your porch with a sweet note saying they missed you?!

We had such a blast in Nashville, and are already planning our second trip there!

If y'all ever get a chance to drive through there or need a vacation idea, I HIGHLY recommend Nashville!

It literally became my SECOND favorite place in the world (next to Texas).

Beautiful southern California was bumped down to three in my book!

That's how awesome it is!