Vacationing

"Love the things that the person you love loves"

 

I am not known for my love of sports so it has taken some soul searching for me to love Baseball. One of the best pieces of advice about marriage was one we got from Austin's parents. They said to love the things that the person you love loves. Those words have stuck with me these last few months. In the moments I would rather watch House Hunters or go to Starbucks (predictable I know)... I remember those words and put my husband's wants and desires ahead of my own. I'm not always succesful in this. Marriage is a continual journey in allowing Christ to flush out the selfishness in us. In the process you can find me practicing my swing with a wooden spoon and a pair of rolled up socks. You got to start somewhere right?

 

When Austin and I first started dating, we put together a Life List. The list was full of things we wanted to accomplish separately and together throughout our lives. One of the top things on Austin's list was to visit every MLB stadium in the United States. We decided to start that goal for his Birthday trip this year. This past weekend we visited Washington D.C. to see the Nationals play. Then from there we drove to Baltimore to see the Orioles game. I had never been to D.C. and loved every minute of it. We crammed every major monument and museum into our short 1 1/2 days in Washington D.C.

 

 

 

Washington DC: 

 

 

 

The Capitol

 

 

 

 

 

The Museum of Natural Science (amazing!)

 

 

 

The Air and Space Museum

 

 

 

The United States Botanical Gardens

 

 

 

The Washington Monument

 

 

 

 

 

The Lincoln Memorial

While walking around town I got a text from my mom saying she heard about the green paint. Thinking this was another error of our beloved AutoCorrect on the Iphone.. I texted back "What are you talking about mother dear?" Little did I know that someone had come the previous night and vandalized the Lincoln Memorial with green glitter paint. It was roped off when we got to it and you could still see the green paint on the bottom of the statue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The White House

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nationals Stadium!

It was a perfect night

 

 

Yes, Austin wore his Braves jersey to a Nationals Game...

 

 

 

 

2nd row!

 

 

 

The Shake Shack!

I ate here in NYC and have been craving this burger since last fall when I was in New York. To my delight, DC had a Shake Shack as well. This was a happy moment for me.

 

 



Baltimore:

Orioles Stadium

I went to the game with the intention of cheering on the Orioles. When we got there, an adorable little family with 3 precious little blonde children sat in front of us. Each of them were proudly wearing their Boston Red Sox fan apparel. I was sold. I switched teams and cheered the Reds on to victory. Whether Austin says so or not, it was totally a valid reason to jump ships.

 



 

The Baltimore Harbor

 



One last stop before the drive home.. worth it!

 



 

 

It was an incredible vacation together. Now to plan the next trip!

 

-Gemma

Home Sweet Apartment

Decorating is one of my favorite hobbies and decorating our apartment has been so fun. It is still a work in progress but I am loving the process!

Entryway:

 

 

 

 

Living Room:

Guest bedroom: A work in progress

Kitchen/Eating Area: Still looking for the perfect mirror to put above the kitchen table!

The Bathroom: Thank You Jesus for double sinks!

 

 

 

The Master Bedroom: My favorite room!

Being a newlywed means living on a budget and not buying everything I see at the brand new Home Goods that is only 5 minutes from our apartment (sigh)! It has taught me to re-use old treasures and love the clearance rack. This place is starting to finally feel like home!

 

-Gemma

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The Sun Will Come Out

After several days of constant rain, the sun decided to make an appearance this morning. Although it rained straight through the 4th of July, we made the best of it and had a fun holiday week.

 

 

Austin has been wanting to buy a cornhole set for a while now. He looked up several boards online and decided it would be cheaper (and more fun) to build his own. He got together with a few friends this past Tuesday and built some awesome handmade cornhole boards. On Wednesday night we decided to paint them so they would dry in time to use them for all of the festivities on the 4th. It was so fun to pick out all of the paint colors and do this project together.

 

 

 

 

 

In between paint layers, I worked on another project. My mom gave me a recipe for these Cheesecake bites, and I decided they would be a perfect treat to bring to the 4th of July party we were going to.

 

Recipe: Cheesecake Bites

Recipes makes 20 cheesecake bites

 

Ingredients:

• 2 8oz packages cream cheese, softened to room temperature.
• 2 eggs.
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
• Vanilla wafers

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2.  Combine all ingredients with mixer, leaving out one egg. Combine until smooth.

3. Add 2nd egg, mix all ingredients until smooth. The batters should look similar to frosting.

4. Add 1 vanilla wafer to the bottom of each cupcake liner

4. Spoon batter onto vanilla wafers. I used approximately 1/4th cup for each one. This mixture should make between 18-20 cheesecake bites.

5. Bake cheesecake bites for 20-22 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and allow cheesecake bites to cool.
8. Refrigerate.
7. Add desired topping.
8. Enjoy!

Tip: The longer you allow these to refrigerate, the better. I refrigerated mine over night and they were perfect the next day!

These cheesecake bites were so easy to make and everyone seemed to love them! We took them over to our friend Elizabeth's house and enjoyed a fun night of corn hole, grilling out, and friends!

It was our first major holiday as a married couple and I'd say it was a success!

-Gemma