"Married Mondays"....coming to you on Tuesday. oops. Thanks to my friend, Lara, for inspiring me to feature posts on the life of a new MRS:)

Jeff and I will be married 4 months this week!  Married life has been wonderful and BuSy!   Since I switched jobs the week of our wedding, I have been working very hard to do my best with my new company.  My job requires that I am away from home 2-3 nights a week and even the nights I am at home, I am usually exhausted after traveling typically 10-12 hours in the car!  Needless to say, finding time to balance life can be a challenge.  I am usually having to do laundry, run errands, clean house, or office work when I am home.  I want to be the perfect wife and have dinner on the table but it's not working out for me!  Sales is very demanding, especially when you are someone like me and put a lot of pressure on yourself that is probably not needed! So to make sure we have time for each other, Jeff and I decided to make an effort for Mondays to be our dedicated date night:)  Just the 2 of us...We love spending time together on the weekends too, but we also enjoy having guests and going out with friends or getaways.  Mondays seem to be perfect since it's typically a day with no other obligations. It will be a nice way to start the week and after all, Marriage is a verb.  It is not something you get.  It's something you do.  It's the way you love your partner every day.  Does anyone else have a specific date night with your signicant other?  What are your fave things to do as a couple?

This week our "date" night consisted of a 30 minute run.  We are both running a 1/2 marathon this April and trying to get back in the regular routine.  It seems like it should be pretty easy when it's 60 degrees out with a picture perfect sky!  I was able to snap this along the way:) Towards the end of our run last night, I challenged him that I would beat him back to the car. I thought I was seriously going to win and was moving pretty fast, BUT it's hard for my 5'4'' self to compete with him at 6'3'';)  He still bought dinner though;) 
Being so comfortable in a relationship and being able to do whatever together having fun...like running and getting sweaty is the best.  It's such a pain always having to "go out" and being dressed to impress.  I will admit, we have a love/hate running relationship....I take 1 minute breathers to walk occasionally and Jeff is telling me "come on, you're not dying".  Geez Louise.  In reality, I want to trip him because I really would like to catch my breath. lol.  I guess I need the motivation.  When we do real timed races together, we know we won't stay together, but I can count on a good luck kiss at the starting line and know he will be waiting on me at the finish with a high five!
 
To catch up from last weekend, Jeff's parents visited us from Chicago.  They suprised Jeff to celebrate his birthday.  It was their first time to visit since we became homeowners last April so we were very excited to show them our new home.  Upon picking them up from the airport, his mom brought us our fave from the Windy City, Garrett's Popcorn:) So sweet and thoughful as always!  We headed off to Poe's Tavern at Atlantic Beach for dinner.  Sidenote: We actually had our 1st date at the Poe's on Sullivan's Island in Charleston and are SO happy there is one within an hour from us now.  We started the birthday festivities with beer flights and nachos.  Love that they had so many local brews!  www.poestavern.com

Saturday was a relaxing day visiting local shops, Sebastian Winery, and dinner at a local hotspot, O'steens....Just the best fried shrimp ever!  During our hour wait, we walked to the Bridge of Lions and caught a pretty sunset and dolphins.  For a nightcap, we they all watched a movie. I rested my eyes;) 

Sunday was Jeff's official birthday and we chose to have brunch at The Reef.  There was so much yummy food and bottomless mimosas, poinsettas, or a mix of the 2. Too many for me I guess because I forget what they called it;)  We sat on the deck and enjoyed coffee, cake, and the amazing oceanfront view after brunch. 

 

Jeff and his Dad took a lil stroll on the beach. Not everyday you can do that in the Midwest so they took advantage.

The rest of Sunday was a nice day of hanging out and simply enjoying each other's company.  We loved having Mom and Dad Paarlberg with us, even if it was short and sweet.  Lastly, no birthday is complete without Happy Cakes Cupcakes...Wishing my lovebug many, many more Happy Birthdays! SO blessed to share them!

 

 

Hope everyone enjoys their week and that it's filled with some Sunshine! xo~Sweet B