Two Years Ago Yesterday...

...I was a blushing bride. I remember the day perfectly and clearly. It was one of the happiest days of my life. The days leading up to the wedding were stressful and the wedding day itself was stressful, but nothing could take away from the feeling of finally marrying the love of my life. The best moment of the day was walking down the aisle. I don't think I have ever felt anything like that. It was pure happiness, joy, excitement, anticipation all wrapped into one. No one else existed except the man standing at the altar waiting for me. I was oblivious to the world and the church full of people. Nothing existed in that moment except for us. This is the one moment I recommend all brides have because the feeling is incredible, irreplaceable, and one of a kind. Two years have passed since that moment and every time I think about it I get all giddy and stupid with joy. I wish I could bottle up that feeling and carry it with me and take a sip of it whenever I felt down. The past two years of marriage have been easy. I remember reading how the first two years of marriage set the tone for the rest of the marriage and how they are the hardest and I was scared. What did I get myself into? Was it really going to be that bad? As I look back I am truly stunned to see how easy and smooth it was. There were little bumps here and there but not anything that made it feel like being married was hard. I don't think it's marriage that's hard, I think it's relationships in general that are hard. Before I digress any further, I must say that being married to Alex for the past two years has been an amazing experience and I wouldn't want to be married to or in love with anyone else. I can't wait to see what year 3 has in store for us...

He was so handsome that day. He was thisclose to crying.

Meanwhile, I cried.

So worth it.

Thanks for loving me Alex.

A Housing Update

Things are finally moving along with our house. It's our home and all our stuff is there, yet we aren't living there. It's the oddest feeling ever...to own a house and be spending money on it but to not be living in it and enjoying it. We are literally bleeding money and the house consumes most of our free time. Actually, it consumes Alex's free time since most of what's going on in the house can't be done by me. I'm just there to smile when he gets frustrated. We saw progress for the first time weekend. The walls are getting patched up, the bathroom is usable, and our front yard has been completely transformed. It went from being a dirt covered jungle to tropical lushness. I'm still holding on to my hopes of living in the house by July 1st.

Before:

After:

Things I'll Miss: Cheap Breakfasts

One thing I loved about Boston was the ability to get a cheap breakfast. There were places where you'd pay $7 for breakfast and get enough food to keep you covered for 2 days. The closest thing to a cheap breakfast here in Miami is Denny's or driving 45 minutes to the closest Cracker Barrel. While in Boston, I was always a fan of Mike's Diner. We went every time we got a chance and every time we were craving a good, hearty breakfast. I wrote about Mike's on here (here and here) and one of the beautiful things about having a blog is that other locals read it and recommend places to you. One such reader was Michelle (Hi Michelle!) and she told me about McKenna's and how it wouldn't be right for me to leave Boston without going to McKenna's. I set a date and went with Alex and my friend Edgar and boy was it good. We went during the week so there was no wait and I was in awe of how good the breakfast was. I am so glad Michelle emailed me about McKenna's because, if not, I would have definitely missed out. This place was soo good and it had the best hash I have ever had in my life; so salty and crispy.
When I do breakfast I do it big and Alex is always amazed at how much I can eat. I ordered the McKenna's Special, which is eggs, hash, home fries, toast, and bacon, and a side of pancakes. I ate about 95% of this. The breakfast had such a fresh, homey taste, kind of like the breakfast you'd expect to have at home on a Saturday morning.
Alex ordered the waffles. The man cannot resist waffles and he adored how big and crunch these waffles were. Over breakfast he discussed how waffles are the perfect breakfast item and how they were created to ensure syrup coverage perfection because each cavity only holds a certain amount of syrup.
It was great to be able to celebrate our last breakfast in Boston and it was even better that I got to enjoy such a great breakfast with one of my Boston favorites. Edgar...you are the best and one of the reasons why I will cherish my Boston experience all the more. Thanks for being a great friend and laughing at me as I tried to understand Boston living and city names like Haverhill and Alewife.

Cookies and an Award

Ok my blogging is depressing. No, not depressing, pitiful. At least this time it's only been 6 days since my last post. Now that my schedule is semi figured out, I have all my baking stuff accessible, and I feel more comfortable using Abuela's kitchen I can get back to baking. I don't think I will be able to do anything too involving until I'm in MY kitchen but I can do easy desserts like cookies. I made some cookies because Alex wanted them and I lucked out. My brain has been a little scattered the past few weeks and when he told me he wanted white chocolate chip cookies I thought he meant macadamia nut cookies, but since I didn't want to spend money on macadamia nuts I made the recipe on the back of the Nestle white morsels bag. I was afraid to show him the cookies because I felt bad not making him the cookies I thought he wanted. I was wrong though because he did want the cookies I made not the mac nut cookies. So even in my scattered brain state I was right on target. These cookies were fabulous. The cookies were chocolaty and super chewy. I don't think I've had a chewier cookie and they were chewy for days. The chocolate cookie was deep and rich and cooled by the white morsels.
Part two of pitiful posting involves an award that was given to me exactly one month ago. Jen of Jenuinely Inspired gave me the award and I couldn't be more thankful. She's an awesome person with an awesome blog and she is one of my favorite people on the planet. Thanks Jen! The rules for this award are to accept the award and pass it on to other bloggers, so I am abiding and passing it on to Alex of A Beginner's Adventures in Photography and Vibi of La Casserole Carree. I love these blogs and the people who write them. Alex is a lifelong friend who is supportive in everything I do and Vibi is a blogging friend that is always there to support my baking by leaving encouraging comments. Thanks for making life and blogging so much better!
White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Source: Nestle (here)

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) white morsels

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Drop by well-rounded teaspoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until centers are set. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Coming Clean

I cannot believe my last post was LAST month. May 31st to be exact. I am seriously slacking. I have a good excuse too...I promise! Moving from Boston to Miami was a good excuse, but the one I have for you now is even better. I mentioned having a big secret in one of my posts and now I can tell everyone what it is. I have been keeping my mouth shut about this secret since the beginning of April and that's all because I was afraid of my dream not becoming a reality. But now that everything is said and done and that our collective debt has officially increased, I can share.

Alex and I bought a house! We are homeowners!

Woo hoo! Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would own a house at my age. The house is gorgeous and exactly what we wanted. The whole home buying process was grueling and my fingers are still hurting from all the crossing I did. Prices on homes may be down in Miami, but the desire for them is not. There were 4 other offers when we submitted ours and there was a back up offer just in case our offer fell through. I was on pins and needles the whole time. Our closing date was pushed back a few days, but nothing significant. We closed yesterday and I couldn't be happier. The house needs a little work and a lot of love and I am so excited about being the one that gets to love the house and really make it our own. This is one of the reasons why I don't have kitchen access and why I haven't been able to post as much. Buying a house is so emotionally involving! I wouldn't have it any other way though. Life couldn't be better. I need to take some better pictures, but for now, here's me sitting on the swing of MY HOUSE(!!!!):