Thankful

November is here and it has really gotten me thinking about the things I'm thankful for (well, that and because of everyone on fb's daily Thanksgiving thankfulness lists...).  Truly though, we have been so blessed by our friends this Fall that our hearts can hardly stand it.  We don't deserve the lot of you and we can't even begin to express how much each of your visits truly blessed our family over the past couple months.  Here are just a few haphazard iphone photos to remember it by. :)

xoxo - love you all dearly!

hugs & loves

*just a room

It's kind of embarrassing how long it's been since I've posted anything.... 

alright, moving on! 

We did (quite literally) move recently (not that recently), and while I truly meant to be more diligent about posting photos, etc., it just didn't happen this time. I decided to remedy that today and only got to one room (wellwhadyado?). Not surprisingly, I started with the room I've been dreaming about ever since I began working from home... the office. Well, office/guestroom which makes it all the better as it's not only a room in which I can separate work from well, life - but it houses all of our dearest friends too! I'd say that alone gives it the merit of its own post. Here are a few photos of this wonderful little room that I'm just so thankful for. Happy weekend everyone!

Promise I'll do better and there will be more to come soon(ish) :)

Easter Treats - Foods and Otherwise

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; ²⁶ and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

John 11: 25-27

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you've all been able to take a little time this weekend to focus on what the resurrection truly means for those us of who believe. Something our pastor said this morning that really stuck out to me, was that while we would all probably say that we want to be a part of a miracle, none of us really want to be in the situation that necessitates a miracle {amen to that!}. Sometimes, things have to get hard, hopeless and desperate for God to intervene in a big, big way - and while that can be kind of scary, I hope it brings you a little of the hope it brings me this easter. He is Risen!

All things considered, it's been a pretty low key easter weekend at the Mayo house. By low key, I really mean that Jonathan has been overwhelmed with the amount of work and study he's had to do, so it's been a weekend of all day study for him, and a weekend of chill time for me. Yep, I'd rather be me right now too ;) I took a spin class, sun'd and read in the park (the weather's been gorgeous), did some photo editing (the Yashica D Ash&Tam "left" got dusted off last weekend, and oh how I forgot how much I love medium format film - photos to come soon), and then cleaned everything.we.own. One of the other things I finally found time to do, was make these delectable little treats. Bananas, peanut butter, and chocolate? No contest, amazing.

I can't even begin to describe to you how easy these were to make, or how good they are. You freeze them and they're like little ice cream bite snacks. YUM. 

So, other than eating my weight in peanut butter banana bites (no amount of spin classes will make up for it), we had yet another treat this weekend! One of Jonathan's best buds, Mason, came up with his girlfriend for an impromptu dc visit, and we couldn't have been more happy to get to see them! Unfortunately because of law school insanity, we weren't able to spend more than an evening together, but it was just what the doctor ordered. We had a late night dinner at Cava (a very yummy greek tapas place down the street), followed with a little wine, easter treats, and fun conversation at the house. Wish we could have spent more time with you guys -- be sure to come back this summer! Happy Easter all, xoxo

a proper dc goodbye

Yesterday we had to say goodbye to two dear friends.  We're quickly finding out that the rumors about dc and goodbyes being synonymous, are unfortunately - very true. We first met Ashley and Tammy at the dog park (shocker, it's practically where we first met all of our friends here) and learned that they were also brand new to this city of ours and were adjusting to life as basement dwellers as well. Needless to say, we became fast friends over milkshakes, cards, and our love of Capitol Hill. We've been through a lot together over the past two years: adjusting to city life, law school, new jobs, multiple midnight dog hospital visits (and no, they were not ALL for Jude), becoming official live-in-the-same-house kind of neighbs, and brand new baby Payden.  It's really kind of astounding how much we've all been through together in such a short period of time. They have been an unbelievable support to us here and will be so.dearly.missed. *T - what on earth am I going to do without our weekly girl nights?! 

For our last hurrah, we decided to dinner at Ted's (where else could we possibly go?) and then take a walk down to the Capitol in the most perfect dc weather. I still can't quite wrap my head around the fact that they're really already making their way back to Texas today, but I'm so thankful for the time we had together here in this city. Hearts Shugarts - you'll always have a home here to come back and visit! x's & o's

Our Weekend Getaway In Asheville

It may have taken me a little while to put together, but here are a few photos from our weekend away in Asheville with some of our nearest and dearest (better late than never!). We pretty much drove, hugged, talked in our pjs, played cards, ate and ate and ate, talked a lot more in our pjs, played more cards, and then drove home. It couldn't have been a more perfect way to spend our weekend.

We got to bring our sweet boy with us and he was pumped that it snowed while we were there. Frolicking abounded.

Jude got lots of treats and gave lots of sweet boy kisses

We also happened to be lucky enough to visit on a weekend where Levi was in the neighborhood. YES. Jude was a little unsure of his dog Reb at first, but by the end, they were true best.friends.forever. Reb - wanna count your dog legs?? :)

best buds.

So great seeing you Mr. Levi Shutt. Let's definitely not wait 2 more Thanksgivings before we reunite again.

oh hand and foot how we've missed you

I was conflicted on whether or not to tell the story about how after we finally got out of our pjs and went to this really wonderful Spanish Tapas restaurant in downtown Asheville...

               ...and we had had about 5 delicious tapas (baby octopus, scallops, empanadas, etc) and one bottle of wine...

...Josh (yep, calling you out on this one buddy) had this crazy idea that we settle up, head back to the house where we had more wine and...

...order dominoes. At first we all sat on our high horses and scoffed at this crazy idea... then we realized that this meant, pjs, more wine, more hand and foot, and PIZZA & BREADSTICKS... and that's all it took.  

Josh, you deserve a standing O for that one. What a great night :)

This last set of pictures embody our feelings on how close that card game ended up being... but probably more adequately portrays our feelings of dread that the weekend was officially coming to a close.

Josh and Maggs, thank you so much for letting us crash your beautiful home, eat your yummy food, and most importantly - for letting Judebear sleep on your couch :) We love you guys so much and can't wait to do it all over again.

delectable, congratulatory, edibles.

homemade chocolate truffles for a husband's internship successes in the coolest paki tin ever? aqsa, you are a dream :) I may or may not have eaten these for breakfast... and lunch... and as a mid afternoon snack.

  

 

*much adoration*