We had wonderful weather throughout our visit to Gulf Shores, Alabama. When we arrived, we heard from others that it had been not-so-nice the week before we were there, with really strong winds. And we also found out that it had rained at home for the whole length of our trip. But it was beautiful for us while we were there right up until the day we left, when a big storm rolled in. I took a few photos of the storm clouds as seen from our balcony – even they were beautiful! It always helps when it rains on the day you leave the beach, it makes the goodbye less painful. We were so grateful to God for blessing us with perfect weather! Here are some final photos:

For more of my photos from Gulf Shores, see these posts:

A Trip to the Beach

More from Gulf Shores, Alabama

Out and About in Gulf Shores

More from our vacation! One evening we visited the Wharf, so we could ride the Ferris wheel. It was fun, but I thought it would be soooo much better if you could see a view of the ocean from up there.

Every morning, we loaded up the wagon (borrowed from our awesome neighbors) with beach gear and Chris pulled everything out while Gabe helped push :).

Gabe had his very own tiny beach chair and umbrella – he spent hours sitting there playing in the sand and water.

Another beach ritual – countless trips to the water’s edge to fill up Gabe’s buckets…

Which were usually mostly empty by the time he got back to our spot :)!

For more of my photos from Gulf Shores, see these posts:

A Trip to the Beach

More from Gulf Shores, Alabama

One Last Look at Gulf Shores

Here are some photos from our first full day at Gulf Shores, AL. Look how excited Gabe was to go to the beach that first morning! I was too. I had gotten up early, before Chris and even before Gabe (very rare), to eat my breakfast on the balcony at sunrise. I enjoyed looking through my binoculars at the boats passing by and the birds hopping along the beach.

Before the trip, I was a bit worried about how Gabe would like the beach. He has a sandbox at home, but prefers to play with the sand from outside the box because he doesn’t like to get too sandy. Sure enough, the first few steps on the beach seemed to annoy him – he kept trying to shake the sand off of his feet! But I kept encouraging him, and soon enough he began to really enjoy the feeling of the soft sand between his toes. The beach outside our condo had the most beautiful, soft, white sand. It was so fine that you could actually hear it squeaking as you walked :).

For more of my photos from Gulf Shores, see these posts:

A Trip to the Beach

Out and About in Gulf Shores

One Last Look at Gulf Shores

Hello all! It has been quite a while since I have posted here, but I am going to attempt to start sharing photos more often from now on.  It is tough to find time for blogging these days, because I am trying to keep up with a very active preschooler, I am getting ready for my sister and my niece to move in with us next month, I am planning and preparing for our new baby due in September and my parents relocating here at the same time! So much excitement I can barely contain it all :).

There have been many, many lovely things going on in my life in the past several months, but rather than try to get caught up on everything I think I’ll just start with this month, OK? Then maybe I can go back and fill in little by little later on.

A couple of weeks ago, Chris, Gabe and I stole away to the beach for a long weekend. It was our first ever trip to the Gulf Shores of Alabama, a truly lovely place to visit. I enjoyed every minute of the trip, here are some photos of the first evening we arrived – we got there just in time for a sunset stroll on the gorgeous white sandy beach…

I have lots of great photos from this trip, hopefully I will be able to share them soon :)! ~xo Jess

For more of my photos from Gulf Shores, see these posts:

More from Gulf Shores, Alabama

Out and About in Gulf Shores

One Last Look at Gulf Shores

Just wanted to say Happy Birthday to Chris, my best friend in the whole world, who I am soooooo blessed to also call my husband :)! I Love You!

Of course I just HAD to steal the idea of a list of things I love, one for each year of his life :). This morning I presented him with a mini album I made containing the list along with romantic photos from our trip to Cape Cod. You can see better photos of the mini album at Scrapbook Ideas. Anyway, here is the list – and I could have gone on for days, so it was tough to narrow it down to just 29, but this is what I came up with:

1. You put God first in your life
2. You are a true servant leader
3. You pray before you decide
4. You make wise choices for us
5. You always make me feel loved
6. You would do anything for me
7. You are so helpful at home
8. You are an excellent father!
9. Your son admires you so much
10. You fill your family with joy
11. You are a very hard worker
12. You live a life of integrity
13. You are honest and trustworthy
14. You excel at everything you do
15. You are respected by everyone
16. You are such a good listener
17. You make me feel safe and secure
18. You love spending time with me
19. You know me better than anyone
20. You know me; yet still love me :)
21. You are my best friend in the world
22. You have been through it all with me
23. You keep getting better with age
24. You refuse to let me feel “down”
25. You know just how to cheer me up
26. You’re the steady one I need to
help me keep my feet on the ground
27. You accomplish all your goals
28. Your salvation means we will
be in heaven together someday
29. You still sweep me off my feet!

WooHoo, I am now the big Three-O!! I had a great time throughout my twenties, but I am not sad to see them go. I’m just excited to see what the thirties have in store for me, I think it’s gonna be even better than ever before :)!

My birthday has been just fantastic so far! Of course, I had a great time earlier this month visiting family in CT and enjoying Cape Cod with Chris – and yes, I still have plenty more vacation photos to share :). And I have also gotten plenty of lovely gifts including lots of great scrapbooking ones (click here to read more plus see my “Big Three-O” page). But the best gifts by far have been the hand-made card from Gabe and the THIRTY sweet emails Chris sent to me (from work) today, each one with a new message about why he loves me. Here is the whole list (you can see why I am so madly in love with this man and I have been teary-eyed all day – he gives me waaaay too much credit)!

In honor of your 30th birthday, here are 30 reasons I feel blessed to
have you as my wife:
1) You love God with all of your heart, mind and strength.
2) You respect me.
3) You speak my love language perfectly.
4) You speak my love language often.
5) You love Gabe.
6) You make me laugh.
7) You make Gabe laugh (hysterically).
8) You are open with me about what’s on your mind.
9) You have an amazing creative mind.
10) You are blessed with a beauty that I love.
11) You are the only one I would ever want in the passenger seat on a road
trip.
12) You bend over backward to be a helper suitable for me.
13) You live a life of example for Gabe.
14) You have put up with me for more than half your life (15 years, 2
months out of 30 years).
15) You are ready to spend the rest of your life growing old with me.
16) You cook creative and tasty meals.
17) You perfectly fit with me for cuddling up on the couch and watching
movies.
18) You’d rather stay home with me than hang out with friends.
19) You can always lift my spirits when I’m down.
20) You are always ready to be silly for me or Gabe.
21) You will follow me anywhere (even all the way to Alabama).
22) You encourage me to live a life that is God-fearing and
God-honoring.
23) You push me to excel at work, praise me when I do and cheer me up
when I don’t.
24) You follow through on commitments.
25) You always pursue your goals, overcoming challenges along the way.
26) You are able to discern scriptures effortlessly, evidence of the
indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in you.
27) You make sacrifices daily for me and Gabe.
28) You let me lead you.
29) You give me Biblically based advice and pray through decisions with
me.
30) You are generous and compassionate.

More from An English Garden Bed & Breakfast in Dennisport, MA (Cape Cod):

We saw so many hydrangeas everywhere around Cape Cod that I began to wonder if they were the MA state flower :). I love these gorgeous blooms!

The bed & breakfast had the most beautiful gardens in front, so inviting!

Plenty of Black Eyed Susans, what happy wildflowers these are :).

I never had time to sit on this bench, but it looked like the perfect spot to rest.

This section of the garden in front was overflowing with pure loveliness!

Here’s another photo with the bench, looking toward the entrance.

From the front steps I could catch a glimpse of the sea over these hanging flowers.

Couldn’t resist one more photo of the happy Black Eyed Susans!

I loved this arbor on the side closest to the sea. It was simply glorious with the sun steaming through it right after sunrise our first morning in Cape Cod.

This is the B&B we stayed at during our Cape Cod getaway. I also have lots more photos from the gardens outside, which I will share sometime soon :). I loved this place!

I have been playing around with some more of our vacation photos. I’m beginning to realize that it is going to take many, many blog posts for me to get through them at this rate, lol!! But I am enjoying reliving all of these wonderful moments, so if you don’t mind, I will keep going :). Here are some photos from our first morning at Cape Cod, we took a sunrise walk down to the beach, and pretty much had the whole place to ourselves!

I had lots of fun trying out different photo effects on these, I even added some of Lanne’s cool textures (photos 2 and 5) to a couple of them. Oh, and I have another new scrapbook page from our trip up at Scrapbook Ideas – click here to check it out :)!

Chris and I enjoyed a mini vacation within a vacation during our trip. My parents kept Gabriel for us for a few days while we went to Cape Cod (thanks again, Mom and Dad)! We arrived at the bed and breakfast on Sunday afternoon, and had time to go out for a seafood dinner at The Skipper. We ate outside, overlooking the ocean, and it was such a beautiful evening! Chris and I had lobster for the first time (how did we grow up in New England and never have lobster??), we shared the Seafood Trio and Stuffed Mushrooms, which were so yummy! Then we watched the sun set and went for a walk on the beach. Here are some photos of the sunset that first evening. We could tell we were in for a fantastic stay at Cape Cod :)! Want to see a scrapbook page I made about this? Look here :).

Credits: Frames and Shells by Shabby Miss Jenn.