Our Anniversary

July 11 marked our one year wedding anniversary. I can't believe a year has gone by since our wedding day. In some ways it seems like it's flown by, and in other ways, it feels like we've been married for much longer than a year (in a good way!)

Our anniversary fell on a Sunday, and Brett had to be up super early for football Monday morning, so we decided to celebrate on Saturday night instead. We started out at home by opening a bottle of champagne that we had saved from our wedding night, and drank from the toasting flutes that we used for the wedding. We sat out on our balcony and enjoyed the champagne and some appetizers before we hit the town!

We had dinner at The Majestic, which is a downtown spot we had been wanting to try for quite sometime. We sat downstairs in the Jazz club, where they had a 3-piece band playing. The food was good and the music was great... we really enjoyed the experience.

After dinner we decided to walk to The Hilton President, where we had our wedding reception, to have a few drinks in the Drum Room. Just being there brought back so many wonderful memories of our perfect wedding weekend.






We had saved the top layer of our wedding cake, and it had been waiting patiently in our freezer for the past year. I have to say, the cake was what I was most excited about for our anniversary. I was absolutely obsessed with our wedding cake and couldn't wait to taste it again. It did not disappoint! It was definitely not as pretty as it was a year ago, but man, did it taste amazing!


Sunday we had a really lazy day. We ordered pizza, ate more cake, and watched our wedding DVD. All in all, it was a perfect anniversary!

I am so blessed to be married to such a wonderful man... and can't wait to see what's up next for us on this amazing journey we're on together! Happy First Anniversary Brett, I love you!

I'll leave you with a few of our favorite wedding photos...

SUMMER!

It's finally SUMMER!! We've been off for a week now, and I'm soaking in every glorious minute of it. We enjoyed a nice, low-key weekend at home to recover from the end of the year madness, then I was off to Iowa for a quick trip to see my besties Lauren and Elissa, and of course Lauren's adorable baby boy Micah. It was great to see everyone, to finally get to see Elissa and John's new house, and to get my Micah fix. He's getting so big and is so much fun!

My summer to-do list:

• LOTS of cooking. I have a bunch of recipes bookmarked to try and can't wait to spend some serious time in the kitchen!
• Getting closets, cabinets, and our storage area cleaned out and re-organized.
• Deep cleaning of our condo... it needs it BAD.
• Getting into a serious workout routine. I'm really wanting to start swimming again. I swam for the first time last week and it felt great- but man, it's hard work after a 10-year hiatus from the sport!
• Spending lots of quality time playing with my nephew and sister-in-law.
• Enjoying the summer with Brett! We've got some road trips planned and have a short list of Kansas City attractions we want to visit.

Recipes coming soon:

Homemade spaghetti sauce

Chocolate cobbler

Maybe another few... we'll see how they turn out first!

Happy Summer!!

The Best Laid Plans...

I'm taking a break from the standard cooking posts tonight to give an update on us...

Many of you know that we have spent much of the past several months actively searching for, applying for, and interviewing for jobs in Nashville. We have been talking about moving there for the past few years to be closer to my parents, and felt like this summer would be the perfect time to make a move. We (naively) thought it would be pretty feasible for us both to find jobs we could at least live with while we got ourselves established in Nashville.

To make a long story short, it has not gone as planned. The job market stinks.... go figure! And while we seriously contemplated taking a huge leap of faith and making the decision to move with only one of us having a job, we ultimately decided that would be too huge of a risk in this crappy economy. We are both lucky and hugely grateful to have great jobs here that we love. So, after many weeks of tears, sleepless nights, stress, and round and round discussions, today Brett and I signed our contracts to stay teaching here in KC for the next year.

To say this has been a challenge in our newly married life would be an understatement. We are both so incredibly disappointed that things did not work out as we intended. And for me, the biggest challenge has been not being able to control things to work out as I had them planned in my head. But we have both finally come to terms with the way things are working out, and are seeing the blessings in all of this.

We have built ourselves a good life here in KC. We love living downtown, we've got great friends here, and there are so many things that we would miss about this place. From the BBQ, to the Boulevard beer, to our favorite downtown 3 mile running route, to the Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings... it's all beautiful.

As I mentioned earlier, we both are lucky to have jobs we love. I have the most wonderful friends as co-workers, and I love my kids and the work I do for them. Leaving my job was going to be so difficult, and I am definitely glad that I can put off those goodbyes, for now at least. And the hugs and "happy dances" I got today when I signed my contract just reminded me how much I love everything about my job.

As for us newlyweds, this experience has definitely strengthened our relationship. We have been reminded that no matter where we are living or what we are doing, we will have each other, and that just makes everything okay.

Most importantly, we have been reminded that God's plan for us is bigger and more beautiful than we can ever understand. We truly believe there is a reason that we are meant to stay in Kansas City. We do believe we will end up in Nashville eventually, when the time is right. But now was obviously not the time for us to move, and we are so excited to see what the next year brings.

Thank you to our friends and family for all the support you have shown us during these crazy, stressful few months. We love you all, and you serve as daily reminders of the many ways we have been blessed.

So for now, signing off from Kansas City... (for the next year at least!)

Love,
B+M

Where have we been?

I can't believe it's been a month since I've last posted! Time has been flying... here's a quick recap of the past month.

We spent a long weekend in Nashville with my parents at the end of February. It was a great weekend, besides Brett's battle with the stomach flu. It really wasn't such a great weekend for him... but the rest of us made the best of it!

This past week was our Spring Break, and we flew down to Florida to spend the week with Brett's parents. We spent a day at the beach on Sunday, then Brett and I decided to head to Disney World for the day on Monday. We spent the day at Epcot and had an absolute blast! It had been 10 years since I had been to Disney, and it had been 22 years since Brett had been, so we had a lot of catching up to do! I've totally caught the Disney bug, and can't wait to go back ASAP! We spent the rest of the week at Brett's parents' place. I spent my time going on some good runs, relaxing, sleeping in, and doing lots of reading! Brett enjoyed two days of golf (I decided to opt out of golf this year- it's just too much work for me!!) We also ate and drank plenty throughout the week. It was a fantastic, relaxing trip- exactly what we needed.

We got back to KC yesterday and were welcomed with a beautiful day- about 65 degrees and sunny. Unfortunately, that was short lived, as a cold front moved through yesterday afternoon and we're now getting more snow. So much for the first day of Spring!

I've got lots of recipes to catch up on, so I'll do my best to get up to date this weekend. I'll leave you with a few pics from our day at Epcot!

A Night Out: Thomas

Last night while Brett was at a coaching clinic, I had a wonderful, much-needed night out with two of my favorite girls from work, Jen and Jenn. We went to Thomas, which was a new-to-me restaurant. It is now a new favorite of mine, so I had to share!

Friday is $5 martini night until 7pm, and they had a fun selection of martinis. We all ordered something different and shared... they were all delicious. I started with the Banana Nut Bread, Jen had the Kansas City Coffee, and Jenn had the White Martini. Round 2 included more Kansas City Coffee, and a Chocolate Strawberry Martini. So fun!

For appetizers, we ordered Calamari and Goat Cheese Marinara. The Calamari was pretty standard (but yummy nonetheless), but came with a delicious roasted red pepper dipping sauce. The Goat Cheese Marinara was a dipping sauce consisting of, you guessed it, goat cheese and marinara. It was served with breadsticks and was definitely my favorite!

For entrees, I went with the Thomas Diablo Pasta with chicken. It was angel hair pasta with a yummy diablo sauce. Delish! Jen ordered the Buttermilk Cider Chicken, which I tasted and was also fantastic. I have leftovers of both in my fridge right now, waiting to be eaten for lunch!

But the best part of Thomas was not the food or the martinis, but the amazing piano player. He plays every Tuesday-Saturday night starting at 7pm, and was so entertaining and talented. He played a hilarious variety of music, ranging from Billy Joel to Journey to Miley Cyrus to R Kelly. You have to see it to believe it... but it was so fun.

Love, love, love this place. If you haven't been, try it soon. It's quaint and cozy with great food and drink, great service, and great entertainment. I can't wait to take Brett back for a date night soon!

"Snow Week"

It's been a historical week here in KC/at the Taveau household! We started back to work on Monday (teacher workday, so no kiddos). On Monday evening we got word that school was called off on Tuesday due to poor road conditions and frigid temps. I will say, the roads were pretty bad... I came very close to getting into what could have been a bad accident on Monday morning.

So we enjoyed Snow Day #1 on Tuesday... I spent the afternoon hanging out with my sis-in-law and nephew which totally made my day. Tuesday evening we got word that school was cancelled Wednesday due to the snowstorm that was forecast to arrive Wednesday morning. Sure enough, the snow arrived Wednesday morning and stayed all day/night, followed by blizzard like conditions Wednesday night. I don't even know how much we got, it's hard to tell how much new snow there is when there was already about a foot on the ground.

On Wednesday afternoon, we got an email that school was called off for Thursday AND Friday! Unheard of! I'm sure the roads are bad (I wouldn't know, haven't left the house for 2 days now!), but the frigid temps are not helping... the high tomorrow is zero!

It's been a lovely week. We have relaxed A LOT, gotten back into somewhat of a workout routine, watched several movies, and I've cooked a lot. I've got 2 new recipes to share, and 1 old recipe to share, which I will do in posts to follow. We'll enjoy one more day here tomorrow, then I'm heading to Hermann, MO to meet Kristin on Saturday for a girls day/night at the wineries. It's going to be rough going back to work on Monday after a 3-week winter break!

I hope everyone is staying warm and dry wherever you are! Recipes to follow...

End of a decade...

It's hard to believe that this week marked the end of one decade and the beginning of another. It's also amazing to look back and see all that has happened over the past 10 years. Here are some personal highlights:

• Graduated from high school.
• Mom and Dad moved to Nashville, and not only was I away from home for the first time, but I was 7 hours away from them.
• Spent 4 wonderful years at Mizzou.
• Graduated from Mizzou.
• Moved to KC (for the first time) to go to grad school at Rockhurst. Spent 2 great years in KC during grad school, made some amazing friends, learned a lot.
• Graduated with my Masters from Rockhurst.
• Moved back to St. Louis, spent a year there working a job I less than loved.
• Met the man of my dreams. Promptly (as soon as the school year was over) moved back to KC to be with him.
• Started the job of my dreams. Still can't believe (even 3 years later) how lucky I am to have scored this amazing job.
• Got engaged.
• Planned a wedding.
• Married the man of my dreams on July 11, 2009. Highlight of the decade for sure.
• Went on an amazing Hawaiian honeymoon that we will never forget.
• Became an aunt to sweet Daniel in December of 2009.

Of course, there have been some low points, but looking at that list, it's not hard to see that the highlights very much outweigh the low points. I am so grateful for the experiences I have gained over the past 10 years, and can't wait to see what the next 10 years have in store for Brett and me!

November/December recap

New Year's Resolution #34: Keep up with blog! (aka, blog more than once every 3 months).
Let's see if I can give a quick recap of the past few months... it's all been a blur.

Brett's football season ended in November after a loss in the first round of playoffs. I got my husband back. It's amazing how helpful he is when he gets home before 7:30pm! He cooks, he cleans, he runs errands... I have my sanity back!

I spent 10 (unplanned) days in Pittsburgh at the end of November with my family saying goodbye to my dear Granddad, who passed away on November 29. Brett spent 7 of those days there with me as well. It was stressful and exhausting, but I was so glad I was able to say goodbye to Granddad and spend that time with my family.

I returned home from Pittsburgh late on the night of December 3. We got a phone call at 6am on December 4th from Brett's brother Rock, saying that Jessica was in labor. Our precious, perfect nephew Daniel was born December 4 at 10:01pm. We've spent the majority of our free time over the past month visiting Daniel, snuggling Daniel, taking pictures of Daniel, and when we're not with him, talking about Daniel. Brett's new favorite question: "What do you think Daniel is doing right now?" We are totally smitten with him.

In the midst of all that, we had a blur of Christmas shopping, decorating, getting our first tree, wrapping, baking, packing, and finally traveling to Nashville to spend a week with my parents over Christmas.

Nashville was also a blur, but more of a relaxing blur. We left KC the night of the 22nd, drove to Marion, IL and stayed the night there, then drove the rest of the way the morning of the 23rd. I started my annual baking frenzy as soon as we got there, which lasted for the better part of 3 days. On Christmas Eve we tried a new church (which I loved), then went to my parents' neighbors' annual Christmas Eve party. Christmas was a very lazy day... we woke up, opened presents (Brett and I got terribly spoiled, as usual), enjoyed a great breakfast, then just laid around all day until dinner. Some neighbors came over for drinks and dessert after dinner, which has become somewhat of a Christmas tradition.

On the 26th, our family friends the Kristichs came down from St. Louis, which they have done every year for the past 8 or 9 years I think. It's always a great time to catch up with them. We did some shopping, some eating, and took a trip to the winery.

The Kristichs left on the 28th, and Brett's parents arrived that evening to spend a few days with us on their way down to Florida. We ate some more, drank some more, shopped some more, and took another trip to the winery.

We headed back to KC on the 30th, and haven't left the house much since we've been back, which has been fabulous. We went and watched the awful MU bowl game on New Years Eve with some friends, then decided to call it a day and came home, cooked dinner, watched a movie, and were asleep by 10:30. We are wild.

Oh, and it's been snowing. A lot. They got about a foot of snow here while we were gone, and it's been snowing since last night again, and we've got at least another 3 inches. I love snow, but paired with the 10 degree highs forecasted for the next week, I'll be staying inside as much as possible.

I'm trying to upload some pics, but having technical difficulties, so I'll try again later.