every day in may (favorite photo)

today i'm sharing a favorite picture of myself and why! i'm much more caught up in the memory of a photo rather than how beautiful it is.. i was between a couple pictures, the other ones i prefer to these for purely aesthetic reasons :) ..like being tan, eyes actually showing and not disappearing into my cheeks hehe or lighting, blah blah blah. but when it comes down to it, i have to say that as far as meaning goes, these take the cake!

for one, because is this is our true personality together.. casual (me no makeup and james slightly beard-y), very silly, lots of laughing (cause of tickling, yeah we're five) and joy (we are emotion-filled ones us mastriannas).

we had also just moved into our apartment in the cutest little area in capitola village, we had hardly unpacked and had a humongous stack of wedding presents to be opened and tons of things to do, but we were so goshdarn excited. it was all so surreal, finally we were in our home, married (as opposed to living across the state and being long-distance, barf) and our life as the mastrianna family was really beginning. oh yeah we were also a little clueless and sorta poor hehe.. but it didn't really matter because we were so absolutely happy :)

what about you? is the meaning in a picture more important than how you look?

every day in may (on overcoming)

today i'm talking about something difficult about in my "lot in life" and how i'm working to overcome it. i have to admit, i was a bit stuck on what to say about this (i'm glad i wasn't alone!).

i firmly believe i grew up with an incredible grace over my life. places where things could've gone wrong or i could've walked away bitter (and there were plenty of 'opportunities') were absolutely overshadowed by these great big love from god and my family.

i can say with certainty.. knowing you're loved, cared for and important is the biggest gift you can give anybody. which, now that i think about it, is probably how i overcame: being surrounded by those who truly love you, knowing what's true about who i am + a god who over-the-moon cares for me to boot.


what about you—what are the things that help you overcome adversities of life??

a little footnote! i have to mention that this picture was made oh so super fun by my newly downloaded app 'a beautiful mess' (thanks for the rec, anna!). go get it—way worth the 99 cents! now that i've got that off my chest... :) also!! this is an old pic but really.. those eyebrows!? i'm at a loss of how they were that thick! booya and many thanks to my shapist, pilar for keeping those things in check :)

every day in may (day in the life)

i'm behind on today's challenge but here we go! i don't believe i've ever blogged this many days in a row.. major accomplishment. and it's still fun :) today i get to tell you what a day in my life looks like! womp womp, hehe just kidding. but on the real. get some cookies or something before you read this whole she-bang ;)

6am: good morning world! wait, kidding.. snooze til 6:30..usually don't get up this early :) 

6:30am: actually get up and get ready. showered last night and my new fancy haircut can handle a night of pillow-smashedness and looks halfway decent! fistpump for real. brush teeth, splash face, lotion, deoderant, mascara, get all gussied up (aka put clothes on) and i'm ready to go.

7-8am: morning coffee date ..today, i met one of our youth leaders for pacific coffee, complete w/ a carrot raisin muffin + black iced tea. it's already beautiful out today + it's still e-a-r-l-y!

8-8:30am: drop her off, make lunch in the big kitchen.. we live on a church campus with thirty people, including interns from all over the world and families with cute kids and other young married like ourselves, quite fun and quite cray! this makes all food making times pretty fun. i choose couscous, tomatoes, avocado, some pesto and throw it all together. a banana too!

8:30am-1pm: work at around 8:30am today (but not everyday). and since this is busy season in the surf industry, i buzzzzzz along throughout the whole morning. banana break. there is also pandora singing out loud somewhere in there and powwowing with some ladies. i ate my lunch early.. yum!

1-2pm: coffee date ..yippee another one! this time w/ a fellow pastor on staff! can i just say hallelujah for wise people in our lives. i also put the top down on way back to work!

2-5pm: back to work, so warm!! push through and work the last part of the day. someone brings me a cookie, i comply :) ten minute walk with a friend to see what the sun looks like again.. it's still warm :)

5-5:50pm: read a few personal emails, hit 'publish' on a blog post (ta-da!) and head home! usually... t-r-a-f-f-i-c. and in that traffic there is always weeping and gnashing of teeth.

6-6:30pm: dinnertime!! remember those thirty people i mentioned living with earlier ;)? well we all eat and have family dinner on tues/weds/thurs. there are usually guests that join us and we clap for them. we also usually have dessert and interrupt-cheer for the person who announces the dessert for the day. it's really a bit of a dream :)

6:30-8:30pm: time w/ james hanging out before whatever we've got going on. tonite, we meet with some parents of some kids in our youth group over coffee :) depending on the nite, we'll have a youth over for dinner and take them out for an ice cream, go to the gym, etc etc :)

9ish-on: well now i'm pre-planning but i imagine we'll watch alias!! ..watching from the beginning again, woot! and cozy couch time. my fave time of day when yoga pants come on and the feet go in slippers.

between 10-midnight: bedtime depending on the day, we range in between these hours, usually pushing to the later ones. sooo need to work on that!

hope this wasn't too much of a bore hehe, i am really loving looking at what people do everyday but i'm also nerdy and like that sort of thing!! post your link too so i can read about your day!! thanks for reading if you got this far, muah!

our two year anniversary! plus every day in may!

these two years have been a blast, i love being married to my best friend. happy two years sweetheart! marriage is a l-o-t of work, and probably the thing in my life that has challenged, stretched, brought me joy and humbled me more than anything else i've experienced before (besides my relationship with jesus). and, because it fits quite nicely, i thought i'd conincide this post with the 'every day in may' series i've been doing..

day 14, Tuesday: Ten things that make you really happy [about you and me hubby]

+giggling late at night before bed and guessing which 80s tv show theme each other is humming

+continually getting to know how you think about life/people & your constantly compassionate nature

+the movies with you, how you know i want nooch sprinkles & exactly what i like to order (brownie)

+your instagram feed. you just make me smile :)
+planning trips together of where we want to travel or where we want to take our kids!
+shopping with you: sometimes of a hot mess and sorta dangerous, but so fun!

+your muscles and beard and skillssss
+our love for sports, it's always a rollercoaster but i wouldn't trade it!
+gorfing chocolate chip cookie dough together while we're 'baking' (never make it that far!)
+leading the youth as team mastrianna, the joy of sharing that w/ you, knowing we desire the same thing for those we lead.

i love you man o' mine!!

if you're participating, i'd love to read your posts too so be sure to tell me about it! xoxo! happy may 14th to you my friends :)

every day in may (a public apology)

i thought i'd take this chance to issue a very serious and public apology (as it is day 13 of the challenge).. s o r r y everybody!!

source

happy mother's day!

happy mothers day to all of you mamas!!

to my beautiful, lovely, strong, intelligent, brave, wholehearted, caring and generous mama bette, we love you!! you are a joy in our lives and i'm so proud to call you mom and friend :) and to james' mama rose, you are a burst of life and energy with the most contagious faith and love, we love you!

me and my mom, bette, switzerland, the eighties :)