A Little Recap of the Last Few Months

It's funny how life has a way of reminding you to practice what you preach. My last post on the blog was back in January talking about setting goals and committing yourself to achieving them. One of my goals last year was to share with you a glimpse of our life as we updated our home. Yet, as our projects began to wind down it became harder and harder to discuss other topics. And blogging is kinda like exercising--- it's hard to get started once you've stopped. 

However, do want you to know something? Every time I was doing something I'd think about you all-- and if I was not thinking about sharing it, my amazing friends would remind me what a great post this would be. So no more wondering when we'll get back into it... and more doing and blogging.

HOUSE UPDATE

Initially, we thought about updating all the windows and installing French doors to exit to the backyard. Since our house is elevated, we would require extensive permitting and even steps with railings in order to be in compliance with the city. The project WILL happen, but the prices we were getting quoted were beyond what we felt comfortable. My husband and I had to remind ourselves that we had just purchased the house (at the time not even a full year), that we had done a major renovation with our kitchen and flooring and that we did not have to rush nor feel tight on our budget. As a result, we decided to table it for another time and instead turn one of our bedrooms into a home office. We will be doing a FULL detail post about how we TRANSFORMED this space and built a semi-custom library wall with a window seat. Check out how the space came out (in our full post we will give instructions so you can build your own library wall and also a list of the items purchased)! 

The other project we decided to do was update our indoor doors. This included doors leading to bedrooms, bathrooms and certain closets. We fell in love with these Metrie doors and decided to add just a little more glam with these bling door knobs! The doors truly elevated our space! Throughout the house, we did leave a couple of the older doors. I truly do not believe in spending double for something you are planning on changing soon, so we decided to leave any door of a future project since that space all together will be changed. 

TRAVEL UPDATE

How many of you are planners? I know I am! When I was 21 I told a group of my girlfriends that I wanted us all to plan a trip to Paris for our thirtieth! It would be a way of closing our twenties chapter and starting a new decade. Well this was the year we turned thirty (with the exception of one of my best friend's who is a year younger) and it was so nice to have my two closest girl friends join me in this trip! We all traveled from different places-- Miami, Orlando and NYC and decided to meet in the beautiful city of Paris! To me, traveling gives you an opportunity to reconnect and also think about what you want the most. It was during this trip that I came to terms that Sergio and I were truly ready to build our own family-- that we'd been ready for sometime and that maybe it was time to take a leap of faith. The trip was everything I imagined and I fell in love with Paris and cannot wait to visit again (perhaps this time with my family). I am beyond grateful to my girl friends for making this trip possible! 

The second trip I took, and this time with Mr. Marques, was to Tegucigalpa, Honduras. My family is from Honduras and my grandmother continues to live there. When we realized how much my grandmother's memory was beginning to fail her, I immediately told Sergio we needed to plan a quick trip. It was very important to me that I see her while she could still recognize me and that Sergio meet her. I had had the pleasure of meeting his grandmother a few years ago and I wanted him to meet mine as well. So with just a few days to arrange a quick trip, we made it happen. We loved spending time with abuela and connecting with family and this beautiful country. 

LIFE UPDATE

So remember what I said about realizing in Paris... well it became true for us?! Sergio and I are expecting a baby and we could not be more thrilled! As some of you may know, I lost about 97 pounds two years ago and prior to losing weight I had been diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome). Doctors had warned me of the difficulties in conceiving and I was honestly preparing myself for the journey. But sometimes we plan and other times God takes over and this time God took over and made the journey simple for us. At this moment, I want to take the time to acknowledge that getting pregnant is difficult overall and I sympathize we everyone going through this journey. I will write a post sharing more details about our pregnancy story, but in the meantime we wanted to share the news with you all!

So... is it a boy or is it a girl? Well... for this little GIRL we prayed! We are over the moon excited to welcome a little girl into our lives! We cannot wait to share with you all more on this new journey into parenthood!

I think that sums it all... these past few months have been busy, but I cannot imagine it any other way. I'd love to hear what you've all been up to and to know what type of posts you'd love for me to expand on! Thank you to everyone that has encouraged me to continue blogging, you inspire me! 

Love always, 

Jenni