CHEESE!

I [seriously] had so much fun taking pictures with this kid. I was laughing so hard the whole time. It was really hard for us to be serious.

And it's really nice my sister is such a fantastic photographer (thanks Cass!). 

Here's a couple favorites! 

[Summertime Cooking].

One of the many things Andy and I share in common is the love of cooking and being in the kitchen. I have been working a ton this past week and I wasn't always around for dinner (and if I was, Andy was not). Wednesday night we both (finally!) got in the kitchen and cooked a wonderful meal together. We made stuffed zucchini, spaghetti along with some doctored spaghetti sauce, and garlic bread. Served with salad on the side. It turned out amazing!! 

Chopping up the inside of the zucchinis after they were hollowed out. 

This is the "stuffed" part of the zucchini. It has sausage, zucchini, tomatoes, green pepper, and a little tomato sauce. We let it all simmer together to get all the flavors going. We also used the leftover stuffing to put in a tomato sauce for the spaghetti.  

After the stuffing was hot and had simmered for a while, we put it in the hollowed out zucchinis. Andy found some really pretty golden zucchini at the Farmers market this past weekend and they looked awesome and tasted delicious! We put these in the oven for about 40 minutes at 375 degrees and then put some mozzarella cheese on top and broiled it for a little bit to make it melt.  

We didn't get a final picture before it got eaten...it went fast! Delicious group effort! 

Juuulllyyyy Catch-up

This summer is flying! I cannot believe we are already well into July! This weekend has been amazing. Last week I worked a ton and I finally had a few days to chill and Andy was home! We went to a 4th of July party-it was so hot but so fun! The rest of the week was miserably hot as well, but I pretty much lived in the pool (while Andy studied-such a good student). 

Also this weekend my parents, Brooke, and Jake drove out to Virginia to pick up my brother, Fred, from OCS. It's so nice to have him home for a while, we finally have a house full again! Everyone is very proud of him and he actually did really well. He scored top of his class for his physical tests with a 99.97%...over achiever right?? So proud, but Cassie and I sure do know how to humble him quickly-it's our job as sisters :). 

This was just a quick catch up with what's going on this summer/this past weekend. I'm done with classes for the summer (woot woot!) so I hope to write more often than I have been!

Letters!

Between my online classes and work I have been super busy and slacking on blogging...I'll pick up after June 25, I promise! This is just a quick one today (just long enough to distract me from my paper to get a fresh string of ideas when I get back to it. ugh.)

My brother (& twin) is in the NROTC which in a nutshell, means he's training during school to be in the Navy (technically now he's a Marine) while taking regular college classes. Because of this he is never home and always doing something adventurous.

This summer Fred is at OCS (Officer Candidate School) in Quantico, VA. I am secretly really jealous of him because he gets to travel all over the US. Today we finally got letters from him and he's doing really good! Yay Fred! Please continue to pray for him and write letters to him! 

Ps. Isn't his girlfriend super pretty?? She's pretty much a part of our family...I do love me some Brookie!!

A Canadian & An American

June 2 marks the day that my parents have been married for 28 years. Their anniversary, to be honest, hasn't ever really been a big deal to me (other than the fact--being the oldest--it's my responsibility to track down everyone to get money to buy their gift). This year it has been different; I can't stop thinking wow, that's a long time. 


I have learned so much from my mom and dad and their relationship. They are so in love. Every day. I know they have their rough days, but they've really showed me (& my siblings) what it means to truly be in love and how to work at keeping a relationship alive & healthy--even after 28 years!! 


In the summer it's like clockwork: they take a walk around "the grounds" every night and sit by the pond for a little bit and then eventually they head up to the back deck with a bottle of wine (it's been the same brand since I can remember) for "tiki time" which consists of game of bananagrams, scrabble, or just the iPad and newspaper--I imagine when they're not playing their word games they're discussing their next plan of action--4 kids with 4 different schedules all over the states takes some major communication on their part and they play an amazing zone defense. They rarely miss anything. 


My parents are also really into pinterest. We laugh because since pinterest has come into the Holwerda home my dad and mom are constantly working on projects together off one of mom's boards. I've even seen dad scrolling through the website coming up with his own inspirations. 


Anyways, I could go on and on about these people lovely people in my life. I've learned so much from them and their marriage and if mine turns out half as good as theirs has I will be one happy lady! 


Here's to you, Mom and Dad! Happy Anniversary!!

Long weekend in Iowa

This past weekend (starting on Thursday) my mom, dad, sister, and I made the long trek out to Sioux Center, Iowa for two beautiful weddings! On Friday night Cassie's old roommate got married. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in a room full of people I didn't know. It was a fun, down to earth, family-centered reception. The couple was adorable and so happy! This is what we wore (please excuse the cheesy hotel mirror picture).

The next wedding (on Saturday) was my beautiful cousin Whitney. Talk about family time! We rarely get to see that side so it was nice to hang out with them and celebrate. Her reception was beach themed--very pretty! Her DJ was awesome, everyone was dancing all night! And here's our semi acceptable outfit picture....don't ask....my sister is weird about art. 

Me and my hottt date for the whole weekend :) 

And now after riding for what seems like days (really only 11 or so hours) we are finally home. Hitting the pavement running tomorrow; working all week (all firsts!) and the countdown begins to when I get to see Andy for Memorial weekend! 

Andy + Annie

Through thick and thin. Good times and bad times. Through sorrow and joy. These are just some of the things that I will be promising to a wonderful man [in 404 short days]. 

I can honestly say that having a friendship and then a relationship with Andy have been the best years of my life. He brings so much joy to me and God has blessed me so much with Andy. Our relationship isn't perfect. We've definitely had our fair share good times and bad times and I'm sure there's more of both to come. 

A few of my favorite things about Andy in no particular order:

-Between my extreme dislike of touchy-feely-ness and his love of touchy-feely-ness we look like an acceptable couple out in public. 

-He always texts me good morning--even when he's up at ridiculous hours to study. 

-His determination to finish school. He went through a lot this past year right now all I can say about that is wow, that man is amazing. 
-He tries really hard to appease my OCD-ness and keeps his apartment and car pretty clean. 
-He is ALWAYS making me laugh. Andy can make approximately 50583 different noises with his mouth and it's pretty hilarious. 
-Andy is one of the most chill (& patient) person I've ever met and in that way we balance very well. 


Like I said I am a very very lucky girl. I could go on and on about my favorite things about Andy. Forever with Andy cannot come soon enough.