Valentine's Day at Home For The Busy Parents

If you are a parent then you know how hard it can sometimes be to go out on date nights with your spouse. After becoming parents date nights no longer happen too often for us. Add 3 kids to the mix and it became quite impossible. They are no longer spontaneous nor last minute planning. No, they actually require planning way ahead of time. And when they do happen I look forward to it all week. It's just the little things that make a girl like me happy. 

I strongly believe in making this one of the top priorities in a marriage. I believe in keeping the romance. You have to make time alone for you and your spouse. It is important. It is needed. It keeps the marriage healthy, happy, and still sparks in the excitement.  I am also aware that alone time doesn't come quite often, or maybe the situation for some parents is difficult. There is many factors like no childcare, no family members close by, or simply the baby might just be too little to be under someone's care.  I know times are different, expectations are not the same from a busy couple with kids to a single couple with no family yet.  However With Valentine's Day only a week away I am in hopes of stimulating our special time together and best of all no need to try and go out and struggle with the busy crowd on this holiday, and a big bonus- no need to ask my mother to watch our kids. So for Valentines Day we decided how great it'll be to just stay in and enjoy a dinner for us two alone once the kids are off to bed. 

As much as I do enjoy getting out it is also nice spending a cozy night in and not have to worry about dropping and picking up our kids. And if we chose to have a drink or two of wine I could do it all in the comfort of  my own home. What better relaxing way to enjoy the night in than with some fancy dinner in all homemade as we exchange V-day cards. 

So this year I partner up with H-E-B for our Valentines Day date night in.  H-E-B is one of our favorite places to shop aside from a few other stores. Since it is about five minutes away from our home we tend to go all the time. It was no -brainer to go and get everything we need all in one stop at H-E-B. You can find some fresh produce, sweet desserts, beautiful flowers, the cutest Hallmark cards, wine, and the most important part- the steak!

With that said- here are some ideas I am sharing on what you could do for a date night at home with your spouse. I encourage all parents who stay busy and get overwhelmed to simply try it. It's actually quite fun and I can reassure you making time for your marriage is always worth it.


Personally I prefer eating a big steak at home rather than waiting at a restaurant. Think about it you are skipping the big crowds, long lines, and expensive over priced food.

So to my luck my husband does an amazing job cooking steak. For our choice we picked the H-E-B New York strip steak along with asparagus and seasoned mashed potatoes.

If you are a sweets person there is also dessert you can pick up too. My favorite dessert is chocolate cake along with vanilla ice cream. And when I saw these cute cupcakes sprinkled with valentine decor I thought they'll be perfect for the night and just enough to share with the kids the next day. 

If you are a mom (like me) that enjoys wine every now and then (preferably after long work days) then you must check their wine selection. My favorite is Moscato white wine or simply any Moscato flavor- the sweet white wine & their fruit peach flavor gets me all the time.

Also for the husbands- no need to stop somewhere else H-E-B has a new flower delivery service called Blooms Design Studio. It is located in the Houston area and they actually offer same day delivery service. How convenient is that for last minute surprises!

To be quite frank, when it comes to Valentines and floral arrangements I am not a fan. I tell my husband don't even bother. So how I ended up with these in a mason jar I can't explain. I just cannot get over these beautiful flowers, not only are they pretty to look at but they smell so good too.

Remember you don’t have to spend a lot of money at a fancy restaurant to have a date night. Put the kids to bed early and do a spontaneous dinner with your spouse, (all you need is at your local H-E-B) enjoy some sweets and wine, maybe a marathon of your favorite show together and enjoy this Valentines Day with each others company. 

*Disclosure: this post was sponsored by H-E-B as part of a partnership.  As always all opinions expressed here are my own.  Thank you for supporting the brands and companies that support  The Busy Life Plus Three. 

An open letter on our Anniversary

On Thanksgiving day we celebrated 6 perfectly-imperfect years of marriage. Six years ago we became husband and wife at only 20 and 22 years young. Although we didn't have a traditional wedding at all but a simple trip to the courthouse- that's okay. My wedding day isn’t plagued with any sense of regret. Sure, it would have been nice to have had a beautiful wedding, with my dream dress surrounded by all my family and friends. And it would have been wonderful to have a room in our house full of beautiful pictures of us on our wedding day to look back on. But one day does NOT define our marriage. It will be the years to come...and in the future I would love to have that religious ceremony as we plan to renew our vows with God as our witness with the company of our kids. I will tell you this- what has defined this marriage has been the laughters and tears, the good days and the bad. 

"Marriage is a commitment to care for one another in mutually-fulfilling ways. It is not an act but rather a life-long relationship that’s always evolving."

So to my husband I want to tell you-

I know that I don't always show it and I certainly don't always say it enough as I should (I'm working on that)- but I am thankful for you. For the man you have become, for the man you are, and most importantly the father you are to our children.

Here we are 10 years, three kids, and a few wrinkles and grey hairs later- still standing strong. It's amazing to love someone and be loved by someone for ten whole freakin years. I know that loving me is not always easy and I make it hard sometimes. I am not that young carefree 20 year girl you once fell in love with... together we have grown and you accept me for who I am.

For instance on mornings I am too tired and you wake up and get our son ready for school without making a noise so I get to sleep in an hour or two more, or on the days I have to work and you make sure you get all three kids showered and ready so I can drop them off ready and already fed, or days that you are off and make sure I wake up to a ready breakfast by the time I walk to the kitchen. Or when you decide to go grocery shopping after work and surprise me with a trés leches cake when you get home (you know the way to my heart so well). Even the small things you do make me smile; like a phone call on your break or setting up a date night for just us two without me knowing (because you know any time away from the kids is always needed) or when its late at night and you're arriving home from work and I am a hot mess with tangled hair in a bun and baby spit on my shirt yet you still reach over and squeeze me and kiss me. Everything you do never goes unnoticed. I mean it when I say I would be lost without you.

Thank you for everything.

So I share openly when I say- with all honesty that marriage is hard work. Is easy more so often to quickly give up. I have felt like this at times, our first year of marriage was hard. You tend to focus on your work, your child, and trying to figure out the "new you" in motherhood and as a wife and quickly without knowing you forget what you guys once were before marriage.. before kids. Back to when life was all carefree, when money didn't matter;

when we could go out at midnight to drive downtown and get Starbucks simply because we wanted to, or times when we planned random date nights to Olive Garden followed by hours at the movie theater because we had no responsibilities or children to attend too. Quickly all that had become forgotten. I admit our first year we had a lot of fights, many disagreements, becoming adults got the best of us. If there's anything I am grateful for now are those arguments.I believe If there's no fighting in a marriage how are you you going to grow with one another. It's not always about being right but about building a mutual agreement and resolving the problem together. It's all about sacrifices.

"Marriage is about becoming a team. You are going to spend the rest of your life learning about each other, and every now and then things blow up. But the beauty of marriage is that if you picked the right person and you both love each other, you'll always figure out a way to get through it."

I am sure there's been a lot of things I've done wrong in our marriage but I am also confident enough to know I have always tried my best to make things right and to always try- no matter what. But despite those mistakes I am proud of where we are, what we have accomplished together so young and what we will continue to bring in the future together.

You are my strength, my equal, and my biggest supporter. Happy Anniversary Gustavo, I am so blessed and couldn't be more proud to be your wife.

"I love you today and always.I'll choose you over and over again. Without a pause, without a heartbeat, I'll keep choosing you,"

A special thanks to D Trinh Photography for this session. David did a beautiful job. 

Thank you for capturing us once again. 

OUR JULY GETAWAY

Vacation Recap

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

 It's already August, and I am finally giving myself time to catch up on my blog. 

Where do I begin? I guess by admitting this is the first trip my husband and I have everrrr taken together alone since the kids. I have dreamed about doing something like this for a very long while, and quite frankly I never thought it would actually happen. I mean I am not the typical girl who gets to take spontaneous trips out the state, let alone out the country. With two little ones it seemed near impossible to even think about it, so the fact that my husband and I got the chance to do this {even if it was just 4 days} it really meant a lot to us.  It was mid February and I knew my birthday was coming up, my husband's is exactly a week after mine and our anniversary was right after in March so with that said I started thinking what could be a meaningful gift to surprise my husband with. Over the years we have become less focus on the gifts and more appreciative of what we already have rather than what we could want [but don't necessarily need]. So to sum it up I said the HECK with it let me start looking for a getaway vacay.
All I knew was it had to be somewhere that included a BEACH.
I went through Costco travel, I really recommend booking a vacation through them if you're a Costco member. You will seriously find some great deals
 I'm talking about a (flight+ transportation+ and all inclusive package with food and drinks) 
My options got narrowed down and I ended up choosing the Dominican Republic (which meant I immediately needed to get a passport quick) Also I honestly planned it all within a short period of days that I booked and paid the trip without even asking my mom if she could watch the kids for us. I guess deep down I knew she wouldn't say no nor she'll deny this opportunity I had to enjoy a bit of life with my husband, and thankfully she was very encouraging once I told her. It all seemed to worked out quite fine, all I needed was to count the days for JULY to arrive. 

This vacation was seriously MUCH needed in every possible way! I am grateful for a hardworking man, who we rarely get to spend time with, ever since his job promotion he seems to hardly have days off. And when we do, it always involves the kids, obnoxious tantrums, crazy toddler running everywhere, a messy kitchen, and stacks over stacks of piles of laundry waiting for me to do. So in every sense of the word this trip was
P A R A D I S E 

For anyone considering this place for a vacation I highly recommend the Majestic Elegance Punta Cana Beach Resort, I absolutely loved it. It's a five star resort with all inclusive packages, the service is the best I have experienced, everyone is just so full of life and energetic, the beach is beautiful, the restaurants you will find in every corner so much to choose from. I am a picky person when it comes to trying new things but overall I was content especially with their sea food & the steakhouse restaurant they have is amaaaazinnng (best steak I have ever had HANDS DOWN)

One of my favorite parts of this vacation besides the beautiful beach and endless relaxation, 

was spending alone time with my husband. A lot family and friends said

 we will come back with baby #3 on the way but that my friends will not be the case.

Best experience there was our first trip snorkeling. It was sad we didn't have more time, there was so much to do and not enough days. Overall I am glad I learned to let go, I got outta my comfort zone and was adventurous despite not being a swimmer by the end of it I was a little mermaid pro, and I got to experience an amazing view 

UNDER THE SEA

All morning, all day, all night drinks at the bar for free. Livin' the LIFE

More than a Getaway this was the "honeymoon" we never had.

And just like that our vacation ended, it was beautiful  (PARADISE I shall call it) my husband and I agreed to be back again. Until then I can only say "See ya Later Punta Cana you did wonders on us."