Date Night In The Rivera Home!

With packing, moving, working, and school Kyle and I have been very busy. With all of that sometimes life gets in the way and we forget the simple things, like date night! Back in high school Kyle and I took an elective cooking course together and had so much fun cooking as a couple. Now being married, it can be hard to set aside time to cook for fun. Over the weekend we decided it would be fun the make cake pops together! It seems like such an easy date (which it totally is) but thats the beauty in it. So here as some pictures from our totally fun, awesome, and amazing cake date night!

Our First Year Anniversary

I know it late but I promise I will get a hang of this whole blogging thing eventually... 

Since we are from Northern California, Kyle and I have been very spoiled by Lake Tahoe. We would spend many weekends snowboarding, hiking, biking, camping and so much more. Since moving to Southern California, we have missed Tahoe so much! In an attempt to find an equivalent in SoCal, we decided to spend our first year anniversary at Big Bear Lake. Now nothing will ever replace Tahoe in our hearts, but Big Bear is a close second. 

We decided to rent the cutest little cabin near the lake. More specifically we stayed in the town of Sugarloaf. I wish I got more pictures of the cabin but this is the only one I have.

Our first stop was to Big Bear village. They have lots of cute shops and delicious restaurants. Unfortunately this is the only photo I have of the Village but it was so much fun with TONS of stuff to do. If you are ever in Big Bear eat at the restaurant 572 Social Kitchen and Lounge. I had the best pancakes in the world. ever. not joking.  

Since this was Diesel's first trip to the snow, Kyle and I were most looking forward to playing with him and seeing how he liked the snow. Living so close to the ocean has made Diesel a beach dog and he very much likes his sun. We were nervous at first but quickly realized how much Diesel LOVED the snow.  Dare I say even more than his beach?!?! He played for hours in the snow and we had so much fun. 

Over all we had an amazing first year anniversary! I see us spending lots of time at Big Bear Lake in our future!

New Adventures

These last couple of months I have been taking up a few hobbies to keep me occupied before school starts again. My favorite thing has been turning old/beat up furniture into fun and interesting pieces. I have been LOVING it! Its so rewarding to find something free that no one wants and making it something beautiful again. These are the first two projects I did. I am currently working on a table and I hope to have it done before school starts next week... 

This was my first project! unfortunately I didn't take any before pictures, but just imagine a black/grey rusted, old bench. Kyle helped me sand the rust out and then I spray painted it this nice teal color.

 I couldn't help it! I had to put a picture up of the puppy :) 

My next project took sometime but it turned out amazing! During the move our coffee table got some of the paint chipped off and was in some desperate need of TLC. Again we sanded it down, and then painted the entire thing black. Next I found some comic books, cut them up and mod podged them on top of the table in a collage. Here are the before and after pictures... 

BEFORE

*Disclaimer: As a comic book collector it broke my heart to cut up comics, so I only cut up comics of little to no value :) 

AFTER

This picture was taken during the project. The table is huge so it took some time. 

It has been some much fun working on these projects! My entire life I have seen my grandfather make/redo old furniture and my grandmother paint the most beautiful things I have ever seen.  I see why they enjoy it so much and I hope one day to be half as great as they are! I love you guys :)  

Update on LIfe

This weekend I realized that I have been slacking and I haven't updated this blog in forever! So here is a little update on what has been happening the last few months.

We Moved!

Right After the wedding Kyle accepted a job as a project engineer for a company in Southern California! It was a big move for us but it has been an incredible opportunity for our small little family. Right now we live in a cute little apartment in Newport Beach and we are loving it! It has been a blast getting to know our new city!

We Got a Puppy!

  

Kyle won valentines day this year and got us a puppy! His name is Diesel and he the cutest thing in the world! We think he is a black lab and jack russell terrier mix but we are still not sure. Kyle rescued him when he was all of 4 weeks old! He had a heart breaking story and there was no way he wasn't coming home with us.  Now is is about 4 months old and is still melting our hearts each and everyday. Here is a more recent picture of him :) 

Just look at that cute face! How can you ever say no to him?!?!

We Have Had Lots of Visitors!

First was Tyler! Kyle had no idea he was coming and was shocked to see tyler in our living room when he came home from work! It was such a fun visit!! We went to Balboa Island and enjoyed delicious Balboa bars!

Next was Brandalyn and Erin!! These two beauties are amazing and it was a blast having them for almost a week! I sucked at taking pictures this week so I stole these from Erin... We did so much while they were here but he most memorable by far was Six Flags! 

Next my Grandmother and my dad came to visit! I unfortunately sucked at taking pictures and didn't get any ( I promise I will get better at this!). We had so much fun while they were here! We went around and saw the house my grandmother lived in while she was a child.  We also saw Godzilla and ate at the coolest Ruby's in town!

We Have Done Some Traveling!

We have made several trips back to Sacramento since we moved. We just can't stay away for too long :) One of the best trips we made was going to the Dillion beach with our family. It was so much fun!! It was Diesels first time at the beach and he LOVED it! The water was a little scary but he did get used to it by the end of the trip. It was also fun having my best friend Brandalyn with us too!

Lastly Kyle and I sent memorial day weekend camping by the Sequoia National Forest. It was so much fun! It was Diesels first time camping and its by far his favorite thing to do!!! We will definitely be camping in the near future! 

These last couple of months have been crazy but so much fun! I am going to make a better effort of updating this blog with all of our fun adventures! Thanks for reading!

Goodbye PutPut.... Hello Bruce!

This was my beloved PutPut. PutPut has been in my family for years and was my first car. I had so many memories in this little car, but it was time to move on and buy a new car.

Meet Bruce!!

I feel so blessed and excited to have my dream car :) Thanks again to Brad and Melinda of Subaru Roseville. If you are in the market for a new or used car definitely check out Brad at Subaru of Roseville! It was so much  fun and easy process buying my first car and that has everything to due with their fabulous staff! Thanks again!!

Engagements :)

This past Saturday Kyle and I took our engagement photos with the amazing talented Diana and her husband Joseph. Here is just a couple out of many that we LOVE!

As we are are getting closer to the wedding we are getting more and more excited! I cannot believe in four short months I am marrying my best friend. I can't wait to spend eternity together :)