I can’t believe we’re onto the fifth month of the year! Time has really been flying by. Before I completely look forward to the rest of the spring and summer, I want to get into a recap of how April was just too good! Like September and November (our birthday months), April is special to me and Jof since our wedding anniversary happens to fall on this month. Also, our weekends were pretty eventful and memorable this year. We attended Jof’s work’s annual gala night (which I like to call our annual big kids prom night, haha) the first weekend of April, then visited family friends in Baltimore the next weekend, then celebrated our anniversary locally the next weekend, and finally, enjoyed a beautiful styled dinner by the talented Tuesdays Together group Jof is a part of (truly a memorable experience).

For the past six years, Jof has made it a tradition to get me anniversary flowers from Holly Chapple at the Leesburg Flower and Garden Festival. It’s something we like to enjoy locally and another perk of living in a small town we like to take advantage of. Speaking of local perks, we also just discovered Stone Tower Winery by accident before we went to the festival and it was just what we needed at that moment! So, we had planned to enjoy a picnic and watch the horse races with coworkers at the Oatlands Plantation the afternoon of the 17th, but while we were on route 15, the traffic tested my driver’s (Jof’s) patience and when he couldn’t take any more than the 20 minutes we’ve been on 15, he took a right turn to the winery. We were a bit worried at first that they wouldn’t allow kids in the premises (because it has happened to us a couple times before when we had to leave the the winery after we were informed that kids were not allowed inside the tasting area) but we were in for a surprise! Children are welcome to their Harvest Barn and they have a nice picnic area with a wonderful view of the hills! Why, we never say no to a picnic! We set our picnic blanket outside and enjoyed lunch (from the food truck) under the sun. The weather was a nice preview of the upcoming summer days. Jof and I probably spent an hour on a couple glasses while we watched Alex run around the field with other kids. We had a great time!

Later that afternoon, we headed to the Flower and Garden Festival to get my anniversary bouquet. Got my usual pastels and greens. It was so pretty (thanks, Holly!)! Then, naturally, Jof thought of getting some family photos done so we did that, and that’s much of the photos I’ll be sharing below. Last but not least, I believe we may have started another anniversary tradition this year: a flower-decorated cake! I love this one by Evan of Sweets by E. It was SO good! I am now obsessed with naked cakes!!!

So, six years. Six years of love and annoying each other. Mostly of love, of course! Jof and I, we’re not perfect and I’m never afraid nor embarrassed to say that, but I know that after everything we go through, at the end of the day, we have all the love and respect for one another. We are weird and different, and honestly, that’s what I love about us. We’ve had friends tell us we’re weird, haha! We enjoy Bollywood films, we love country music and we like hanging out on H Street in DC! I can understand those are an odd combination of likes but that’s just us! HAHA!! What can I say? He really is my bestest friend. He gets me. He completes me. He truly does. We like to think we’re different and we like it that way. I love him so, so much and I am so proud of how great of a man he’s become since I first met him ten years ago. He’s such an amazing father to our mini Jof and he’s the husband I’ve always dreamed of (really, a husband who spoils me!!). In all seriousness, every day, I am thankful God blessed me with a good man.

Photos by my Joffoto

xo, riza