Brandon and Lorren

Lorren and I moved to Los Angeles September 6th 2012 to pursue acting (for Lorren) and film-making (for Brandon).  It’s been a roll-coaster of a ride.  We’ve both had to work crazy hours, countless jobs and had tons of adventures in the process.  Recently we hiked to the top of the hollywood sign.  It was cool being able to look out over the city and see everything.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First spotting of the sign.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Lorren’s Birthday we took a trip to Downtown Dallas riding the train and did a photo shoot with Grant Wakefield. To see the full album go here.

This date I’m about to talk about was a week ago but I am just now able to write about it because we had so much going on! We have even had a date since then but I need to take it one date at a time.

So last weekend ( 23rd and 24th ) were so busy and such late nights for Brandon’s work, that it was hard for us to spend time together. So we decided to skip church the morning of the 25th and just chill. So we did! We just hung out and enjoyed each others company, until we got hungry. My favorite food right now is boneless bbq wings with ranch, so he took me to Bakers Street Pub and Grill..mmmmm….So obviously, I got my wings, while Brandon got their awesome fish n’ chips…we both love our fries so we got extra!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After our awesome dinner/lunch we headed to another of our favorite places right across the street from Bakers Street, SWIRL!!! mmm love me some Swirl!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then just sat around at Sugar Land town square watching people and talking…when we felt like it, we made our way to the mall and just walked around, then went to Barns and Noble and read until it was time to go…

This date helped up catch up from our busy weekend…we had so much to talk about and fill each other in on that it was good for us to take some us time and just be together…we will do our best to always take “us” time so we don’t lose track of what goes on in each others days…

 

 

I know it was just Friday since we had our last date. But who cares how often you go out!! The thing is, this weekend is packs! We are house sitting (which is like a date in its self really!), and volunteering at a middle school lock-in with our church….So yesterday morning when a coworker of Brandon gives us her movie screening passes for that night (9.13.11) we couldn’t turn them down!

We decided we would leave at 5:00 to get there early so we can be one of the first in line so we can actually get seats. Movies screenings are like that. They give away way more tickets than they have seats for, I guess because they want to be sure they have a full house and they count on some people just not showing up. So if you are close to the end of the line, you can usually count on being turned away. It happens.

So I was ready for Brandon to get home from work early so we can head out before 5.

 

We picked up Chick-fil-a for dinner (I got a kids meal of course) cause not all dates have to start at a sit down restaurant! Dinner in the car can be just as fun and romantic

 

 

Then we high tailed it to Edwards Greenway Grand Palace Stadium 24 for the premier of      “I dont know how she does it” staring Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Brosnan and Kelsey Grammer.

 

 

When we arrived, it was only a little after 6 with an hour to wait. But already there was 130 people ahead of us! The theatre only seats 190 so we knew we cut it close! But we made it in, got decent seats, and enjoyed the movie. That’s us waiting in line. We were right out side the door for about 30 min or so ——–>

MOVIE REVIEW

Brandon and I both agree that it had its slow moments. But we quite enjoyed it. We liked that it was easy for people to relate to and not over acted. It also did not have one of those annoying endings.  I won’t say too much because it still doesn’t come out for two more days! But I did like the moral of the story. So yes, I’d recommend it. Especially for working moms, single moms, and single dads. You may like seeing someone else who does it all and it may encourage you and give you a boost!!

As for it being a family movie, it depends on how strict you are. There was a moment with a string of the “sh” word, and that one word is said a few times through out. I guess, not counting that flow of maybe 12, it is said another 3 to 5 times. But I didn’t count so don’t hold me to it. There is no sex scene. The husband and wife do mention it but that’s it, they only mention it. There are two or three innuendos suggesting sexual things. Nothing is gone into detail, but it is spoken of briefly. I would think it would go over kid’s heads, but that is up to you.

AND THE DATE CONTINUES…

Ok so after the movie, we start to head home. It’s about a 30 min drive from our house to Houston. As we got to the high way that would take us home. Brandon missed the merge and took a downtown exit instead. I waited a sec before asking why he missed the highway. He just replied by saying this is the way. I waited a minute more and said that was 59 S but it’s ok cause we can just get on from here. Trying to be a good wife but wondering what the heck he was doing!

 

But then he turned on a familiar one way street and I got suspicious. He was taking us to our knoll in Discovery Green!  That knoll has many stories. It is where we first held hands, and it is where he told me he loved me and kissed me for the first time! So we love this knoll and haven’t been in a while. When we parked, he pulled out our picnic/travel blanket that he had sneaked in the car when I wasn’t looking and was very pleased with him self for surprising me like that. And I was very proud of him for thinking of it!

Parks like Discovery Green are a great place for dates on a budget because it is free! Free and beautiful, so you can’t beat it! We love to go to our knoll at night and watch the stars, watch the people, stare at the sky scrapers and business buildings, make-out, oops did i say that out loud?…uhh…I mean cuddle… …and just spend time together. Either in silence, just holding each other, enjoying the night, or in a deep conversation. It is just the right place to be alone and relax.

Until the next date…

When we were engaged, we promised each other that when we got married we would have a weekly date. No matter now tight our budget was we would find some sort of adventure every week. We feel that dates are an important part of a relationship…I mean, when you first start “going out” with someone ( I’m not a fan of teenage dating so I mean “going out” when you are an adult), it doesn’t work very well unless you “go out”. “Going out” helps you get to know the other person, so why stop when you get married? It gives you a chance to talk in a different environment which may help you remember something that happened during your week that you wanted to tell spouse but had forgotten. And just a break from home is nice.

So what I am going to do every week is tell you about our weekly dates. Hopefully, this can give you some ideas of what to do when you have a tight budget but a desire to go on a date. We are by no means a rich couple. But we think we are pretty good at figuring out how to do nice things with out breaking the bank. So the goal is to have 52 “Dates on a budget”; one for every week of the year. Some may be split up when we go camping, then I will talk about that!! But that’s a great date time! Think about it, s’mores, camp fire, alone…in the dark…yeah..good stuff!

This really isn’t our first date since we have been married. But this is the one I am going to start with!

Friday night (9.9.11) we had our date night. We still had money on our gift cards a friend had given us as a wedding gift. He pretty much bought us dates! He gave us 2 cards, one for the cheesecake factory ( a special place for us!) and one to the movies!

 

 

 

So we dressed up nice and went to dinner at  The Cheesecake Factory  

 

 

 

 

 

We love their Shepherds Pie! So we get that almost every time!

Their lemonade is the best lemonade in the world so I get it every time!! Trust me, it’s amazing! Sour, with sugar around the rim…mmmmm

 

 

 

 

 

And for the finale!! The Red Velvet Cheesecake!! mmmmmm!!

This is our regular dessert here! We just love it soooo much that no matter how adventurous we claim to be, we just don’t care to try anything else!

 

After our amazing dinner and dessert, we went to the AMC Theatre and saw Contagion. Brandon and I agreed that we liked the first half of the movie, then began losing interest. The biology geek in me really liked the technical science part and I usually like movies like that, but it felt like they didn’t know how to end it. Like they came up with this interesting idea, then forgot to complete it. We also found some lose ends we would like to have seen resolved. Oh, something you need to know about Brandon and me is that we are both movie addicts. He makes movies and I am an actress so movies are important to us.

Ok I wanted to give a little advice about gift cards. I think this date cost us $10. So if you are given gift cards and use them for a date, just because you have free money doesn’t necessarily me you need to go all out. Don’t get me wrong, if you are big eaters and want to both get the most expensive thing on the menu because you may never get to again, GO FOR IT! But for me and Brandon, who are not big eaters, we split an entree’ (the shepherds pie), and split a cheesecake, and we are so full (but this is not just with gift cards, this is every time we go out to eat. Heck, I’m not aloud to get my own entree’ at all, I either have to get a kids plate or split because I can never finish! )! This way, we are able to use a $50 gift card at the Cheesecake Factory twice and eat good both times! My point is that just because you can doesn’t mean you have. Make the cards stretch. That’s just my opinion anyway…do with it what you will….

Until next week…

 

Brandon and I have been married over a month now and things are finally calm enough for me to have time to write about it! From now on, I will be blogging about our weekly “dates on a budget”, the places we choose to go camping every 6 weeks including the reviews and recommendations of the camp site, and what ever else I think you may be interested in hearing about.

First, let me catch you up on what went on right after the wedding…WE WENT TO CANCUN!! If you haven’t gone…GO! We stayed at the Live Aqua Resort and did an all inclusive package which included all our meals, pool side service of all the alcohol we wanted!!

(I’m still craving their frozen sour midori…mmmm!)

The resort also had 7 pools, a very nice room, free mini bar,  and room service at no extra charge…all inclusive is the way to go! Check out http://www.aquaallinclusive.com/ …we highly recommend it and plan on going back…it cost us around $2100 for 5 days and 4 nights…definitely worth it!

 

The only thing we paid extra for was snorkeling on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef where we saw beautiful sealife and I was able to touch a nurseshark!

                                                                               

 

 

That’s me touching it ———>

 

 

 

 

 

The Next adventure after Cancun was shopping! We used all our Target and Bed, Bath, and Beyond gift cards in one weekend and now we have a chic and modern little home!

Then came selling all our wedding stuff! If you are planning a party or reception or anything I would recommend checking out www.smartyhadaparty.com! They are fast to ship and you get the most for your buck! I was able to sell everything I needed to using  www.craigslist.org and sold it all in one weekend!!

Finally, to wrap up the month, during Labor day weekend, Brandon and I went up to the Guadalupe River and to enjoy our first camping trip as a married couple! Our goal is to go camping somewhere different every 6 weeks, so I’ll keep you posted on that.

The camp site we stayed at was called KL Ranch ( http://www.klranchcamp.net/) . We really enjoyed being right on the river, so that was a big plus for that site! Only thing I wasn’t so crazy about is having to pay for your shower…I’m not as experienced a camper as my husband but he says he has never been to a camp site where you have to pay a to get clean…Plus they don’t tell you this on their website…But hey, if you don’t mind spending a dollar for a 5 min shower then I would definitely recommend this camp ground…

Because of the drought, the water in the Guadalupe River was very low. So when we went tubing, we went to the Comal River instead. We were able to stay in our tubes the whole time in that river instead of having to get out at all the shallow areas along the Guadalupe.

All in all we had a great time…the nature was beautiful, and the wildlife was amazing…just watch out for the bees, fire ants, and bullet ants! They were everywhere! \

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That was August…Lets see what September brings!!

 

 

 

On August 6th, Brandon and Lorren tied the knot and began their life together.

Check out the montage and some videos from the wedding below:

 
Wedding Montage

Sailboats Music Video (performed live during the wedding)

Movie Trailer (shown at the beginning of the wedding)