1 year down, an eternity to go..

  It seems crazy that it’s already been a year since our family trek to Manti Utah for our marriage. The memories are priceless; spending time with family in Uncle Tom’s cabin, shooting guns, sitting around a campfire, and admiring the millions of stars piercing through the pitch black night sky. I loved every minute of our time there.

  Unable to be back where it all started this year, we instead, went out to dinner at Mastros Seafood grill. This place was amazing. Never would you normally find us eating at a place like this, but thanks to a great friend and old roommate of Chris’ we were given a gift card that allowed us to afford the bill.

  No joke, the least expensive plate was $45!!! And if you wanted a side to go with it, it was at least another $10.  Like I said, never would you normally find us eating at a place like this.  It was so great though. The restaurant was in Newport Beach right off the PCH, which means we had an ocean view and a beautiful sunset to go with it.

  Chris was so excited about the food he had to keep reminding himself to slow down and actually savor the flavor! We had Halibut and steak with a side of green beans. The meat was so tender it was more like eating mashed potatoes rather than meat. It was awesome!! And the green beans reminded me of the ones we served at our reception in California. Yes, my Aunt Laura cooks just as good as a 5 star beach front restaurant. It was a happy little reminder of our beginning together. The final touch was a celebratory dessert. Five layer chocolate cake with raspberries and freshly made whipped cream. The bowl of whipped cream was just as big as the cake plate, and thank goodness for that! We. ate. all. of. It! It was so stinkin’ delicious.

The best part was that we didn’t have to pay for the dessert!  I’m sure it would have added another $20bucks to the bill… yes, it was that good! (and I don’t even like chocolate cake!)

 We ended the night with a stroll along the beach. It was so peaceful and happy. It made me think, after dinning at such a fancy place, that I’m glad I married the man I did; one who has his priorities straight. And how happy it has been to live a simple life. Boy, do I love that man!

***

As we look at today and where we’ve come and gone since that time in Manti, too much has happened. Sadly, I still have 5 “thank You” cards to send out. What is it about me that I can’t get myself just to write five quick messages and get them out the door?!  Pathetic, if I don’t say so myself.

Other stats from the year past of married life include:

  A move from Ventura County to Orange County

  Announcement of our soon to come baby.

  2 lost jobs.  . . .

  2 new jobs. Chris @ Redhawk Builders. Erica @ TGiFridays.

  Chris being called to serve in the Newport Beach Temple.

  A handful of trips to Disneyland and California Adventure.

  Quite a few family vacations; including our Western States Road Trip (AZ,NV,UT,ID,WY,WA,OR,CA), camping at Moro Bay and Carpenteria, Thanksgiving in Omaha, Nick & Lindsays Wedding (also in Omaha), and just a few weeks ago, our Anniversary getaway to Las Vegas.

And lastly, It wouldn’t be a relationship without those jolly bickering moments we all know so well. But isn’t it funny how quickly we forget, WHY it happened?!  We may remember the day or the place of where it took place, but I can never seem to remember why.

  … I’m sure if Chris were here with me right now, he could probably help me out with remembering. ;)

PS. I came home from work on our anniversary and here's what I found...

He made me do it

Don’t you just love Sundays?! Going to Church and feeling uplifted, not having to work, taking a nap that can last for hours, waking up and having food on the table ready for you to devour.

. .Well, for Chris at least.

Because someone has to do the cooking. Those days of awaking to a home cooked meal are over for me, unless I’m home for the weekend.

Point is that Sundays are so peaceful and relaxing and I love it. Not to mention that when living in Southern California, nine times out of ten it’s gorgeous outside! You can’t help but want to take a stroll and enjoy the beauty.

 Today Chris and I decided to do just that; Although it was already after sunset and it wasn’t just a stroll. We had a mission. To get to Ralphs in order to return our RedBox DVD we rented the night before.

I thought he was crazy! For one, I’m 8 months pregnant, going on 9! And secondly, Ralphs seemed at least 2 miles away from our apartment! 

Before I agreed, I had him GPS it just to clarify the distance (and hopefully it would be just long enough for him to recognize that I couldn’t make it there and back). We agreed that if it were any more than a mile and a half then I couldn’t do it.

Unfortunately it told us it was 0.7 miles away. Which equals 1.4 miles round trip. Darn it!

So off we went. 

It was pretty chilly out and brought back memories for both of us, of walking home from BYU-Idaho campus after late night study sessions in the Library (granted it wasn't even close to that cold). It’s crazy to think we both went there and experienced the same things, just not together. Funny how that happens. One of my favorite things to do is compare the parallels of our lives before we knew one another. Crazy how many there actually are! Anyway... back to our "stroll"..

We finally got to Ralphs, returned the DVD and took a good 3 minute break. It had taken us 25 minutes to get there and by that time my body was doing fine but my head was starting to ache. Weird.

The kicker on the way home was that it was 100% up hill! I immediately started to feel the extra weight I’ve gained and the stress on my knees.

Chris handled it like a champ and used some of the techniques we’ve been learning in our natural childbirth classes to help keep me focused of my breathing and concentrating on each individual step I took. It totally helped! It was awesome, especially because my abdomen started tightening and causing bouts of pain just minutes before we had reached home and with his guidance and continual reassurance I was able to get through it and not hate him for having the idea that this was ever a good idea! Instead, I was proud of myself for being able to complete such a task at 35 weeks pregnant. Hooray!!!

Plus, we took 27 minutes to get home. Which means we were only 2 minutes slower on the uphill walk home.