a weekend away

On Wednesday afternoon I went and met Blake for lunch and I could tell that Blake's fast approaching finals were weighing heavily on his mind.  I decided that we needed to do something a little different to push finals out of our thoughts for at least a little bit.  I finally came to the conclusion that we needed to get out of the "Happy Valley" (not an appropriate name) for the weekend.  Neither Blake or I have classes on Friday's so we decided we would head out on Thursday after class and spend the weekend up at my cabin.

I picked Blake up after his last class on Thursday and we were off.  We listened to the BYU game on the way up and stopped at my house to watch the end of it. We wished we hadn't. We do still love BYU though.  We picked up some groceries and we were on our way.

Although I wish we could've just left school behind us for a weekend, Blake doesn't have that option, so much of his weekend was spent writing a 30 page paper.  That gave me lots of free time to read, take at least 3 baths a day, and watch hours of food network.  Due to my obsession, poor Blake has learned to watch Food Network without complaint.  We have both learned so much and one night Blake even decided to try his hand at caramelizing some peaches.  They were delicious and he was so pleased.

Here he is proudly displaying his cooking skills. 

One night we went down the canyon and got yummy desserts at The Oaks, the location of one of our first dates.  It was so fun to take a walk down memory lane. 

Admittedly, not the best picture of me. 

It snowed so much while we were there so we really tried to soak in the last of the winter months.  I am not a fan of snow in November and especially not in MARCH, but for some reason when I'm at the cabin it seems OK.  

It was a beautiful winter wonderland. 

Blake was such a champ during our little get away and he plowed our LONG driveway several times, shoveled the deck, checked the hot tub, swept out the garage, made good food with me, stood outside in shorts, boots, and his garment top throwing snow balls at the dish trying to knock the snow off of it so I could watch the show I had been DYING to watch, and on top of this he wrote 20 pages of his 30 page paper.  I love that man.

It was a perfect weekend and a perfect retreat before the dreaded finals start. 

a perfect day

We had the best photographer ever for our wedding. Hands down. For a peak at our pictures go here.

way above the minimum

A year or two ago I made a list of minimums that I expected in a husband.  I knew so many people that made giant lists of all the things that they expected out of a husband and I thought this was a sure way to never find anyone good enough.  I decided to make things easier on myself and just made a list of minimums.  That way, any guy I found that passed the minimums would seem incredible.

A few examples include:
He doesn't have to have the best body, he just has to be taller than me and he can't fit in my pants.
He has to weigh more than me when I am 9 months pregnant.
He doesn't have to be rich he just has to be able to support a family.
He can't color his hair.

The most important one to me was this:

He doesn't have to love Disney but he has to accept that I do.  And as a side note, he has to be willing to take me to Disneyland at least once a year...preferrably more.

Blake is so good at this last one.  I know that he doesn't love Disney as much as I do but he has the best attitude about it and goes along with whatever weird Disney obsessions I have.  We have been to Disneyland a few times together and it has been magical. The first trip was just a day before the infamous meningitis hit and even with the terrible back and head aches that I was having, it was a perfect day.

Then, in January my mom took Blake and I to Disneyland for a three day trip.  I have been to Disneyland every year in January since I was 2.  I have had some incredible trips but this one was definitely the best.  I know Blake was hesitant to spend a full three days there but we had the best time.  He was a champ and never once complained that we walked him from Tomorrow Land to Adventure Land to the Golden Gate Bridge 19 times a day.  He even found his inner Disney geek and whipped out his speed walk so that we could make it to rides before the crowds hit.  It was incredible.

The pinnacle of Blake's support of my Disney love happened this Friday when he willingly took me to Disney on Ice. I mentioned that I wanted to go but then didn't bring it up again.  A few days later he told me that he had spent time looking for tickets for me.  We got a great deal on tickets and went.  I was easily more excited than any of the little kids that were there and I totally would have worn a princess outfit if Blake had let me.  It was actually super impressive and Blake loved it (more than he will let on). At one point I put my arm around him when Aladdin and Jasmine were skating to "A Whole New World" and felt goosebumps on his arm.  I called him out on it and he shyly admitted that he just really happened to love that song.  I laughed but truthfully I've never loved Blake more.

Blake treats me perfectly and is so willing to do things for me even if it's not his favorite and he always has the best attitude about it.  I love this man with all my heart and I could not have found someone better.  He FAR surpasses all of my silly minimums and is truthfully far more than I ever dreamed I would get. But I'm pretty sure he can fit into my pants. There's no butt on that boy.

To end on a Disney note... I always dreamed my prince would come. He came. And he treats me like a princess. I love him.

a week in paradise

Blake and I got married in a Friday and then woke up early Saturday morning and took off for a week in Hawaii.  We were both so exhausted and it was so great to be able to have a week to relax and enjoy our first little bit as Mr. and Mrs.  We got to our hotel when it was dark and we woke up to this view.  

We were in heaven.  We went to church and when we came out it was raining. It got worse throughout the day so we spent much of the day driving around and exploring the island. 

This is the beach right below our resort. 

And this was the beautiful overgrown walkway that we would walk down to get there.  It's beautiful in the day but in the night it is so dense that it becomes pitch black.  We learned that the hard way.  We decided to go get pina colada's and listen to live music in the lounge at the hotel that was directly below us.  We stayed too long and we only had to take a few steps into the trail to realize that we couldn't even see our hands in front of our faces and that there was no way we were going to be able to make it back.  We turned around and took the nice long way back to our hotel. 

We took full advantage of our amazing pool and hot tub and spent at least a few hours a day relaxing at the pool.  We didn't spend as much time snorkeling as Blake would have liked.  I have always been a little scared of snorkeling but this trip brought out the worst in me.  I complained about either the strong current, the cold weather, or oddly enough, the fish.  Blake was so sweet though and after he saw how scared I was he told me we didn't need to go again. Although we did manage to see a sea turtle in the few minutes that I was brave enough to actually put my head under the water. 

One day we went kayaking and hiked up to a waterfall.  It was amazing and Blake and I decided we loved kayaking.  We were definitely the fastest kayakers in our group but given the fact that the other group members were all over 60 or under 10 it's not that impressive. It had been pretty rainy prior to us getting there so the trail was full of thick mud.  

The waterfall was absolutely beautiful and we got in and swam around for a minute before we hiked back out.  We then got back in our kayaks and made it back right as it started to thunder.  That night was the biggest rainstorm I have ever heard in my life.  The thunder and lightning were hitting at the exact same time and we could see the lightning through our shutters.  It got so loud in the night that it woke us both up right as our power went out.  We woke up the next day to clear skies and a beautiful day.  

There's a place called Queens Bath right by where we were staying and it is absolutely beautiful. Lava formed big craters and ocean water comes in and fills them up and they are perfect for swimming. We passed huge waves on our way over and I was amazed. We went and swam in the "bath" and it was so crystal clear and refreshing. I loved it.  

please notice our ridiculous burned skin. 

The last night we were there we went down and took pictures on the beach at sunset.  It was such an incredible sunset and a perfect way to end our trip.  

We got pina colada's and a nice cheese plate again at the hotel that was directly below ours.  Does anything in that picture look like it should add up to $50.00? 

It didn't to us either. 

We went to an amazing waterfall that had a huge rope swing and was perfect for jumping off of on our last day there but we won't talk about that. It was a low point of my life.  We spent our last few hours on the island laying at a beach and soaking up the beautiful sun.  We took a redeye out and went back to San Diego in time for our beautiful reception there.  

It was a perfect week and it was so wonderful to spend time with my sweet husband. I couldn't have found anyone better for me and I feel so lucky.