Sunday, July 31, 2011

all smiles and peach pie

Last Wednesday was my mom's birthday. Like last year, I didn't get around to posting on the actual day. This time, it was because I was with my Navy BFF, whose husband was having surgery that day. Since her two little girls weren't allowed to be in the hospital room, I went along with her to keep the girls company when she went to see him post-op.

I wish I would have been able to spend the day celebrating with my mom, but our current locations make that impossible. Instead, I try to recognize the special times that I miss out on by making what small gestures I can, including blog posts. I hope I made my mom proud by giving my time and moral support to someone who needed it! I'm pretty sure that she would agree that showing the compassion that she instilled in me is more meaningful than a blog post.

I love you Mommy, and I hope that your day was all smiles and peach pie!

Friday, July 22, 2011

Fourthiversary Fun!

Although Jason and I were pretty bummed to come back to California after our week in Michigan, we turned our frowns upside down in time for the long Fourth of July weekend and our anniversary--our Fourthiversary. This year we had more than just fireworks to look forward to--we had NKOTBSB tickets!

We drove up to San Jose on Saturday afternoon and got settled into our room at the Hilton before heading to dinner at a local pizza place. I picked it specifically because this place offers Daiya vegan cheese. It was so good that we got another one to stash in our room for a post-concert snack.


A short taxi ride took us from our hotel to the HP Pavilion, where the fangirls were milling about in giant hordes. We made our way through the long door and beer lines and made the ascent to our nosebleed seats. I wish I would have been able to get better ones, but by the time I was sure that we'd be able to go to this concert, the upper deck seats were the only ones left.

Jason wasn't super-thrilled to be there, so he was in and out of the arena the whole concert long, but I was beyond psyched and totally transfixed the whole performance. The New Kids have been my loves since the tender age of 7, and I was known to enjoy some Backstreet Boys in high school. The two groups mostly took turns singing their own songs, but they did collaborate a few times, which was pretty mind-blowing. My camera died halfway through the show, just as Donnie Wahlberg began tearing off all of his clothes. You'll have to take my word for it that you could wash your clothes on those abs.


We got up on Sunday morning in time to enjoy the delicious breakfast buffet. Seriously, Hiltons have the best breakfast/brunch! It was a beautiful day in San Jose and we didn't want to go home yet, so we went to the Tech Museum (where Jason considered a career change) and the San Jose Museum of Art, then walked around downtown San Jose until I realized that my wedding day sunburn was getting its own sunburn.


On Monday we celebrated Fourthiversary day one with a quiet cookout food dinner at home--veggie dogs, homemade baked beans, homemade jalapeno cornbread, and strawberry shortcake for dessert. We watched the base fireworks from our friends' driveway while sipping moscato from Jason's special anniversary gift--pewter-stemmed wine glasses that he brought home all the way from the Royal Selangor pewter factory in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which he visited during his deployment. They are seriously one of my favorite gifts ever!


Although we consider July 4 to be our anniversary because it's the day we met (in 2005), we were actually legally married at court on July 5, 2006 (since it was closed the day before). It works out great--we just get to celebrate even more! On Fourthiversary day two we had another quiet day at home, and I taught my city-boy husband how to shuck corn, which he had never done before. I laughed and laughed about that discovery. It's the little things, people.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

photobooth fun

As I mentioned previously, one of the highlights of my sister's wedding reception was the photobooth. I only managed to get in there three times in between dinner, dancing, and socializing. I wish that I'd had more time!

All five of the bridesmaids. Of course we did deuces and kissy faces!

I love these girls.



















I had to teach my mom deuces.






















The love of my life already knew how to throw his deuces. My sunburn really shows in this strip. Oh, did it hurt! It's my fault for not putting on sunblock before going outside for the professional pictures. We were probably only out there for an hour, though--that's how easily I burn! When I took off my necklace later that night, I had a ridiculous white silhouette where it had been covering my skin.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

exotic hand-shaped locales

When last we spoke, the protagonists of this blog were jetting off to exotic hand-shaped locales to celebrate nuptials that were longer in the making than those of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

The wedding week was wonderfully fun! We experienced dinner tables on fire, bachelorette karaoke, scalding sunburn, and perhaps the coolest wedding trend ever, the reception photobooth. My sister was beautiful, and yes, riding the MSU bus around campus was totally, completely rad.

I could hardly blink back the happy tears as I stood by my sister's side at the altar, and the ridiculous grin on my face is probably going to be a source of much amusement when the professional pictures come back.


If the flurry of candid photos that have popped up on Facebook post-wedding are any indication, the professional snaps are going to be great, and I can't wait to see them and share some of them here. I felt so elegant all dolled up in my pink dress, and Jason looked absolutely dashing in his suit and coordinating tie.




After spending so much time apart while he was deployed, being back together for such a special, romantic event was a thrill, and it made me fall in love with him more than ever before.

Coming back to California was a huge letdown for us after such a great week. How we felt about it has definitely reinforced our desire to lay down roots in Michigan as soon as we can.