California Here We Come

I have long been anticipating our 10th wedding anniversary.  It's emotional for me... an entire decade and I'd never want to spend it with anyone else.  I wanted to do something special.  In my mind that meant something huge... Italy? Greece? France?... but we decided that, while 10 years is something to celebrate, we're not at a time in our lives when the cost of such a trip would be feasible.  The last few years we've done "staycations", leaving the kids with my parents and staying at a local resort, enjoying alone time more than anything (and celebrating our marriage, each year an accomplishment.)   So we figured we'd just stay... and we had no regrets about that.  But when my grandparents offered to take our kids AND let us have 4 nights in their San Francisco timeshare we were thrilled.  Little did we know we were leaving 80 degree sunny skies for 60 degrees, cloudy and windy.  But the time we shared together was priceless.  We logged at least 15 miles of walking, took BART across the bay to Oakland to visit my brother and sister-in-law (twice!), ate a whole lot of amazing food and spent countless hours being "alone", just talking, laughing and remembering why we love each other so much.  The kids had a blast with "Gezzi and Papa Amos", no doubt making priceless memories.  And while my grandparents may have been questioning their sanity, they'll never know exactly how much it all truly meant to us...

A Decade

Ten years ago I never could have imagined that time would fly by so quickly.  An entire decade married to this man and I find myself loving him more every day.  I chose this picture because it personifies our marriage.  I love our smiles because that's what life is about for us.  We laugh... we joke... we're sarcastic and fun.  We let go of the small things and cherish the big things.  We love unconditionally and would move mountains to make each other smile.  Our marriage is a journey... a lifetime commitment that will continue to challenge and surprise us.  Looking back, I thank God for the path He has chosen... because at the end of the day, there's nowhere else I'd rather be....

Top Ten Reasons I Love Being Married To This Man (in no particular order)

- He makes me feel beautiful, sexy, strong and desired on a regular basis, without fail.  To him, there is no woman more beautiful than me.  

- He loves me despite my brief moments of craziness and sees past all my flaws.

- He is my rock.  The one who keeps me strong.  The one I can rely on to pick me back up when I feel broken and weak.

- I fit perfectly into his amazingly strong arms and it's the only place I truly feel safe.

- I know, without a doubt, that he would never ever leave me.

- He has seen me through some amazingly hard times and only seems to love me even more.

- He's the one I want to hold me when it feels like life is conspiring against me.

- He never hangs up the phone without saying "I love you" and it makes me smile every time.

- He has contributed in creating two of the most beautiful children in the world and loves them with a fierceness that makes me proud.

- He's slow to anger, quick to love and I can't imagine my life without him

Portland Zoo

I love living in Bend.  I truly do.  I don't miss much about Portland but I do miss my friends.  I'll admit I don't make friends easily... it's a flaw that is sometimes a nightmare on my self esteem.  So after 4 years living in Bend, I still don't have quite the close-knit group of friends that I had and was developing in Portland.  I do have friends, let me make that clear. Just not as many "close" friends that I can get together with, confide in, and feel loved by.  And so, when, out of the blue, I got a call from a good friend in Portland asking if I wanted to come visit, I was incredibly touched and wouldn't have imagined turning her down.  The kids and I packed up alone, leaving Joe at home and had an adventurous 3-day trip that included the Portland Zoo, the outlet mall, a birthday party, lots of backyard swimming and a mommies night out for ice cream :)  And while I left feeling sad that we can't do it more often, I also felt grateful for the really great moments I got to share with a good friend.

Smith Rock Adventure Saturday

Joe decided that, since we had so much fun dragging Shawna on an adventure weekend, we needed to make the most of the summertime we have left and head out on our own family adventure.  Smith Rock State Park is an attraction we've long been wanting to see since we moved to Central Oregon 4 years ago so we figured what better excuse than adventure Saturday?  The weather was supposed to hit the mid 90s so we got out early before the sun got too hot.  We went as far as the kids would go and enjoyed all the beauty the park had to offer.