ANNIVERSARY {Catalina}

Well it's been a while since my first post, and much has happened since then! John and I went to Catalina to celebrate 1 year of marriage, we stayed with John's parents for 2 nights, and then shortly after returning to SD we went camping at twin lakes near Mammoth with my dad. It was busy and we have not been home all that often, but it has been really fun. For right now I will post about Catalina and later I will write about camping. . .

Catalina was awesome, we had a blast with each other and also were able to meet a few new people along the way. On the boat ride over we met three guys visiting from Britain, all of whom had just graduated high school. It was fun talking to them and hearing about what they were excited to do while in America. On the Island we stayed in this super neat hotel that had a built in full kitchen! It was awesome to be able to cook oatmeal in the morning and pizza one of the nights we were there. We don't have cable, so it was fun to be able to watch Law and Order SVU and NCIS marathons, such a treat!

The first full day there we went snorkeling in the reserve just off of the old casino. THE FISH CAME SO CLOSE TO US!! They must have know they were protected, they practically were attacking us. It was really really fun!

On our second (and last) night in Avalon we went to a wonderful dinner at Steve's Steakhouse. I got crab amazingness, which John has never tried before, and was quite yummy. John ordered teriyaki chicken and we shared chocolate cake for dessert.

After our dinner at Steve's we walked along the pier and soon got into a conversation with the sheriff of Catalina. He is a super nice guy named Fred who was on SWAT for 7 years and is spending his last few years of service in Avalon. He was kindof fed up with the locals and wanted to "spend some time with some decent people for once", so he offered to take us into the back country of Catalina the next day. We were super excited since tours can be up to $120 per person and you need government approval to go back there. We had an awesome time with Fred seeing the Buffalo, airport, and just generally hearing the dirt on Avalon. He even dropped us off at the Ferry with our bags for our 5:00 departure time.

We had a blast on our little getaway and were relieved that it didn't cost nearly as much as our homeymoon. It is a great little place to stay for a few nights, but after a while it might get a little old unless you have activities to do (like we did).


until next time,

-Ebey

MARRIAGE {year 1}

This weekend my wonderfully handsome hubby John and I will be boating over to Catalina to enjoy a two night stay in Avalon! We are celebrating our one year anniversary of marriage, WOOT!

Gosh I cannot believe it has been one year already! It seems like yesterday that we were at the Bali Hai saying our vows and shortly thereafter departing for the sandy beaches of Hawaii. Reflecting back on the first year of marriage I can say that it has been the best year of my life! John is amazing and God has truly blessed our marriage and relationship beyond measure. I will treasure the memories we made in those first precious months of our marriage, thinking back fondly to our little one bedroom apartment where most of those memories were forged. Our first year was filled with cooking blunders, hilarious instances of miscommunication, plenty of laughter, too many rented movies, and lots and lots of tickle fights.

My favorite part of being married is just being able to hang out with John from sunup to sundown on the weekends and whenever we can fit in quality time together. Quality time is my love language (how I like to receive love) so naturally this is going to stand out for me the most. We have a blast waking up to next to each other and simply being with one another during the mundane moments of the day. Whether it be homework, cleaning a massive amount of dishes, grocery shopping, or carpooling to UCSD we simply enjoy each other's company.

The first year was filled with far less conflict that I imagined it would be, but there were indeed heated moments where our tempers got the better of us both. I had always thought that there would be a battle of wills when it came to doing most things together, for aren't there two different kingdoms that merge together during marriage? I had thought that possibly battle would erupt in our home, knowing how unique and different two people can be when trying to resolve differences. I think one of our strengths is communication, and this has helped us tremendously when it comes to conflict. We don't let things build to the point of an emotional explosion, instead we are constantly working out issues that arise WHEN they arise, not days later. You could say we have a lot of periodical baby earthquakes instead of a 7.0 earthquake out of nowhere.

Our first year of marriage was not as easy as I might have made it out to be, we had a lot of commitments other than marriage that pulled at us and put strains on our time. John started his master's degree at Scrippts in Geology, I was (and still am) a full time History major and Education minor at UCSD, John was a TA for a class that required him to grade papers until the wee hours of the night (fun times), and did I mention that I am a goalie for the UCSD women's water polo team and work part time? O yeah, and we are involved in FCA at UCSD and also attend a married community group with our church The Flood? Busy is an understatement. We are swamped. However, we both agree that we would rather be married and doing it together, and we do not regret being married while in school. A word of caution to those thinking about getting married while in school: it is not for the faint of heart. We struggled to protect our time and our marriage throughout the business of life and made a huge effort to stay connected during times of crazy schedules. Not everybody can do it, and it took a lot of intentionality and effort to make sure that we spent time together and nurtured our relationship. Maybe this is why I appreciate the mundane so much, the times of going to the grocery store and driving to school together. At any rate, our lives are full and busy but also filled with special moments and times of fun and laughter.

Gosh we laugh so much. We have laughed so much our abs are sore the next day. For example, the most recent instance is when I tried to dye my hair purple with Koolaid. It didn't work, but my hair smelled like a grape Jolly Rancher for a week and every time John and I would cuddle he would crack up and would say "awww, my little grape!" It was awfully funny and I was slightly embarrassed which made it even funnier. Good times. Still get teased.

At any rate, this is a terribly long first post and I am really excited to go out for an anniversary lunch at the restaurant where we got married, and quite hungry, so I will sign off for now.

-Ebey S