A Whole Year

Us at a stop while driving Big Sur

Yes, it has been a whole year since we got married! We made it! We have enjoyed out time together and look forward to many happy years to come.

This year for our anniversary we were thinking about renting a beach house for a weekend up in Stinson Beach. That was until we had to take Mika to the emergency room and pay $800 because she had eaten some moldy food left out in the garden here. So, the next plan was just to go somewhere for a couple of days and we still wanted to go to the beach so we decided on Carmel. If you don't know where it is, it is by Monterey and Big Sur (between them actually). It is the most picturesque town you'll ever see, at least in the town area, other parts were just normal. It made me feel like I was back in some English countryside village. The place we found to stay, because Nathan insisted on a beach view room, was a block from the beach and we could, of course, see and hear the beach from our room. It was wonderful. The weather while we were there wasn't super great, it was overcast most of the time, but it wasn't warm and it wasn't cold.

The view from our room

We went to some really nice and expensive restaurants while we were there and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We left on Friday afternoon and left the puppy at home, though we should have brought her because Carmel is the most dog-friendly place you'll ever go. We checked into our hotel/B&B called the Sandpiper Inn and then promptly went to dinner. We went to Flaherty's, a fish house, on the recommendation of one of Nathan's co-workers. It wasn't amazing but it was pretty good. Then we relaxed the rest of the night. The next day we wandered around the town and found some interesting shops. Most of the places are art galleries or boutiques where you can buy a t-shirt for about $120 or so. But, we did find a candy shop that sold British candy and bulk candy so we of course bought plenty to snack on for the rest of the day. We ended up going back for some more later, though only a little more for us, because we decided we should get a thank you for Ben, Nathan's brother, who was taking care of Mika while we were gone. We also stopped into this shop, I don't know what you would call it, but it had a lot of spreads and things. They were mostly out for sampling so we tried just about everything they had there and Nathan decided he had to have some of this garlic tapenade, which was really good. I was partial to the apple butter myself, but we decided we could have the tapenade with some crackers for lunch and so we did.

Carmel Beach

We went to the beach that afternoon but it was still cloudy and the water isn't quite as warm in Northern California as it is in L.A., so we just walked along the beach. There were some people who braved the cold, like two guys, and others who had on wet suits and were trying to do a little bit of surfing. Mostly there were a lot of people playing with their dogs and we had a good time watching them and wishing Mika were there with us so we could watch her run around. We drove down to Big Sur, with is arguably the most beautiful coastline, and the highway runs right along it. We made some reservations at a place around that area and were pleased with what we found. Our table was right by the window and we could see out to the ocean while we were eating. Apparently you could see whales out there sometimes, but I we weren't that lucky.

Some of the Big Sur coastline - blue, blue water

A funny sign at the restaurant we ate at

We also drove up to Monterey and went to the famous aquarium there. There were lots of fun things to look at and there was even a shark! While we were watching the big shark, there were lots of little tiger sharks, we were thinking about how Cameron would be freaking out right now and kind of wished he was there. One of the fun things we did while we were there is see a feeding/training session with the sea otters. The trainers did tricks and played with them and those things are just so darn cute you can't help but have a huge smile on your face. I think Nathan said his favorite part was the jellyfish exhibit. They just have something majestic and peaceful about them, despite their evil, stinging nature. We also got to touch some bat rays, like mini sting rays, while there and that was fun.

My favorite house in Carmel - they had lots of fun ones

Valentines Day

So a year ago this time we got engaged! I can't believe it has already been a year. It seem so long ago and, at the same time, like it was yesterday. We decided to do something similar to what we did last year so we made a reservation at Chef's table, a super fancy restaurant that just happens to be like a block away. While I didn't have any plans to get an outfit, like we did last year, Nathan surprised me an we went shopping. He bought me a really nice trenchcoat and a cute outfit to wear. Here are the pictures:



We didn't do much of anything else that night, but the next night we got dressed up again and went to the Cinderella ballet that BYU was putting on. Nathan didn't really want to go in the first place, but he is a sweetheart and decided that he wanted to do something artsy fartsy for me. I expected better from BYU, but I guess when the dancers are full-time ballerinas I can't expect too much. It was kind of fun. The stepsisters were the best part, they were full of humorous movements, for lack of a better way to describe it. I think you just had to see it.

The weather has been warming up a bit so we've been going out for runs and walks. Here are some pictures of us having fun at the Provo River trail.

My first book

Hopefully this time it will work...

So it has been forever since I last posted. Definitely a lot as been going on. However, I won't bother really with trying to catch upon the past. Now that I am out of school, I might have more time to blog since no one wants to give me an internship. So here is what has been happening in our lives:Mika is the same as always: energetic and loving. It has been hard for her to stay cooped up inside while we have been wimps and wanted to stay inside where it is warm. She, I believe, could care less about what it was doing outside, as long as she is running around. Lately, when we've taken her to the park she whines and whimpers as we pull into the parking lot because she is SO excited. I feel bad that I don't take her out more, but when it snows 1/2" overnight (though it has mostly melted already) it doesn't make me feel like tromping around outside.

Mika likes to cuddle

Nathan is still working hard at school. "School for life," he says. He has also been working on an iPhone program, a game, and is enjoying doing that. He tries to spend a couple of hours each week on it. He asked me if I wanted to help do any artwork for it, but I have no skills in that sort of thing, so he talked to an old friend in Livermore who said he is excited to work with Nathan on it. Nathan wants to make a million dollars off of the game, but if it sells at all we'll be ecstatic (not that it will be bad, Nathan never does anything halfway, but who knows what the market will be like).

A silly picture of our family

As for me, well, as I said I am out of school, well mostly I guess. I'm still taking one class, Bookbinding, for fun. I am enjoying it so far, although it is very frustrating as the first book I made (pictures below) I messed up on just about every step. A lot of the other kids in the class are art majors and it is a little off-putting sometimes. If I like it enough, however, it could turn into a fairly lucrative career.

We also got a new addition to our family! We recently did a full-scale cleaning on the house and discovered there was a need of greenery. We've been meaning to get an orchid for a while, but when we went to the nursery we decided on a beautiful blue hydrangea plant instead. It reminded us of our wedding and our engagement anniversary is just a few days away. I think I'm already killing it as the petals are wilting. They told us it likes a lot of water and I thought I had been watering it enough, but I just added a ton more and we'll see if it perks up. At least that is what the clerk said it would do. It is just nice to have a little plant life around.

A new haircut!