Trip to San Fran #2

2 Years Strong!

Chad and I have been married two wonderful years. Most people wouldn't celebrate two measly little years but to me and Chad, its a big deal. It depends on who your talking to i guess. In AZ we're still a cute newlywed couple, but in Idaho we are old and crusty because everyone else got married at 17 and gets outta here before they have their third kid....at age 20. But in our standards, we're awesome. The past two years have been a roller coaster of emotions for me, and two years of learning how to deal with roller coasters of emotion for Chad. We have learned so much about each other, about money (and how not to spend it), about achieving goals, about letting the little things go,about forgiveness, about pushing each other to be better. We have learned how much we need to learn....yeah, we know we are so far from being that couple we thought we were on our wedding day. Each misunderstanding is a hill we have climbed together at the end of the day. I never thought I would see solving family issues as such a huge accomplishment, but nothing makes me happier than talking through a issue with my husband and growing closer by coming to a conclusion together.We are becoming ONE! I thought that's what would happen when we were sealed but it's still happening and I think its going to take a life time!We love it though, nothing puts us in a better mood than realizing we were able to sacrifice a little to grow closer.
     Sorry. So so mushy. Anyways, so we know we want to start a family within the next year and that means this is our last anniversary, just as a couple. We wanted to celebrate that because we didn't want to regret not having any time together, any vacations without a baby. We decided to go to the city we fell in love in. San Fransisco. When we had been dating, Chad took me on a weekend trip to San Fran, I got to meet his brother and sister-in-law, Ryan and Kim, ho at the time was pregnant with baby Sam, now my nephew! We had such a wonderful weekend, we thought it would be fitting to go back and relive that weekend.
   I booked our tickets four months in advance so that we would have something to look forward to. As a side note, we decided that we need to plan a small trip at least every other month, Rexburg is damaging without some breaks. Anyways, we saved up some money and ended up having just enough to do everything we wanted to!
   We left on Friday afternoon and got to Ryan and Kim's later that evening. Ryan and Kim are so awesome. We could not have done this trip without their hospitality. We got to stay at their new house (gorgeous by the way) and play with baby Sam (Chad played with Jagger, their dog). Ryan and Kim totally made our first day unforgettable. We went to the mission district....it blew our minds!

We are at this amazing restaurant, Chad and I split the most delicious burrito.The who area was covered with murals, fresh fruit stands and music. Such a a cool area.

Dang you Kim! She introduced us to Kings Bakery. There were these coconut rolls that most likely have all the calories i am allotted in a day, in one bite.....we bought three...and a churro...and a scone.

Don't judge me

After the mission district, we decided to go over by the Japanese tea gardens, were we went the first time we came. We walked around the science building and got to go up and see everything in the area through the glass-walled floor in this building (Chad was a little more brave than I was....i kept my distance). Sweet Sam wasn't feeling well but he was being such a trooper. We went down stairs and went to "the water" because that's where Sam wanted to go all day! The weather was absolutly perfect!! ALL day!

After we finished playing around that area, we stole Kim and Ryans car, and headed to Pacifica Beach to check into the resort. Chad and the tomtom did not get along very well, we ended up going to half moon bay first because we missed a few turns but it was a funny adventure.

Here is the view from our suite. It ....was....Perfect! The room we got was a little smaller but Chad "accidentally" told the front desk that we were on our honeymoon and they gave us the last suite available. Our suite was awesome, it was right on top of the hill and had a great view of everything.

Plus, this awesome hot tub, that you can be sure we used! It was awesome! But we spent most of the time there on the beach, it was perfect weather all weekend, we got so lucky!

Here is a view of our resort form the beach, it was so cool! I wish we could have stayed longer but i think everyone says that about vacations so i take comfort in knowing that I'll always be unsatisfied because my vacations are always out of this world!

This is my favorite part of San Fransisco ... the buildings! Every time I go to San Fran I come home and for weeks, struggle with myself about changing my major to architecture and civil engineering! Look at that! Wouldn't you love to build that.. or better yet, LIVE IN IT! I could drive around that town all day long looking at the houses, and since chad missed almost every turn we were supposed to take, I ended up being able to do that :)

We spent some time on my favorite hippy street in the USA. Haight and Ashbury!We hit all our favorite stores, gave a penny to a bum who wanted it to complete a peace sign he had made out of pennies on the street (Chad originally gavehim a dollar but that upset him because he wanted a penny for his peace sign so he gave it back and gave him a penny...hilarious).

Little Italy! I have driven through this areaso many times before butWe got to walk around and eat our anniversary dinner here!it was perfect!

i love this place.....

Apparently this is a total tourist spot but I though it was a fun little authentic place to make memories and the food was amazing and  fancyish!

...we're total dorks...

The longest garlic chain in the world! Yeah, who ever thought "Hey, I'm going to link all this garlic til I get in Guiness." Thank you, i enjoyed that garlic chain a whole 5 seconds.

Our yummy food! That we totally ate without feeling guilty at all! It was delicious! And we may or may not have eaten until we literally couldn't open our mouths anymore....may or may not.

And we got the best table, right next to the window, under a beautiful chandelier! It was so romantic...now if only me and chad weren't such dorks. Romance isn't our forte. We would pretend to be frozen and then scare people walking by... may be next anniversary we'll be more mature, but don't count on it.

On Sunday, we went to the Oakland Temple!It was a beautiful day and we loved walking around that beautiful temple. We went into the Visitors center...big mistake.... those sweet sister missionaries, they just wanted to hear our life story! So we told them that we were there for our anniversary and the girly "awww's began. Literally everything we said was adorable to them. We said we lived in Rexburg... AAAwwwwww. We said we were having dinner with our familythat night.....Aaaawwww. We told them we met in singles ward....AAAAAWWWWWWW. That one was a hit. Those sweet sisters.

The lazy smelly seals. yay. I don't know why we always feel like we need to see these guys but here's a picture. awesome.

On the same weekend we were there, a Princess Cruise was leaving... which gave Chad some ideas for our next anniversary :)

         Anyways, we had an amazing weekend, it was a much needed vacation. It reminded me of all the fun little trips that we would go on. We are great vacationers. I wish we could do it more often but two or three little trips a year will be more than fine for the next few years. We also decided that it is healthy to leave Rexburg every other month or so. In fact I would go as far as to say that it is UNhealthy to stay in Rexburg for longer that two months.
         We were talking about it in the airport on the way back. That trip was literally therapeutic, not just for us individually but for our relationship. We had time to focus on each other and how much we really do love each other! We have got a great thing, Chad and I. We are so in love and getting more so,everyday. I feel so lucky to have a man who is so committed to my happiness and who I equally want to please all the time. My greatest joy comes from knowing that he is fully satisfied with me as his wife. nothing makes me happier. I'm so grateful he is such a worthy faithful man. He's a goof, a hard worker, a care giver, a lover, a fighter for whats right, a giver, a laughter, a manly man, a sweetie, a listener, a snuggler, an emotionally available communicator (which is so different for both of us from two years ago), he's a fun lover, a service giver, he's just like me dad, he is a worthy priesthood holder who shows me the importance of regularly demonstrating that priesthood, and amazing 2nd councilor, he wants to be like my dad, he's a family man, an amazing brother, he has a vision for our lives that involves our family working hard and playing hard, hes a friend to all the kiddos in my nursery, he loves my major and supports me in my career aspirations, he's passionate, he's thoughtful, he's forgiving (which is you know me, you know that's a mandatory requirement in a relationship with me, I'm no walk in the park). Chad is proving more and more each day that we made the right decision 2 years ago to seal this deal for eternity. We are still learning so much about each other, its so fun... and hard sometimes, but man, what a beautiful life. I love you Chad, Happy Anniversary sweetheart!