Red river gorge climbing

For our 6 year anniversary!!! we took a day and a half away from family to go to the Red River Gorge. I had never been, which surprised me because my family camped and hiked a lot when we were growing up. I was really excited to go and although it started off rocky - pouring down rain right before we went climbing - we found a wall that stays dry.

Unlike in Seattle, we had the whole Blues Brother's wall to ourselves. It was so nice to be able to hear each other and be as goofy as we wanted because no one was around. The Gorge has little labels stuck into the rock for all their routes so it was easy to navigate and pick routes. We climbed about 3 routes that evening and then headed back to Miguel's (the place you can only camp if you're climbers) and got the traditional pizza/Miguel's experience. We camped out back and then woke up to go climb a few more routes the next day.

We also took a mini hike to Creation Falls and just wandered around in between the big broad leaf trees. Seattle is mostly coniferous so it was really beautiful to climb up the rock between big green leaves playing shadows on one another.

So glad that we took a little time to ourselves while home to celebrate our anniversary. Also great to get onto some rock close to where we grew up.

5 Year Anniversary Trip

 

Woohoo! We recently celebrated our 5 year anniversary. Hopped on the Clipper Ferry out to Vancouver Island, BC and hung out in Victoria. We planned it really last minute and had no expectations. Joshua found a place to stay with a hot tub and I had directions on how to get from the ferry to the house, and there our plans ended.

 

We've both been busy with work and life and having no plans couldn't have been a better plan. Enter scooter! I've always wanted to rent a scooter and drive around another country. Canada so happens to be another country. I watched Mary-Kate and Ashley in Europe and they rode around on scooters and I've been determined to do the same! So we got one for tow days and being that I have a x-small head I secured a gold glitter helmet. Hopped on the scooter and set off. We later both confessed that we were ear-to-ear smiling for at least 10 minutes.

 

We drove along the coast and stopped at piers and beaches. Puttered into a small town to get sushi and coffee. Did a mini hike up to a little mountain around to view the whole area. Walked into downtown one night and ate pizza, then tacos, ended hanging out in the hot tub.

 

That night we had also secured this magnificent thing below- it was a donut ice cream sandwich! We went back the next day and got macaroon ice cream sandwiches too. More importantly we sought out the donuts and had them all 3 days we were there. Earl gray with currant glaze!!!

 

We also scootered all over the next day. Pit stop for a little hike and then did a wine tasting with a stunning view. We got a glass to go and sat amongst some of their cherry trees, which were ripe and free to pick. That night for our anniversary we grabbed some dinner back downtown. Ended at a fun old building with live music.

 

Last day there almost the whole downtown had its streets shut down for a festival. Accidentally sat down next to the donut stall, so we got one of those. Then we also got some earl gray cotton candy. Weirdly delicious! Hopped back on the ferry and chatted with some lovely people from Kansas and then made frozen pizza at home. It was a fabulous trip to just be with one another, let go of some of the stress we are currently swimming in and just have fun with one another.

 

Mountainous Anniversary Trip

We try to take the day off for our anniversary but this year it couldn't work so instead we took the whole weekend to celebrate. Drove up to Mt. Baker area and camped outside our trailhead with a fire, boxed wine, reading via headlamp, and a stunning sky full of stars. The sky was so incredibly clear that night the stars were sparkly and out in force.

 

Next morning we were up early and packed up to head for a hike on Park Butte. It is a trail used to ascend Mt. Baker so we were hanging out right at it's base. We love being up close to the mountains so this was lovely! Maybe next we'll go to the top ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After our hike we headed over to Baker Lake, hiked in a few miles and hung up my birthday hammock for it's first run. Hammocking (word?) is awesome! We swung over the lake, took a nap, and enjoyed being alone with one another. It was an amazing way to spend time celebrating 4 married years together.

 

 

4 Year Anniversary

photo by the amazing Samantha's Studio, website here

For my birthday this year Joshua wrote me a letter, a five page letter. He's a beautiful writer and able to express all that my heart feels in words. I'll never be able to capture my feelings on paper the way he can so I'm going to steal how he started off the letter:

"I don't know what to say about how I feel about you right now. I am thinking back over the last near-decade we've know each other and there is just so much. You are so much more than I ever expected to get out of life"


I love you my Joshua, and thank goodness you accept my show of love, affection, appreciation, admiration & excitement that I find in you and our marriage in forms other than words.

Cheers to Three Years!

This is our three year wedding anniversary!
I found the photo above while cleaning out my computer the other day- it was from our 3 year dating anniversary. It makes me smile and love even more what we have now, we've come so far but also I really feel like we still have that "thing" we had when we were dating.

This year was our hardest year of marriage so far. Not hard, just the hardest. We felt a little lost and busy a lot of this year. Buy a house, don't buy a house, not feeling home anywhere, feeling overwhelmed and like we had no time to make our own choices, not being able to find time to be alone with one another, work not being fulfilling and so on. But I still loved this year, I still love this man. It's ending on an upswing though! with moving and fitting in some weekends with just the two of us and getting back out to the mountains.

God has blessed us in so many ways and the littleness and pettiness of all the stuff that was burdening us this past year has caused us to reevaluate some things, clean out things and stop talking so much about the future and instead living in the now. I'm so happy I come home to this man and we're both learning what it means for that to be joyful in the things that actually matter to us.

Yay Three Years :)

year one & year 2

2nd versary Kayaking

We celebrated our 2 year anniversary with a kayaking trip. We've both been talking about renting some to take up to a lake and explore and this was the perfect time to embark upon it.

We drove up to Spada Lake and had the whole thing to ourselves until the very end of the day. It was misty and beautiful and halfway through the sun broke through and opened up to the mountains. It was so fun to be all alone celebrating our marriage in the middle of a lake. So serene to just hear your paddles in the water and have conversations in the middle of this beauty.

Hubs packed lunches and we paddled out to a small rocky front and relaxed.

We've had a great 2 years and though there are rough patches we can't wait to see how we grow and develop together into year 3. God has blessed us in so many ways and the support and love from all our family and friends in our marriage has been one of those big blessings! Thanks to all of you!

2nd Anniversary

Today is our 2nd year anniversary!

I'm so excited to call Joshua my husband and daily he shows me how glad he is I'm his wife.

I thank God for what we have and how He has blessed us with growth over this 2nd year.

I'm constantly learning more about God's love through being married to Joshua

and even though sometimes it's hard and hard to put myself aside ,

I love that we're unravelling God's plans for us together

Some parts of our wedding I remember better than others -

I don't remember almost anything our pastor said,

I do remember never losing your gaze while we stood up there

and the way you looked at me

and the feelings that were surrounding and inside me,

and I remember all our family and frinds having a

giant party afterwards and never wanting it to end

The party may now be just the 2 of us most of the time,

 but I'm still loving every second of it

Happy 2 year anniversary Hubs!

Love you so much

I wrote this out one day because there were little things I never wanted to forget.

I hand wrote it out and hung it above our bed, it's our love story:

Freshman year- 4th floor, Daniel's Hall,

Joshua saw her walking in
He was playing ukere with friends,
he whispered to one of them-
she is the most gorgeous girl I've ever seen
he knocked on her door and asked her to join,
she said yes.

One night watching a movie with friends
he reached over and grabbed her hand.

their hearts both fluttered.

Another night she asked him -

will you just kiss me already,
he replied with his lips.

Then came a year
full of 5am phone calls
cheap movies and stargazing.

They flirted and pined,

fought and apologized,
learned to know each other's hearts

Until, while hiking in North Carolina 
he held her back and they fell behind the rest
he asked her if she trusted him
and then asked her to be his,
she said yes.

School sent her traveling and he went to visit
boston-snowy walks and high-rise dinners,
chicago-late night drinks and stolen cars,
seattle-bike rides and parks by night
filled them with romance and adventure,

One cold winter day he to parked outside a church,
a church he knew she wanted to be married in,
he pulled out a piece of leather,
tied it around her finger
and asked -Marry me,
she said yes.

Fast forward to June

in that same very church

standing in front of God and family,

starring only into each other's eyes,

they said yes.

A week later, belongings all packed

they hoped in the truck and drove off

for a cross-country honeymoon

and to their new home Seattle

to figure out the beginning of their new adventure

together.

2012 review

This past year celebrated our 1 year anniversary

we've had 9 visitors

Went to 3 weddings, 1 in which we gained a family member

Saw the Pacific Ocean 3 times

Went sailing and kayaking 3 times each

Went on around 28 hikes 

Lost a few friends to moving, but gained some great new ones too

Got to go see old friends and have them come see us

We really feel like we got to know Seattle better and

got to fall in love with the mountains that surround us.

We felt so so blessed in 2012 and although 2013 started with

multiple plane delays we are very eager to see what's next.

We really can't say enough how grateful we are for all the people in Cincy and Seattle

that make our lives feel so full.

We have continued to persue working towards the people we

want to learn how to be and who God wants us to be

and hope that we can make even more strides toward that this year.

2 0 1 3 !

2011 review

1 year anniversary vacation

We were so blessed to have met friends in Seattle with friends in Michicgan with a cabin- that they let us borrow for a few days. It allowed us to stay after the wedding and have some alone time. We did some wine tasting- they have a cherry wine there (actually they have a lot of cherry things there).



This is the sweet little cabin we stayed in.



We went jetskiing! It was a spontaneous idea that we both actually realized we wanted to do. The day was gorgeous and the water was so pretty we just wanted to get out into it. I was definately the crazy driver, but Joshua picked up some cool James Bond spin moves. It was so crazy when you weren't the one driving but just had to hold on (I know I'll be judged for this but- You know how on the show the bachelor they always climb something high or jump into something together and then say if they can get through that they can do anything? That's what we decided this was- now we're so sure since we did this together our marriage will stick haha, well we thought it was amusing  )

We made hobo dinners with veggies and roasted sausages.

Hubs had never seen sand dunes so we hiked the dune trail through to Lake Michigan. It was hot but a really beautiful hike and a great walk to get to just talk. The water and all the pretty waves at the end of the hike was an awesome reward.

The last night dinner through another Crazy thunderstorm which then became sunshine again as soon as dinner was over, grabbed a local bottle of wine and watched the sunset.

I've always thought of this kind of vacation as some fantasy with waves, sunshine, beaches I'd do with my husband and it was perfect! Our anniversary beachy vacation rocked!

P.S. It has been a week and we still haven't unpacked oops :)