1 Year Anniversary!

The most sound advice we received the night before our wedding went something like this:
"The first year of marriage is the hardest, but it is because you are starting from scratch on putting someone else first in your life. While premarital counseling is highly recommended, marriage counseling after the wedding can be just as important the first year, because we begin to actually experience and understand the dynamics of marriage, and what it means to be husband and wife."

This past year has proven to be the most difficult, and yet the most amazing year Matt and I have been together. We did eventually decide to try marital counseling by a respected pastor for two months after our wedding. It proved to be the best decision we could have made! God has since then, blessed our marriage, and taken us on a journey of growth, love, and devotion.

To celebrate our 1 year anniversary, we chose to have a simple and relaxing day, enjoying each others company. We slept in, ate breakfast in our pajamas while watching a church service on TV, enjoyed doing some simple hobbies at home, and then cleaned up to go out for dinner to have King Crab legs!

Standing outside of Outback Steakhouse after dinner

We are so thankful for the past year together, and are excited for the future years to come! Especially if the first year is supposed to be the hardest, then we only look forward to every year getting better and better!

BBQ's, Weddings and More!

Every time I come back to our blog, I feel like there's so much I need to catch up on!

To touch base on some of the last things I talked about, Matt's eyes are doing really well. The redness is almost gone, and he's done taking most of the medication drops. He's just down to the regular moisture drops, and only one prescription for mornings and nights. So far he's loving being able to see clearly and read without glasses; however, the constant drops are a bit annoying to him, and his job requires hours of staring at a computer screen that make his eyes feel dry and tired. He has about 3 more months to go with the excessive drops... but it should calm down after that. :-)

The backyard has been an absolute joy! We added some hanging wall candles, as well as rope lighting. It really brings the yard to life in the evenings. The BBQ has also paid for itself already! We've used it so much - and I just have to add that Matt is becoming attached to it! He's becoming quite the BBQ chef. While I usually do all the cooking, I've always believed that the BBQ belongs to the man - and I love it that Matt enjoys it! The picture to the left is Matt using the BBQ for the first time.

Since the backyard has been done we've been able to host a double date cooking night with our friends, Steph and PJ. We had carne asada burritos with homemade marinade (thanks to PJ!) and Matt's and my homemade tortillas. It was so enjoyable - I have a feeling there are going to be many, many more double/triple date dinner nights. =)

We also hosted an end of summer BBQ. Space was limited, and we quickly realized that our apartment/backyard can really only fit 10 people comfortably. We had 16 people invited, but it all worked out with people arriving when people left - so it all seemed to go really well! We provided burgers, RockBand, and an ice chest of drinks. All the essentials for a good party with good friends. =) Wish I had taken pictures!

Before all of our BBQ/dinner festivities, Matt and I carpooled up to NorCal for Sarah and Joe's wedding near Redding, CA. We got up at 3:30am, picked up our friends at 4:30am, and were on the road... for 8.5 hours to make it to the rehearsal on time. I drove the whole way up. The picture on the left is me really happy after In-N-Out and Matt taking the wheel to drive to the rehearsal that was 10 minutes away. I fully enjoyed those 10 minutes of not driving too! :-P


The hotel we stayed at was pretty fun. It was close to a bunch of restaurants, stores, and had a really nice indoor heated pool and spa! We shared our room with Chad and Sarah, and spent the first day relaxing and swimming after the rehearsal. It was pretty fun too because the rest of our friends from out-of-town stayed at the same hotel. =)

The second day was pretty much a free day to do anything, so Matt and I drove an hour further North to meet my Grandparents in Mt. Shasta for brunch. They were vacationing in Oregon and it happened to work out for the four of us to get together! Below are a couple pictures from that day.

Picture of the beautiful drive there with Mt. Shasta in the background.

Sitting down for brunch with my grandparents at the Black Bear Diner.

Picture of Matt and me in front of Mt. Shasta.

The next day (Sunday) was Sarah and Joe's beautiful wedding! It was so much fun! I really wish I could write about the whole day, but there is so much to say! A picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll let you put the pieces together below. =)

Sarah was such a precious and beautiful bride, and her new husband Joe was a wonderful groom. We couldn't have been more happy for such a perfect couple! Matt and I definitely had a wonderful time, and the 17 hour round-trip was so worth it! (picture on the left is of Matt and me)

It's exciting when all your friends start to get married. We have three more weddings coming up too. This weekend (10-10-10) we have friends getting married, then a wedding in late October that Matt and I are both actually in the wedding party, and then one more in February!

Hopefully I can squeeze in updates between all the events and holidays coming up, but either way, I'm seeing a lot of pictures and catch-up either way! =) Hope everyone is well!

New Backyard & New Vision!

Home Depot has now officially been added on as one of my favorite stores! It seriously IS the Toys R' Us for grown-ups, haha!

Matt and I began the grueling process of fixing up our apartment backyard. Why did we wait so long? Well... it's hard to put money into something you don't own, but over time, not being able to BBQ or entertain in the backyard outgrew the fact that we only rent the space.

Now let me tell you the history of the backyard. When we first moved in, we had a tree right outside our sliding glass door. One random day, we came home to find that the tree had been cut down - we guessed this was to prevent further damage to the backyard wall and fence. It was kind of sad, since it was a nice shade tree, and the only nice part of our backyard.

Now the other side of the yard was absolutely awful. The entire area was a dirt patch full of weeds, a tree stump that refused to stop growing, you could tell that grass had once been there, and worst of all... it smelled like dog pee.

A couple of months ago we finally had the property manager take out the growing stump, and so began our work! I spent a day trying to level out the backyard dirt to the best of my ability. Once that was done, Matt and I went to Home Depot to price out and look at pavers. We found some we liked, and started laying them out.

And... the FINAL PRODUCT!

We then finished the rest of the backyard by planting a garden, and getting our first BBQ! The garden has Gerbera Daisies, carrots, tomatoes, chilies, rosemary and basil planted. Now we're just keeping our fingers crossed that everything grows! :)

Aside from the backyard, we have a bit of other news! Matt finally was able to get laser eye surgery last Friday! The whole thing went really well, and his latest eye-exam said he now has 20/20 vision! It is incredibly exciting, since he has worn glasses since he was a kid. We can only thank God for all these blessings!

What's also exciting is that we will be driving up to northern California next weekend for Sarah and Joe's wedding. It's going to be wonderful!

Summer Flies By!

Summer always seems to fly by! And August was no exception, it was definitely an exciting and busy month for us.

We started the month going to the Harvest Crusade held at the Angel Stadium. Neither of us had ever been, and we wanted to experience it together. It was really a neat experience!

The following day was my Godson's 2nd birthday party. I can't believe the little guy is already 2! The theme of the birthday was a summer favorite - Pool Party! Besides the pool of course, there was a giant water slide I got the guts to go on - and so I got to enjoy being a kid myself for a bit. :-) Big props to Sarah, Bonnie, and the rest of the family for throwing a wonderful birthday party for Logan!

The following weekend, Matt and I joined my parents, Camille and friends on a boating trip to Catalina! We went to celebrate Lauren's 21st birthday and my 24th. We managed to squeeze 7 people on my parent's boat. (below is a picture taken from the other side of the island)

We had the boat moored at the Isthmus, so we walked from one side of the island to the other, and other than hanging out on land, we lounged on the boat.

Overall, it was a great trip! Very relaxing, and a wonderful mini-vacation.

The Monday we got home, Matt had to leave for a bachelor party (he's a groomsman in our friends' wedding), and so for my actual birthday, I had a relaxing family dinner at my parent's house. :-)

The weekend after that (I'm telling you, it's been non-stop! haha), we had a double date with our friends Steph and PJ, followed by an outdoor movie picnic the next night with Tony and Kristen. We had a blast that weekend. It's hard to beat good friends and good food. :-)

Finally, this last weekend in August, I got to celebrate Katie's Bachelorette party and Bridal Shower!

I have a funny feeling that this fall is going to fly by as well... 3 weddings, holidays, Matt's and my 1st Anniversary... looking forward to it all!!

Vegas Trip

So Matt and I recently went to Vegas with a few friends, and needless to say... we had a great time!

We carpooled Friday evening with Joe, Kevyn and Michael - 5 people and their luggage in one car is always fun! haha. I do love when we carpool to Vegas though - it makes the ride so much more enjoyable.  When you have 4 hours to kill, it's nice having friends to mingle with.

Once we got there, it was a nice 100 degrees outside at 8:30pm.  We made our way over to our hotel, The Palazzo.  We've never stayed there before, but Amanda was able to get a really great discount - and so we got to stay in a suite! (below is Matt standing in the lounge area of our suite)

Now let me tell you about this suite - it was amazing! King-size bed, remote control black-out curtains, two flat screen TV's, fridge, two sinks in the bathroom with granite counter tops, and even the shower had three shower-heads! It was vacationing in luxury! (or sleeping in luxury, since that's really all we did in the suite)

Our first night there, we freshened up and went down to the casino area and found a dueling piano lounge.  It was really fun - and we had great seating.  But like all things in Vegas, they freely took our money, and didn't quite give us what we wanted in return (like playing our song requests!) - but overall, it was a fun first night. :-)

 The next day I managed to wake up at 8:30am (with the help of my friends calling me), and went down to the pool with Amanda, Kristen, Tony and Michael.  I let Matt stay and sleep - but he joined us later around noon.  The pool was really nice! It was on the 3rd floor, and had a great little restaurant where you could get breakfast.  We spent the majority of our time there lounging in the shade and reading magazines.  We finally got in the water though once the temperature got too unbearable in the shade.

We spent the rest of the day walking through the new City Center (Aria), and then met up with Joe, Kevyn and Michael at the Paris Buffet.

While I love Paris usually, I was really unimpressed with their food this time.  The prime rib was so salty it almost crunched in my mouth as I chewed it... at least they couldn't mess up the shrimp cocktail. :-) After that, Matt and I went back to our suite and napped for a couple hours - oh  my gosh, I forgot how good naps feel!!!

After everyone was full and rested, we got ready to begin our night! We started the night with Blackjack and Roulette.  Matt and I had a pretty good system worked out - he would lose our money, and I would win it back. :-) I don't play Blackjack... Roulette is my game!

We decided to try and find a Fat Tuesday next (our favorite daiquiri bar - they have amazing slushy drinks!).  We ventured from the Palazzo to Caesar's Palace, but were 30 minutes late - they were already closed. I found it funny how we all were surprised that it was closed at 12:30am! haha. Vegas spoils you with its all-night hours... but I guess not all things are open all night after all.

We settled for this other place called "Numb"... but their drinks were nowhere near as good. After that, we started splitting off going our separate ways.  Joe, Kevyn, Michael, Matt and I ended up getting into a dance club for free... but when we got in, the place was small, packed, smokey, and was an older age-group with quite a few interesting characters.  We didn't stay longer than 5 minutes before we left, and Matt and I went back to our hotel to sleep.

Sunday - Joe, Kevyn, Michael, Matt and I packed up and headed out.  We stopped at this REALLY amazing omelet place for breakfast first. I love hole-in-the-wall places like that. :-) Plus it was nice since it was off the strip, so the prices were decent and it wasn't crowded. We then started our 4 hour drive home.

Overall, it was a great weekend. It was wonderful seeing all our friends!

A Wonderful Visit

Matt and I went to a piano concert last weekend.  It's an annual thing that Michael Seller's puts on in his home after a busy year of concerts around the country, and teaching.  He is an amazing pianist, and can play classical music from Beethoven to Chopin - by heart!!! Patricia (Matt's adopted Aunt Pat) introduced us to Micheal two years ago when she brought us to one of his concerts.  It is a mind-blowing experience to see him perform! (you can check out his website to see for yourself: http://www.michaelsellerspianist.com)

Anyway, as is tradition... after the concert, Michael, Patricia (Aunt Pat), Matt and I went to The Cheesecake Factory.  We are a quirky group to behold I'm sure.  Matt and I are the young married couple... we probably look like Michael's kids... while Patricia looks like our Grandma.  Well anyway, Patricia is a Godly woman - I've never met anyone with so much physical pain and misfortune in their life, and yet so optimistic, full of spirit, and bubbly! She is truly an amazing woman. Michael is an artist - very proper, with a quaint home - full of pictures and a giant piano.  He is blunt with a sort of dry sense of humor.  It is absolutely hilarious when Michael and Patricia talk sometimes...

(driving to The Cheesecake Factory)

Patricia: "I just LOVE palm trees!  They are one of my favorite trees here in Hollywood! Oh they are just so magnificent! Michael don't you love living in an area with so many palm trees?"

Michael: "I hate them."

(everyone in the car busts up laughing) 

Patricia: "Oh!... but do you like living here in Hollywood then?"

Michael: "Yes... I just ignore the trees."

When we are not discussing Michael's remarkable piano skills, or religion (a popular topic for us), many conversations bounce around with all of our different opinions and beliefs. This last visit we talked about our wedding and showed our album - since Patricia couldn't make it due to her health.  It was a wonderful visit indeed - I'm sure we will look back on these visits in the future and smile. :-)

5 Years Together!

Today marks exactly 5 years that Matt and I have been a couple! (picture below is of Matt and me the day he asked me to be his girlfriend).

We used to celebrate this day as our anniversary, although now that we're married, that's had to change of course.  However, even though we no longer will celebrate anything on this day... it's a special day no less to remember.

I was 18 in this picture (above), and Matt was 22. We were hanging out at my parent's house, talking about music and what our summer plans were going to be.  He was mid-sentence saying how easy it was to talk to me, when he kissed me without warning! I was so shocked, I fell over from where I was sitting and bumped my head on a cabinet door, haha. We started laughing, and that's when he said he wouldn't want us to date anyone else, and asked if I would be his girlfriend.

Our first two years were probably the wildest, funnest, and most chaotic years of our dating! Matt lived on-campus for those two years - so we spent most of our time hanging out at the college.  Even though I commuted to college... I spent a good majority of my spare time outside of class with Matt, and our friends at the suites.  I like to say that I got the full college experience with the exception of a curfew, and no school loans. :-) I would say that I probably grew to be a bit rebellious during those years, frustrating my parents from time to time with my antics... but I also learned how to come out of my shell more, and be comfortable in my own skin.

Our third year together we did a bit of adjusting.  Matt graduated college and moved to Chino and shared a house with 4 of his friends (all who were still in college).  He started working long hours at Boeing including a 2 hour commutes in traffic.

I had a really hard time cutting our time spent together in half, and having a 30 minute drive to Chino from my parent's house in Glendora.  We eventually hammered out a weekly schedule to spend time together between work and classes.

Once I graduated, things started changing once again. Matt moved again, only this time to Fullerton to live with Joe.  I still lived at home, saving money, and got my job on-campus as Housing's Marketing Coordinator.  By this point, talk of engagement was heavy in the air for us...

Our fourth year together was by far the most exciting, and rockiest, year together.  God had a purpose for all the trials we went through in that year - but what really stood out about this year, is that it's the year Matt proposed, we got married 7 months later, and moved into our apartment in Placentia!

We have now been married a little over 7 months, and I can hardly believe it's been that long already... let alone having been together for 5 years total!!