having and holding: five years!

Look at us up there, babies! Not too long after committing to a lifetime together before God and our loved ones. I don't take anniversaries lightly because we've known the depth of our decision every day of our marriage together these past five years. They have been good. They have been hard. They have been overwhelmingly painful and fun. Full of forgiveness, grace, hope, patience and love. But also tears, uncertainty, anger and shame. 

And we did it babe. 

Hand in hand, celebrating these five years in love. And that is no small feat.

Today my prayer for us is this: that our hearts may grow bigger and more in tune with each other, ourselves and the Lord; and that we may be doers of the Word and shine the light of Jesus onto each other and those around us.You said these past five years together have flown by, and even though it does seem that way, when I think about how much has happened externally and internally in our life it feels like we have come so far in this period of time; I am so proud of our journey together.  I have so many emotions about this significant milestone we've accomplished, and one thing I can proudly say is that you were present every day of these five years. You gave your best to me, the best you could give each day, with authenticity and a pure heart and I am so thankful for that. Your love makes me strive to be a better woman, lover and friend and my desire is for us to continue to fight for openness, connection, honesty, satisfaction and deep love in our marriage. 

In our victories and defeats - I love you.

In our days of laughter and of grief - I love you.

In our exciting ventures and mundane chores - I love you.

In our oneness and through growing pains - I love you.

My heart choose you five years ago today, and I'm so glad that it did.

I love you G. 

My husband, my friend and companion. My partner for life. Happy five years to us!

North Park

Our exploration of SD continues! We visited the infamous North Park on National Donut Day because on that day I like to go big, and definitely not stay home (see what I did there? lol!) North Park is a neighborhood that's known for its restaurants and eateries. From tacos to seafood and ice cream - there's something for everyone here! From all the food options around we decided on getting pizza at URBN. A super trendy place that's famous for their mashed potato pizza. That night we really weren't craving that, so we went for half gouda garlic alfredo and half bacon and cheese. And it was SO good!!

^^^ this is a small people! ^^^

For desert we walked to StreetCar Merchants, famous for their donuts, chicken, waffles and coffee! I mean! We are for sure coming back here because basically everything people ordered looked amazing. But this time we came just for the donuts, so I decided on salted nutella and cheesecake streusel. And yes they were to die for. This is place is my new #1 eatery for donuts, so come on over so we can show you what these things are made of! North Park is also full of cool bars, barbers and boutiques. We didn't get pictures of everything, but will be back soon!

two donuts and an earthquake

Last night was one of those "firsts" we'll never forget. I was having a TGIT moment and asked G if he was down to get some donuts at Peterson's a few minutes away. It was midnight, I was excited for the weekend, G obliged, so we went! At first it looked like we were driving through a ghost town because it seemed like we were the only car on the road. But 5 minutes after getting to Peterson's 3 cars pulled in and a line quickly formed for some donuts! Excited for the cronuts waiting for me at home, we were chilling watching HDTV by 12:35 a.m. (I know, poor G but he reeeeealy loves me..obviously. haha) We were laughing about something stupid when it happened.

At first we heard a bang and assumed the neighbors slammed their door hard enough to shake the apartment. But we realized something was wrong when the shaking did not stop. And I looked at G who was standing in the kitchen, calmly getting his late night ice cream, and said "We're in an earthquake!" I ran towards the door and G came behind me. And we literally watched our apartment shake and felt the rumble under our feet for what felt like forever. A few seconds later, it gently went away and we could not believe what just happened. Nothing broke or fell, and we are definitely ok. But that feeling of the earth shaking under your feet, and there's nothing you can do about it. Now that puts life right back into perspective.

And this is the tale of our very first (and hopefully the worse) quake. I can't wait to tell our kids one day...

San Clemente

We love a good adventure. Endless walks in new places are one of our favorite hobbies, and we have been blessed to be living in a place that allows for that all year long. But there's still something about summer that excites us like it did when we lived in NJ and Chicago! Waiting for those hot beach days and being outside all the time are what summers are all about. We love it! So in anticipation of summer things, we decided to do something a little different and challenge ourselves to visit places we've never been in Southern California every other weekend! So far we've had a blast, and I hope these pictures show it! Our first getaway was a day trip to beautiful San Clemente: A Spanish Village by the Sea. It's a 40 minute drive from home and the perfect little getaway.

Dining on the water is defiantly one of the coolest experiences I've ever had. Our little 10 minute wait for a "window"seat was well worth it!

We can't wait to come back again!