Honeymoon (better late than never?)

I had to make this TWO posts...and I ran out of my google storage for pictures in between and had to go buy more.  It's only $5 for a year, for 20 GB, so it's worth it.  Especially considering how much I blog now!

Back to the fun stuff.  As if the wedding in D.C. wasn't fun enough, we traveled to the other side of the continent for our honeymoon. Paul served his mission in Vancouver, B.C. (Spanish speaking). So we got to go and visit his ward (that he served in for 18 months...yeah, there aren't many Spanish speakers. Lots of Chinese and Sikhs, though...). We got a little sight-seeing in, although we were pretty much broke by this time. :) Some highlights:

all the Native art around town...

 ...BEAUTIFUL mountains and delicate rain...and the ease of a well-thought-out public transportation system...

 ...the LIBRARY!!!  If you know me, you know that this alone made the trip worth it!...

...the aquarium... 

 ...the beautiful Sutton Place hotel...

 ...our amazing view of the unique Vancouver architecture...

...and of COURSE visiting lots of families (who kept us well-fed and busy!) like this one.  Of course, I don't speak Spanish, so I spent a lot of our honeymoon concentrating REALLY HARD to pick out the words I could using my basic French skills...but it was still awesome.  And they fed us A LOT. 

 We also got to travel on the smallest plane we've ever been on...

...and I got to use my passport for the first time!  (And last so far...but we're working on it. :) 

We got round-trip tickets from D.C. to Vancouver, so we had to take the bus back home to West Lafayette.  Here's one of the interesting things we saw (I think in Columbus, OH?).

GREEN!

It was a really fun first trip out of the country for me, and it was nice to see Paul's eyes light up as we traveled the streets of his mission.  Everyone was SO kind, and even though I had no idea what was going on half the time I managed to get through conversations decently well.  It was a really nice, if not way too quick, vacation, and if we end up in Seattle, we'll definitely be visiting Vancouver LOTS!



Wedding (better late than never?)

Just to sum up the traveling (because it WAS a year and a half ago...and then some...and I already forget a lot of the details...)...

Our wedding was in Washington, D.C.  My stepmom, her best friend, my best friend/maid of honor, my niece, and my brothers drove out to D.C. a few days beforehand to sightsee, etc.  I got sick for at least some of it and had to stay in.  Paul got into a fight with his dad and uninvited him to the wedding.  It was awful, at least for me.  But being married totally makes up for it.  :)  Anyway, there are some REALLY cool things to see/do in D.C., and almost all of it is FREE.  I love that city.  I can't wait to go back and really see everything...we didn't make it to a single Smithsonian OR to the National Gallery of Art!  But we DID get to see:

pretty scenery and random rest stop wonders along the way...

 Arlington National Cemetery

Some really impressive buildings on our bus tour:

 and the temple! (of course)

 Afterwards, Paul, Lindsey, and I took the train to Bethesda (where our hotel was) to drop some stuff off, and then we hit up the town for a few hours. 

 We did our own walking tour, starting at THE INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM!  I'd show you pictures, but then I'd have to kill you.  Just kidding.  But seriously, if you're ever in D.C., especially if your kids are a little older, you HAVE to check that place out.  We got to play spy for an hour.  It was SOOOO worth the expense.  And it was an awesome first thing to do as a married couple.  :)  We also:

posed in front of our future home (hahaha)...

...visited Mr. Lincoln and caught a beautiful view of the Mall...

...visited the Vietnam Memorial Wall...

 ...encountered the local wildlife...

 ...and THIS!  Gigantic Einstein statue.  Lindsey was in heaven, and we had fun, too.  :)

 D.C. was AMAZING.  I'd wanted to visit it since I was a kid, and now that I've been there, I just want to go back.  If we don't get to settle in Seattle (long-term goal), then I hope we settle in the D.C. area.  For real.

Labels and BIRTHDAYS!!!

So, you may notice that I've added labels to the right.  I have blogged long enough now that it's difficult to sort through all of my posts to find things I want to find, so they are mostly for me.  However, as I was going through and labeling everything, I realized that I never put up pics (on here, anyway) of Paul's or Caida's birthdays this fall!  Also, I never really got around to posting about our wedding or honeymoon!  *GASP*

I think the reason is because there were a GAZILLION photos on facebook and I just got too lazy to post it all twice.  But still.  Here's a recap:

Paul was in El Paso, TX, for a business trip during his birthday, so we had to postpone the celebration until he got home a week or so later.  It was a fairly small gathering, not as much of a big to-do as his 25th, but it was still fun.  There was a "mad science" theme (this sort of doubled as our birthday/Halloween get-up this year...one day we really will celebrate Halloween properly!).  The cake was yummy and cute, and he got a big TV.  That's all that matters, right?  :)  We DID play a few games, but nothing crazy. 

Caida's 6th birthday was a lot of fun for me and Cerene to put together.  She had a Littlest Pet Shop theme.  Mostly just family came, with a few small friends, but they filled the house!  We had puppy chow in dog bowls as party favors, and I got to be in charge of the pet "transformation station" where kids got animal ears and face paint.  Mostly the kids just played while we grown-ups ate, and then she opened presents and we had to leave.  But she was the cutest little birthday kitten around!

Next up, wedding/honeymoon travels!

A funny photo a friend shared...

Hundreds gather to protest global warming.

photo by Greg Vaughn



Ready for a Change...

Do you ever just have days when you really wish your life were different, or when you feel like it's just time to make a change in a BIG way?  Sundays especially do that to me, I don't know why.  Today I feel tired of the world, and tired of my life.  Probably has something to do with me and Paul both ping-ponging sickness back and forth, and definitely has a lot to do with my thoughts lately about what I want out of my life and what I'm doing to make it happen.  I just feel like being here is being stuck, we're not progressing, we're barely making ends meet, I never see people and have no way of getting around town on the days Paul works, I'm not getting pregnant and there are pretty much no job opportunities for me (or Paul, obviously) here, and it's not like we really have any friends.  At least not the kind you hang out with and call up when you're having days like today.  Which is how I wound up here, blogging.  :) 

I'm taking the Sabbath off from my photo journey...but up next, who Obi loves...can you guess?  :)  And then is "generations."  I may need some inspiration for that one, since Obi has no ancestors or progeny.  I was hoping to get creative and make this whole month all about her and scrap my photos to make a scrapbook just about her...any suggestions?

Obi Destroys :)

Tanner and Obi