One Year of Marital Bliss

It's hard to believe that Mike and I have already been married for a year, but wouldn't you know it, July 17 has come and gone, along with our first anniversary!  When I look back over this first year, it has been the same as the previous six, in many ways.  But towards the end, there were definitely some changes.  At first, I honestly didn't feel marriage was any different from dating - except for the name change...

I think once I got past that hurdle I was able to experience the change and inexplicable security and peace that has been my life married to Mike.  It's pretty hard to explain without mushing it up, so I won't try.  Plus, some things are best kept between two love birds!

Anyway, we celebrated our anniversary very simply as we had just returned from our huge European adventure.  Our anniversary was on Sunday, and on Saturday we went to Napa and visited some of our favorite spots, as well as some new ones.  On our actual anniversary, we had a lovely brunch, went to see Harry Potter in IMAX 3D, and then enjoyed our wedding wine and cupcakes!  And, wouldn't you know, the day was made even more wonderful by the fact that our good friends, Brittney and Sasha, got engaged!!

Happy anniversary to the most wonderful husband in the world - the person who makes me smile every day, puts up with my shenanigans, cheers me up when I feel down and laughs with me when things are great - Mike Fujii.

A quick stop at one of our favorites: Domain Chandon 

My handsome hubby :)

Our handsome puppy, Taiko!!!

Lunch from Oakville Grocery!  Yummmmm!

Mystery flavor - turned out to be apricot.  Pretty good!

This is why we love Cali!

I put together an updated version of our wedding video (edited by me!) to celebrate the occasion.  Click here to check it out!

Full Circle Moments

So again, the question is: do you follow A Year in Thanks?  Click on that link right now and follow my wonderful friend, Emily.  Her blog will make your day, make you thankful for the seemingly smallest things, and is just overall a great read.

She started a new thing where she is having guest bloggers once a week.  The first was one of my very best friends Birdy (or Brittney, if you're more vanilla).  My friends and are quite the blog community!  This week, it's me!  So, hop on over and be thankful for such beautiful blogs.

A weekend for "The Birds"

Mike and I usually find ourselves with Memorial Day upon us, and not a plan to be seen!  We are big into Labor day, and other 3 dayers, but for some reason, Memorial day just appears, and we end up at home, hanging out in good ole San Jo.  Nothing really wrong with that, but we always bemoan our lack of foresight, and vow to plan something fun the following year.  This year we finally made good on our word, and took a really fun trip with a group of friends who we rarely get to hang with.

The view from the living room - WOW!

We went on VRBO, and found a really fun cabin in Bodega Bay for the 10 of us (plus 2 kiddos!)  We got there on Friday night, and stayed until Monday morning.  We had each meal assigned a cooking team and a bar tending team!  Some of the meals included: baked potato bar, taco bar, bloody mary bar, brauts and ribs - you get the picture.  There was a lot of eating happening.

We mostly stayed in, played games - including the Michael Jackson dance video game for the Wii.  Now that was a fun game.  I could have danced all night.  I loved it!  It was even more fun after the margarita bar!  It was pretty low key and just the kind of weekend I love.  Taiko was also able to come with us, which was great since we hate leaving him behind.  He is a member of the family, after all!

We did venture out one day, just the girls.  We went out to lunch, and the "famous" Tippy Hedron was there - she starred in Alfred Hitchcock's, "The Birds."  Now, famous is in quotes here because I thought it was a joke.  She had a booth set up - like the ones you see at craft fairs, and she was charging for autographs, pictures with and without her, etc.  It was all kind of sad.  This entire town billed itself as the home of the film, "The Birds"...  Maybe it's a generational thing, but I was searching for my impressed face - couldn't find it...

On the way home, we stopped in Tamales Bay for some oysters - this place was bomb!  Such a great culinary end to a weekend filled with good food, great friends and lots of "yes"ing!

The boys doing their MJ dance - it was a King's Cup round!

Yum-O!

I love how Mike takes his food prep so seriously - creating the perfect bite here...

La vita e meglio con la pasta

Yes, it's true. Life is better with pasta!  In preparation for our European vacation - which is happening 1 week from TODAY! - we prepared a homemade pasta meal!  Pasta alla vongole - a la Bon Appetit magazine.  It had an Italian theme this month, and we just couldn't say no!

The prep was fun, and the eating was even better.  What a great way to gear up for our trip!  Viva Italia!

Finito!

Giving Thanks

Have you read Emily Rose's blog?  No? (smack, hit, punch upside the head).  Why????  It's amazing.  In all seriousness, though...


She blogged about a wedding she attended this weekend where the couple used the same reading she and her husband did when they got married, almost two years ago.  I remember her amazing wedding, which reminded me of ours - again, to use her sentiments - not in a selfish way.  But because witnessing and experiencing the love of others makes you value you and cherish your own more.


And so, I was then reminded of our own wedding vows and promises. Ours was an Apache Marriage Blessing, and some wise words from the man who knows it all - Dr. Seuss...

APACHE MARRIAGE BLESSING

Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be the shelter for each other. Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be the warmth for the other. Now you are two persons, but there is only one life before. Go now to your dwelling place to enter into the days of your life together. And may your days be good and long upon the earth.

Treat yourselves and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you together. Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves.  When frustration, difficulty and fear assail your relationship – as they threaten all relationships at one time or another - remember to focus on what is right between you, not only the part which seems wrong. In this way, you can ride out the storms when clouds hide the face of the sun in your lives - remembering that even if you lose sight of it for a moment, the sun is still there. And if each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your life together, it will be marked by abundance and delight. 

And - in the words of everybody's favorite childhood author...

Congratulations!  Today is your day.  You’re off to Great Places!  You’re off and away!  And will you succeed?  Yes!  You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)  Kid, you’ll move mountains!  So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!  Today is your day!  Your mountain is waiting.  So…get on your way!

I remember my father reading this to me, and then, a mere 25 years later, our dearest friend incorporating it into our marriage ceremony.  Life is circular in so many ways.  Celebrate love, wise words and marriage.