March 18, 2006

March 18, 2006

On March 18, 2006, Ryan and I were married. We both can't believe that we have been married for 6 years, together for 7 1/2. We have had so many adventures, been all over the world, are friends with, and have met so many interesting people, and now we are experiencing having kids and a home together. I feel so blessed to be with him, honestly, every year we are together I feel luckier and luckier to be given the gift of sharing my life with Ryan. He constantly grows in ways that increase my love, admiration, and respect for him year after year.

This year we had two nights in a hotel on the beach in Pismo. I booked the hotel with a wonderful sunny weekend in mind. Unfortunately, it rained. We had a rough start, looking at each other exclaiming "Failed!!" as each of our plans went down the drain.

Surfing.....FAILED!

Hiking....FAILED!

Cal Poly Botanical Gardens....FAILED (Sign says closed)!!....or was it!?

Things did turn around quite quickly. We had a great leisurely breakfast at our favorite restaurant in Shell Beach, then found another entrance to the Cal Poly Botanical Gardens that was indeed open. Strolling around together, we saw some awesome plants, got some landscaping ideas and sprinted around seeking shelter from the rain in between.

Ryan's inspiration for the back yard, rock tiers with herbs and drought tolerant plants.

Plants from all over the world!

Seeking shelter from a sudden downpour!

Some cool flower structures we couldn't help but admire.

Strolling around the nursery section.

From the botanical gardens, we went downtown. We hung out in Barnes and Nobles, looked at magazines and drank hot chocolate. Then we cruised the local art galleries and shops around town.

A girl's gotta glam it up on her anniversary to go....bowling!? Yep, that's right! We stopped by the hotel where I put on some make-up, dressed up and then went to the Pismo Beach Bowling Alley. We played pool and went bowling. Ryan beat me at every game, but he's just lucky. We quit playing before I could get my big turn-around in and beat him.

We finished the night off with a nice dinner in Avila, a more fitting venue for my snazzy attire, and then retired for the night.

The next morning, we had this view from our bed, complete with the rainbow. What a beautiful way to spend a stormy Anniversary Weekend!

Side Note

In case you were wondering about the kids, my mom and dad were here to babysit them all weekend. They generously offered to watch Kaila overnight, but since she still wakes up about one time a night, I didn't want to burden them with a 4am wakeup that they aren't used to. Kaila actually was a little sweetie and even slept till 6am one night. She was so easy to have with us at night. We just picked her up before we retired to the hotel room and put her to bed...in the closet! Check out her cool little private room!