escape from reality.

well for some reason my blog is becoming quite neglected. probably because i have so many episodes of fringe and covert affairs that have been entertaining me. the perils of having your husband gone frolicking in mexico before he buckles down into nonexistence for his board exams. boo for dental school. 

however, before he left to go play, we played for the weekend in napa. you may wonder.... what do two mormons do in wine country?? eat delicious things, ride air balloons, eat more delicious things, go to wineries to view the scenery, you know. the good stuff. in any case, it was a fabulous anniversary day, and wasn't nearly long enough.

 

we stayed in the most adorable B&B. i've never stayed in one before, but it was so fabulous! we got there and they offered us wine and cheese when we walked in, no pool hours, unlimited cake in the fridge. ahhhhh. it was awesome. 

plus, my husband had them make some chocolate covered strawberries for us, and they were totally delicious. which obviously you eat with champange. if only we were winos. we could have raked it in!

as our lovely host suggested, we went to an amazing place for dinner, but because it was so popular our reservations weren't until 9:30, so we went to music in the park, jammed with some old people for a little bit, and talked like normal adults without children for some time. it's nice to have those moments to actually have a conversation without being interrupted. 

our dinner was amaze-balls. it was served family style, so we got a filet, roasted asparagus, grilled mushrooms, baked potato, and of course amazing desserts, because we don't mess around. 

unfortunately, we had to wake up at the butt crack of dawn for our balloon escapade. 4:15 to be exact. blech. however, once we made it up there, it was totally amazing. i'd highly recommend doing it. it's more peaceful than an airplane and the views.... ahhh. props to my husband for thinking of that one. 

after we rode around for an hour, we went back to the B&B, had an AMAZING three course breakfast, took a nap, and then went to the "winery best suited to those who don't drink". it had amazing views, lovely water, and great art. however, i was hoping to learn how they made wine, but they didn't have that there. 

we self timered this bad boy. i was pretty impressed with my mad camera propping skills. 

all and all we had an amazing day before we went up and rescued our friends from the babies being babies. thanks for watching them!! =)) 

experts of marriage.

well. it's official. the spouse and i have made it to five years of being married. i feel like we deserve
something awesome for that. i love how when you're married, part of you feels like you just got married, and the other part feels like it's been way longer than five years. in any case, we didn't really celebrate on thursday due to the cursed night clinic. however, my spouse did make me breakfast in bed and bring me home flowers after he was done, so i count that as celebrating.

but he did surprise me and make reservations for us at a little B&B in napa on the 23rd for us to go hot air ballooning the next morning, which i am super excited for! i don't think the man gets nearly enough credit for his romantical planning abilities, because i did not assist in this adventure besides arranging babysitters. who are our bestest friends for being willing to house the monsters overnight. ;) 

i have decided to make a little list of things i have learned in the past five years to show our growth and development as a couple: 

1. we did not take advantage of sleeping in nearly enough before we had kids. 

2. i am terrible at doing laundry in a timely manner so my spouse does it. in return, i unload the dishwasher, which i also hate. 

3. some of our best dates are dinner and a movie. which we thought was unoriginal and boring when we were dating, but now i have come to realize that that is just something we love to do. eat and then sit and eat popcorn. 

4. i'm not quite sure how at the ridiculously young age we got married, that we managed to pick the right people. i still am boggled that we survived and thrived being so young and adding kids into it. 

5. being married in college was the bomb. you could pick your schedules to match each other, have three day weekends to just hang out, do super cheap dates at the dollar theater, and be free to pick up and do whatever you wanted with friends. 

6. however, at the same time, having kids now is awesome. although there are times we would both like to just sleep in until whenever on the weekend, our kids have helped us make some of the best memories, and even better memories when we get the chance to escape without them. ;) i wouldn't change a thing about the timing we've had, even though to the majority of the world, it is just totally crazy. 

7. the statement "absence makes your heart grow fonder" is absolutely true. 

8. sometimes it's ok to go to bed mad. both of us get all nutso at night time, and when we wake up in the morning, we don't even remember what the problem was. 

9. levi had/has amazing taste in women. 

10. i had/have very high standards for men. 

yes, you can see how much we've grown? i know, me too. we always talk about how we would never go back to being just married again. it was fun and all, but still kinda awkward. now we're basically like marriage experts. go ahead. ask for some advice. we have lots. ;) 

in any case, it's been the best five years, and i can't wait for the rest of eternity. whoop whoop! 

 love you babe. 

this is levi's favorite picture ever. yes. i am sexy. 

surprise!

well, it's been 2 1/2 weeks since levi left. i think we are surviving well enough, no one is permanently scarred, mentally or physically. ;) but still, a month is a long time. nothing like realizing you take the one day a week he's home for dinner for granted until you have nothing for a looong time. 

in any case, we have been traveling to fresno {that's a separate blog post}, online window shopping way too much after bedtime, and watching trashy movies that really should not have been made. but, i did manage to squeeze time into our busy schedule to surprise my spouse, mid connection in washington dc, on his way to raleigh. 

it. was. awesome. my dad actually suggested it, which he probably regretted after i asked him to watch the beasts for the weekend, but he did so, so willingly, i might add. one of my fabulous friends is a flight attendant for united, and she got me some ridiculously cheap standby tickets to leave friday night at 10:30 and get in to dc before levi does and then ride together to raleigh. 

side note: standby is the worst. soooo nerve wracking! luckily, i made it just barely onto my flights, we're talking dead last on the plane, praying people miss their connections so i could have a seat. ugghh! i will not do that again!

i landed there at 3:00 our time, which was unfortunate, because i was just so excited/nervous/praying he got on his standby flights, that i didn't sleep at all. 

so anyways. i waited for levi at the tram in between gates, because i could stalk him with "find my friends" i knew where he was. unfortunately for him, he didn't see me standing there, so i went up behind him and grabbed his butt. it was hilarious. and took him about 10 minutes to recover. 

we made it to raleigh, sitting next to each other even, and got our rental car and immediately went to cracker barrel. only the most amazing restaurant on the planet. i have a lot of memories there from going with my family on our way down to myrtle beach every summer. it was great. i'm pretty sure all of my clean eating done while he was gone was wasted on our two days eating out at amazing places. {love me some southern cooking!}

cracker barrel breakfast spread. nom nom nom. 

i could not believe how cheap everything was there! all of our meals cost us less than $10 a person, and that included drinks. it was crazy. and delicious. but mostly crazy. 

we spent the weekend slowing falling in love with north carolina. or quickly. whatevs. but it was uh-mazing. when we applied to dental school, i kept telling levi to apply to the east coast, and he would respond with "ehhh" or "hummm... maybe". so he didn't. i'm so glad i got to show him what an amazing place it really is, because i absolutely love it. 

the hospital where the residency program is. it promptly dumped buckets on us as soon as we parked. warm rain-- it's amazing!! 

it didn't take him long to love it either. the green, the open space, the cheeaaaaap housing market, the amazing ward, the less crazy hours of the residency program, the boating lake very close, myrtle beach 3 hours away, the thunderstorms. ahhh. for the first time ever, i think we mutually agreed on a place we absolutely would love to live. i think it's become our first choice actually. it was great. i don't have enough good things to say about that place. 

as for our weekend, it was like our honeymoon, except better. i can't tell you the last time we went away alone, you appreciate it so much more when you don't get to do it often. unfortunately, levi had two weeks left, and i had to go save my dad, so it was a quick quick trip but a good break from two weeks alone talking to babies! now if only the rest of it would go quick!

don't mind our/my hideous face/hair in these pics. man, i hate my haircut! i'll blame it on getting off the airplane. but at least my spouse is hawt. 

it was an amazing weekend, hopefully it's a sign of what's to come, because i want to move there stat!! accept my husband oh mighty residency program!