Sunday Afternoon Coffee...

Making time to have a cup or two of coffee and chat with my love is quality time for me... The weekends especially are the perfect time for this to happen! 

So, today our conversations consisted of several topics, but one of them being about Europe. :-) During this time, excitement is in the air as we make preparations for a lifetime experience in my book, to Europe. Yup, we are making it happen this year, and I can hardly believe it! Having never been off this continent leaves much to my imagination of what I will experience, what sights I will take in, and all the stories I will bring back from this. I wouldn't be honest if I said that I didn't have any fears, but I know that with this great opportunity that, unfortunately not everyone will get to experience, will exceed and hopefully soften my fears I have. 

I have never been on a flight more than 5 1/2 hours and now will have to experience about an 11 hour flight one way. Sometimes, while here in San Diego, I feel like a minority due to the language barrier, but at least there are PLENTY of English speaking people around, still. It will be interesting when attempting to communicate within some of these countries we go to. Because so few people will be able to communicate with us at times, I guess I also struggle with "trusting" the people around us. We will be using several forms of transportation to get around too, which I am not use to.... Subways, trains, more flights, taxis, on foot.... I try to pretend I will just be traveling between the states here, but for some reason it just doesn't seem the same... I know that focusing on these fears will take away from my experience, so I'm trying hard to set those aside and make the best of everything. :-) I mean, it likely will be my once in a lifetime opportunity to go to Europe!

For so many reasons, it  makes sense to take advantage of this Europe trip next month! Our potential itinerary hasn't been fully planned out yet, but we are working on it... We will being going to Paris, France for sure, some possible cities in Spain (Madrid & Barcelona), Switzerland (Zurich & Murren) and Italy ( Venice & Naples)! 

It all kind of seems like a dream... a dream that will become reality soon!

:-) 

Sunday Afternoon Beauty...

I find when I ACTUALLY sit down to either blog or make a massive mess with my crafting supplies, it is medicine to my soul...but who has time to do this whenever they want to? Sometimes it's not always about the time, but the idea of actually making a mess or sorting through photos that I just dont feel up to sorting when I am so far behind with them anyways. I remind myself frequently though, that its not all about the mess etc, but surrounding yourself with things of interest that bring great pleasure, especially when it's been a tough week.. Sometimes, you just need to make a mess.. :-)

I plan on doing just that this weekend, while Tim dives in on some of his projects he's creating/working on.  I thought I would get a head start before Tim got home from work tonight with the blogging... I had intentions of posting Zoo pictures from a recent trip, but as I uploaded pictures, there was a folder with Sunday afternoon shots of when Ange & Steve were here in March... ( Yes, I still have all of the other ones to blog too at some point... Don't remind me. :-) ) and thought that I would start with these, as I love capturing the beauty of the ocean with my own eyes and my camera happy self:-) I chose a few to share!

We love going down to the ocean (not frequent enough) taking in the the sights and sounds of the ocean. Watching the waves crash up over the rocks with such force at times, feeling the mist, looking for crabs etc just brings great peace and joy anytime we go! Ange loves being near the water and finds that she would do it more often if she had that opportunity. We hadn't taken them to see the ocean or this specific beach yet this trip, and they wanted to go, so we thought this would be the perfect Sunday afternoon activity while they were here. 

Ange enjoying herself..:-)

....Just as much as we were too.. 

Having one of my sisters out here to visit was such a special time for me.. and it was far too difficult that same night to see her/Steve head home...

After we were finished at Ocean beach, we thought it would be neat for them to experience the "Sunset cliffs" attraction that happens each night, before leaving. Without fail, each night vehicles pile in along the cliffs  to watch the sunset and as soon as it's over, they all leave. The thing is, we ended up getting there about an hour early... and had toiled with the idea of just heading back to our place to fix something to eat before they left. We ultimately did just that, but got distracted in the meantime with THIS... 

There were 2 young guys that seemed to be at a special someone's home waiting for 2 special ladies to arrive to surprise them. It was soo funny watching them for the next hour... Putting out the banners, pacing back and forth from being inside to checking for the girls outside. We watched them pick up their bouquets of flowers and carry them around, put them back down, go over to their banners and figure out how to pose for when they arrived etc.  This happened for 1 hour at least!! Ange and I sat chatting in the car about how we had to give them credit for trying and being creative about it... as not everyone would do that! I would have preferred being asked personally, if it were me... (it wasn't though nor did I even go to my prom.)  In the end, I actually think they missed the pose or seeing them come down the sidewalk and all... as they were probably too nervous inside. I'm pretty sure they both said yes though, as they giggled and screeched with delight. It was interesting to hear/see walkers pass by interpreting these banners and their comments they had for them.  I think I would have hated to be Lauren... :-) Thats pretty terrible to be known for or have something like that written, even if it were a joke of sorts.. 

Watching everything unfold, brought us to the beautiful sunset we went there to see.

This day tied together the great week we had together. It always seems to go too quickly.

He's a Keeper!

If only I could express how blessed I am as a woman to be married to this man... :-) It's hard to believe that another year has come and gone, but let me tell you..... each day has been filled with so much joy, laughter, and love! I realize more everyday just what a gem I have been given! 

I look forward to many more years of growing closer, learning together, dreaming and living life's dreams, and loving each other. <3 Life is truly a blessing when shared with him.

So, one would think that we would bring our cameras to capture our 2nd Anniversary date, but neither of us did. :-( I always bring my phone wherever I go, and sometimes seem more attached to it than need be, so I even left that home this time too, in order to take in each moment of our time together. :-) I say all this to say, these pictures were NOT taken on our date. The above shot was taken at Aunt Rhonda and Uncle Bill's house the previous weekend, and the ones below were swiped from the restaurant's website... shhhhh! :-) The thing is, it was in the evening anyways, and I'm afraid our attempts at capturing the beauty wouldn't measure up to these. This way, we also didnt have to have "random" people in our shots either. :-) 

Reservations were made for the evening and I was taken to a beautiful restaurant on Harbor Island overlooking the WHOLE city. What breathtaking views we took in...and to be out on the waters' edge. 

We had such a great time celebrating our 2 years together. :-)