Anniversary Weekend Part Three: Reminisce With Me For a Minute

I know this final bit of our anniversary weekend has been a long time coming, but can you just humor me for a minute while we reminisce? 

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Once you decide you officially love someone, it is safe to poll what little savings you have as a college student to invest in your relationship by having a date jar.  This was not long after we said, "I love you," for the first time. *cue "awe's*

In almost all of our engagement and wedding pictures Jon was whispering something funny or awkward to make me laugh.

The night before we got sealed in the temple we went to the beach to take pictures. This day was almost as special as the next day would be because I was able to go through the temple for the first time. I remember feeling on cloud nine and thinking, "And tomorrow is only going to get better!"

And then we started our own forever... Best day of my life!

And went to Cancun...

Then celebrated our first anniversary by hiking the Grand Canyon.

And a year later we ate a delicious ice cream sundae at Ghirardelli Square!

That was of course after eating dinner at a yummy crab station at Fisherman's Wharf. 

The next day we got up with the sun to stand in line to try and get ferry tickets to Alcatraz. Luckily we got tickets. The day before we bought a book called "Alcatraz Escape Files," so that we could be well educated on a lot of the exciting history of Alcatraz. It was our anniversary gift to ourselves. 

We did the audio tour and it was really neat! So much crazy history there. 

I could not believe how beautiful the views were on the island. On the other side there is a gorgeous view of the piers and the Golden Gate Bridge. Well worth the trip!

With fake smiles and an unflattering angle we said goodbye to Alcatraz. We really did have a good time! So much that I convinced Jon to start watching, "Prison Break" on Netflix with me.

You can see me holding the escape files book in this picture. I felt kind of nerdy reading it in line while we waited to get on the ferry, but it really added to the experience on the island! I don't know why, but these kind of things are really interesting to me!

After Alcatraz we went to Pier 39 for lunch and found the place where tons of sea lions were laying on the docks. We were seriously here for probably 45 minutes to an hour just watching them. 

We ended up finding this hot sauce shop and for those who don't know, Jon loves hot sauces! Can you see the excitement on his face? 

And of course we just had to go back to get another sundae to cool down our tongues after sampling all those hot sauces! ;)

 The last hoorah for our trip was going to AT&T park to watch the Giants play the Rockies. What a coincidence that the Rockies were playing while we were in town (I am from Colorado)! This game was one of the things that I was looking forward to most about our trip!

And boy did it meet my expectations! The Rockies won so of course we were glad that we decided to represent!

Sometimes we just need a break from our responsibilities and stresses and sometimes we need the time to focus on our relationships with the people that mean most in our lives. This trip was just what we needed! I think we will always make it a priority to save so that we can do something nice in celebration of the day that we were sealed for time and all eternity. 

Best friends forever! 

Anniversary Weekend Part Two: Not Just Movies, But Real Life

Sunday is a day of rest, especially after you exercised for 70.3 miles straight the day before, so we took it easy. We went to church in a Tongan Branch and didn't understand a word they were saying but thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful music! They are the most friendly people ever!

 Then we went and spent some time driving around Santa Cruz and seeing the ocean.

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Monday morning= Happy Two Years to Us!!! We were told about a nice bath house near where we were staying and thought it would be really beneficial for Jon's muscle recovery so we got a private room that had a sauna, hot tub and cold water plunge. I only tried the cold water plunge up to my mid thighs and for very brief intervals. Brrrr!

Then it was time to head to San Fransisco; now very high on my list of favorite places to visit! Our hotel was downtown so we were in walking distance of a lot of really neat places. We ate at Roam Artisan Burgers for lunch. Please add this place to your list of "must eats" in San Fransisco. My mouth is watering just thinking about their Fry-Fecta. See why below:

Golden Gate Park was our next stop. It wasn't like Washington D.C. where everything is free, but if you have the time and budget it would be worth it to see all of the different gardens and museums in the park. We didn't have either of those things so we just snapped a picture outside of one.

A lot of my experiences here were those "I've only seen this in movies" type of thing. The Golden Gate Bridge was one of those movie experiences. B-E-A-utiful! 

We decided that walking across the bridge was a must-do (there were a lot of these this trip) so we walked to the halfway point and back. 

It was a sunny, blue skied, extremely windy day. We lucked out and got a couple pictures where my hair wasn't in my face, or Jon's for that matter.

Jon isn't a fan of pictures. I have to point and snap really fast in order to get a picture. Good thing he is naturally photogenic.

One of Jon's mission presidents and his wife live near San Fransisco so we went to visit them before dinner! I had heard so much about them, that it was so fun to finally meet them! I always enjoy meeting the people who have influenced Jon's life and helped him to become the man he is today. I especially loved hearing them speak Spanish and talk about the amazing missionary that Jon was. For some reason it didn't surprise me that they had so many good things to say about him. They are such neat people!

For dinner we took a stroll down to Fisherman's Wharf. But more on that next time! Cramming the whole trip into one post would just be too much annnd my homework break was up 5 minutes ago! 

But first, since it was our anniversary, here is a picture from where it all began. Student Representative Council, Fall 2012! (Notice the dramatic touch?)

Anniversary Weekend Part One: The Race

A few months ago Jon was talking with his brothers about signing up for triathlon races together. There was a particular race in Napa Valley, California that Jon decided to sign up for. His sweet mom sponsored him and training for the Napa Valley, CA HITS 70.3 began.

The race was on April 11th and our anniversary is April 13th so we decided to make a long weekend of it and take advantage of being in Northern California. We signed up to volunteer for packet pick up the day before the race so we got to Northern California Thursday night and headed to Napa on Friday. Can I just say how beautiful the Napa area is? Rolling hills of vineyards and tall trees. I was in nature lover heaven.

Volunteering was a lot of fun! We got to meet a lot of the athletes and get an idea of how the behind the scenes are run. The HITS Triathlon Series is a great organization! The people are so genuine and willing to help. Plus they offer several distance options which means that people like me can try a triathlon without having to swim, bike, and run insane distances. Maybe some day I will try it!

Saturday morning we were up before the sun to drive the long windy roads back to the start of the race. Is this not the most beautiful view? It made me feel glad to have gotten up at 4:30 am!

Because I was not an athlete I couldn't go inside the transition area and help Jon get ready. Feeling helpless made me more nervous than anything, so I soaked in all of the beautiful scenes around me to calm my nerves. Anxious wife?! I wonder what it will be like when I am a mom! 

I loved being able to be up that early and feeling the energy and excitement of all of the athletes as they got ready to start the race.

First, the swim. Jon has a really bad habit of dislocating his shoulder so this part made me extra anxious.

And the swimmers were off! Like I said, beautiful scenery here! To pass the time I made friends with a lady who's fifty some some year old husband was doing the full distance. It was so fun to talk to her and hear her experiences of having a husband who does triathlon races.

1.2 miles later and a shoulder still in tact, Jon was on to the second leg of the race.

So, part way through the race I got to be in the transition area and was lucky enough to be there when Jon pulled in from the 56 mile bike. The course was basically all hills. Not joking. Now go run 13.1 more miles of hills! 

This was right before the finish line. You can't tell but I am standing on a short steep hill that leads to the finish line. Brutal spot to have the finish line if you ask me. Jon is one of the toughest and hardest working people I know. He didn't train on hills and his legs were beat, but he still came in strong, finishing 70.3 miles total of running, biking, and swimming. 

Proud wife moment? I think so! 

With the race being a success and a delicious dinner and desert later, I think we both agreed that it was a fantastic start to our weekend. We got to spend it with some of the greatest people who went out of their way to make it special. And this was just the beginning! More to come on our Anniversary Weekend!