Blue Apron

My friend introduced Blue Apron to me, a company that ships meals to you every week with detailed instructions on how to prepare each dish.  The cost is only $9.99/person per meal and they ship 3 meals per week.  You can also hold the deliveries at any time.  I signed up for a free trial week and have to say, I LOVED the experience!!  The meals were sent with ice packs keeping it fresh and included all ingredients down to the proportion sizes needed to make each dish.  Everything was neatly divided and packaged and came with short descriptions of the origin of each dish.  It was awesome to try new meals that were super easy to prepare and took under an hour each!  I definitely recommend this!

Straightforward instructions!

Creamy Sweet Potato & Kale Casserole

 Seared Hake

Yuzu Kosho - Glazed Chicken Drumsticks

Happy Halloween!

Last year, I combined my Halloween decorations with my fall decorations.  This year, I was able to add to my Halloween collection so I dedicated my decorations to this spooky day alone.  Hopefully as each year passes, I can continue to add more and more to make this day feel as festive as ever!

My DIY wreath made with black feathery boas and sparkly spiders

Echo is all ready to hand out candy!  But, where are the Trick or Treaters?

Family Photos - At Last!

When we took our engagement photos, we were not able to bring Echo due to bad planning and location of our shoot.  And though he was a part of our wedding, we were so busy and overwhelmed that we did not take any pictures with him!  Since then, I have felt a little piece of my heart missing in all of our photos because Echo is such an important part of our lives!!  So this weekend, we all went out to a park nearby and my brother took some photos for us.  We will be using some of these for our holiday cards, but here's a sneak peek!

 

Level 1 Unlocked!

We flew up to Seattle this past weekend to celebrate our one year anniversary while visiting good friends.  Needless to say, we indulged in pizza, fries, steak, desserts and anything else we could get our paws on.  I came home 2 pounds heavier and am still working off those extra calories.  Hrmph. 

At one of our favorite restaurants: Capital Grille in Seattle

So, we made it to one year!  Looking back, it has been a year of learning both about ourselves and of each other.  I think getting married later also presents more of a challenge because both people are already so independent and set in their ways that it takes an extra step to really compromise.  If I were to narrow down my "lessons learned" as a first year wife, I would highlight the following (in no particular order):

I don't have to always be right.
This is a lesson I just started to really understand and embrace.  Why did our friendly discussions turn into a contentious debate?  Why did we end up completely frustrated with each other when we were just shooting the breeze just a minute ago?  I really reflected on these escalations and realized one thing: In the midst of a conversation, we would get stuck on a something because we both wanted to be right!  But at the end of the day, I realized that it just wasn't worth it.  Every time we engaged, we would chip away at our marriage.  We were sacrificing the health of our relationship just so we could be right about the most trivial things.  So. Not. Worth. It.

It is okay to apologize first...and ask for forgiveness.
Even when I am the one who has been hurt.  I used to think that apologizing first meant that I was guilty, that I was the one who committed the wrong, but it isn't.  I remind myself now that apologizing means that I value the relationship more than I value my ego.  I also think it is important to take it a step further and ask for and receive forgiveness from both parties.  Asking for forgiveness is humbling and giving forgiveness is freeing for both parties.
 
It is all about perspective.
I have found that our spouses have the ability to pull the ugliest side out in us; even sides of us that no one else has ever seen.  When that side rears its ugly head, I have a choice: to grow or dwell in the darkness?  All of us have strengths and weaknesses, and I believe that it is our weaknesses that prevent us from living at our fullest potentials.  I am still learning that I can be crippled by my pride, stubbornness, and inflexibility, but I can also choose to break the cycle and take the opportunity to refine myself and repent so that I am no longer hindered by my weaknesses.  I am still learning how to hold onto God in these moments.

Maui

Over Labor Day weekend, we traveled to Maui with a few friends.  We visited our favorite spots (mostly centered around food, of course) and indulged in spam musubis, shaved ice and shrimp trucks.  We also visited the Haleakala Crater for the first time getting our butts up at 3AM in the morning, making the 2 hour drive up to the top and then waiting in the frigid cold for the sunrise. 

Mama's Fish House

Ululani's Shaved Ice

Doggy Dash

We participated in the 10K Doggy Dash benefiting pet cancer research this past weekend in Santa Monica.  There were so many adorable dogs there who did the walk/run with their humans, although we didn't bring our little guy because 10K would have been too much for his little legs.  Next time we'll do a 5k so that he can participate!

Finishing strong!

 Here I am (almost 15 mins later, LOL)

Mission accomplished!  On to the next race!

#100HappyDays - August

Morning hikes with little Echo

The perfect nail color

 Trying out a new recipe (eggplant) and surprisingly loving it!

 Simple grilled dinner in the backyard

 Community sponsored movie in the park!

 Bday surprise for J - Pilot for a day!

#100HappyDays - July

Believe it or not, my friend and I have kept up our #100HappyDays commitment for over a month now!  We've actually lost track of what day it is (or at least I have), but that's okay!  I think this exercise has helped me focus just a little bit more on the positive areas of my life.  Here are my July favorites.

 

 I love early weekend mornings at the kitchen counter perusing reading materials over a homemade breakfast and coffee

Freshly manicured toes are always welcomed

Crafty Friday nights with J working on favors for a baby shower

Hosting intimate gatherings with close friends

 A cloudy morning after weeks of extreme heat is much appreciated

 

Mums - long lasting and beautiful!

My Inner Child

Last night, I had the strangest dream.  I dreamt that I was at my junior high school looking for the younger version of myself.  I knew exactly where she would be and when I got to her I stood in front of her.  I was a head taller than her, so she was looking up at me smiling, but I could feel that there was nothing behind that smile. I proceeded to hug her tightly and said "You are alright.  Everything is going to be alright" and then I woke up.  What's strange is that I knew I was dreaming and that I had to find myself to console my inner child who still struggles with childhood wounds in order to heal as an adult.  But I didn't have enough time.  I didn't get to tell her that she was perfect the way she is, that she was good enough, that she was accepted, that she was worthy, that her opinion matters, that she was not to blame for other people's mistakes, that she didn't have to carry the burden of taking the role of a parent when she was just a child, that the world wasn't a scary place, and that she deserved to be happy.  I didn't get to teach her how to express herself through words instead of throwing a tantrum or pouting, to love everyone as God loved her, to feel comfortable in her own skin and run her own race, to forgive and receive forgiveness, to dream big and then pursue those dreams, to stand up for herself and what she believes in, and to value herself enough to never let anyone make her feel any less than AWESOME.  I didn't get to share any of this with her, and so I hope that she will one day find the strength within herself to dig deep and overcome all her brokenness and be able to live fearlessly all the days of her life.

Inspiring Quotes

If you ever need a little bit of a pick-me up, Pinterest has a lot of great inspirational quotes for all aspects of life.  A lot of the ones from someecards.com made me laugh out loud while others really put things into perspective.  Here are some of my favorites:

This one made me chuckle the most (this is the original).  I really feel like that is my life lately!

Robot Themed Baby Shower

This past weekend, I along with five other girls threw our gal pal a robot themed baby shower.  Everyone did an amazing job in welcoming her baby boy.  I was very pleased with how uniformly and seamlessly everything came together even though we all had our own tasks and worked independently of each other.  

 Welcome baby boy Lee!

 Drink bar with fresh fruity water and lemonade

 Fun party favors

Amazing dessert bar!

Planning crew plus the Momma to be (and someone's kid?)

With J - I have so many wrinkles now! :(