Happy Anniversary!

So, I have been quite busy and unfortunately selfish this past month, reading other blogger contributions and not posting any new ones of my own. So, I'm here to ask your forgiveness and give you a little of what's been going on in hopes you haven't deserted my page just yet...We celebrated our two (wahoo!, no seriously I'm impressed we've made it this far--i'm difficult to live with) year anniversary. We celebrated it early (as we did last year) on a more convenient weekend since it tends to fall on General Conference weekend. (Seeing as we've only been married two years the use of "tend" is obviously appropriate but I guess since the weekend consists of only 2 days and the rest of to week 5 it will eventually be an inappropriate usage, but for the next oh 315 days thus continues to remain present in my description of our anniversary experiences). What was that? Sorry I diverge. Ok, on track we go. So, last year we spent the weekend in San Francisco to test our "true love" and came home fighting--no joke. that city is cursed, if not for other reasons for the reason that everytime we go we get lost, hungry, tired, lost, hungry, and argue. So, we've yet to have a completely positive experience there. So, this year we headed to Oregon--the place we have come to adore and aspire to live someday. It proved to be a much better experience, which can be accounted for a few things: 1) we have another years expierence and "love" (i.e. patience) for each other; 2) we purchased an iPhone so we can look up directions, maps, places to eat, etc when we're on the road; 3) we listened to a marriage tape by Dr. John Lund whenever possible, thus resulting in constant reminders of our affections for each other, our desire to work through differences, and create eternal bliss every minute of our lives.

We had a great drive. Normally we squander to find enough to talk about in the car on long trips--1) Ryan is NOT good at road trips (the 1 1/2 hour drive to sac is a stretch for him--I blame his parents who gave him prizes and bribes to get him to drive in the car as a child. Janice if you read this don't take it personal, but its hilarious how he digresses to oh age 4 when he sits down in a car). Instead of prizes, we stop frequently or it worked well this time listen to books on tape. I am wondering if I need to bring prizes next time though. Anyway, its hilarious and cute that he struggles with it so much! So, we set out on our 3 hour drive to Ashland and here's how it went. We stopped in Redding (1 hour drive so far) for lunch and ipod accessory at best buy. Next we stop in Yreka for gasoline (almost 2 hours) and then FINALLY arrived in Ashland just over 3 hours later. Ofcourse the long journey required a nap, so we retreated to our luxurious hotel room to finally emerge for dinner and a WONDERFUL shakespeare play! It was a great night. We had a nice dinner (ate about 5 lbs of mozzarella cheese) at this delightful Italian restaurant downtown Ashland and then I got a good dose of theater as we watched "Comedy of Errors". It was so fun! We had some brief time to venture into the park there and I can't wait to go back next year for more! What a quaint town--I could live and die there!

Saturday morning we woke to a flat tire and thankfully due to my handy iPhone we found a Les Schwab just down the street. Unfortunately we ended up with 4 new tires, not one (we'd been avoiding replacing them since they're expensive suckers) because they were in bad shape. We decided it was a noble anniversary gift and delighted in the fact that we'd save ourselves 7.25% or about $70 in sales tax. You like my positive thinking! So we sat in the curb in front of Le' Schwab, breathed in the delightful aroma of tire tread, ate hearty almonds for my pregnancy snack, and sunk into deep conversation about the musculoskeletal system (ryan's forte). It was deep and intense!

Soon enough we were burnin' rubber and off to the Oregon coast. The cds proved to be a great hit, not only to produce conversation, but to keep Ryan attentive when at the wheel. That is a whole other posting, but Ryan has a sad history of falling asleep at the wheel (most likely connected to his distaste for interaction with the automobile). Last year when we traveled to Portland he fell asleep and came within inches of hitting a semi truck. So, he's on strick watch since then. I might add that I fall asleep as soon as I'm in the passenger seat so we make for a bad mix. It usually means I drive more on trips because I feel safer. He did a lot better this trip because it was in the daytime and we had the cd on. So our trip to the coast was ANOTHER 3 HOURS! He was disgusted, but not nearly as much as when he found out the trip home after our weekend would take 6 hours since we would not split it up like I planned for the way up there. Sorry! We say beautiful redwoods, sandy beaches, amazing rock formations, and the blue and green waters of the Oregon Coast. It was delightful!! Thankfully he fell asleep on the drive too, which helps time pass better (does it sound like I have a baby already?). What will I do when this becomes a reality next year? We finally found our resting spot in Gold Beach, Oregon. I thought it looked relaxing and a great retreat from busy life when I reserved the place. It said there wasn't much to do there, and I was satisfied. I enjoy laying on the beach, Ryan required activity. Thankfully we found a common ground and he was able to enjoy the beautiful surroundings and I walked the beaches with him to get some exercise.

The first day was windy. We ended up wrapped in a blanket trying to shield our faces from the sand as it blew on the beach. Not so fun. Here's where I get difficult--we went to eat dinner at the best seafood and steakhouse in town (aka the only seafood and steakhouse in town) but arrived at 4:55pm and it didn't open until 5:00. I was starving and couldn't wait another minute! Ryan is the polite kind that doesn't want to inconvenience anyone so regardless of the sign that said the bar was open he didn't want to venture inside until 5:01 (if he had it his way 5:10). I couldn't wait. So, it was back in the car to find somewhere else. We drove to the other end of town (which probably took 3 minutes) and found a little diner that looked like it'd have the clam chowder I was craving. It then probably took us 2 minutes to get parked and in the diner (totaling 5 minutes-oh look its now 5:00). Regardless, I enjoyed my clam chowder (it was actually very delicious) and Ryan ate some random salad all because he loved me and wanted to make me happy (either that or he's scared to death of me!).

That night we picked up blizzards from Dairy queen and got a upclose and personal taste of the lovely folk living in that town. "You want a piece of me fool?" Lets just say they weren't too friendly there at dairy queen. Our second day there was much more pleasant in terms of the weather. It was perfect! Sunny, light breeze (its normally quite windy), just perfect. We traveled up the coast to tour a working lighthouse at Cape Blanco, gazed out over the point to see the beautiful west coast. It was majestic! Then we stopped at a beautiful beach and sunbathed. I even convinced ryan (on a bribe) to get in the ocean. My feet were about all that could handle it.

Our eating habits were really off this trip. It proved problematic for eating at the "best" seafood and steakhouse in town. We had a big breakfast at the hotel and then snacks for lunch usually. So, but 3 or so in the afternoon we were hungry. Again, I couldn't wait until after 5:00 so this time we ended up in their pizza joint. It was called "Panther Pizza". It was right across the street from the high school (their mascot being the panthers). It was very nostalgic--I think that whole town surrounded its being around the football team. The whole school probably made up the team. We got a pizza to go and ate dinner on the beach and took a nap. We enjoyed beautiful sunsets! Glorious! Makes you really realize God's majesty! It was like the sun just melted into the ocean.

We left the next day (perfect since the weather turned windy and cloudy) and made that LONG 6 HOUR drive back. It was beautiful, but neverending. I think I made it worse with my bladdar urgencies (thank you pregnancy). I haven't stopped at a rest stop bathroom since I was a child (very fond memories) and oh boy I got really comfortable with them let me tell you, but then that's another blog post I'm creating!! So 6ish hours later and too many windy roads that I took too fast for Ryan's comfort and we made it home safe. It was a very needed getaway and proved to be more calming than frustrating. I owe my thanks to beautiful Oregon, iPhone, and Dr. Lund. I think we'll purchase GPS soon... Oh, and most of all HAPPY ANNIVERSARY sweatheart. I heart u!

P.S. Sorry for such a Looooooooooooooong post. That's what happens when you don't post for a month!