Celebrating Our Anniversary

Even though our Anniversary was last week we decided to celebrate a little late when I was feeling better from my surgery. 

We had originally planned on a hike, but I wasn't quite feeling up to it, so we decided on a leisurely day hanging out at Silver Lake. Silver Lake is a small recreational lake off the Mt Baker Highway that has camping, cabins, and day use facilities. We had never been and couldn't pass up the beautiful weather and time to check it out! 

Ha ha - this picnic table is a bit too close to the water's edge. 

We went wading in the warm, clear water (I can't swim quite yet, Dr.'s orders.) 

Found some cool rocks to climb on. 

Loved how clear and beautiful the water was! 

Then Ross found this sign and was morally offended. "Thin Ice" - Ross doesn't believe it. 

Then we set out a blanket and had a mini-picnic with cookies and apple chips from BelleWood Acres. 

Played cards... Ross whooped me at Golf. 

Read books, and I definitely dozed off. 

Took fun photos of our rings. 

Then we headed to Milano's Restaurant for dinner! It's fine Italian dining in the tiny town of Glacier, WA along the Mt Baker Highway. Everything on the menu was mouth-watering! 

We started with a Caprese Salad (I'm obsessed) with the special addition of grilled eggplant! Ahhh, taking in the last wonderful tastes of summer. 

We were also served bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegarette. 

I ordered the Chicken Parmagiana - it was incredible. Moist, cheesy, and full of flavor! And an enormous portion = leftovers!

Ross had the Chicken Sarda - a chicken breast with sauted mushrooms, artichokes, pepperoncinis (which I ate, too spicy for Ross) in a vodka sauce and served with pesto pasta. Ross definitely enjoyed himself. 

And we finished with a delectable piece of raspberry cheesecake! 

It was a fun, relaxing and enjoyable way to celebrate one year together, and here's to many more! 

A Different Smile

We went out for our first anniversary on Monday. 

It was a really low key day as I am still recovering from surgery, but we still went out to dinner that night - though it might be considered untraditional to go with two members of your wedding party and another really awesome friend... but Justin had flown in from TN and we had to see him! 

Justin and Hayley (they were both in our wedding party and hooked up on our special day, and they are still together. One of my favorite wedding stories!) So we all decided it was their one year make-out-aversary.

And this is Siri (who grew up with Hayley and is now our friend too!) 

We went to Skylark's Hidden Cafe in Fairhaven - and I was swept into wedding day reminiscing with my friends and failed to take any photos. Blame it on the drugs. But if you ever get to Skylark's you must, I repeat, you MUST order the Butternut Squash Lasagna. INCREDIBLE. It was unlike anything I'd tasted before, yet so familiar, creamy and cheesy and wonderful. 

The next day (Tuesday) I got the splints out and boy did that feel weird! My nose is still very tender but I can take deep breaths and was finally let everything drain out of my nose. (TMI? Sorry... it just feels so liberating!) 

Then on Wednesday we got our next CSA box from Cedarville Farm - it just keeps getting better! Tomatoes, cucumbers, eggs, beans, artichoke, lettuce, swiss chard, and potatoes! I am excited for potatoes. 

I decided to take a twist on the old Caprese salad and made a Caprese Egg Breakfast! 

I fried two eggs, and after I flipped them I topped them with two thick slices of tomato, two slices of cheese, and then topped it with basil once it was ready for eating. It was delicious - a definite repeat recipe! 

Also - something I've noticed today when I uploaded these pictures - I think my smile is different now!!! 

I know these pictures aren't super close up, but the top one is from July and this is my only post-surgery photo as of now. My smile used to show gums on top, and now it doesn't! It totally weirds me out. (Plus Ross is wearing the same shirt in both photos, so that's funny.) Maybe there is still some swelling, or maybe it will always be like this?!?!? Who knows. Hayley said my nose did look straighter though, so perhaps? Am I crazy?

Whew, this was a random blog... ah well. It's what is on my mind. =) 

Hope you are all doing well!

One Year Together

Today is our First Wedding Anniversary! 

I can't believe it! Since I wasn't blogging a year ago - I'm going to tell you all about our big day.

We got married at Snow Mountain Ranch near Winter Park, CO. Incredible venue, great lodging, fantastic staff. I would highly recommend it!

If anything defined the day it was the Spirit - because it was WINDY! My veil even blew off at the end of the ceremony. 

The Rocky Mountains were a breathtaking backdrop. 

We got our flowers from Whole Foods - and they were lovely. My bouquet had a single purple rose - that was my mom's favorite color, and the rose represented the part of her I carried with me that day and everyday.  

Walking down the aisle with my Daddy. 

Forward explorers! Pr. Lydia's message was meaningful and got us laughing. 

The only decoration we had was the beauty of God's creation. 

The Kiss

We're married! So of course there were cap guns...

And a few moments of peace after the ceremony. 

Then on to the reception!

Rose, Craig, Marissa, Justin, Hayley, Ross, Me, Ben, Krystal, Jasper, Lauren, Blake. 

They were all amazing. 

The Wedding Party wasted no time in getting the party started. (It is in their job description after all - the Wedding PARTY)

We lit our unity candle inside rather than at the ceremony because of fire regulations. 

LOVED our centerpieces: pine coins from a tree from my Dad's property, simple unscented orange votive candles, pine cone garland, and blue spruce seedlings as wedding favors!  

And the cake was INCREDIBLE! My Stepdad's friend and co-worker April did it for us for just the cost of ingredients. The first two layers were a mountain scene with a lake, hiking trails, and a tent, one was chocolate and one was vanilla. The top two layers - a winter wonderland and our cake topper - were pumpkin with cream cheese frosting. I've never had such a perfect cake in all my life! 

Our caterers' only saving grace was that the food was organic and delicious, and that they took care of (mostly) everything. They brought the linens, plates, glasses, and everything for the meal, but they showed up with a slight variation on the menu, no iced tea, no ice for the beer nor a corkscrew, and one of the staff was quite sleazy and hit on our singer/guitar player. Thank goodness our friends and family were there to save the day with a corkscrew and such! 

This sums up the best man's speech pretty well. ;-) 

Right before our first dance my bustle decided to come undone... but Hayley came to the rescue! 

We danced to Lost in This Moment by Keith Anderson.

The bouquet toss - my bouquet split in three in air so there were three lucky girls!

Throwing the garter. 

Beautiful sunset. 

And the party went on. 

I LOVE this picture. Ha ha ha ha ha.

Yep - I had two dresses! A short dancing dress for the reception just like Carrie Underwood. It was a bridesmaids dress that I loved - but in Ivory. Perfect, affordable, fun. Not to mention orange shoes! 

And we were off to our cozy cabin for the wedding night. 

I love you Ross! 

And many thanks to our family and friends who have supported us throughout our first year together!