The Ultimate Petting Zoo

One thing about going back and talking about vacations is that it can get so boring if you weren't there. It just becomes a litany of "and then we did this... and then we did that..." How many people have haunting memories of being forced to listen to great aunts' and uncles' travelogues during extended family reunions? Really, does anyone else besides the vacationer love rehashing every detail of the trip?


I decided I don't care. I pet a lion cub in New Zealand, and I want everyone to know.

Mike pet one, too. And it was awesome.

It may be anticlimactic after talking about feeding a lion, but we can't forget the wallabies. They were just so darn cute and they followed us around like little puppy dogs.

So did the goats. Not as exotic as lions or wallabies, but still fun. Take notice of the hairy pig far in the background. I loved him. He largely ignored us.

People wondered why we would honeymoon in New Zealand when it was the middle of winter. This answer is very simple.

Because of this...

And this...

And this...

And a whole lotta this...

Happy Birthday, Mike

Tuesday the 21st was Mike's birthday. It's the first time I've had the opportunity to go all out and pamper someone on their birthday, and I was ready to take full advantage of the situation. Growing up in my family, it was a tradition for Mom and/or Dad to get up early and make the birthday person breakfast in bed. Then everyone would be called quietly to the bedroom door of the Birthday Person to barge in and sing "Happy Birthday" while they wiped the sleep from their eyes and ate their breakfast with everyone watching.

I've always had mixed feelings about this tradition. On the one hand, I love starting the birthday celebration with my entire family first thing in the morning. Plus, the breakfasts have always been way yummy. On the other hand, it's more than a little embarrassing to have everyone see you in your booger-eyed, morning-matted-hair glory. And I'm not exactly a fan of having that look preserved for posterity as Dad takes an album's worth of Bad Hair Day pictures. (Once I even set my alarm to get up 2 hours early, did my hair and make up, and went back to bed. That year, Dad forgot the camera.)

That being said, I was willing to preserve this tradition if Mike wanted to, so I asked him what he wanted for breakfast. The answer? His birthday cheesecake. So we lit candles at 6:30 in the morning, sang "Happy Birthday," and had a slice of cheesecake in the kitchen. It may not have been traditional, but it was fun...and no pictures. Except of the cake.

After I got home from work, we went 3D Glow-in-the-Dark adventure mini golfing. I'd wanted to do something that Mike wouldn't expect, and I think I succeeded. He was a good sport about it, especially since he won by an embarrassing amount. I won't tell you the score. And you have to admit, the dinosaurs are pretty cool.

And the award for Best Husband goes to...

Generally, I haven't been a huge fan of Thursdays. I'm gone from 6:30 AM to 8:30 PM. My day is filled with meetings and patient follow ups where the metaphorical "in" box is filled and the "out" box remains empty. It was bad enough when I was single, but now that I'm married, it's even more torturous.

After one of my pity party Thursday tirades, Mike decided to make Thursday "Pedicure Night." Every Thursday he has a foot bath ready for me and massages my feet while I relax. Yesterday, when I came home, these were waiting for me...

This is the best French Toast ever. Basically, after you dip the bread in the egg, you coat it with apple cinnamon instant oatmeal and fry it in butter. Oh so yummy.

Isn't it amazing how something so simple and yet so thoughtful can change your outlook? I love Thursdays!

Ape Caves: The Beginning

I love this picture. It’s currently hanging above our mantle in our dining room—until we exchange it for a wedding picture. It was taken at Ape Caves back in January of this year. Mike invited me to go on this activity with the single adults in Oregon. It was the first time that I had seen him since we met in Astoria. I remember getting out of my car and he was waiting there with Joseph, his roommate. Mike walked over and gave me the best hug of my entire life. (Best hug up to that point. We’ve had even better ones since!) We were the first ones there and ended up ditching the rest of the group and going on ahead.

What a wonderful hike! He kept giving me his hand to help me over the boulders, rocks, small stones, miniature pebbles. I of course, let him. After that, I knew that he was someone I definitely wanted to date.

Two things about this picture:
1- When it was taken, my younger brother, Kevin, was actually standing just behind us. We, uh, used the miracle of Photoshop and deleted him after Mike and I started dating. Sorry, Kev. We love you dearly.
2- This is actually the second picture that was taken with Mike and me together. The first one was taken months before we started dating. It was one of us goofing off in a maritime museum in Astoria, Oregon, the day after we met in September 2009. Sadly, that photograph was lost with 3500 others when my hard drive crashed a few months ago. Out of all the pictures that I had, the loss of the picture with Mike and me was the only one that made me cry. Oh well. That event now allows me to make this important public service message: It’s a good idea to back up all your photos. Frequently. I’m also glad that if it had to happen, it was before marriage and kids came along.

I know I swore up and down that this would never happen. As I type these words, I can't believe it has come to this.

Yes, I'm starting a blog.

I'm swallowing my pride a little bit to start it, but I have to face the fact that when kids come along, a blog will almost be a necessity to keep the family peace.

However, in a somewhat passive aggressive move, I'm not actually going to TELL anyone about the blog until it's absolutely necessary or they ask me point blank and I feel guilty about lying. So, at least for now, this blog is for Mike and me. Selfish, yes? But we're newlyweds, so it's kind of expected that we keep to ourselves for awhile.