After I Do: First Anniversary

How did you celebrate your first anniversary?  If you exchanged gifts, what did you get each other?

Since we have not reached our first year anniversary, I cannot tell you exactly what will happen.  I have a feeling that it will just be a relaxed evening at home with our little Ninja.  We'll break out the top layer of our wedding cake that has been resting in the freezer for the past year.  It'll be an interesting food experience.  I don't think either one of us has had year old cake before.  It'll be very low key.

Photo Courtesy of Jubilee Photography

I will admit that neither one of us thought that we would have a new addition in our family before our one year anniversary.  That does affect the way we will celebrate.  We can't exactly go on that honeymoon that we missed out on.  Having a family will change our priorities.

As for gifts, we're pretty content on the gifts we gave each other on our wedding day.  No need for anniversary gifts.  Now our money goes towards our family.  Oh how much changes when you fully become a responsible adult.  :)

I wonder if our wedding anniversary will one day be the only anniversary that we celebrate.  Currently we forget about the wedding, and we still celebrate our dating anniversary.  It's weird, but it still holds a very special place in our hearts.

at my sister's wedding -- our first month of dating

Check out other responses from the famous bees themselves over here!

After I Do:
Finances
Changes
Children
Wedding Regrets
Name-Change Decisions
Household Chores

Happy 8 Months!!

Dearest Hubby,

Happy 8 month wedding anniversary!!  I seem to always forget our wedding anniversary, which is currently documented in months.  I hope that we can remember when we hit our first year, but I have a feeling that we might forget.  Having celebrated our dating anniversary for the past 5+ years, it is so difficult to adjust to another anniversary that sounds so foreign.

Marriage life is ever so blissful, and I am so super duper happy that we officially said "I do" in front of our family and friends 8 months ago.  Honestly, marriage life is very similar to engaged life, which is also very similar to dating life.  I am so in love, and I still can't wipe this silly smile off of my face.

Thank you for always being you.  Thank you for being my best friend, my soul mate, and my husband.  I love you.

Love Always,
Wifey

4 Years & Counting: Finally at the Beach

We left off...

• stuck in traffic
• went outlet shopping!
• found some great deals
• headed back on the road with the beach as our final destination
  

We were back on the road after a few hours of shopping, and there were definitely less cars on the road at this time. It was already late in the afternoon, and I felt somewhat guilty for taking so long to get to the beach. That was our original destination after all. No worries. Hubby is awesome, and he totally sees the benefit of our pit stops. =) It still took us some time to get to Ocean City. There are a lot of traffic lights down there, and I'll admit that frustration hit me a couple of times. Luckily I wasn't in the driver's seat.

After spending the day on the road and shopping, we finally arrived at the beach!! We quickly found a spot (after convincing Hubby not to park in one of those expensive parking lots) on the road and walked as fast as we could to Paul Revere's Smorgasbord to see if we made it in time for their early bird special. We did not. All was well once we hit the sand and water.

Since we arrived somewhat late, there were less people around, and that meant we had more fun enjoying the beach experience. I have this fear of water though, and I didn't go very far into the water. On the other hand, Hubby loves the water and goes out quite far. This is the first year with his contacts, and he enjoyed being able to see me from out there. =)

Less people on the beach meant that we could park our sheets right by the water. Sweet!! All of our belongings were within view, and I was able to snap pictures the whole time.

We're silly people, and we like to take silly pictures. That green stuff is celery. Hubby was not much of a fan of that until he found the combination of celery and peanut butter. Yumm! I asked if he has ever tried ants on a log (celery with peanut butter topped with raisins). I think maybe homemade dirt (worms inside crushed oreos) and ants on a log are a Downes thing...

Hubby had this idea of burying me in the sand, but I'm not a fan of sand in weird areas of my body. We stuck with burying just my feet.

The sand was super heavy, and my feet were glad to escape. Hubby did mark my sand grave with my name. How sweet of him!

Burying my feet was not enough, and Hubby was on a role. He wanted to dig deeper, and he was the cutest little kid out there. He eventually found water and could dig no deeper (possibly limited by the length of his arms). An adorable older couple saw his determination to dig to the other side of the world, took a few pictures of their own, and took a picture for us too.

The beach was super fun this time around, and we soaked in quite a bit of sun. No worries. We used spf 70, and I reapplied several times through the day. No burning, tanning, or skin cancer for me (*crosses fingers*). After sitting back and thinking about how great our day had turned out, I was so glad that Hubby suggested making our annual beach trip on our anniversary.

After enjoying our late afternoon on the beach we were getting hungry. Food and board walk coming up next!

Previously:
4 Years & Counting: Shopping on a Friday
4 Years & Counting: Off on an Adventure
4 Years & Counting: Outlet Shopping Pit Stop

4 Years & Counting: Outlet Shopping Pit Stop

In our previous chapter we did the following:

• wake up, pack, and drive
• traveled down 13, hopped on 1, returned to 13
• eating pit stop at Sonic in Dover
• joined fellow beach goers in traffic
• took an adventurous short cut
• then returned back to traffic

Shall we continue?

We left off in traffic, and can you guess what happened next? Yes, we were stuck in more traffic. While this is perfectly normal for a weekend trip to the beach, we didn't want to stick with the norm. We wanted to take a break from being around other cars and stretch our legs a bit. Solution? Shopping!!

Outlet shopping! The Tanger Outlets are conveniently located by Rehoboth Beach, and they have a great selection of stores. Last year we decided to make it tradition to stop by the outlets before getting to our final destination. For us it's a great way to take a break and hopefully return to lighter traffic.

Bathroom, anyone? It's also the perfect rest stop for a bathroom break. Hubby took this picture just as a guy was walking in to go to the loo. For such a well traveled area, I expected the restrooms to be dirty, and I was pleasantly surprised to find them updated and very clean.

We enjoyed playing around with odd merchandise. I guess that's why they end up in the outlets since no one really spends full price on them.

You might remember my earlier post about this dress. It sure was fun to try it on and act like I was actually planning a wedding. Hehe.

Our main shopping goal was to find Hubby some up to date swim trunks, and I think that's our goal every year we travel to the beach. He's super picky, and I can actually understand why. There is a lot to consider when looking for the perfect pair of swim trunks -- elastic or draw string around the waist, zippered or velcro pockets (or even any pockets at all), length, and match-ability. In the end we stuck with his old navy blue trunks and decided we'll try again next time.

Hubby did find some super deals on Haggar No-Iron dress pants at a super low price of $12.99. He usually buys them from Costco for around $20, but he hasn't had much luck there in some time. The Haggar outlet had a great variety of colors, styles, and sizes (29 length is so hard to find normally). Hubby ended up buying three pairs for work. Yay!

I had some luck myself at one of my favorite stores, J.Crew. There was an additional 20% off all clearance items, and I found two tops and a bottom for around $30. I don't think I could ever purchase their clothes at the somewhat reduced outlet price when it's not on clearance. It never beats buying them on sale in store. I have found two items already that I purchased for $15 or less on sale in season, and they had them in the outlets for usually more than double what I paid.

We spent probably a good two hours walking around the outlets to waste time, and boy did we have a great time. It's not often that we get the chance to go outlet shopping, and we try to take advantage of it when we can. The Tanger Outlets actually had some high end new additions, which included Kate Spade (oh how I adore their shoe collection), Michael Kors, Cole Haan (another favorite), Kenneth Cole, and even BCBG. We will definitely be back next year.

With another pit stop crossed off of our to do list, it was time to head back on the road again. Will Hubby and Yin ever get to the beach? Stay tuned to find out!

Previously:
4 Years & Counting: Shopping on a Friday
4 Years & Counting: Off on an Adventure

4 Years & Counting: Off on an Adventure!

We woke up at a reasonable time in the morning, even after having such a long tiring evening the night before. Unfortunately there was a lot to be done (packing our beach gear, lunch, & car), and we didn't leave the house until close to 10AM. For us that's pretty much normal, and we went with the flow.

We were not the only folks headed towards the beach (you know all of the other hundreds of people who were flocking down there too), and Hubby and I did not want to face too much traffic. I suggested taking 13 down to Middletown to get on Route 1. We would save money on tolls and enjoy the open road a bit. It just so happens that there was a lot of traffic at the Middletown exit, and Hubby turned back around to continue on 13. Later we went back on Route 1, didn't like the traffic, and hopped back on 13. We got off just in time for Sonic!!

We didn't intend to make the pit stop, but it was now or later.. we chose now. Since they serve their full menu all day long, we didn't have to choose just from the breakfast menu. I decided to go with a nice breakfast burrito to start my day, and Hubby chose 3 or 4 items from the dollar menu. You can see the size difference of my burrito next to his $1 burrito in the bottom left.

We enjoyed our satisfying lunch break, and before long we were back on the road again. We hit more lights and drove through Dover in broad daylight, which is very unusual for us since Hubby and I prefer late night Sonic runs. Later we joined back with our fellow beach travelers on Route 1.

Traffic... we saw a lot of cars on our way down. Luckily we had each others company to keep our spirits up. I noticed a lot of cars from other states, mainly Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Am I the only one who thought that Delaware beaches only attracted Delawareans? I was definitely surprised, especially after our trip and seeing that many bloggers visited Rehoboth this summer. Hubby never likes to be stuck in traffic. Instead he likes to find alternative routes, and this is where the navigation comes to play. We took a short cut...

We were surrounded by farmland! It was a welcoming sight, and boy we were glad to be away from civilization for a short while. It's amazing how you can get off a busy well traveled road and come across such a beautiful scenery.

Later we had to face our traffic problems and continue on our trip down south. The nice short cut was definitely too short. I enjoyed the peaceful drive while it lasted.

With traffic continuing to build up, will Hubby and Yin struggle to keep sane? Stay tuned for the next chapter of our adventure!

Previously:
4 Years & Counting: Shopping on a Friday

4 Years & Counting: Shopping on a Friday

To jump start our anniversary weekend, Hubby and I went to King of Prussia for some relaxing, shopping fun. It was a Friday evening, and it was the perfect way to rewind and end the long week. Yes, Hubby loves to shop with me. I have to be one of the luckiest girls out there to have Hubby as my best friend and shopping buddy too.

We go to KOP often enough that we even have a preferred parking lot. It's a convenient location outside of Nordstroms, and there is almost always parking available. I made Hubby point at our awesome parking spot. I get happy over the small things in life.

Aww! He even posed for me in front of our entrance! He then later asked why I was behind the camera instead of him. I need pictures for my blog!! Duh! Hehe. We actually don't shop at Nordstrom. We like to use the entrance to get to all the other stores within the mall, and J.Crew is definitely one of them. Yup, J.Crew is located right outside of the main Nordstrom entrance. Muahahahaha!

Shopping was fun and adventurous as usual. Hubby found himself a polo at J.Crew in a lovely shade of yellow. It was on sale with an additional 20% off. Unfortunately I left empty handed, but that's what happens when I drown in their smallest size (it was a dress shirt). I did find some luck at American Eagle. I pretty much hate that store since I worked there for the holiday season one year, but I tend to go back for their jeans. They're the only place that carries jeans that fit my body, both around my waist and length. I left with a pair of jean shorts (my first!) and a pair of bermuda shorts, which I later returned since they were a tad too roomy for me.

As usual we spent a lot of time at Urban Outfitters. I thought there was an awesome sale going on, but they didn't have much in store. I found this moustache key holder, and I made Hubby pose with it for me. I want him to grow a moustache for me one day for just a few minutes to show me. Apparently he did it once upon my request, but I was too sleepy to comprehend what was happening.

We spent the evening at the mall, and we left around closing time. Of course the adventure does not stop there. Hubby decided to take a back road to get back home, and we saw this...

The storm caused some damage to the trees, and the road was blocked. Hubby saw it as a challenge at first, and he actually tried to drive through all the debris. That didn't work out so well. Crazy Hubby!

Needless to say this was a tiring evening for the Hubby and Wifey duo. We didn't get home until late, and we didn't get much prepared for the next day. Will Hubby and Wifey wake up in time for the beach? Stay tuned.

Crafty Yin

It was Friday morning, and I just realized how much I had fallen behind. My anniversary was the very next day, and I had yet to make a card for Hubby. Bad Yin. I had very little to no vision, and I just took it one step at a time. That tiny vision only consisted of incorporating a photo of us, possibly from the year we first met. Luckily I had one laying around, and I tried to work everything around that one photo.

I have a lot of craft supplies (but never enough to satisfy this crafty heart of mine), and they are scattered throughout the room in various containers and boxes. Whenever I start a project it gets messy.. really messy. For this project I limited myself to using the following items:

• card stock in light blue, brown, and cream
• 2 in 1 paper cutter from Purple Cows
  
• decorative corner punch from Fiskars
• clear polymer stamp, stamping block, and ink
• envelope and liner template from Paper Source
• 3M Scotch brown postal wrapping paper
  
• others: scissors, glue stick, pencil, pen, eraser, ruler

Sometimes I don't always have the perfect piece of scrapbook paper to use as a background for my cards. I just use clear stamps to create my own background on card stock to get the perfect look. In this case I used a flower stamp using white ink on brown card stock. To get the designed paper look, I made sure to sure to stamp on the edges too.

After cutting, stamping, gluing, and trimming, I came up with this beauty here:


This card took me hours to complete, but it sure was satisfying to see the end result. Hubby was super happy with his card, and I enjoyed getting back into craft mode. Life is swell.

Happy Anniversary!!

Dear Hubby,

Can you believe it's been 4 years since we first met and fell in love? That sure does sound like a heck of a long time, but it's just a small dent in the lifetime we'll spend together. You are my best friend, my fiance, my soul mate, and my everything! I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for us. I love you. Happy anniversary!

Love,
Yin

{Let's take a look back down memory lane...}

{me being shy}

{hubby being relaxed}

{at morimoto's - just friends}

{we're officially together}

{at my sister's wedding - august 2005}

{spring 2009}