New Blog

I will no longer be posting on this blog. I refer you to www.lovinthenamechange.blogspot.com

I'm a graduate!!! NOT

Oh I wish that picture had come out clearly. It's PERFECT otherwise. Right now it would be the perfect background for a graduation announcement with a vellum sheet over it.

On Tuesday I graduated from CSUN with a bachelor of science degree in physics. They graciously allowed me to walk this May even though I don't finish school until December. If I had had to wait until NEXT spring to walk like they usually make December-finishers, I wouldn't have been able to walk and celebrate with my fellow schoolmates. I'm so glad I got to participate in commencement with the physics class of six students that I've studied and worked with for the past four years.

This is Christina, my best school friend. We're always study partners, lab partners, and now we're interns together for the same company and work in close conjunction with each other.

Heather and I are now both CSUN graduates! She graduated with a degree in history.

Brent's best friend Mike came to the graduation too. All three of us in this picture are CSUN graduates, as Mike graduated with a degree in business.

My bro and sister-in-law (and their bun-in-the-oven) came to watch and celebrate also,

as did my loving parents, no surprise,

and for some reason I didn't get a picture in my cap and gown with my parents- and brother-in-law, though they came to watch and celebrate also.

For a dinner celebration after the ceremony I requested The 94th Aero Squadron, a four to five star restaurant (in my estimates) that you would never guess is in the most obscure industrial-looking area of the San Fernando Valley. The theme of the restaurant makes the atmosphere so fun and the windows open up to the runway of the Van Nuys airport, so as you're eating dinner you get to watch planes take off and land to the backdrop of a brilliant sunset. I had a filet mignon which was excellent. I highly recommend this place, though it's pretty darn pricey.

Oh I forgot to post this picture earlier. This is my favorite physics professor at CSUN: Dr. Duane Doty. He's infamous among all CSUN students for the way he piles on unsolveable homework at a madman's pace, and yet you learn more under him than under any other professor. We're quite good friends now and plan to keep in touch even after I've left CSUN for good.

And Rita and I were being silly here after our delicious dinner. Brent gets a little creeped with I push my nose up like a pig...people hardly recognize me when I do so and give a little flirty wink. ;)

Me and my hubby.

I started full-time work at Spectrolab the day before my graduation. I am CRAZY about my job! I love the people I work with, I love the tasks I'm given, I love the relaxed hours and my ability to change my schedule any given week without authority from my bosses. It's awesome.

I think I caught a good one.

Yesterday poor Brent came home to a dark apartment with no wife bustling in the kitchen finishing up dinner as usual. Instead he saw her keys on the kitchen table, proof that she was home, but couldn't see any other signs of life when he walked through the door. He checked the bathroom and bedroom but both were dark and she wasn't there. He finally checked the living room and there she was fast asleep on the couch. He hugged her and kissed her and asked if she was ok, and she groggily asked if he would like her to make him some dinner. He said no and said she should continue sleeping.

So I really have not been sleeping well lately, for the past week, maybe a little less. Not sure why. Anyways, I think it caught up to me when I got home from school yesterday and at 4:36 pm decided that since I was having trouble keeping my eyes open, I was going to take a fifteen minute refresher-nap. I set my alarm for 4:51. I didn't wake up until 7:45. 

I went to bed again around 10:30 or 11 and had another very fitful, non-refreshing night of sleep. I woke up with a headache and a stiff neck. I told Brent of my discomforts, especially my lack of good nights' rests of late, and he asked me what my schedule for the day was. I was a little confused why he would ask me that then, but I answered.

"I have a class from 1 to 2, so I was going to work on my physics paper in the morning, go to class, and then come home and do chores."

He thought for a moment and then asked, "Would those chores include doing to laundry?"

Because I've designated Friday as laundry day, I answered, "Yes."

He replied, "Well then, don't do the laundry, let me do it tomorrow and with the time you save today, take a nap."

I think he's the sweetest thing that ever lived. I thanked him and asked if I MUST spend my extra time on a nap...couldn't I work on my physics paper more? He answered with a definitive NO, saying that my sleep mattered more to him than any paper that was due.

I love him. :)

Somethin' I keep forgetting to mention.

Spectrolab hired me! I'm not sure when I start. I sent my acceptance of the position to them this morning, and they're currently running a background check on me as Spectrolab is a Boeing company and there are a few security issues. Then drug-testing, safety training day, and then I work according to my schedule 10-20 hours a week until the summer when I'll be authorized up to 40 hours a week!

So praise God! He is SO faithful to Brent and me. Every time we've run into a financial "scare" since we've been married, we just have to think how faithful He's been in providing for us to get married in the first place with a roof of our own over our heads. If he hadn't gotten his full-time job last October, life would have looked much different for us today. We probably would have been renting a room from on of our parents. :) But God intervened, as He does and did with my job at Spectrolab, and did again today in the form of a raise for Brent at work!

Sorry for the delay in the sharing of good news, Aunt Missy. :)

Our Home

FIRST, ON MOTHERS

They're great. At least mine is. I called my mom up on Friday evening to ask her if she could come the next day to help me with a project I've been meaning to get to for a long time now. Without hesitating she agreed to give up her Saturday to come help me.

This is the fruit of our labor:

The comforter on the bed is what I'm trying to draw your attention to. It's a duvee cover that holds inside a feather comforter that is much less wide than the cover itself. Therefore, for the three and a half months that I've been sleeping in this bed, the feather comforter has been swimming in the duvee cover...it's miserable, because either Brent has all the feather comfort, or I do. It's always lopsided. 

So my mom came over and together we figured out how to fasten the comforter in place inside the cover with velcro strips. Hurray! Problem solved! Now Brent and I can have a full night's sleep under the comforter and make the bed in the morning without having to deal with a swimming feather blanket. My mom brought her sewing machine over to my home and did 95% of the work for this project while I helped where I could and worked on other projects in my home.

Another project we worked on together was a decorative pillow case for a body pillow that I don't use for sleeping. She made the case, I applied the buttons. I think it turned out cute!

Thank you so much for your sacrificial help, mom! Had tons of fun with you in my house!

OUR HOME

So when I started taking pictures of our bedroom to show off the above-named projects, it became apparent to me that now is as good of a time as ever to show you the home that Brent and I have set up. I always intended to show you our place, but you must understand that the moment the apartment became my home I had a vision for the way each and every square foot of the place could and should look. I wanted to take pictures of our home for the blog not only when our place was spanking clean, but also when all of the homey projects and decorations I had in mind were finished. Today I realized that might never happen because girls from the Hays family seem to always have new cute homey projects in mind. I think my home will be a constant project. And, I must admit, even many of the basics of our apartment aren't set up yet, meaning many frames are still stacked on dressers without pictures in them, entire dressers and wall spaces have no homey aspects on them other than the clutter associated with "moving," etc. We just haven't had the time to finish everything up yet. But without further adu (have no idea if that's spelled correctly, but feeling a little uninspired to look up the word), here is our home, as of right now. :)

The shelf on "my" side of the bedroom:

(The pile of purses to the left of the shelf will soon be hung on the wall, as soon as I buy the screws needed to hang a cute purse hangy thingy from Anthropologie (thanks to Amanda and friends!).)

"My" dresser:

The vanity/hallway:

Our bathroom:
Our entryway, complete with a frame from Sara Mallon, a vase from Mrs Schultz, a frame from my Aunt Terri, a table from my mom, and a guest book for all of the houseguests of our first year to sign their names:
The keyrack in our entryway, from Amanda and friends:
The dining area:
In this pic I see two aprons I got at my shower, salt and pepper shakers from my grandma and grandpa, frames from Ruth and Amanda and friends, placemats from one of Brent's aunts, and a table from my in-laws! Most newlyweds can probably look around their home and list many people they have to thank for the things in it that help to make it a home. I sure do!

My cozy kitchen:
The most disorderly place of the apartment (excluding Brent's desk) is my schoolwork area below the counter in the living room:
Shelves in the living room:
A nice view of our living room:

And that's our place! Hope you enjoyed the visit!

REAL Giveaway

So I'm sorry if the title of my last post and its following content raised your hopes and then dashed them. Hayley was just being selfish again. :)

But Casey and Alicia, my friends and the makers of Good Clean Soap, are being generous. They're giving away three bars of their all-natural soap, plus a wooden soap dish with the trio! Go here to find out how to enter the blog giveaway.

Luv you guys, Theules.

Blog Giveaway

So I'm gonna join in on the fun. Except on my blog, the rules are flipped. Instead of me posting about something I'M gonna give away, I'm posting about this recipe journal that the winner of the giveaway gets to buy me. All you have to do to enter is make a comment, even if you live outside the US, and if you win the drawing then I'll expect a package in the mail from you any week.

Ok ok, so life doesn't work that way. :) But I think this post emphasizes how much I like these recipe journals from Paperchase. There are tabs inside that divide up the different recipe categories and really cool pages on which to write your recipes, even folders to hold the recipes you haven't had time yet to copy down! I love it. I linger in the journal section every time I go to Borders ever since one of my crazy cooking friends showed hers to me.

Jury Service

*My interview at Spectrolab went well, I think...I didn't have any major slip-ups or clashes with the people I interviewed with. I should hear whether I got the job tomorrow or Friday! Thanks for praying.*

So when I got off the phone with the jury service automated reporting service on Monday night, I was pretty mopy, slightly grumpy, all-of-the-sudden exhausted...in short, I was sinful, because in my heart I was rebelling in the plan that God had for me for Tuesday, March 7, 2009: my first round of jury duty.

Brent was sympathetic and hugged me for a minute or two. After my mopiness and slight grumpiness turned excessive, he pretty much told me to snap out of it. :) Good man.

Didn't quite snap out of it until the next morning, when I decided I wanted to dress stylishly, do my hair cute and wear make-up just in case the case turned out to be watched by the media and I might be caught on camera by the press. That is the first demonstration of the romantic ideas swimming around in my head.

I parked my car in Burbank and as I walked to the courthouse a lady who noticed the jury summons in my hand joined me. She was summoned also, and we struck up a conversation. I found out that she was an actress named Cindie who had participated in a number of independent films. I thought to myself how many famous actors/actresses had served on juries, and how funny it would be to witness a judge refer to someone like Harrison Ford by his juror id number rather than his well-known name, as they do in courtrooms. Sure enough, as I sat down in the jury assembly room, pictures were posted along the walls of "famous people" who had served on juries before. Harrison Ford was the most well-known among them.

In the assembly room I sat next to a man of about 30 years of age. We sat side by side in that room for an hour or two without having any sort of a conversation, as he was reading magazines and I was ferociously reading a book assigned in my history class. After sitting through a video tape that was our orientation, both of us received orders that we were needed at the Glendale courthouse rather than the one we were at in Burbank, along with 30 something of our fellow prospective jurors. We weren't needed in Glendale until 1:20, and it was at that time only about ten.

I drove to Glendale, parked where we were told to do so as jurors, and then walked to find a Starbucks in order to pass the time. I ordered a non-fat cinnamon dolce latte, no whip (I'm becoming a big fan of those lattes), and sat down at a table to continuing reading my book. A business man sat down close by me, and for the two hours that we were there, it was one of those awkward situations where our eyes would randomnly and accidentally meet every few minutes or so. I don't know why that embarrasses me so. After about fifteen minutes I was sure he thought I was watching him for some reason as he went along his business and I continued reading my book on Communism. When I realized that there were quite a few eats I needed to record for that day in my little calorie-counting notebook I keep in my purse, I thought how funny it would be if I recorded my calories in such a way that made it look like I was taking notes on the guy...what if he followed me out of the store, grabbed me by my collar, slammed me against the wall, and asked, "HOW did you find me???? HOW do you know what I'm up to????" 

:) Demonstration #2 of the fantastical ideas floating in my brain.

So I walked into the Glendale jury assembly room at about 1 o'clock. I saw the thirty-something man I had sat next to in Burbank had a seat open next to him, so in hopes of being able to strike up a conversation with him I plopped down next to him again with a "Hi!"

Sure enough, a get-to-know-you conversation started. It only took him a minute or two to ask the right questions to find out that I study astrophysics. He was amazed. He told me I would be a good person to ask a bunch of questions he had. Usually I hate when people do that. Usually the questions they ask involve theories and principles that I have heard of and yes, maybe even worked with a bit in my scientific education, but that I don't know or remember enough of to answer questions with a due amount of credibility. 

Not this time. This time the questions revolved around my "specialty" (ok, let's say "interest" rather): black holes.

With every question that I answered with a thorough explanation and further example, the more amazed he was that he was sitting next to an astrophysicist. Eager to not continue down this road which seemed to be getting nowhere for the sake of the gospel, I asked him what he did for a living. He hesitated, and then sheepishly said he worked at UPS. Responding to my instinct point out all of the similarities or relations between me and the person I'm talking to, I quickly answered, "Oh yeah, my dad used to work there."

A light bulb went off in my head....of course! This was the lead in to the conversation about my faith!

"Yeah, he worked there back in the seventies while he was getting through seminary."  

He told me that he currently had a friend who worked at UPS who was also working through seminary, at a big seminary in the valley.

"Masters?" I asked.

"No, no, it's at a big church on Coldwater Canyon and Roscoe."

"Yeah, that's Masters at Grace Community Church."

"Grace Community Church. That's it," he said, nodding.

We got it cleared up that the seminary at the church is called Masters Seminary.

Anyways, I'm so thankful because it sounds like this friend of his at UPS has been faithful in sharing the gospel with this guy. This guy has not been swayed, he still maintains that he is extremley non-religious, but he really respects how his friend is so steadfast in his faith. Nothing can shake him. Even scientific "evidence" against his faith.

"He tries to tell me we all came from Adam and Eve, but I'm like, 'Dude, you can't just ignore the evidence of evolution.' He doesn't even believe in cavemen! You can't disregard all the evidence!"

I asked, "By evidence you mean things like cave paintings, and..."

"Yeah, cave paintings and skulls."

I smiled, not sure where I was going to go next, but trusting God to speak through me, I opened my mouth and told him the little I knew about such evidence. "I'm not sure how I feel about all of that 'evidence,' I said, making quotation marks with my fingers. "I've seen so many situations where scientists bend the data to fit what they want to believe. Like there was one situation where they thought they had found the skeleton of a missing link between apes and humans, simply because the bones they found could be put together in such a way that the 'link' would have the ability to walk on all fours. At the same time, the bones could also be arranged so that the body would have walked just like any other human. So I don't see that as a triumph in finding a 'missing link.'"

He sat back, looked up at the ceiling with meditative eyes, and said, "Oh..." I wasn't sure whether he had more arguments or facts to what I said and just didn't want to get into it, or if what he had just heard had actually caused some questioning of his own position.

A few minutes passed and he exclaimed, "Wow, I drove past Grace Community Church one Sunday morning and there were just massive swarms of people there! It blew any Catholic mass I've ever been to out of the water! Is John MacArthur really inspirational or something?"

I couldn't help but chuckle a bit. I wonder how MacArthur would respond to a question like that. "No, no, I wouldn't say so...not in the way 'inspirational' is used in the world today. He definitely doesn't look out at the congregation and say, 'Oh, you're just all such good people, God just loves you, you're ALL goin' to Heaven.' The Bible has some pretty harsh, tough words, and John just explains to us what's in it. For people who know and love God's truth in the Bible, then yeah, John's messages are very inspirational."

By the way he responded to my answer, I wanna say he understood what I was getting at. I think his evangelistic friend at work has been very thorough.

There wasn't much more to the conversation from there, but I came away praising God at the way He had brought about our discussion, and for allowing me to be a further example to him of what God's been showing him through his friend at work.

We were soon asked into the courtroom, and the real work of our service started. After observing an afternoon's worth of legal proceeding of California's justice service, I found myself thanking God that He allowed me to be a part of this country where there are such honorable methods of conducting fair trials for those accused. I'm in a history class that has exposed me to some of the legal proceedings that have gone on in other countries throughout the world since 1945, and as I sat in that courtroom yesterday I noted a great difference, more love of honesty and justice than many situations I have read about this semester.

Today was my second day of service, and as of 3:45 pm I am officially on the jury. Somehow I really don't mind that it's gonna take up the rest of my spring break and beyond. I'm excited about the conversations I've had with my fellow jurors and eager to follow up with them. And doing my part in the justice system seems more like a privilege than it did before.

Prayer Request

Hurray!

I have an interview this Friday for a paid, part-time student internship position at Spectrolab. Brent and I are praying really, REALLY hard that I get this job. It is well paying, it's in my field, it is reasonably close to home, I would be authorized to work up to 40 hours during the summer, and they're looking for interns who will stay with the company after graduation. Plus, the job sounds stinkin' fun.

So please pray that they accept me! The only reason that Brent and I prayerfully decided that I needed to look for part time work is that we're realizing at the end of each month, between his paycheck and our bills, we're barely breaking even, if that. Me having a job would give us more flexibility, would allow us to pay off what we owe for car repairs (I was recently in my first accident :(...I wasn't hurt though) and pay the cat deposit that we owe to our landlord...every time I see her I'm afraid she's going to inquire after the $500 pet deposit, the due date for which she has graciously delayed indefinitely. One peep from her and my little furry purring friend gets shipped off to my parents' home...if they agree to keep him.

So pray with us, if you think of it! :)

A Typical Evening in the Tyler Home...Or Not

It's 5:45 pm. I'm in the kitchen preparing an onion-tomato-avacado salsa for the salmon I would soon be grilling in time for Brent to get home from work around 6:30. I'm finished peeling the avacado, so I gather the peels into my hands and swing around to throw the scraps in the trash. As I swing, the crown of my head gets powerfully jammed into the corner of my open cupboard above the counter. My body jolts backward from the force, I scrunch my eyes and hold my head in pain as I think with frustration about how often I have injured myself in my own kitchen with knives, hot dishes, hot oil, open cupboards. I take a brake from holding my head to slam the cupboard door closed in disgust, and then go back to reeling in pain. (Yes, you would have long been laughing if you had been watching me.) After twenty seconds, the pain isn't gone and I determine to walk the fifteen feet to my bathroom mirror to take pride in the goose egg I am sure I just trophied my head with. As I walk, my body tingles and it's hard to keep my eyes open. I approach the mirror, cradle my head in my hands once more, and just as I start to lift my eyes up to survey the damage, I feel a splash on my foot. Curious, I look to see what had caused that splashing sensation on my foot. Blood. I glance up in the mirror and it is confirmed; a thick pool of blood is streaming down my forehead. I stagger over to my linen closet and grab a tissue, find my phone and call my husband, still in his office at work. I'm panicking at this point, my heart's racing, and I gasp into the phone, "Babe, I hit my head, and I'm bleeding." 

"Ok, how did you hit your head?"

I described the situation to him quickly.

"Ok, lay down, put pressure on it, I'll be home soon. I'm leaving now." The phone clicks off.

I lay down on the hardwood floor of the bathroom and use the wall to put pressure on the tissue on my head wound. 

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So apparently when Brent got my phone call, one of his fellow employees had been in a conversation with him. When Brent got off the phone, he told the guy, "I gotta go. My wife's on the ground in our home with her head bleeding," as he walked out the door. Brent didn't even give the guy a chance to respond to the news. He just left. Later Brent and I had a good laugh about what must have been going through the poor guy's head about our situation that night.

When Brent got off the phone with me, I tried calling both of my parents because for some reason my heart was still really racing, I was really scared, and I wanted to be on the phone with someone. Unfortunately, neither of them answered their phones. It just so happened that as I was trying to get through to my parents, Brent was trying to get ahold of me again. When I wasn't picking up, he got more scared for me, to the point where he ran across a street to his company parking lot against a red light, with cars coming at him. Later we had a good laugh about that scenario too. Finally when I gave up trying to get through to my parents, Brent got ahold of me, and we talked the entirety of his five minute drive home.

We quickly determined that I was fine. We both remembered that above your scull there is a lot of blood, so even if you have a very small cut, it bleeds a lot and for a long time. We understood that since the blood was falling down my head and not streaming out, that I was ok. Finally my heart went back to normal and our conversation went back to its normal flirty style. As Brent rushed through the gate of our complex, he asked me if I thought I was going to need mouth-to-mouth. I believed so. :)

So Brent examined my wound...if you can call it a wound. For all the blood, all I have to show for it is a tiny prick-looking thing and a slight bump. By the time Brent arrived, I had stopped bleeding and after a shower I looked as though nothing had happened to me. 

Brent used the occasion as an excuse for me not to be in the kitchen any more that night, and sweetly set about trying to pamper me because of my "trauma." He got us pizza, a movie and dessert from a little bakery he found near the pizza place. It was fun.

So I'm ok. The whole situation has given us both a lot of laughs. 

You know you're a homemaker....

...when this is the most influential article in your week.

Oh, the frustration and space I now save. Thank you Martha Stewart.

Married Life Month 1

Ok, so it's been more like a month and a half. And it's been a blast! It's so fun establishing a home together...especially the relational part of the home. It's so amazing coming home to each other every day, and tell each other all about the minutest details of our days, knowing the other person is interested and sympathetic. It's so amazing to experience the reality that through marriage God is making us know each other more deeply than any other human on earth, and that because of that we know the best of any other human on earth how to best encourage each other to glorify God in all that we say and do, and we know the best of any other human on earth how to make each other smile. :) 

The more homemake-y kind of stuff has been a source of great excitement and very rewarding for me. For the first week or two we were living out of boxes with no decorations on our surfaces as I learned how to make the daily tasks of cooking, cleaning and errand running NOT take up every waking moment of my day. Cooking at least one meal a day for two is challenging, but I must say one of the most rewarding moments in any given 24 hour period is when I hear my husband say about a dish I've made, "Wow babe, this is excellent." Not that I get the "excellent" adjective from his mouth every day...that comes more like once a week. Usually the adjective is "good." :)

So I was so pleased and proud of my first home-cooked meal that I took a picture of it before we sat down to eat. The first dinner menu of the Tyler home? Hayley's Spaghetti Casserole (a dish I made up when I was still living with my parents that I still need to come up with a clever name for), caprese salad and garlic french bread. I'm happy to say that the first dinner got the adjective "excellent."

 

Another fun picture-worthy meal we've had was a recipe my sister gave me: taco bowls. Oh so fun. I think the recipe was made to feed four...but just the two of us ate all eight taco bowls in one sitting, I'm ashamed to say. :) Oh, they were good.

For our one month anniversary, we decided to celebrate by eating the top of our wedding cake, rather than keeping the thing in the freezer for a whole year. We got inspired to invite Heather & Matt and Harrison & Vichka over for a celebration of marriage at which we would eat the cake and toast the night away using our crystal bride & groom champagne flutes that my great aunt has given each couple upon their engagement. We made sure that both other couples brought their champagne flutes and we provided chocolate fondue with angel food cake, blueberries, strawberries and bananas for dipping, the top of our wedding cake, a flourless chocolate cake with raspberry sauce, martinelli's and sparkling blueberry juice. This was my first occasion to entertain in my own little apartment, so I had such fun lighting the place up with candles, preparing all the eats, and arranging the table. 

The lovely couples at the party:

The table looked so beautiful when the flutes were filled with the sparkling drinks:

The toasting:

Each couple got to take a turn slicing a piece of cake together and feeding each other just as the bride and groom do at their wedding reception. Some of us were nice, others were not so nice...

All of that to say, these have got to be the best days of my life!

Wedding Pictures

A partial account of the fairy tale day can be viewed at www.ckvphotography.wordpress.com

Enjoy!

Honeymoon!

It is almost impossible to believe, but Brent Tyler and I are now man and wife, and have been such for two whole weeks! The wedding went seemingly flawlessly...if there were any hiccups, I didn't know about them. I'm SO grateful (and humbled, really) by all of the help we were so graciously offered and given by so many family, friends, and friends of friends to make our big day the day of our dreams. Seriously, the wedding was beautiful and fun. 

And we had an awesome honeymoon. We left for Kauai, Hawaii on the Monday after we were married, so we spent the two nights between the wedding and departure at a very fitting place, considering where we met: Disneyland. Disneyland Resort's Grand Californinian Hotel & Spa. It was the coolest hotel I've ever stayed in. I've been in the lobby of the hotel before simply to look around, and it was always a really cool and beautiful place to me, but somehow it's even more cool, beautiful and special when you're STAYING there. And the rooms are so cozy, comfortable and luxurious.

Day #1

We woke up in our room overlooking Downtown Disney and discussed the possibilities of where to eat breakfast. Do we venture into the park to try out Carnation Cafe's breakfast selections or do we go to the Story Teller Cafe, the hotel's restaurant? Both of us agreed Story Teller sounded better, so that's where we headed. When we laid eyes on the buffet, we were more than confidant that we had made the right choice. Fresh fruit, bagels with cream cheese and salmon, ham cooked with cheesy potatoes and pineapple, glorious bacon, eggs benedict, omelets tossed to order, coffee cake, biscuits, coffee...yum yum yum. It was one of the most enjoyable breakfasts I have ever had. 

After breakfast we took a walk in Downtown Disney. Build-A-Bear Workshop caught our eyes and both of us were curious if they sold bride and groom outfits for the stuffed animals. Sure enough they did...we had to search two stories of animals, clothes and accessories, but there, on the second level, were bride and groom outfits. We were both hooked on the idea and got in line to build our bears.

That night we had dinner at the Blue Bayou. Brent had requested a table right on the water, and that's right where they placed us. After he seated us, our host commented to us, "What a perfect place for a celebration, like a birthday, or an anniversary, or.........a honeymoon." He smiled at us, we giggled, he left with a grin.

They didn't have the prime rib on the menu this time...instead they had the filet mignon. Brent was is heaven as he slowly savored his meat. He still thinks it was the best meal of the honeymoon. It was delicious.

The castle was all decked out for the holidays, but for us it was decked out for the celebration of our marriage. We saw it, gasped, and kissed.

We spent the rest of the night souvenir shopping away.

Day #2

We had no trouble deciding where to go to breakfast this day. The Story Teller Cafe was a duh. Unfortunately, I think we had chosen the absolute most delicious items from the buffet the day before, so this day we chose all the things we hadn't tried yet, and while the meal was extremely good, it wasn't as perfectly delicious as the previous day's.

After breakfast, we packed up our things and prepared for our Hawaiian adventure. We arrived at the airport about an hour and a half before our flight was scheduled to leave, but about five or six hours before it actually left. Yes, our flight was delayed. At one point Brent decided to take some mean photos of me. :)

Needless to say, we were pretty exhausted when we arrived on Kauai, and went straight to bed.

Day #4

We awoke to the cock-a-doodle-doo of one of Kauai's thousands of roosters. Apparently there was a chicken coop on the island back in the day, and when a hurricane hit the chickens got free, bred like crazy and the ecosystem on the island isn't able to tame their multiplying. Chickens are everywhere. I think we woke up to this guy.

Before breakfast we took a little walk on the shoreline fifty feet from our hotel room. Not a bad location for a vacation, huh?

Brent reserved a convertible mustang for our honeymoon. It was perfect for the mood and Hawaii's weather.
We found a nice little breakfast diner that met the needs of our appetites, and Brent decided he thought I looked so pretty that he needed to take a picture.

After breakfast we went back to the hotel to grab a few things before we went for a drive to see the west side of the island. I considered the wardrobe I had packed for the honeymoon, and realizing that I had brought more than enough cute outfits for the days we would be in Kauai, I decided I should change my outfit for the day...just to make sure that each piece of clothing in my suitcase got it's fair share of wear. :)

On our way to the first scenic lookout of our drive, we were intrigued by the red water waterfall off the side of the road. So we went exploring.

On our way back to the car Brent decided to chase me.
He caught me. :)
Our first scenic lookout stop was an overlook of the deep and vast Waimea Canyon. It was marvelous.

I believe the next couple of stops were also overlooks of the same canyon, but our last stop on our scenic drive was one of the most majestic and beautiful shorelines I've ever seen. It literally took my breath away, and unfortunately for those of you who have never seen it, the pictures do not do it justice.

On our way "home" to our little hotel, we made a stop at Poipu Beach to catch the sunset. Unfortunately, nature called me to the public restroom while Brent caught the sunset all by his lonesome self. I comforted myself with my loss by exclaiming over the whitish-green lizard I had seen perched on the public restroom roof. 

Right. Not as cool or romantic as the sunset.

Dinner was unremarkable but fun because we were with each other. We were both rather exhausted so we just found a little place near our hotel and went to bed.

Day #5

The next morning, I asked nicely and Brent let me drive the rental car mustang to our beginning destinations of the day. 
First, with Brent navigating, I drove us to a beautiful waterfall about ten minutes away from our hotel. Gorgeous.

Brent had scheduled a helicopter tour for us that afternoon!

Here we are in the helicopter with our headsets:

Liftoff was so cool! I like helicopter and hot air balloon liftoffs better than airplane liftoffs...so peaceful and slow.

The first half of the tour was simply amazing for me. God's creation is so breathtaking in Hawaii. We got to fly up close and personal to the waterfall used in one of the beginning scenes of Jurassic Park!

Unfortunately, while the second half of the tour was probably just as stellar, I was feeling very nauseaus, so I wasn't able to enjoy it as I would have wanted to. A half hour or so with my feet back on the ground and I was feeling fine again! Brent and I laid out on the beach for a while, dipped in the surprisingly cool water and then went for an early dinner at Duke's. We both tried out virgin daiquiris for the first time...so amazingly delicious! It was by far our favorite drink of the honeymoon.

Day #6

We started the day out was breakfast at Kountry Kitchen where I discovered that a macadamia nut pancake with coconut syrup is awfully delicious, though it would probably be better enjoyed as a late night dessert rather than an "energizing" breakfast item. 

We both had high hopes that a certain short hike on the east shore that we had read about in our guide book would be remarkable, but it was pretty much thoroughly unremarkable. Except, the slippery slippery mud that we slipped/hiked our way through was pretty remarkable. Here are some pictures of our journey.

We soon lost the trail, and realized we had lost interest in finding the trail, so we turned around eager for our next adventure: snorkeling at Ke'e Beach.

On the way to the beach we saw the end of a rainbow on the water. Wow!

This is the beautiful bay we were able to snorkel in. I couldn't believe how calm the fish were around humans. I could get within centimeters of them before they would get skittish and swim away. Such amazing little creatures.

See how clear the water is?

King Kong Rock was very prominent on our way home. This was by far my favorite rock on Kauai.

That night Brent took me to a wonderful little italian place for dinner. We ordered a LOT of food because it all sounded so amazing, and therefore had a LOT of leftovers to take home to our little kitchenet at the hotel. :)

Day #7

My favorite day of the honeymoon. We went on a guided kayaking adventure! I was SO in the mood for something really outdoorsy and active and this was perfect for the way we were feeling. We kayaked about a mile up the Waimea River, parked our boats, hiked through wonderfully gooey mud for which we were provided walking sticks for non-slippage, and we ended up at the base of a 100-150 ft waterfall. 

About 30 ft from the waterfall our guide took a picture of us sitting on stones dividing the hawaiian natives' king and queen's bathing pools. 

The waterfall was much like most other things on Kauai in that it was simply breathtaking. It fell into an extremely inviting pool which was at its deepest only 6-7 feet deep. Our guide provided us a delicious and refreshing lunch from his backpack, and after we had had our fill, we set out on the most terrifying adventure of our vacation...a treck around the perimeter of the pool, a treck that included walking behind the waterfall! 

It was actually a childhood dream-come-true for me. Ever since watching the part in Robin Hood as a kid where they go behind the waterfall to a secret hiding place, I've dreamt of finding a waterfall that I can actually go behind. Of course, there was no such secret passage way to a cozy little hiding place behind the wall of water, and the roar of the falling water was so loud and the mist  and eye-stinging droplets were so intense that the experience was much more terrifying than romantic. Terrifying but exhilarating. I am SO glad we got up the nerve to walk behind the water.

On our hike back to our kayaks, our guide took us on a little detour that led us to a clearing in the forest called the "Green View." Would you believe that all of the tall bushes in and surrounding the picture below are morning glory bushes? Just imaging what this place looks like in the morning or evening with those vibrant flowers filling the place!

We needed a long soak in the jacuzzi to clean off the mud from our hike, and when we were ready we mozied over to Duke's where I tried a virgin margarita and Brent tried a virgin mai tai, I believe. I think we both wished we had ordered the daiquiris again.

Day #8

This was our last day on Kauai. We had to check out of our hotel by 10:30 am, so we packed up our things into the car and didn't feel like doing anything that would get us sweaty or would require swimsuits. It was kind of a lazy, wonderful day. We started with a very late breakfast at a little coffee shop that is famous for their pastries, which were wonderful.

Next we made our way to the Kauai Coffee Plantation. An amazingly boring museum with a friendly giftshop and pretty cool souvenirs. 

We decided to spend the next hours exploring the south shore of the island, and on our way down drove through Tree Tunnel Rd, a stretch of highway with 500 elm trees lining the sides of the road.

I saw a sign for Spouting Horn, and because the information in the guidebook about the natural attraction had peaked my interest, I suggested going to see it. The boardwalk leading up to the attraction was filled with luring hand-made souvenirs, but fortunately our wallet was only opened once before we made it to the beautiful ocean "geyser."

When we got back into the car, I came to the conclusion that it was entirely an inappropriate idea that I should leave Kauai without having tried shave ice with ice cream on the bottom. We took about an hour's drive to a little truck that serves what our guidebook says is the best shave ice on the island, and our tastebuds agreed with us that the treat was well worth the long scenic drive and the four dollars we had to shell out for it. Wishing Well shave ice is SO GOOD. I'm craving it now.

After that it was pretty much time to get ready for a night on a plane. We caught a red-eye flight to LA, arrived at 5:20 am last Sunday morning, and have been getting into the swing of normal married life ever since!

More on married life to come!