Celebrating Two Years

As I mentioned in my last post, Sunday was our second wedding anniversary. We originally had plans to do something spectacular, like whale-watching, but we ended up being a bit poor for such an extravagant venture. We ended up having a spectacularly adventurous day regardless.*

*All photos taken with our single-use, waterproof, disposable camera--old school style


We started our morning by strolling along down the aisles of the Ballard Street market. We bought two awesome things: cheese and flowers. Actually, rewind, let me back up. We really began our morning by stopping at the grocery store to get some cash, where Ricky found $20 in the cash return slot. Epic score. So, after that, nothing could damper our spirits. So a lady at the market made a bouquet of dahlias and snapdragons especially for me and I paid for that and the cheese with our free $20 and still had leftovers.

After enjoying the bustling market we headed home, changed into swimsuits and shorts and left again. We had intended to grab a spot of lunch at our favorite sandwich shop Paseo but remembered that it was closed on Sundays. Instead we ate at another awesome eatery in Ballard, La Isla. La Isla is a Puerto Rican restaurant and it is delicious. We split two empanadias and a pernil bowl with tostones (ie--giant fried wantons stuffed with garlicy potatoes and cheese, a pulled pork bowl with rice, and delicious fried plantains).

After stuffing ourselves silly we headed down the road to the day's main event, paddle-boarding! Months previously we had secured living social deals to Surf Ballard for two hours of stand-up paddle board rentals. We had saved them for our anniversary and, luckily for us, the weather was ideal for it. We paddled all the way to the lighthouse at the park where I work and back. Neither of us fell the entire time either (even though Ricky fake fell at the end just to make me laugh).

We did both manage to get pooped on by seagulls at separate times. I think that means that we are lucky, even though it sure didn't feel very lucky at the time. We saw five Fried Egg Jellyfish in the water, a few schools of tiny fish, one Great Blue Heron, tons of Bull Kelp and a frillion boats. The views of the Olympics and Rainier were sublime and we could not have asked for better conditions.

After paddle-boarding we went home, showered, put on our third outfits of the day and went to dinner. We had Indian food at Taste of India. They are super awesome, never let our water glasses get below two inches from the top of the glass and give us free appetizers and dessert. We love it there.

After dinner we saw the movie Brave at the Majestic Bay Theater. Disney-Pixar has put some great things out the past few years and this one didn't disappoint. What's not to like about Irish accents, castles, people turning into bears, magic, archery and a strong female lead? Nothing, that's what.

Post movie we went to our favorite Seattle food spot, Molly Moons Ice Cream. We split a banana split (chuckle) and ate it at a nearby overlook point. The vista before us as we ate was of a warm sunset over Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountain Range. The boats that remained on the water were lit up and sparkling and the city was at it's usual nightly glow.

When we finally came home for the night Ricky told me that our day had been the most fun he had had during his whole time in graduate school. That compliment was even better than the other gifts he had given me that day. Excuse the gush, but I am so lucky to have such a sweet, kind, generous, brilliant, and loving husband. We are exceedingly happy together, almost to the point of being unrealistic. Year #2 of marriage brought us some hurtles and challenges, namely graduate school and the big move to Seattle, but we made it. I would be so bold as to say that we grew leaps and bounds this year as individuals and as a couple. I am so excited to see what married year #3 has in store for us!