Honeymooners, Surf's Up

For our honeymoon, Alex took us to Seal Beach California. It was RELAXING!! We stayed at his aunt's beach house, literally a block away from the beach. We took bike rides, got my hair cut.... it was a spontaneous decision the first day we were there, made cookies, and so much more. The sign behind us proving we were in Seal Beach was taken on one of our bike rides.

The first morning we were there we went boogie boarding at the beach, I got rocked hard and almost lost a bathing suit...

Yes that's Alex acutally touching a stingray at the Pike's Aquarium which is just like Sea World but a slightly smaller scale. I touched it too, but we weren't quick enough with the camera, those things are slippery ICK Then of course he took his turn surfing while I was a sea lion.
I have this weird obsession with Tom Hanks which has naturally lead me to be a Forrest Gump fan, and as I call my brother Bubba, I have become his Forrest, it has nothing to do with how smart I am ;) So whenever I go to Bubba Gump's I snap some kind of reminder.

After an awesome day at the Aquarium we took a walk down to the Marina for a boat ride. Sunset on the Beach begs the question, how can you deny there is a Heavenly Father to provide such an awe-inspiring sight? No this wasn't my first time seeing Mickey Mouse, but out of the 2 times I've now seen him, it's the only time the picture is there to prove it.

So to explain more about our story let me tell you why our return to Seal Beach was so fun. Alex went to this same place on his Senior trip 5 years ago. On that trip he took surf lessons from Mike who introduced him to our great friend Mindy because they and their friends were all from Utah. They became such good friends that 4 years later, Mindy's older sister and my former Mia Maid leader, Melissa decided that Alex and I should be introduced... so when he was in need of a blind date, he got my number and the rest is bliss. So upon our return to Seal Beach we of course had to take surf lessons from none other than Mike. He totally remembered Alex and was so excited asked us for a picture and to blog our story on his website. It was such a great way for us to complete the surfing circle in a way. Thanks to Mindy and Melissa, but also thanks to Mike and Aunt Terrell who started us off. Surfing was so much fun and I only lost one fingernail :) Our honeymoon ened and we returned home to .... MOVE. But did I forget to mention that we drove a 2008 Toyota Rav4, Only my FAVORITE car!! He is too good to me.

Finishing the Wedding Book

Ok, so here are some pictures from the actual wedding day. We were married July 10th in the Bountiful Temple, where we had the amazing opportunity of having my Grandpa as the sealer. You don't remember a lot of the words said that day but you definitely remember the feeling. We can't share it through these pictures, but you'll get the idea.

The official Martin FamilyThis is how we like to spend our time.He's pretty great like that... always keeping the spice in our lives.Holy cow it's the Hoffmanns...and Martins!! Don't they all look so good!!!And that's how he felt at the BEGINNING of the reception... wonder what he'd rather be doing?

My talented cousin Tyne made our cake and it couldn't have been more perfect!! Yes those are sheep on top and you wouldn't understand unless you were Alex and I...we're not even 100% sure.It was time to go and I couldn't believe the day was coming to an end. It seemed to go by so fast.

But now we have the rest of... forever to look forward to. We are in love and it's true what they say, it just grows each day. Kind of boggles your mind thinking you can love them even more than you do now. I am so Lucky!

We got MARRIED!!!

My goodness, we all know it's been so long so we'll just skip the apologies... do newlyweds have to apologize during their first year of marriage? ;) But finally here are the pictures.... definitely not all of them, not even some by any means, but a small few. IF you would like to see a plethora more, you should add me as a friend on Facebook. You can see a complete album there. It was an AMAZING day. Perfect pretty much to the "T" I couldn't have asked for anything better. But we would like to say thanks to the many family members and friends that pitched in to help us we couldn't have done it without you. And your support and presence made our day that much better. THANKS!!

So these are some of our bridals, but with how long it takes to upload pictures... we will get to the rest as soon as possible. ENJOY

FIVE WEEKS LEFT!

As of today Alex and I only have 5 weeks left until we get married!! So here are a few pics from our engagements and one special little surprise at the end...

And here it is folks.....

Of course that's all I'm going to show you... I don't want to give away the whole surprise!! You'll just have to come see it for yourself :)

Here's the Bride to Be

My amazing sister-in-law, all the way in Virginia, sent me a lovely care package that just brightened my day. At her request I have taken a picture of the most pink thing I've ever owned and am now posting it on our blog. The other gift made me laugh just as much as this one, however because it is an inside kind of joke, I did not include it in the picture. But I sure do love pickles!!

Just for you Brooke, I will wear this in your honor, at every bridal shower. Thanks for all your help, can't wait to see you guys!

Love is in the Air

2 blogs in one night? I know but it's been a while and this is how we procrastinators get things done.
Valentine's Day was a while ago but the memories will live on forever... Alex surprised me that morning before he left for school with a beautiful rose and a new bottle of one of my favorite calognes, for him, but really for me! And a little lamb... I can't really explain that one. It was the best way to start my day. He's such a cutie!!
So my brother's wife and I decided to have a V-Day Fiesta Surprise for the boys. We invited our hunnies over and made them enchiladas with chips and salsa. Had the place decorated for a Fun Fiesta in the kitchen with our cute little pinata decoration... how it escaped without a picture I'm not sure, but it was filled with lots of fun for later.
After dinner we moved into the living room, decorated appropriately for Valentine's Day, where Alex and Jacob both got their turn to hit the bull, but not until they ripped it apart did they find what was inside... Maracas, new years horns, kazoos and one of the best hits of the night, Whoopie cushions! I knew that 17 cents would be worth a laugh or two.
We had so much fun it was ridiculous. My brother Jacob had so much fun he popped his whoopie :( We made pina coladas and played Imagine If... to end the night. It was a lot of fun
Every day feels like a Valentine's Day because we love each other so much. We can't believe we are so lucky as to get to spend the rest of our lives with each other.

Back to work

Sunrise from my Balcony...

I've had the last week off... boss gone to... well I'm not quite sure this time. But since it's been a while I thought I'd fill ya'll in. The end of January my boss paid for my certification of the EZLase, which is a really cool machine for perio, but only hygienists will understand. However the class was in SAN DIEGO for the weekend. So while I left to warmer climates ya'll enjoyed the snow. By the time I got there they had to upgrade our rooms for free - darn it. So I got a King suite with a partial view of the ocean. NICE. I had class mostly all day Fri. and Sat. but still with plenty of time to call family and friends, and took my test Sat. afternoon. Passed with flying colors, I had the rest of the day to wander around and take pictures. There were over 1200 dental personel attending this World Clinical Laser Institute, from over 25 different countries. It was a really neat experience and ... I got to check another Hard Rock off my list! The hotel I stayed at was The Hotel Del Coronado. If any of you have heard of this place you know how amazing and famous it is. If you haven't you should definitely check it out.

Sunset on the beach. Only part of the hotel in the background.

This was my free King upgrade. What you can't see is my balcony, hide-a-bed couch and coffee table and desk. Then there's the pic of palm trees and only one of their 3 pools.

The beach after our catered beach party the night before

It may have rained a little my last morning, but the beach couldn't have looked any more amazing.

This was just Sunday brunch. My hotel room bill came to over $1,000 for just 3 nights. And that wasn't for the free upgrade. Good thing my boss was taking care of the bill.

Hard Rock San Diego...I can find them anywhere!

Needless to say the trip was ok, I was in class and when I wasn't I was there alone. But it was an experience well worth it. I would definitely recomend this hotel.... only if your wallet can handle it.