The fence

This is a picture of our house. That big white thing is the fence that JT made for me. He built it. By himself. Just for me.

Our street is super busy. There are businesses at the other end and their employees/customers speed down our street all day. It terrified the living daylight out of me. Porter had already made his run for the street. It got to the point where I refused to go outside without JT. 

While I was in California for all that time, JT went to Home Depot and bought massive amounts of wood. He spent days working on this fence and I had neighbors teasing me about my surprise the entire time I was gone! 

This fence is so special to me because not only does it show concern for the welfare of our children, it shows love for me. He knew I was worried and he wanted to lift that burden off of my shoulders. He loves me and he chose to give me that gift.

Now it is nearing the end of July and we will be moving a city away. We cannot take the fence and we cannot leave it for the next family. We must sell it.

My heart is breaking at the thought of parting with something that JT poured so much love into. I WANT to keep it, but the truth is that we no longer NEED it. 

The new house JT is moving us to is a show of love in itself. The yard is already fenced in. There is no busy street. There a million other young mothers in the neighborhood. We are next to his work and will see him for lunch. We are walking distance from everything. He can leave me with the car. We are closer to family. 

Everything he does is out of love for us, and especially me. So leaving the fence behind isn't the end of the world. I'll shed a tear or two, take a picture, and hold JT's hand as we step into a new phase of life.

Love in Bloom

This is entry #3 in the series!
JT surprised me with these beauties when he got home from work yesterday. What a lucky girl I am!

Get the point?

6 years on the beach

When we were in California for all of May, JT and I hit our 6 year anniversary of our first date! Yay!
We “accidentally” arranged for a beach getaway in honor of the occasion…a.k.a. we forgot and it ended up being a happy coincidence. So where did we go?

JT and I stayed at The Laguna Beach Inn. It was so nice! We booked a cozy room with a giant jacuzzi bathtub in it!!! I was in heaven. Not to mention, the flowers, view, and pool area were super beautiful. I loved being able to stand out on the deck and see the beach.

We enjoyed relaxing in the room (thank you Mike & Bonnie for watching the twins!) and having nothing to do.  It feels like it’s been so long since we had nothing to take care of or anywhere to be. I was nice to just remember what it was like to be a couple again.

We went down to the beach for a nice long stroll…only to realize that we were in a series of private beaches that were all divided by sea cliffs! Since we weren’t up for rock climbing and swimming, we kept climbing back up the stairs to try and find a new beach. I think we finally ended up giving in on the 4th attempt (our calves may have been burning) and decided that we would climb/swim if we had to. ;)

I loved having the opportunity to just walk hand in hand with my hubby down a beach again. It was gorgeous and the sunset was amazing. It brought back all our good memories from the past 6 years. Our second date happened at the beach where JT set up a little blanket under the stars and popped Pirates of the Caribbean into the portable DVD player. We’ve been going back ever since. He even planned to propose to me there…but good ‘ol Utah and school got in the way. Anyways, what I’m trying to convey is the incredible breath of fresh air it breathed into our lives and into our marriage. Is it time to buy a summer beach house yet??? ;)

For dinner we decided to hop into our car and head off to our old home! San Clemente.
We lived in an apartment complex called Whispering Winds at the top of a street/huge hill called Calle Del Cerro. You can see the ocean from the top of that hill. We spent the first 5 months of our marriage in that city. *sigh* Our days were care free and spent walking down the beach that was 5 minutes from our home. Our favorite place to eat was a tiny little Italian Restaurant. I do not remember the name because I never bothered to learn it even while we lived there. But the food is really good!!! It was fun to sit at the table, hold hands, and smile at the familiarity of it all.

The next morning we decided to go to brunch and were told to head down to an old hotel and ride the elevator to the top. We were SO glad we did!!!!! You’ll see why…

Amazing right?! It’s called the rooftop and the view blew us away. We had fun listening to their mix of mid 90s music (no, we don’t want no scrub…hee hee) and enjoying the breeze. Their huevos rancheros has only ever been topped by yours truly! ;) But seriously, if you’re ever in Laguna Beach, ask for direction to The Rooftop. You’ll love it!

After brunch we took another walk down the beach where we found an outcropping of rocks to settle in on. We enjoyed just quietly sitting together while watching the surf. It was honestly the best 6 year anniversary we’ve ever had!!! :)

We will definitely be back.