happy 1st anniversary to us

On July 3, we celebrated our 1st anniversary.  Yay!!!  Hard to believe that this was all a year ago. Time flies. 

So we started the 1st anniversary celebration with a Sunday morning breakfast complete with coffee, bagels and lox, and a conflict.  Yep, first anniversary lesson:  We still sin and need help on special days.  =) Thankfully, we were headed to church afterwards and both got a good dose of sweet conviction and reminders of God's good grace.   
So on the actual anniversary day, we decided to partake in a few festivities that were going on with friends and then celebrate together the rest of the week.  Why just celebrate one day when you can celebrate all week long!?!

We spent the anniversary evening at a rooftop bbq to bid farewell to our friends Ryan and Leah who are moving to Seattle:

Sophie, Leah, me

Ryan and Gene.  (They have the same sense of humor.  Leah and I roll our eyes and shake our heads. . .A LOT!)

The crew.  We love our church!

and our beautiful city

So a few days later we went to a fancy schmancy restaurant here in SF called Quince.  Exquisite.  In fact so exquisite, the thought of taking out our iphones to take pictures of food or even ourselves felt odd.   They did give us a menu.  Crazy good food.

  

So we got an awesome deal on two nights in Napa (Thank you credit card reward points!!!), and with all the money we saved, we ate.    

Rotisserie and Wine:

and ate some more

Bottega:

grilled octopus!

 

 short ribs!

Breakfast at dean and deluca

Brought back memories of Manhattan and Georgetown and Felicity. 

 Got a free slice of Jamon Iberico ($160 per pound!!!!).  It was good, but nothin' is THAT good. 

Bouchon for Profiteroles



With all that food, we were in desparate need of exercise.  So we hiked. 

I really wanted to see a pig in the wild.  Didn't happen. 
We had sweeping views of the valley instead. 

A post-hike foot massage.  Yes, he does those.   At midpoint he took a comparison pic so I could marvel at his accomplishments.  I'd like to dedicate this photo to a college roommate who appropriately named my feet "the dogs".   The dogs live on, Bethany.  =)

Such a fun and relaxing getaway and great first anniversary.  I love how our friend Claire  (married just one week after us) summarized the first year of marriage:  "We laughed, we cried, we got fatter."  Ha!! We resemble those remarks.

It has been a great year for us!  It was simply nice to enjoy each other's company and learn more about each other in the same time zone!!  When I reflect on the past year, two things we've learned (and are still learning) stand out:

First, we learned about God's faithful provision for us this year.  He promises to provide for all our needs, but not necessarily all our wants.  Although there are many things we want, we lack for nothing, and sometimes his saying "No" to something we want is just what we need.  He has good things to teach us and work on in us when we don't get all we want, when we want it.  For us, it's made even the smallest surprises and blessings so sweet!!  

Second, we've learned that marriage, jobs, friendships are good things and very helpful things, but our true identity, worth, approval is found in Christ alone.  How sweet that is!!

Okay, I've also learned that I LOVE being married to Gene.  He keeps me laughing, he keeps our home neat and clean, he keeps challenging me when I need it, he keeps trusting and hoping in God through trials that come, he keeps loving me even now that he's seen the real me--the good, the bad, the quirks, the long strands of curly hair that show up everywhere.   

I <3 him.