It's What Brings Us Together, Today

I consider myself unattached to any side of the political spectrum, and usually avoid writing about it. It's mainly because both sides are extremists for the most part. If anything, I'm a centralist. There's good and bad to each side, and I try to be objective and find what would be good as a whole. Sometimes that means agreeing with a Democratic idea, other times it's siding with the Republican point of view. That said, today's a good day. People who've been fighting for their rights, won. It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that this happened and if it is, well, we all know you live under a rock now, so your secret's out. 36 of the 50 states have already legalized marriage for homosexual couples. It's not hard to see the writing on the wall that this was going to be passed. 

What's hard to see for me, is how people are upset that this is defaming marriage for straight folks, and impeding on their rights. How? How is this damaging anything you do on a daily basis? If you're straight and already married with tax benefits and all the perks of putting a ring on it, congratulations, you're already taken care of. You're still going to get what you've always gotten, and your life isn't going to be affected by some dude tying the knot to another guy. 

I grew up in Bakersfield, California. A little red island in a sea of California blue. I've been around hearing how bad and terrible this is, because this town is vastly conservative Republican. Fun fact, Bakersfield's considered the Bible Belt of California. So it goes without saying that a lot of people are mad about this happening. In a 2000 vote, 80% of the town voted against gay marriage. I guess this is the centralist in me, but I can't help to ask: "why?" 

Why rebuke this? Church and state should be separated anyway, but that's another discussion. Here's my argument. God to one means Jesus' dad who resides in Heaven, created the world, and sent his son to die for our sins. But to another, God means Alah, who gave Mohommad the Koran, and gives away virgins in the afterlife to those who follow out his will. Yet, to another, God is a couple dozen different Buddha's, all meaning different things. 

All of them have the same name, and a different meaning  to each person who chooses to believe whatever they believe in. I don't hear Christians making a huge to-do that Buddha isn't the 'true God'. I think because they believe it's not, and then they go about worshipping their own Lord. 

So why make a huge to do about someone who probably doesn't believe what you do, and defines it differently? Where's the harm in letting someone be themselves, and you work on being a positive, caring influence in their life? There's so many words in the dictionary that hold multiple meanings. Nothing is truly singular to one specific definition. 

 So, if you're Christian and don't believe in gay marriage, fine. That's your belief and no one can tell you you're wrong. But for those that agree with it and see it differently, that's their belief and you can't tell them they're wrong either. Now that the country holds a majority vote for this and not against it, it's time to hold some class, accept the fact that this is the change our country is making, and roll on with your life. No one is hurting you by flying a rainbow flag from a house just like you aren't hurting anyone by playing Kutless and having a fish or cross on the back of your car. How many non Christians have come up to a Christian and said "your stickers bug me. You need to stop it."? Maybe, just maybe, it's because they don't care. They know you're religious. They know you believe something they don't and that's okay. Why not return the favor and let them be? If you think it's offensive and wrong, that's your thought. Someone else may think you're offensive and wrong. What truly matters in moments of difference like this, is how respectfully you can agree to disagree, and learn to love your neighbor as you love yourself. That goes for anyone of any race, of any orientation, of any religion. The world will be a far better place should you choose to do at least try to do that. 

No Bake Energy Bites

Hi everyone!
With all the stress of wedding planning, moving, school, and much more I found myself letting myself go. (No excuses though, purely my fault). However, I REALLY have no excuses now. It's time to get back into it! Jacob and I have been swimming and bike riding a lot plus playing softball twice a week. I have been doing a lot of meal prep and eating whole foods instead of processed. And we both have committed to drinking a gallon of water a day. And even within the last two weeks I've personally felt a difference in how I feel throughout the day. My face has cleared up, I'm not as bloated, my metabolism is getting faster, and I have much more energy.

But even with clean eating... my sweet tooth is still something fierce, even more so with eating right. So what do you do about it? Ice cream? A candy bar? Cake and cookies? Sometimes... sure. (No judgement here) But every day? NO. So this is one of my absolute favorite recipes to crave a sweet tooth in a healthier way.

No Bake Energy Bites

In a medium bowl mix oats, coconut flakes, peanut butter, flaxseed, honey, vanilla and chocolate chips.

When you choose your ingredients, remember CLEAN EATING! So with coconut, either buy your own coconut and roast it and shred it yourself or get unsweetened organic at the store. The other important ingredient to get clean is the peanut butter. Don't go with Jif or Skippy with all of the extra unnecessarily ingredients, go with a much natural peanut butter. Take a look at the difference in ingredients from Skippy on the left, to what I used on the right...

Once you're done mixing all of the ingredients together, use your hands to make ball shapes. I make mine about an inch by an inch.

Then pop them in a big ziplock bag and refrigerate them until you are ready to eat them. I usually like mine in between breakfast and lunch as a little pick me up. They're SO good and very filling.

Ingredients:
1 cup of whole wheat oats
2/3 cups of unsweetened coconut flakes
3/4 cup of peanut butter
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/3 cup of honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup of chocolate chips (you can add more or less depending on what you like)

You can add more or less of whatever ingredients you'd like. I usually add craisins, chia seeds, or any type of nut as well. Since they are no bake, there doesn't have to be an exact ratio of anything. I like to substitute honey for agave nectar sometimes too. The possibilities are endless!


Happy Healthy Eating!

-HW

Young, Wild, and Married

I got married 5 days after I turned 20 years old. Because of that I got a lot of "Wow you are SO young" "Are you sure you're ready!?" "You already are getting tied down THIS young!?" A lot of the comments I got were pretty negative or doubtful. And I know that some may look down on young marriages, but honestly, I don't get it. I found my person that I want to spend the rest of my life with... without having to search for very long.  I didn't get my heart broken a bunch, I didn't sleep around, I didn't have a ton of failed relationships. It's not a negative thing, it's a blessing. A big blessing. Not only did it save me a lot of heartache spending many years to find the one... but it also means that I get more time with my spouse (God willing). Do I regret getting married young? Not one bit. I am so incredibly in love with my husband and best friend.

Marriage has honestly been the best thing to happen to me. While Jake and I have a lot of similarities, we are also pretty different in some aspects. It's these differences that make life interesting. Before being with him, I think I lacked every possible ounce of compassion where he had plenty of it. He was patient, I wasn't. He was kinder with his words… I wasn't. But never once did he look down on me for that, or love me less because of it. Instead, he used his compassion, patience, and kind words to help me. We grew together, and that is a beautiful thing. I have been blessed to see many wonderful marriages in my life, and I always prayed that one day… someone, somewhere, would be able to look at my marriage and think the exact same thing. And I truly believe that that will happen.

At the moment, Jake and I are simply a family of two. Our own little Williams family. One day, not anytime soon, but some day… we will expand our family. Until then, Jake and I are working to create that strong foundation for them. It is our job as husband and wife to love and live deeply. To set our family rules and beliefs into place now rather than later. To work hard and play hard. We are only four months into creating our family's foundation… and by golly I think we are doing a pretty damn good job.

So to all the "haters" who questioned, doubted, and thought we were stupid… you were wrong. I'm not in this to "prove anyone wrong" because ultimately that isn't my goal nor my intentions. My goal is to have the best marriage possible with my absolute best friend. And while doing that, sharing my revelations, recipes, DIY projects, thoughts, and anything I feel like on our blog. And maybe that one person… somewhere… someday… will stumble along our blog and be inspired by our marriage and our love.
-HW

In Sickness and In Health

This past week Hailey has been feeling a bit ill. Yesterday she really wasn't feeling it, but went over to the beach to celebrate our little sisters' 7th birthday. We were planning on staying the night, but decided to cut the trip short, and head home.

She tossed and turned, and once kicked me trying to get comfortable, but with antibiotics, and even with a tub of sunscreen on her, she still got pretty burned on her legs. Last night, I was up thinking about how marriage vows really do play into married life, whether we notice it or not.

"In Sickness and In Health"

I took her to be my wife, and with those vows that I said, I promised to be there for her when she's healthy, or when she's down and sick. It isn't too hard to do, being there for someone when they're sick. Granted, this is nothing more than a small cold and some sinus issues, but I've heard older family friends of mine talk about how they have to take care of the kids, run the errands, make dinner, go to the meeting for work, etc. and their spouse is off in their world doing what they need to do for them. I'm not saying I'm not selfish, and I'm the worlds' best guy. But I actually enjoyed taking care of her. Running to CVS to pick up some NyQuil and cough drops, and grabbing a Jamba Juice C-Booster for her.

I know we're young and married, and older couples will probably say 'just wait, life hasn't fully kicked in yet'. They're probably right to a degree. But that view is cynical. It's not that positive and it doesn't make a good impression on me when I promised her to be there for her when she's sick, and when she's healthy.

Which leads me to another thing: Why is it so hard for married people to keep their promises? After all, the promises and vows they made get broken when divorce happens because of whatever reason, right? Is working hard at a relationship that much of a struggle? Or is it that people just aren't as willing to work for it when the going gets tough? Why do people end something they loved?

Club 33

Merry Christmas from New Orleans Square! 

Last weekend, we were gifted with a really awesome opportunity from a good friend of ours to do what a few people can: step inside that infamous green door, in the back alleys of New Orleans Square at Disneyland, and dine at Club 33.

I was asked, in return by our friend, to document and take photos of the experience. Well, we took a lot of photos, and spent a lot of time inside the club. It's truly an amazing thing to get to experience.

So, along with text, here are a handful of photos that we shot on our camera and iPhones from the trip.

This is probably one of the coolest license plates I've seen so far. Pixar reference to the gas station first used in Toy Story, and then throughout all the other films as well: Dinoco! 

Had to get that awkward 'can you take our photo in front of the sign' shot. 

And now, we feast! 

I (Jake) have had the chance to eat here for dinner before, and now that I've had both lunch and dinner here, I really prefer the lunch better. 

Mickey and Pluto congratulated us on our engagement! 

And here is where the food shots come...

appetizer..

Hailey's Lamb

Jake's Filet

And probably the most delicious macaroni and cheese ever!

Champagne inside Disneyland? Only time I can do this? Sure! 

Views out the front balcony of the club.

Showed Hailey the trophy room. For those that don't know, this room was designed with microphones inside the chandeliers, and audio animatronic birds that were once supposed to interact with guests. It didn't happen, though. 

Look close and see the microphones..

This room is going the way of yesterland though (they're expanding the kitchen), once they expand the club next year. 

And..Hailey had to see 'The Thrones' for herself. 

By the time we got done with lunch, the entire place was near-cleared out for them to prep for the dinner crowds. We spent nearly three hours inside the club, asking questions to our server about the history, and turns out, her boyfriend is the city planner for Bakersfield! Small world!

Oh, and did we mention that there was a dessert buffet? 

And it.

Was.

Glorious.

Macaroons, caramel orange cupcakes, sugar cookies, fudge cupcakes, and the best spiced hot coco this side of Spain. 

Chocolate cake, cheesecake tortes, cake pops....oh my.

He never was inside the club when it was finished, but we found out that we sat at 'Walt's Table', which was really cool to know! 

It may be a fancy dinner, but we still have to have some fun! 

After dinner, there was a final expedition on the Mark Twain before it went down for the night to prepare for Fantasmic!, so we asked if we could ride in the wheelhouse of the ship, and they said yes! After all the years of going to Disney, this is still something I haven't done until now. 

Signing the book. 

Looking down on the lights being tested for the show. #GeekLife

So high up! 

And any trip here can't be completed unless we go over to bug my big brother...

So hi there, bro! 

Per the request of our gracious friend, we can't reveal who gave us this opportunity to step inside the Green Door, but we are incredibly grateful for the chance to do something so amazing. It was definitely a wonderful, and memorable experience we won't forget.