Two Years and An I-Do Later...

Today's pretty crazy to think that two years ago I asked Hailey to marry me, and we've been married for a year and a half now. Tomorrow is also the day I asked her out, so these two days mean a lot to us. Looking back, it's great seeing how even in two years how far we've come

First stop on the date for us was the Zoo. I'm still trying to get her a meet and greet with a baby monkey (her one of many life goals).

Next up: Santa Monica Pier

Now, this is where I open up about a story I haven't posted about, and only friends we've told in-person have heard. 

Hailey really shouldn't have married me. Not after what I did to her leading up to it. The entire day went great. Spent the day at the zoo, enjoyed the pier, and enjoyed LA. I had dinner plans at Charthouse in Marina Del Rey for us that night, and it was going to be awesome. But, because of a variety of issues, mostly related to family, I was scared out of my mind to ask her. I knew I wanted to, but I let the pressure of what my family would think get into my head and I nutted up in the worst way. Everything I was going to say or do just went out the window, and it fell apart. 

Well, you're probably thinking, "Jake, it couldn't have been that bad, I mean, she still said 'yes', right?" 

YEAH. It was that bad. To me it was. 

So, walking up to Charthouse, we saw this odd couple. The dude was incredibly short, balding, sorta fat, etc. chick was incredibly tall, hairy..just a dynamic that threw off the balance, y'know? 

Hailey leans over to me and says "what I was that much taller than you?" 

I replied, with no filter to my idiotic thought: "what if I was that much more bald than you?"

STRIKE. ONE. 

You see, Hailey has alopecia. Don't know what that is? It's basically a autoimmune issue where her white blood cells get bored and attack things like hair follicles. It's not really bad for her, but occasionally she'll get a bald spot, and we go to the dermatologist and take care of it. 

So, I just called my future wife bald, and made fun of her autoimmune issue. 

I somehow made it through dinner without flubbing anything, but afterwards didn't stop me from

STRIKE. TWO. 

We're walking on the beach of the marina, she looks over to me and says "hey do I have anything in my teeth?" I go...."yeah, a fake one."

Firstly, my wife is a badass. She lost a tooth to a basketball fight in high school. Like, how many chicks do that?! Second, I'm a jerk. Like, how many dudes say that?! 

You'd think I'd be good by now. I get the jitters out of my system and I proceed with the night..

You'd think that it'd be smooth sailing by now, and it'd be all wonderful, right? 

There wouldn't be anything coming up around the corner buuuuutttt.....

STRIKE. THREE.

So, Hailey's wedding ring is actually her late-grandmothers. It was given to me to give to her by her family. I thought this would be a brilliant idea. Why? I have NO FREAKING CLUE. 

But, I ask her if she wanted a surprise. She knew it. She had every idea in the world of what was to come, and I shouldn't have said anything and just dropped a knee then and there. Nope. 

I hand her an empty ring box. Told her that the ring could be hidden at the restaurant, at another location, back at home, and she had to guess. 

I WAS SO DAFT. It never occurred to me that this was a bigger issue than I had thought, all because of her late grandmother's ring being in the possession of someone else. I was just trying to find a fun way to do this. 

I told her to close her eyes, I got behind her and dropped to a knee. Told her to open her eyes and she turned around. I asked if she wanted to marry me, she said yes and cried (I think more out of relief the ring was safe and the torture was hopefully over...). I hugged her, we kissed, and stood there for a long time. After that, we drove back home, with Hailey calling as many people as she could, elated. Why, I don't know. I just struck out, and yet I still somehow hit a home run. 

But now, because I made such a horrific mess of the proposal, I now intend to find a creative way to ask her every year to be my girl all over again. A lifetime of different proposals makes up for one bad one, hopefully. Either way, I'm the luckiest guy in the world to have a girl that puts up with some massively bad blunders. 

A Year Later...

It's been a year of marriage. It's insane how fast 365 days go. Yes, I know all the older couples reading this are scoffing and going "just wait until 10, 15, 25, 45 years of marriage". Also, props to whoever's married for 45 years and reading this. Congrats, you're a minority in your group to be on social media.

Anyways, I'm ecstatic. This past year has been amazing. Starting off with getting married, and honeymooning in New York City and Disneyland, then kicking it off with finding our own little place in the world with our apartment. Traveling, spending time with friends and family, mixed with working full time and overloading on units at school to graduate early, one could say we're more than busy.

Which is why I'm really thankful Hailey planned this anniversary trip. I had no idea what we were going to do until we got there. We spent the weekend at the central coast doing basically nothing. We began the weekend with couples massages and facials, which I have to admit, was amazing. I've never been a guy that's all gung-ho for getting oils and lotions rubbed all over. I'd rather just throw a towel on the beach, put on Jack Johnson and take a nap. But that changed thanks to my wife.

After we did that, we grabbed some lunch, and then went to check into our bed and breakfast, yet another first for me. It's a weird concept to me that someone will renovate a few rooms in their house and then charge people to stay there. But, it was still a lot of fun. We had this room tucked away in the trees with a private patio, and all the amenities any other hotel would have.

Haley's great at planning things. She usually picks out things we haven't done yet, and this was a weekend filled with it. New restaurants, food I haven't tried, and wine tastings! I know, this is long winded, but I'll shut up and just post the photos now.

She's 21! But seriously, she only got carded twice the entire weekend. 

This stuff was goooood. 

Clavo had great wines...but this guy totally stole the show. 

He's apparently the bosses new puppy. Took everything in me not to take this little retriever home with us.

California is one ugly state. I mean, look at this. 

Little town, but lots of fun. 

First dinner, Off The Hook, right on the water. 

After a really good dinner, which I forgot to take pictures of, I grabbed my camera and walked around taking some long exposure shots of the bay. 

Then, drove out to the rock to get the other side of the view! 

Next day, we just did a bunch of hanging out, playing games, and then before dinner, drove out and took some photos. Yay for tripod and self-timer on my camera! 

She makes me look way better than I deserve to look. 

I'll always be her groom, she'll always be my bride. 

Seriously. She's beautiful. 

The hottie with the dork in a button up. 

DOLPHIN! 

Mine?

Yup. Mine. 

Now for dinner at Giancarlo's. Here's the deal. The dude in the middle, he's Giancarlo Cucumo. He's 100% Italian, from Italy. Hailey's aunt married this guy, and we're all thankful for it, because he cooks like a damn god sent from the heavens. 

Pork belly. Never had it until that evening. But now I want it every evening. 

Can't say the same about oysters, however they did taste good. Again, new first for me. 

Butternut Squash raviolis. Sweeter than I thought they'd be. But man were they great. 

Pinwheel ham and cheese pasta...thing. I can't remember the official name of this, but it was probably my favorite. 

Steak, palenta, and a bed of gnocchi pasta. YESPLEASETHANKYOU. 

Family! Darian, me, Hailey, Lauri and Giancarlo. Really really thankful for the meal they gave us for our anniversary. Seriously. If you're ever in Morro Bay, you've GOT to check this place out. It's absolutely stellar.

Also, can't end an anniversary/birthday trip without dessert! 

Tiramisu good. Diabetes bad. Still worth it. 

Bed and breakfast stairs photo. That's the best caption I've got. 

Also, thrift shop/antiquing. New favorite thing to do. Y'know, because you find snoopy phones..

Weird Mickey record players..

And $8.00 buttons you can still get at Disneyland. But hey, I guess paying $8 to say you went over $125 to get in to the parks is worth lying to some..

Driving back home, we had to stop and shoot photos. Y'know, because this isn't Bakersfield and there's actual colors here. 

BAMBI!

So, that was our anniversary trip. We had a lot of fun, and it was really relaxing and much needed after hectic school schedules, work, and the drone of regular life. But now we're back in Bakersfield and saving up for the next excursion. Thanks for reading this far down, I really appreciate it. I know I type a lot, but this is my blog and I do what I want. Until next time, thanks for reading. 

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