five year anniversary.

saying i'm 27, or that i have a kid old enough to ride the rides at the fair, that doesn't make me feel old. telling someone i've been married for five years, though. five years! my marriage is a kindergartener!

to celebrate the Big Five, we knew we wanted a beach. we considered thailand, but airfare was way out of budget, so we decided to go with relaxing and familiar, and headed to my favorite place on earth, oahu. plus travis had never been during the summer when north shore is swimmable, and north shore in the summer is the greatest!

like always, we are spoiled to live close to both grandparents, so remy was in good hands.
here he was, not five minutes after we left him with grandma julie.

and we made it to our gate just in time to board! i've gotten really lax about getting to the airport early, oops.

the flight was long, but can i just say, that getting to sit in peace for six hours straight, with a selection of movies that aren't daniel tiger and snacks that you don't have to share with sticky hands, was pure glory. we got our rental car and headed, of course, to ted's bakery for garlic shrimp, teri beef, and of course, chocolate haupia pie. and then got settled into our place, which was up by haleiwa, and walked the block to the beach.

 

beautiful beach. and our place was equipped with beach chairs! score.

this is on the walk back from the beach. one thing i adore about hawaii is the random hilarity you find on every street corner. every single day of our trip, this corner had something new. the first day was this bathtub. then a bookshelf, then a vacuum, then a dresser. and every morning the thing from the night before was gone.

 oh hawaii humidity, you make my hair seem so thick and full.

the next morning, i was dumb enough to try to go running. i started at 7 am and planned to go four miles, but alas, the heat got to me and after 2, i had to call travis to come rescue me while i dry heaved on the side of the road. the view was nice though.

and of course i saw this man out for a walk with his goats, on a leash.

after my failed run, we suited up and headed to waimea bay.

travis jumped off the rock, and somehow persuaded me to jump too.  i would much rather climb rocks than jump off of them.

after jumping and beaching a bit more, (and having a phone interview for a promotion at my coaching job, which i got!) we headed back to ...ted's for lunch. i think we ate there every day except one. then back to our place for a nap and to shower.

and out for dinner. fish tacos! fresh ahi caught that morning.

walked around haleiwa for a bit and then back to our place to watch the sunset from "our beach."

 a really spectacular sunset.

the next morning we got up and headed down to kailua to kayak out to the mokes, which i had done in january when i went solo. it was so beautiful, travis needed to see it.

the white sand and teal water. i think this is my favorite view on the entire island.
the man isn't terrible either. :)

 of course we needed shave ice afterwards.

 ... and ted's. at least we shared though.

and then, not pictured, we went snorkeling at shark's cove. saw so many fish and the water temp was perfect.

 and again, the view from our beach while the sun set.

the next morning we got this cute picture. seemed like rem was surviving without us.

remy enjoyed egos for the first time and we went to keikis, my favorite beach and now travis's too.

 we frisbeed, played catch with the football, swam, saw a sea lion!!!!! like swimming right where we were swimming!!!! ate way too many snacks, read our books, kissed a little.

good grief this beach though. we practically had the place to ourselves.

for lunch we had fish tacos from a food truck and enjoyed this view. and the best ginger lemonade.

 and then back to keikis for post lunch naps. and yoga.

and then travis felt like jumping the rock again, so waimea.

 and i even did some bouldering. next time we go i'm bringing my climbing shoes though.

that night we played california speed for hours and watched movies. such a treat to be able to do whatever you want, whenever you want.


the next day was our anniversary!
we went back to keikis and played football. and we just cute in general.

 it was the perfect beach day, cloud cover and breezy.

 that night we went to dinner at a fancy shmancy place where they have $400 bottles of wine. we wanted to eat outside on the beach, but it rained, so we settled for the open glass door right next to the sand. plus it rained on our wedding day, so it seemed fitting. we were even spendy and ordered an appetizer.

 our food was DELICIOUS. i had the orecchiette (pasta) with shrimp and fresh caught moonfish. asparagus and tomatoes grown right there on north shore. travis had the quinoa and moonfish. everything was so fresh and tasty.

for dessert we shared creme brûlée. and then we were very stuffed the rest of the night. we spent over $100 on our meal!!!!!!!

 the next morning, we headed back to keikis. duh.

 found the graffiti wall finally.

lunch time! teds! their shoyu chicken. NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM

that afternoon we did a touristy thing i've never done before and explored waimea valley and falls. it was actually really great! there was a huge botanical garden with plants from all around the world.

and then we enjoyed an amazing acai bowl. (the place where kava roots used to be is now a new acai place that was almost as good. which is saying something.)

the next morning my dad sent me this picture of remy enjoying his breakfast.

and we went out to breakfast at this adorable place in waialua where everything is local and fresh and amazing.

then we headed back to our place to get it cleaned and packed up for check out.
it was our first time using airbnb and i would HIGHLY recommend this place to anyone looking for $100 a night spot away from crowds and tourists. (it's called "hula heaven.")

 we stopped at turtle beach for some snorkeling. we saw 8 turtles there!

and then we had to go swim at keikis again.

 after lunch, we went to check out this place i found on trip advisor for the best shave ice on north shore. they made their own syrups from actual fruit and chocolate grown on trees right behind the store!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yes. it was the most amazing shave ice known to man.

and they had a lot of other cool products too. and delicious coffee.

plus we got a tour of how chocolate and coffee grow on trees.

 then we stopped at waikiki before our flight so travis could see the madness. he did not care for town. at all. and we kept the tradition of going into harry winston and asking to see their most expensive diamond. (which is 9 carats and costs two million dollars, just so you are aware.)

then a hawaiian sunset over the hawaiian airlines plane waiting to board. sigh. back to real life. and time to lose the five pounds i gained from ted's pie. double sigh.

five years of marriage!
we have kept really busy. two homes, (a few credits away from) two bachelor's degrees, a human who didn't exist before us, hg pregnancy, 8 month army stint being apart.
those are just the big ones.

marriage is hard. not all the time, and not always as hard as it was the past year, but it is hard. there are days when we aren't nice to each other or take each other for granted. there were a lot of days the past year that i didn't even want to be married anymore. we both have made mistakes and hurt each other. yet here we are. still married, still trying. that's what makes it great, is that you forgive and continue to stay together. you keep doing the small things, like leaving notes, texting the other to not give up during 6 mile runs, taking remy so the other can sleep in. being supportive even when you don't understand why the other chooses things you don't agree with, like me leaving the church or travis joining the army.

and isn't it great to have someone to be completely yourself with, comfortable, naked, silly, passionate, emotional, open. marriage can be hard, but marriage is great.

and if you use italics, using simple words like great are way more meaningful right?

travis and i have seen the best and worst of each other and we still feel that love.
here's to another five years.

xo.