Aniversary Celebrations

As many of you know from my last post, Nathan and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary this weekend. It was so fun and I have to say Nate totally spoiled me! The past couple weeks have been really busy and for awhile we couldn't decide what to do for our anniversary. Or so I thought. On Thursday at work Nate emailed me an "itinerary" and had secretly planned the whole thing! The plans he made were just perfect. The weekend started at 6:00 on Friday when we both got home from work. We packed a bag of PJs and clothes for Saturday and headed downtown for the Padres game!

We got the cheapest tickets you could get but they were great! I actually loved sitting up high and being away from the crowds. We could see the game perfect and it was fun to watch people go crazy over foul balls down below.


I love baseball games! Its so fun to talk and watch the game while eating nachos/red vines...


Petco Park is a cool stadium. We will for sure be going to more games this summer.After the game we went down to the marina where Nate's family's boat is parked to watch a movie and spend the night. You can't find a hotel in San Diego with a better view! Up to this point Nathan had been talking about how excited he was to give me my "surprise". I totally wasn't expecting a surprise after all that we had planned already. But before we watched the movie he gave me and envelope which contained 2 tickets to see Guy Fieri from the Food Network (Drive-ins, Diners, and Dives, Guy's Big Bite, Minute to Win-It, etc.) in a show at the fair on Saturday night! I couldn't have thought of a better surprise.
The view from the boat window in the morning...

In the morning we packed up and took off to get breakfast at my favorite place. The Original Pancake House in Rancho Santa Fe! Nathan got his favorite of flap jacks with bacon and I got buttermilk pancakes with eggs. Then we drove over to Del Mar for the San Diego County Fair! I had never been to a big fair like that before and was excited.

Outside the fair entrance...

We walked around the fair for about 5 hours looking at everything from cool kitchen gadgets and high quality olive oils to giant speed boats, woodworking/art displays, weird info-mercial like booths. It was so fun!

We also went over and saw all the livestock. (PS I look pregnant in this picture, but in fact just have bad posture..)


And there was a whole hall dedicated to flowers/gardening! Aren't these roses pretty?

Most importantly we tried some pretty crazy fair food. My favorite was the grilled corn on the cob. It was so good drenched in butter and sprinkled with salt.



Oh yes we did. The San Diego Fair (as I'm sure most American Fairs) is known for having many, many deep fried items. They have everything from deep-fried Twinkies, to deep-friend bread pudding, and even deep-fried butter? I also heard rumors of chocolate-covered bacon, which sounds gross to me. We opted to try a deep-fried Snickers!


Nate going in for the first bite. As you can see it came out looking like a corn dog.



Pretty good! And pretty disgusting at the same time. At the least it was something to check off our bucket list!

After cruising around the fair for awhile we were hot and tired and decided to take a break before coming back for the show later that night. We went to UTC mall in La Jolla to pick out a Father's day gift for Nate's Dad. Then we wanted to sit somewhere dark and cool so we went to the 4:00 showing of Toy Story 3! It was hilarious and I recommend seeing it. Then we went back to the fair and picked up our tickets to see Guy!


We had great seats on the ground! We enjoyed a bag of kettle corn while waiting for the show to start.



There he is! They asked for some volunteers to come up on the stage and Nate and I were going to go crazy to try and get picked until they said volunteers must be over 21. So we figured drinking of some kind would be involved and didn't try to get picked - and we were right! Guy was so funny in the show and he made a couple of dishes including Jambalaya and Pad Thai and also included a big batch of Margaritas.He even made some people do a minute-to-win it challenge. It was so cool to see him live!


The fair at night after the show. It was a great weekend and I most of all loved getting to spend quality time with my favorite person! Thanks for a great weekend Nate! I had a blast :) And happy, happy anniversary!

Its That Time of Year...

Historically, the most wonderful time of year that is! Why? Because everything significant in Nate and I's relationship seems to happen near the end of June. It all started 4 long years ago...

4 years ago...

I was a brand-new college freshman beginning my first summer semester at BYU. My first class of college ever was Chemistry 105. The first morning of class I woke up, put on my cutest outfit, walked up to the Benson building from the dorms, and got to class early to get a good seat. And good thing I did! Because moments after picking a seat on the 3rd row, a boy with barely honor-code appropriate long hair and bright blue eyes walked in. I noticed him right away and saw he was walking towards where I was sitting. To my surprise he sat 2 seats away from me! I pretended to scribble something down in my planner because I felt shy, and a few moments later he reached over to introduce himself and said "Hi, I'm Nate". Who would have known I was meeting my future husband at that moment? Even though my Dad told me not too, I guess I can truly say I married the first guy I met at BYU. But not right away! Within 5 minutes of talking he found out I had graduated from high school 2 weeks earlier, and I found out he was a scary returned-missionary. So because Nate didn't want to be creepy and date a brand-new freshman and I didn't want to risk dating someone with marriage on their mind we both put our original romantic interests on the back burner and became great friends that summer. We were study partners and worked together everyday, sometimes with a group of guys, and sometimes by ourselves. But, I TOTALLY had a crush on him the whole time and was frustrated when other guys in our study group would ask me out, but not Nathan Collins. I remember first meeting his little sister Emily (who was in my freshman ward that summer) and her telling me "Are you Erin Whitt, I'm Nathan's little sister, don't tell him I told you, but he thinks you're really pretty." I smiled for the rest of the day after that! Even with that, I still never seriously thought he would ever like me. But he did! During this time he was constantly debating if he should ask me out even though I was so young and even made sure he was in my lab group so we could spend more time together. I'm glad we didn't start dating that summer though! Because I promised my Dad I wouldn't date return missionaries until after I was a freshman.



The year in between...

During Fall and Winter semester Nate and I both dated other people and were still good friends. He said he would strangely get more excited to see me than anyone else and would try and find me when he was visiting his sister down at Helaman Halls. I always had a crush on him as well! When he would come up and talk to me at the Wilk or at the library I would always tell my friends "that's Nathan Collins, he's the cutest boy I know". We even hung out a few times as friends. During Winter semester we were both dating people who weren't right for us and ended up hanging out and venting to each other about everything. If only Taylor Swift's song "You Belong With Me" was out then. Because it would have been applicable. Cheesy? Absolutely. But true? Yes.


3 years ago...

At the beginning of my sophomore summer semester (because I'm insane and went to school year round to finish early) my dear friend Susan and I were living at Liberty Square together. Because of complications where neither of us had cars like we had previously, we were running out of food at our apartment. I think at the time we only had peanut butter and ranch dressing in our fridge. So naturally we decided to go to institute where they serve dinner after the lessons. Pure motives? Susan and I were sitting in class and after a few minutes Nate walked in late and sat on the other side of the room. Once again I tried not to make eye contact because I always felt really excited, but kind of shy when he would show up. The class was passing around a role and Nate had already spotted me and wrote me a little note next to my name on the attendance sheet! After class Susan and I talked to Nate and confessed our motivations for coming to institute. Nate offered to take us to the grocery store and we glady took him up on it. We ended up hanging out with Nate and some of his friends all night. The next few days we hung out more - Susan and I even exploited him for a ride to the Llama festival where Nate and I got in the newspaper because we got asked to lead the llamas around the obstacle course and then pretended like we were the owners. I shamefully even made up a name for the llama I was leading that appeared in the local newspaper along with my quotes the next day. Such quality foundational memories. Later that weekend he asked me if I would like to go on a date with him! We went on many dates that summer and formed some of our greatest memories. The only problem was I was dating several other people at the same time. Nate said he had great suspicions about this because I wasn't always available to hang out. It really started to bother him - so in early August we were watching a meteor shower and he asked if we could date exclusively. And much to both of our surprises I said no! What was I thinking? I agonized about my decision for the next few days and just felt really awful. Strangely Nate still kept asking me to hang out. 3 days after I said no we had gotten lunch together and he dropped me off at my apartment. Susan was home and I started venting/stressing to her again about how I made the wrong choice and how I was scared he wouldn't want to date me anymore! Susan convinced me to call him and ask him to come back right then and there so I could tell him how I felt. What a good friend! I called Nate and asked him to come back. He said he thought I was going to ask him to stop calling me for good and that I didn't want to date anymore. So when he showed up at my apartment he looked really freaked out, which I interpreted as him not wanting to date me anymore! We went for a little walk and I told him I changed my mind and that I did really want to date him! He was so happy which made me happy! It was a great moment!

The year in between...

Was spent falling in love, deciding to get married, and getting engaged! A great year!

2 years ago...

We got married on June 21, 2008. Almost exactly after knowing each other 2 years and dating 1 year. Best day of my life!

I wish I could think of something significant that happened 1 year ago so I could keep the post going. But I think I've already gotten a little carried away with sappiness and reminiscing..I promise I really did spare many details even though that may be hard to believe. We love being married and are excited to celebrate our 2 year anniversary this weekend! Life is the best with Nathan, and words cannot express how much I love that guy.

Happy Anniversary Chinook!

Visit from My Girls!

2 weekends ago Nathan and I were lucky enough to have Jessica/Steve and Kasee/Jason come visit us in San Diego! Jessica and Kasee are two of my best girlfriends from college and I always love getting together with them! Not to mention they both married awesome guys who are also great. Both Steve and Jason are doing internships in the LA area this summer - so we all get to be in southern California together! That weekend Nate's parents were out of town for a baby blessing, but they still let us stay at their house with everyone. It was a great weekend! Everyone came down on Friday night and we went hot tubing and stayed up late talking. Then on Saturday morning we woke up and made a delicious breakfast of waffles, bacon and fruit before heading out to the zoo!



Breakfast!

The zoo was fun and never gets old! My favorite was the crazy monkeys. They were so active!







What could be cooler than the metal hippo?

After the zoo we all went to the beach for some relaxing and boogie boarding/surfing. Us girls got in some quality girl talk while the boys were in the waves. Doesn't get better than that!




Everyone!

I joined Nate in the water for the last little bit, but only because I had a really warm wetsuit! After the beach we got frozen yogurt and went back to the house to hang out. Then us girls went to the grocery store to get stuff for dinner and I showed Jessica and Kasee my apartment. We barbecued it up for dinner and had a great time chatting. Then we cleaned up and debated about what movie to watch (for about an hour..) only to have everyone decide on Mission Impossible III. I guess its good we picked a movie the guys wanted to watch because Jess, Kasee, and I "got distracted" changing into our PJs and ended up chatting through the whole movie! Good thing our husbands like hanging out with each other. We even talked after the movie till 2am after our boys went to sleep! Oh how I love them! On Sunday morning we all got ready and everyone came to our church. Kasee and Jess stayed to watch me teach a lesson in Young Women's.



Saying Goodbye!

It was a fun weekend and I can't wait to see everyone again soon!

Virginia

Last weekend I got to go home to Virginia. I took the red-eye out on Thursday night and got home Tuesday evening. I had such a great time! (so great that I forgot to take any pictures) I had to take a flight that stopped in Boston, then went on to DC. When I got off the plane the first thing I saw was a guy wearing salmon-pink shorts and a tucked in button-up blue shirt, how fitting. It felt good to be back on the East Coast! It was really nice to relax and see my family. I miss them a lot and wish Virginia wasn't 3,000 miles away. Nate didn't come with me because he had to stay back and take care of things at work, so that was the only downside - but at least I had something to look forward to when I got home!

Highlights of the trip included:

- My Dad picking me up from the airport and taking me to breakfast
- Talking and hanging out at the house with my Mom, Dad, and Wade (they are the funniest people I know and we love just sitting and talking!)
- Going to the outlet mall with my Mom and taking advantage of the 40% the entire store sales at J Crew and Banana
- Taking Wade to the driving range and getting slurpees
- Looking at all the beautiful greenery and trees I miss so much
- Eating dinner out on Saturday night at Cafe Sonne
- Playing cards (Spades, Pinochle, we love playing cards!)
- Going to church in my homeward
- Making a fabulous Sunday dinner with my Dad (he does the cooking in my family)
- Visiting with Sam and Erin who came up from Charlottesville on Sunday
- Playing dominos with the whole family
- Going back to the outlet mall with my Mom and Wade to return some pants - then helping Wade to pick out some clothes
- Watching girly movies with my Mom
- BBQing it up on Memorial Day

I loved being home! But I was happy to see Nate again - and really happy that I came home a washed/vacuumed car and spotless apartment. What a great husband! I will always be an East Coast girl, never a California girl. Even though there are no cool songs about Virginia girls. I already miss my family, but I least I have a family that is awesome enough to miss, right?

Small and Simple Things

Have you ever read the book "Small and Simple Things" by Marjorie Hinckley? It is awesome! She is such a wise and real women. I love her outlook on life. She always puts things in a way that is so simple, yet so true. These are a few of my favorite quotes from her - I think about them all the time!


"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."

"The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache."

"We women have a lot to learn about simplifying our lives. We have to decide what is important and then move along at a pace that is comfortable for us. We have to develop the maturity to stop trying to prove something. We have to learn to be content with what we are."

I especially like the part in this quote about "we women need to develop the maturity to stop trying to prove something." That is so true! It does take a lot of maturity to stop trying to prove something to everyone else. This is something I think about a lot and try and work on. How many times have you heard women judge each other in attempts to try and prove something about themselves? We women judge the girl who got married too young as having no real dreams of her own. At the same time others can't possibly see why a woman would decide to go on a mission instead of getting married. Women roll their eyes at the couple that decides to have kids right away. Then others insist that the couple who decides to wait to have kids is not making the right choice. The girl who decides to have children instead of going to graduate school is seen as wasting her talents. And those who decide to move on to higher education are viewed as selfish. Its so ironic - but happens all the time! Life is different for everyone and it really does take maturity to be content with ourselves - like she said.

"The trick is to enjoy life. Don't wish away your days, waiting for better ones ahead"

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children.I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."

What a great women she was - and still is. I miss her and President Hinckley, but am glad they are finally together!

A conversation

On g-chat roughly 1 minute ago.

Erica: babysitter is a funny word
Sent at 4:53 PM on Thursday
me: what does sitter even mean
Erica: i was just wondering
me: I also can't stop thinking about how the phrase "were found missing" doesnt make sense
also I think the word "week" looks weird
Erica: also i like the word "bed" because it looks like one


This is what happens when it gets closer to 5 o'clock.

A Week of Fridays

Every night this week has felt like Friday night. I love Fridays so its been awesome! The only downside has been it not being Saturday the morning after and still having to wake up and go to work. On Monday Nate's friend Lee and his wife Becky came into town. Nate and Lee are friends from computer engineering at BYU and Lee is helping Nate work on his big entreprenurial programming project. Those two can talk for HOURS about crazy computer stuff. I get bored with the conversations about C++ and interface modules but we did talk about some cool things like how the Kindle works, why its hard to take pictures in the dark, and how to simulate the flight patterns of lady bugs. On Monday we got dinner with Lee and Becky and then went down to Torrey Pines to check out the red tides. The red tides are a seasonal thing where algae in the water glows in the dark and you can see it when the waves break. We saw the lights in the waves and also noticed the sand lights up when you step on it! So cool! I felt like I was in Avatar. On Tuesday night I got off work, ran to Costco, stopped at home, picked up my friend who is also a young women's leader and made it to the YW activity I was in charge of. Right after the activity I met my friend Molly at Cheesecake Factory. She just graduated and was visiting some family in San Diego before heading off on an exciting trip to India! I had an amazing piece of key lime cheesecake and we had a great time laughing and catching up. After we went back to my apartment and hung out for awhile. You can't beat college friends! Last night after work I rushed home and packed a bag to spend the night at the boat. Nate, his Dad, Lee and Becky sailed the boat over to Mission Bay earlier that day and will be docked there for the next couple days. I parked as close as I could and walked to a spot on the beach to wait for Nate to come pick me up in the dingy. I probably looked really weird standing on the beach, fully clothed with a suitcase.

Me waiting.

Oh hey Nate!

After Nate picked me up we got warm clothes on and went for a cruise on the dingy around the bay (just the two of us!) to look at all the boats and the bridges and such. We saw the sunset and it was romantic and fun :) Then we went back and drank hot chocolate and sat around the boat talking to everyone. It was a great night! Like I said, the only problem was waking up early this morning and having Nate drop me back off at that beach so I could hike to my car, go home, get ready for work and make it on time. Right now everyone is still chilling on the boat. And I'm sitting at my desk. I wish I was there!

Its been a fun week! And best part is I still have the real weekend to look forward too!