Ahh Married Life!

I have a lot to catch up on so I decided to just go for it, bits and pieces. Someday I will catch up again. But for now, I'll accept a random order and not let myself be OCD about it.



My birthday started out with my cute and wonderful husband making me breakfast!! Look! He even made poppy seed pancakes!! He is so thoughtful!! I am the luckiest girl!

We were going to go to the Rose Festival, but OH! They are conveniently closed monday June 7th and Tuesday June 8th. So....We just went for a nice walk along the waterfront and it still turned out great.

For dinner, KR's mom made a wonderful family dinner and invited KR's grandparents and his brother Jon, his wife Joy and their ADORABLE little boy Jones. Oh my gosh he is just the cutest thing! And I felt so special when the table was set so fancy and beautiful! Just for me?! It was so sweet!

My delicious birthday brownie and ice cream surprise! YUM!!

Because my birthday was sort of a busy day (the day before moving) we celebrated it a few days later. KR took me to downtown Portland to eat in a high-energy Pub that had delicious food and a fun atmosphere! It was so good to get out! We hadn't done that in a while and it was nice to feel like normal people again haha.

Then, to top the night off, we had cake and martinelli's. But it wasn't just any cake. This was the top layer from our wedding cake!! See, we decided to eat it on our one month anniversary, which doubled as my birthday, so the cake would still taste good. Waiting a whole year, it doesn't sound as appetizing. And our wedding cake was good so we didn't want to wait a year and let it go to waste. Boy, am I glad! It was so delicious and we had more time to savor each bite and appreciate the moist chocolate cake and the divine banana buttercream frosting. Ahh. Heavenly!

After finally getting a little more settled in, we were able to make a real dinner and use some of our fun kitchen things! The meal itself wasn't that impressive, but we had fun and enjoyed making it special!

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Here is King R, amongst the masses of stuff we have. I took this right when he finished carrying everything up from the car and van (yes, that's right, he carried it all himself. He's such a stud! I was busy cleaning so we could put things away in a clean house, but that left him with all the heavy lifting. I'm so grateful for him)

After a lot of work and a few days, we were able to find spots for some things and then we sorted the rest into "departments", I.E. sporting goods department, home decor department, etc.

So because our kitchen is SO tiny, we have placed all our appliances and a few more items along the top of the cabinets. I was selective when placing them, making sure they were as aesthetically pleasing as possible. . .

After quite a few days of returning things, we were finally able to go use some of our gift cards!!
We got a bunch of fun kitchen things (like springform pans and mini muffin pans) and we got some decor items (frames which I am DYING to order some prints and hang them!! So excited!!) and we got a microwave!! (Although we have noooo place for it. . . it's sitting on the floor of our kitchen for now. . .)

This is our cute front door!
AH! I love our new little door mat!! Come visit!!

The first room of the house to be done was the bathroom! Everything has a place, I was able to decorate and KR even hanged the cute decorations on the wall! I love it! It's all cutely decorated and it's CLEAN! No clutter!! I am dying for someone to come over and admire it!

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Probably my favorite purchase was our vacuum!!! We wanted to get a really nice one, because we see it as something we'll use a lot and won't want to keep dumping money in to cheap ones. So, we budgeted our gift money and researched it and found it for about $150 less than regular price!! We loooove it!! I especially love it because vacuuming is my favorite!!
(oh and notice how much space we have in our living room! We've made progress and it's pretty much wide open.)

I was laying on the newly vacuumed carpet and saw this. Ahhh

KR's sister, Cindy was in town for a weekend and I got to meet two more of my nieces. They are SO adorable! (More pictures to come later so you can see for your self!).
While she was in town, her youngest daughter, Danika, had a doctor's appointment at OHSU and so we came along. It was neat to see the OHSU hospitals and a little of the campus. Cindy had gone to school there and knew a few great connections for KR (fingers crossed for some sort of research position). The architecture is really neat and the entire campus and all the hospitals are all up on a hill over looking the river. This was a really neat sky bridge.

Then, while walking around, I randomly look at the wall and see this! NBD. . .

(That's KR's dad on the far right, FYI)

Life as a Wife!

Well, I have to say, being a wife isn't a whole lot different. . . yet.

We've been blessed to be able to live with KR's parents for a little bit while we find an apartment (and now we found one!! Look here for pictures!!)

As a result, we've had most meals prepared for us, which we are so grateful for.

But I've tried a few times to "practice" a little more before my training wheels are taken off (June 9th!).

I made dinner one night, and I wore one of my super cute aprons (which I struggled to make myself do because I keep saying how I want to wait until we are in our own little place and I am officially cooking or baking in my own kitchen)!!

KOOZA!!

As soon as we got back to Oregon, KR's parents took us and his grandparents to Cirque Du Soleil!!!
It was flat out amazing!! If you ever get a chance to go to a show, go!! The one we went to was titled Kooza! But I am confident they are all incredible!!


It's hard to explain how good it was but just know, we had a great time and we loved it!!

Memorial Day!!

Ah Memorial Day! The first sign of Summer! If you're still in school, it's a sneak preview of the 3 month vacation soon to come. If you're a homeless newlywed out of a job, it's another day with nothing on your agenda.

Or is it?

I love America and I love celebrating America.

Where I am from, it's tradition to go to the beach, spend time with family and of course, have a barbecue.

In Oregon, it's been raining prettttty much since I got here. I didn't get my hopes up for a traditional holiday celebration.

BUT! Oh my goodness it was the most beautiful weather! The sun was out and shining brightly! The temperature was a perfect 70 degrees! We even had steaks to barbecue!

After making a few exchanges and running a few errands, KR and I spent as much time outside in the afternoon sun as we could.
We most certainly barbecued and even listened to a little Lee Greenwood. It was a wonderful day, with the exception of missing my family. And the beach. :)

For family home evening, KR's mom had us read some quotes about America and I loved it. I always love to reflect on the lives of those who have fought and continue to fight for our freedom. 4th of July by far one of my favorite holidays. KR's grandpa served in WW2 and went to the line of fire to protect America from the Japanese. He had shrapnel in his shoulder still today. It was touching when KR's mom, Peggy made a point to call her father and thank him for his service. She passed the phone to her husband, KR's dad, Ken and then to KR. I told KR to pass along my thanks. Part of me was too shy because although I know him and he's such a sweet man, I was still a little shy to talk on the phone. But most of me did not want to talk to him personally because I already felt the lump in my throat.
We had watched a slideshow made for Grandpa Marchant's 80th birthday, which was a compilation of pictures of his full life he's had so far (with plenty left to go!). There were pictures of him preparing to go to war, during and after. Again, I've loved reflecting on the lives of those who fought. But to see actual images taken during that time of someone I know was powerful. Combine that with thanking him personally for sacrificing so much? I wouldn't have been able to hold back my tears.

Earlier in the weekend, KR and I were driving and along the river, we saw this:

1000 flags.

I shrieked and begged KR to pull over so we could take some pictures.


Well there was a detour and we wound up across the bridge (which I am told happens a lot. Peggy had just been telling me earlier that sometimes you'll be driving and then say, "Ooops, well I guess I'm crossing the river." There are a lot of freeways and bridges and sometimes you find yourself crossing them without intending to). But on while we were driving, it gave us a different angle of the flags. I know the pictures aren't great; in fact, they are horrible. But look between the railing and look at the effect those 1000 flags have from a distance. They are so neat up close, but look how many there really are.

Anyway, we made it back and parked and I was able to take some pictures. But while I was pretending to be a photographer, I started realizing this was more than just a "photo-op".

Each flag had a name on it. Each flag represents a person who gave their life or other sacrifices so we can live freely and safely.
A whole new level of beauty comes in to these pictures when you think of all the symbolism and patriotism involved.

I have to say, I am so grateful for those who have fought for me and my family. Those who are fighting today. Those who live without loved ones close so I can live with my loved ones. Those who fight for America.
Thank you.

I want to leave you with my favorite picture of the day. I didn't do a drop of editing to it (not that I edit my pictures much anyway). I love it. It has so much emotion. Look how all the color is almost completely washed out, and the clouds around are gray and grim. And yet the flag still waves and the sun still shines through.

America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

Casa Del Estebanes!!!

Wellllllllll..........We found an apartment!!!

We are sooo excited!!

After a long search and about 12 walk-through's, we found one that felt right and fit right.

The price was great and the location is very central- only a 12 minute drive until you're IN Portland and I can literally walk to the mall and/or Target!!

Here are some pictures to give you an idea! We'll post more once we've moved in and [sort of] settled.

Here's a view of the outside. We're on the second floor up there.

Our front door! Hello Mr. Stevens of Apartment 86!

Here's what it looks like when you first walk in and look straight. There's a hallway (and that's the bathroom, but we'll get there in a minute!)

To the left is the living room. We love it!! Look at the vaulted ceiling and the skylights at the top up there! Yay! Sunshine!!

Here's the same view but a few more steps back (standing in the kitchen almost)

To the right is the kitchen area. (I forgot to take a picture of the actual kitchen). We love that it doesn't have carpet under where our table will go.

Then standing in the living room, the same wall the front door is on (see it there on the left?) are these windows!! They continue on the other side of the front door, in the kitchen too!! If Portland ever has a sun, I'm getting every ounce of that sunlight in my house!

Now if you walk down the hall, you see this:

This is standing right in the bathroom door and behind those accordion doors is this:

Shelves!!

Then to the right a little you get in to the actual bathroom. Notice a certain color....? :)

Please know that this was all coincidence and KR had just as much say in the matter and I did not force him to live in the house with the pink bathroom :)

But look at that counter space! I love having counterspace in the bathroom. And storage under the sink. Some places we looked at had absolutely nothing! Just a free-standing sink and I was not ok with that. THIS however, is fabulous!

One last look at the bathroom. Lots of mirror and even a medicine cabinet (I miss having that. I loved it in our house)

Then if you go back out of the bathroom and turn right (or if you are just going down the hall to begin and turn left), you'll see this:

Our bedroom!! This is a view taken from the closet.

This is taken a little more in the bedroom door; the closet is on the right.

Now here is the closet (see the bedroom door on the right).

All in all, we are super excited about it. We felt good and went on a final walk through today and it just confirmed it is the right place for us. We could see ourselves living there, which is exactly what we want: to start our life together and to live.

We're so grateful we found something and we're grateful for everything that's been done to help us. KR's parents have been wonderful in letting us stay with them-absolutely wonderful. And my family did so much to help us move and to get all packed up. It was so sad to say goodbye. I kept telling myself it was just like college, but in a way it wasn't. It made me cry to see my dad cry. He doesn't cry very often so when he does, you know he means it.* It even made me cry all over again when relaying the scene to a family friend of KR's.
We pray just about every night in gratitude for all our families have done for us. It's immeasurable and we will never be able to express the emotions, nor will we ever be able to repay them. But just to try one more time: thank you. We love you and for the family far away, we miss you. A lot. Please don't forget about us. We love you.


Oh and my faithful followers (which I was so pleasantly surprised to see there are more than two of you out there!!) I will be trying my hardest to get caught up on everything. I was waiting for the wedding pictures but they are taking a long time and now I am so far behind, it's just daunting. But I promise I will try to little by little. Thank you for being patient and for not giving up on me. . . well us. Oops. It's "our" blog now. Haha.

Till next time!

*It would be a fallacy (although I'm not quite sure which one exactly) to infer that when I say "my dad doesn't cry very often, so when he does, he means it", I also believe that to cry often means you do not mean it. I cry very often and I often mean it.