Tim & Chelsea's Visit

Over Christmas my friends Tim and Chelsea came to visit.

We really enjoyed their company and they had a fun Hawaiian vacation.

It was good to catch up on everything with them...

Chelsea is half way done with law school and Tim is busy teaching.

Luckily, the weather was amazing and we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day at the beach.

And Chelsea and I talked a lot about wedding stuff, it was nice having her here to help me start the initial planning process.

They really enjoyed Hanauma Bay and seeing the beaches of Oahu. 

They treated us to an adventurous kayaking trip. 

We rented two double kayaks and went out of Kaneohe Bay.

The guy at the rental place told us there was a sand bar to stop at and a little island that had good snorkeling. We reached the sand bar, which was neat.

It was a little windy and overcast and we kayaked farther than we had to, which turned out to the wrong island.
But we had a good time.

It was sure good to spend time with them! 

Our Engagement

I was surprised when Zach popped the big question 3 weeks ago. Sure, we had talked about getting married and we'd say things like, "When we get married..." or "At our wedding..." but now that it's actually happening it feels surreal. Those first 48 hours of being newly engaged are moments I never want to forget. When we told our families and friends and people asked if we had a date set or knew any details all we could say was, "We don't know anything yet". I just wanted to soak in all the happiness and love I was feeling. We both couldn't stop smiling.
Sometimes throughout the day when life is crazy and hectic I look down at my left hand and see the ring Zach placed on my finger and I am reminded of how lucky I am...I get to marry and spend my whole life with my best friend; the one who makes me laugh every day and who loves me for all that I am.
Now that the feeling and words "engaged" and "fiancé" have sinked in we have started planning our wedding. We don't know much yet, but we are working on it. We know we want a relaxed, outdoors wedding in Southern California with our families and close friends. Every day we talk about ideas or look at Pinterest for insperation for our wedding. It has been fun and I love that Zach is into planning and giving his input.  Once we have our venue and date I know things will start to fall into place and it will be easier to plan and finalize everything.
I just want us to really enjoy and have fun in our engagement.

I'm addicted to looking at Pinterest!

 We are thinking an evening wedding and I want lots of twinkle lights

I love this sign

 I can't wait to try on wedding dresses...

I want something with lace but simple

It seems every day so far our thoughts on wedding colors change...

we really like the idea of gray pants for the guys 

so we've been leaning towards more soft, natural colors. 

But theses colors together are pretty!

Happy 2014!

2013 was a good year for us...

We had lots of visitors.

Zach worked the graveyard shift for 7 months {bless his heart}
so we could see more of each other and have a little more money.

We were able to go home to spend time with friends and family.

We got to explore a lot more of the island

and we grew even closer.

 

But to top off the year, on Christmas, Zach surprised me by popping the big question!

We got engaged!!!
 

Christmas day
 

We are beyond excited for the New Year!

And we welcomed 2014 by celebrating being in each other's lives for 10 years!

That's right, around 1:00am on New Years Day, 2004 we kissed for the first time.

It's crazy how fast time flies.

 

I am so grateful for where these 10 years have led us

because we've ended up right where we're meant to be!

Us in 2005 & 2013

 

 



I can't wait to spend my whole life with this goofball!

 

2014 is going to be a very busy year for us.

On top of planning and enjoying our engagement/wedding

Zach is going back to school.

He starts at UH in 2 weeks and will be studying kinesiology.

And in 2 days I will be starting my yoga teacher training;

to obtain certification to become a yoga instructor.

We are both very excited to be taking the steps needed to pursue future careers.

And we are just so happy!

 

Happy 2014 Everyone!!

 

Stay tuned for wedding stuff!!