I have about a zillion thoughts from our two-week, extravagant honeymoon to celebrate our new life together after so many years of striving for parenthood through so, so many avenues and coming up short. I fully intended to blog from across the country, we even packed a little laptop, but it stayed shut and off in Bryce's backpack. I wanted to be present in each and every moment, knowing I still have three weeks before school starts to play catchup.
Here are a few highlights from our trip, which was incredible and had just the right balance of hiking, nature, fancy food and drink, decadence, silliness, and a whole lot of romance:
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| What a wonderful welcome! |
It was interesting to me that Bryce felt incredibly uncomfortable calling this our honeymoon and needed to explain to everyone that we'd been married for almost 8 years but were just now able to take this trip. We didn't get anything extra or special for calling it our honeymoon (that welcome basket comes to everyone who stays at this amazing inn that I'll be writing about separately), just well wishes and happy feelings. It was fun to feel celebrated!
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| First full day, hanging out with the redwoods in Muir Woods |
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| Hiked to the top, what a view! |
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| Started our day of winetasting at Artesa...at 10 a.m. (!) |
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| First night sunset in Carmel-by-the-Sea (no tinkering with color) |
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| Absolutely loved the jellyfish (and everything else) at the Monterey Bay Aquarium |
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| At Andrew Moleta State Park in Big Sur |
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| Gorgeous view at Garrapata State Park a little further north in Big Sur area |
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| Ubiquitous lizards (I must have at least 100 pictures of the cute little devils) |
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| A butterfly on an aloe! Pretty pretty, not quite like at home |
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| Saw my dad, here we're on line for the Flight of the Hippogryff in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter |
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| Santa Barbara sidewalk butterfly |
It was a place of incredible beauty, some of it only captured if you stopped and just took it all in, ignoring any hustle and bustle. It was a gloriously happy time, only occasionally marred by grief and reminders of what we've lost. But man, if this is just a taste of what we have to look forward to, it's not too shabby.
Off to catch up on reading! I feel so out of the loop...
Want to read more #Microblog Mondays? Go here and enjoy!
It was great to follow your holiday in pictures. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts as well. I think you totally deserved any extra acknowledgement or pampering you got. We should celebrate couples who've stayed together through years of trials. It's a rather bigger achievement than just getting married!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I agree, just tying the knot isn't as much as surviving through trauma and tribulations together. There should be a name for that! :)
DeleteGreat pictures and welcome back! I'm so glad that you were able to put away the computer and enjoy your honeymoon! Glad you had an amazing time- you guys deserve it! :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you! It was good to get away and just enjoy each other.
DeleteIt looks like a wonderful trip!
ReplyDeleteAnd I second torthúil's opinion -- staying married through all the tests and trials that life has thrown at you is a huge thing to celebrate!
Thank you, it was a wonderful trip! I think I took thousands of pictures. Thank goodness for digital media, so I didn't have to worry about film limits! :) Yeah, I'm all about tortuil's opinion for sure!
DeleteYou both look so happy! The pictures are amazing. So glad you were able to do this. So glad you did.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Happy for sure. I waved in your general direction when we had layovers in Chicago... :)
DeleteWonderful photos, and a wonderful post full of joy and hope. I'm so glad you had such a good time. Yes, a few sad moments were inevitable, but it didn't spoil the trip for you, and you were able to celebrate your relationship after going through so much. Brava!
ReplyDeleteThank you! It was an interesting balance for sure, but overall the good way, WAY outweighed the bad. It was definitely celebration and hope.
DeleteI love your pictures Jess - the sunset is amazing. So glad you had a much-deserved lovely time. I'm getting ideas about my own 'honeymoon' trip now.... nice to feel celebrated for once, and I do love a welcome basket (even though I know everyone got one at your inn; in Ireland, not so much - a 'honeymoon' might spur them into generosity, even finding a chocolate or some nice biscuits would get me excited....).
ReplyDeleteThank you! There were so many sunsets that were incredible, so many beautiful wave pictures and fuzzy sea otters beyond the surf that were hard to capture on "film." That welcome basket was the only one we received... more reasons to LOVE that inn! I think everyone should take a belated honeymoon, or second honeymoon, or whatever to celebrate the state of things as they are now, having experienced marriage for a period of time...hopefully goodies abound! :)
DeleteWhat a heavenly and amazing experience! I'm so excited and happy for you and Bryce. Maybe you should plan a "honeymoon" every year, until he gets used to calling it that! *grin*
ReplyDeleteHa! I will bring that up... :) It was a great experience. Such an extravagant and wonderful celebration of us.
DeleteI'm so glad you guys did this!!! Big Sur is one of the most beautiful places on earth.
ReplyDeleteIt sure is! The coast from Big Sur up was really spectacular, so primeval and gorgeously rugged. I would love to go back.
Deletehey, I've been wondering how you've been doing! That looks like it was such a fun trip and did you both the world of good :)
ReplyDeleteYes! For sure, it was beautiful and restful and celebratory and really felt like a capper of happiness on an otherwise craptastic year. It felt like a fresh start, hopefully one that we can keep moving forward now that we're back to work prep and cat boxes... :)
DeleteWhile I missed you in this space, I am so happy you were present. How awesome that you were celebrated in this new chapter of your lives together! Looks like a deliciously fun time.
ReplyDeleteGlad you had such a great time! -- fabulous photos!! :)
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