Wow. We get an F for follow through in regards to this blog. Life has been sooooo busy we just haven't had a chance to follow up with everyone since our wedding, over 10 months ago!
Our wedding was everything we could have hoped and prayed for, and then some. We were so blessed to have our family and our friends surrounding us and the day was PERFECT! Apart from some unexpected weather, causing us to move the ceremony indoors (that's the June gloom I suppose), everything went exactly as planned, if not better!
After we were happily married, we headed off for our honeymoon. We spent the first night at the Hilton in Ontario and then flew to Oakland, CA. Once in Oakland, we rented a car and drove to SF for the afternoon. Paul had never been to SF, so we had a great time exploring Alcatraz and eating at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. I even aced all the Forrest Gump trivia questions, naturally!
We then drove to BEAUTIFUL Carmel, CA where we stayed at the Colonial Terrace hotel. The view from our hotel room was breathtaking and we had such a great time. We took a few little day trips to some nearby attractions including the John Steinbeck museum, Monterey Bay Aquarium, and of course, the 17 mile drive. Consistent with the title of this blog, we managed to get lost and turn the 17 mile drive into a 35 mile drive....
We left Carmel and drove to San Simeon to visit Hearst Castle. It was quite a hot tour (literally) but it was amazing to see such lavish surroundings. We both have said we want to go back there someday to see the "rest" of the Castle. We then continued our trek down the coast and landed in one of my favorite places.... Pismo Beach. Although we were only there for a night and part of a day, we managed to visit Del's (for pizza), the cinnamon roll place (for....cinnamon rolls....duh), and Brad's (for clam chowder in a bread bowl). We also managed to walk along the beach and hang out on the pier. As a matter of fact, we loved it so much, we are going back to Pismo Beach for 4 days for our 1 year anniversary!!!!
The last stop of our honeymoon was Simi Valley to visit the Reagan Library. Obviously, Paul voted for this stop. ;) But, as it turned out, I loved it just as much as he did. It's a beautiful tribute to one of our favorite Presidents and is full of American history.
We returned home and settled into our new apartment in Redlands. Then....we started real life.
In August, I finished my Master's degree! I now have a Master's in Teaching with a specialization in Applied Behavior Analysis. It's a mouthful, but it basically means, I know all about ABA. :)
In September, we helped welcome our newest nephew into the family. Matt and Nicole Adams (Paul's cousins) had their second baby boy on September 17, 2009. Caleb Thomas Adams is now 7 months old and is already full of such a great personality. Paul and I love spending time with Caleb, and his big brother Lukas. We also love spending time with their parents and grandparents. Lately, we have been fortunate enough to spend time with Paul's brother Tim, and his 3 kids Audrey (13), Timothy (10), and Noah (5). All of the little cousins love to play together, and Sunday afternoons make the perfect opportunity for all of us to spend time catching up with each other. I'm so blessed to have married into such a wonderful family!
In October, I started a new job as a behavior therapist for the Center for Autism and Related Disorders (C.A.R.D.). I'm basically doing the same thing I was doing before, but I'm able to acquire all of my supervision hours to get my Board Certified Behavior Analyst certification completed! God willing, I'll have those completed by the end of the year and will take my exam in March 2011.
In November, I finally got to participate in the time honored Townsend/Adams/Carter tradition of Thanksgiving with Uncle Gary!!!!!! Uncle Gary visits once a year at Thanksgiving for the whole week. It's such a great time of fun and family and food (especially chicken enchilada soup). Previously, I would always spend Thanksgiving with my parents and brother. But this year, I was officially a participant in the festivities. The high point of the week, of course was the Dallas Cowboys victory over the "mighty" Raiders.
In December, Paul finished HIS Master's degree in Library and Information Science. He continues to work as the reference librarian for the the Law Library for San Bernardino County. He has been able to travel to many places and I was able to accompany him (twice) to Washington, D.C. We both LOVED going to our nation's capital and are looking forward to going again in October of 2010.
Since then, life has kind of slowed down a little. We both continue to serve in ministry at Centerpoint Church. I am on the worship team on Sunday mornings, and Paul and I both serve on the leadership team of the Journey. The Journey is the 20-30 something group. We have both been very encouraged by the growth we have seen in ourselves and in the group. We are blessed to have such a great group of friends.
In February, we moved to a bigger condominium in Colton. It's much roomier and we are very happy here. Also, it is more centrally located for both of our jobs, so the commute is easier in the mornings and evenings!
Other than that (because we obviously have free time), we are continuing to enjoy being married! I can't believe it's already been 10 months! It really is true, you plan and plan for your wedding and then *POOF* it's all over! I'm so glad to be married to such a wonderful man and am so thankful to God for the blessings He has given us so far!
We'll try not to neglect the blog so long next time....
