Mexican Anniversary

Well here I go playing catch up again. Maybe one of these days I'll post a blog about something that happened that day or even that week but for now, it'll be every few months at the rate I'm going...

So we made it a year!!! Is it weird if I feel like that's kind of a big deal? Everyone who said that the first year is the hardest was actually right. Lot's of adjustments and all kinds of compromises but all worth it at the end of the day. We're still in love, even when we hate each other ;)

For our first anniversary, I ask Dave to plan it and surprise me. I am the hardest person to surprise and I have spoiled many would-be surprises in the past so I decided to give him a chance to plan something fun all on him own and hope I'd love it. Good news: I LOVED IT!!! But who wouldn't love to spend a weekend in a quaint little beach house with the blue ocean in the backyard?

The beach house in La Mision, Mexico

The amazing ocean view

I knew we were going to Mexico but Dave had told me that we were going to drive there so I didn't know what to expect. After two hours of driving we crossed the Mexican border and I would be lying if I said that I wasn't feeling anxiety. We decided to bring Indy since Dave said that where we were going allowed dogs so a part of me was worried that he wouldn't be allowed to cross the border back with us. It ended up being a silly thought since what are the border police going to do with a dog? We all made it back just fine. Anyway, as we crossed I was amazed at how different the land looked from the US to Mexico in just a few yards. We were definitely in a different country. As we navigated to the place we were going to stay at, I was also worried that Dave would get lost. But being a man with a mental GPS, arrived without a hitch and got there around 11:00 PM. Since it was dark, I couldn't see much of the outside but I could hear the waves crashing close by so I was satisfied. When we got into the beach house, I was more than satisfied because it was the cutest, coziest, nicest beach house I'd ever been in. It had a living room, little kitchen, big bedroom, and a balcony facing the ocean. I found myself pleasantly surprised and Dave seemed pretty pleased with himself too.

The next day, I woke of to take in the gorgeous scenery. I absolutely love the ocean so I was excited to walk down to it and feel the warm October sun. 

It was also Indy's first time at the beach so we were excited to see what he would do. I look back and wish I had video recorded it because it was hilarious! He loved the sand and ran around like a maniac. Since the beach was private and no one was in sight, we just let him run and run as far as he wanted to and he would always run back with such a happy look on his face and it just melted my heart. 

This is one of my all time favorite pictures. Such a happy boy.

The next day he made a friend on the beach :)

Over the next couple of days, we went to Ensenada, and Rosarito. We bought a leather jacket for me and a leather duffle bag mostly for the purpose of letting Dave use haggling as a sport. We ate Mexican food everyday and spoiled ourselves to great little restaurants over looking the ocean. We even went horseback riding on the beach at sunset. I'm sure that as the years go on, life could get more hectic and anniversaries may become less romantic (hopefully not) so I just reveled in every moment of our weekend get away in paradise. We made so many wonderful memories.

Unforgettable sunset in Rosarito

When our weekend came to an end, I was really sad to be heading home. The past few days had been so relaxing and fun and full of love that I just didn't want to go back to reality. But before we left to come back home, we had one last stop. We stopped in La Gloria to go to church and spend time with some of Dave's old friends. For years Dave volunteered with a group that come to Mexico to build housed for families. He had made some good friends in the branch there and it was great to see them so surprised to see him and so happy to spend sometime together again. Even though I can't speak or understand Spanish, I felt the spirit strong during the church and it felt like home. 

After church I got to experience the long process of crossing the border. It was crazy seeing people selling things on the side and even in between cars on the freeway leading up to the border. We even got harassed but the border patrol for having Utah plates and coming in to California so we really got the WHOLE experience. Despite the little unpleasantries at the end of the trip, the weekend spent with my sweet husband, silly dog and the Mexican sun was more than I could've ever hoped for. Dave did good. Now it's up to me to plan next year's anniversary and I am not sure how I am going to one-up this...