A Day in Julian

The day after our dinner, the four of us met and drove up to a little town called Julian.  They are rather famous for their apple products, including caramel apples, apple cider, apple butter, and best of all - APPLE PIES!  Julian is similar to a miniature Gatlinburg for those of you back East.

We found some "Money Soap."  It was a bar of soap that contained real money - either 1, 5, 10, 20, or 50.  We all got out our money and compared with the little bit we could see.  They were all 1s.  Go figure!

I had to adjust Smokey's scarf.

As present and former high school teachers, Jess and I had a great appreciation for this sign.  "Let me drop everything and work on your problem."

We all three shared one caramel apple, covered in nuts and streusel.  

My wonderful husband, loving and holding his wife

Goober pb&j!!!  This was totally new for me!  I love the top design!

"Can we go home yet?"

Yummy apple pies!  My dad would love Julian!

Dinner with Friends

Last weekend, Chris and I had two of our friends over for dinner and dessert.  We had spinach-artichoke dip with bruschetta for an appetizer, chicken 'n dumplins, green beans, and mac and cheese for dinner, and delicious fondue for dessert.  The fondue was GREAT!

(All of my pictures are backwards.  :-(  Mac and I do not completely understand one another yet.)

Chris and I (once again) obeying the Hershey sign

Chocolate fondue, complete with strawberries, pineapples, marshmallows, brownie bites, and pretzels

Jessica. . . having a moment shall we say!

Jess and Shari thought this was hysterical to make it look like Chris was watching his "favorite" movie.

Homemade bruschetta 

Homemade spinach and artichoke dip - so good!

Our Lovely Condo (for you, Mom!)

Greetings from sunny San Diego!  Chris and I are doing fantastic in our new life.  I couldn't be loving everyday life more than what I do.  This update is primarily for my dear mother - the only one who ever checks our blogs anymore.  Now that everyone is Facebooking, we have somewhat "given up" on our blogs (especially since no one looks at them).  Our Facebook is very active, but I would like my mother to know that her middle-born is still living and breathing!

Here are few pictures of our condo, Mom.  I hope you enjoy them.  Sorry it's taken so long to get them up.  But our place is really starting to shape up.  We are remodeling the kitchen top to bottom in the next couple of weeks.  I got to pick out the new cabinets, countertops, and sink at Home Depot!  Very exciting!  I'll post more pix once it's finished (maybe, in about a year, after much begging from my Maj!).  Love you, Mom!

The only shots of our kitchen you will see. . . until it is finished.  And just FYI, Chris obeys my oven sign daily.

With the help of my many cookbooks and my best friend the Crock Pot, I am able to serve meals that are rather delectable!

I just realized I have several signs requesting a kiss.  Gotta love being newlyweds!

Accent lighting in our beautiful bedroom

Chris says our bedroom looks like a hotel picture.  It is definitely my favorite decorated room in our abode.  (Oh, and please excuse our central A/C sitting in front the blinds.  Tacky, I know!)

Our front door with a touch of autumn

I love this lamp!  It is the greatest accent piece we own.  Chris thinks it's kinda dumb to have a lamp that doesn't give sufficient room lighting. . . I'm still working on this country boy.

The right side of our living room 

(Chris was chilling on the left side.)

Dining room ambience 

Our lovely dining room - We just got that huge mirror at Bed Bath & Beyond on big time sale!

Honeymoon in Montego Bay

After a very long and somewhat chaotic week, Chris and I were ready for a week long Sandals vacation in beautiful Montego Bay, Jamaica. We flew out of Cincinnati into Miami, then on to Montego Bay. Everything went very smoothly until we got to Montego Bay and realized our luggage didn't make the same flight we did! Like sister, like sister! Huh, Chica? :-)

Our tickets, passports, and Sandals reservations that took us to our waiting Paradise

Chris and I were not overly humored when our Miami --> Montego Bay flight was delayed. . .for the fourth time!
This was one of the neatest things I saw on the beach - a life-size chess board! It was awesome!
We went back that night after dinner to play a quick game.

The view from the balcony of our room. We were able to enjoy several events taking place on this pavilion with a front row seat view, including weddings.

The beautiful Jamaican sunset

Chris was VERY excited about his little shrimp dish! Apparently it was his favorite thing he ate while at the resort.
The food could not have been better. Every dinner was white glove service with at least 4 courses. We enjoyed the Orlander, Cucina Romana, Pavlion, Bayside, and the OK Corral. Each restaurant was unique in its food, service, and decorations.

I thought this was so cute! They put little flowers in the beach towels!

We both chose an activity of personal interest to do together. Chris chose horsebacking riding which was actually called "Swimming with the Horses." We literally rode horses out into the ocean until it was over the horses' heads! Very cool! I chose river tubing which was loads of fun. We had a great tour guide who was absolutely hysterical! He kept yelling "Shark!" and everyone would panic until they realized that sharks do not exist in that part of the Caribbean. Chris jumping off the side of a cliff into the river via a swinging rope tied to a tree branch

All in all, it was a wonderful week. Jamaica is beautiful, and I would recommend it to anyone. The people there thrive on pleasing tourists, making it an experience never to be forgotten.

The Long Awaited Update - Our Wedding

Chris and I are finally ready to post some new pictures after a looooong period of nothingness! We now officially have the internet in our cozy apartment here in Mission Valley, so hopefully I will become an active blogger once again!

I have greatly enjoyed seeing everyone else's pictures of our wedding over the past month. Thank you to all of you who have posted them. Ryan and Andrew did a terrific job! Instead of posting the same pictures, I am going to use a few snapshots from one of Chris's friends who was kind enough to email them to us, in addition to others from our photographers. Some of them are not professionally taken or edited, but they will give a flavor to our Big Day that I don't think anyone else has captured thus far. Enjoy!

Mrs. Polanycia (Chica) and Mrs. Scott (Squishy) kissing the last "Baker sister"

good-bye. . . at least to the shared family name!

One of my personal favorites - me and one of the many individuals who made my dream wedding come true. Thanks for the consoling moment in my room on Wednesday evening, Bek. I love you!

Isn't Pastor Duttry great!?! I guess he caught the Christmas spirit just before the ceremony! When I saw him walk in wearing a Santa hat, I knew it was going to be a fun ceremony.

Me and "my kids" - These are the six kids I have babysat for the past nine years. There was no possible way to choose only one flower girl and one ring bearer, so I found a position for all of them. Brandon (14) pulled Jonathan (1) in a sleigh; Riley (9) and Teresa (8) walked together as flower girl and ring bearer; and Joshua (5) and Emily (3) walked together as flower girl and Bible bearer. They were absolutely precious all dressed up in fancy dresses and little tuxedos! These children will always be priceless to me, and I'm so glad they were such a big part of my wedding.

My incredibly adorable father as he walks his last daughter down the aisle. I'm glad Rebekah and Chica went first because Dad had the whole walking-in-unison-with-a-girl thing down really well by his third go around! It doesn't hurt that with his adorableness (Merriam-Webster definition: worthy of being adored; extremely charming) comes his cute little stature. I love this picture because it captures a thousand unspoken words. I love you, Faj. Thanks for being my Superman!

My Christmas wedding . . .the beauty of a longtime dream captured in one picture

The bride's face as she informs her groom that "this whole event is the most natural thing I have ever done."

"With this ring, I thee wed. . .and pledge to thee all my love and FIDELITY!" (Only a handful of people will truly understand this. Let's just say my pastor is hysterical.)

"I now present to you, for the first time - Mr. and Mrs. Chris Smith."

Our "getaway car" was anonymously decorated with shaving cream, toothpaste, and toilet paper. We did manage, however, to use the provided toilet paper to smear off as much shaving cream and toothpaste as we could to put the top down before making our way to the nearest car wash. Great fun and good memories!