Two Years

Today marks two years of blissful marriage for Jase and I. My favorite part of anniversaries is looking back to day one. Below are a few excerpts from the journal I kept during that time and more wedding photos I've fallen more and more in love with.

'April 13, 2013 couldn't have gone more perfectly. Despite my being 10 minutes late, my perfect groom was waiting patiently at the temple for me.'

'I wanted to have it at Grandma's to have her involved and remembered. She spent so much time preparing that home for entertaining others. I wanted to show-off its elegance and her impeccable taste. Our open-house went beautifully.'

I imagine being the bride and groom is similar to being royalty and a presidential candidate at the same time. It's all smiling until your face hurts, kissing babies, unprecedented amounts of hugs, and being better dressed than everyone else.

'When we showed up to the hotel, I in my wedding dress and Jase in his suit, the bellman asked our last name. As we entered the lobby the bellman shouted, "Everyone, may I have your attention. Introducing for the first time, Mr. & Mrs. Noack!" The lobby of about 50 people started to applaud.'

'Roberts, Lacee, and baby Eli picked us up and we went to my grandma's grave. My mom gave us general directions of where it was but when it came to finding the marker I had to think back to her graveside service. So, of course, I'm crying because of the memories while I'm searching and a little bit frustrated. We finally found it and I left my bridal bouquet there for her.'

'The cruise was a great deal because all of the food was included and you got to go to different places. One night we both ordered steak and a lobster tail since neither of us had ever tried it. We didn't like it'

And my favorite memory of all:
Jase- "You need me."
Brooke- "Awe, I do need you (:"
Jase- "No, you kneed me in the balls."

And the romance continues!

The last two years have flown by. We are doing all we can now to ensure our future is a bright one. I am so grateful to have my best friend/husband with me through it all. I am so excited to see what our future holds. 

We'll be dining at Flemings to celebrate. It is the same place we ate on our wedding night since we were starving and had a ton of cash. This time we won't be in t-shirts, jeans, and vans!

Wedding Photography-Cortnie Dee Photography
Wedding Planning-Bon Wed
Last Photo-Ash Gabes Photography

Torrey Pines

We spent our Saturday at Torrey Pines State Beach. I've been wanting to take Jason for the views and mellow hiking trails. There are many hiking trails to choose from but we chose the Beach trail for today's hike which, you guessed it, leads to the beach. It was warm out but overcast with a nice breeze, ideal hiking weather!

When we got down to the beach we decided to venture off to a trail less traveled. The trail doesn't look like anything at first since it's rock and the tide easily reaches it but there is a walkway cut out to allow a dry trip to the other side of the cliff. It lead to an almost empty beach, which is nice to find on a busy Saturday.

Leave it to Jase to find a toy wherever we go! I didn't even realize he wasn't following me until I looked back to see him whipping the sand with his new find. 

Oh! and side note: Twice we had someone shout 'Go Broncos!' as they walked passed Jase in his Broncos hat and shirt. He liked that (:

Once we were done with the beach and starving, we headed back through the winding trails and down the hill to head to Del Mar for mexican food. I highly recommend Kotija Jr. Definitely making a hike then Kotija a tradition. We deserved it. 

January 17, 2015

Today was amazing. Mostly because of saving money, being productive, and having fun while doing so. Some of my most favorite things.

First off, grocery shopping. I've been lazy about it and haven't been doing my research or planning prior to going. But this time I made sure I made my grocery list according to coupons, sales, and what I already had in my kitchen. The Vons app makes this SO easy. It shows you all of the sales and coupons and you can add the sale items to Your List and the coupons to Your Card. When you swipe your club card or enter your phone number your coupons show up! It even gives you exclusive coupons for items you regularly buy. I LOVE it. I saved $54 today! It's no extreme couponing but that's $54 I get to keep in my pocket! That $54 was 33% of my total bill! Oh, and Vons had a coupon that gave you $9 off of your $90 purchase. What the random...but heck yes I redeemed it! Right now we don't have the means to buy in bulk so these small victories will have to do for now. I'm building our pantry at a slow pace, but I'm hoping some day in the near future my grocery store trips will just be for meat and produce...at least for a couple of weeks.


Secondly, Productivity! I went grocery shopping and to the bank in less than an hour and Jason did yard work while I was gone! THEN...we went to Sea World! Usually Sea World is an entire Saturday event but fortunately for us, we live 10 minutes away and my parents got us the Fun Card for Christmas. The Fun Card is a promotion that allows you to get the entire year free if you pay for ONE day. INSANITY. I love it. We also get free parking January through March and a souvenir cup that is 99 cents per refill. Lots of perks.

So today was awesome for fun reasons too, although Sea World was especially fun since it was free. Jason did a few firsts. First time at Sea World San Diego (He went to the one in San Antonio while he was down there for basic training), ATE A CHURRO (aka stopped living under a freaking rock), and had Dippin Dots. Jason loves animals so I knew he'd have fun being able to touch them at the tide pools and see them swim around. I think seeing Jason experiencing all these new places and things is what will allow me to withstand being baby hungry for a few more years. It's so sweet how child like he is when he discovers new things. We were looking at Rays and Horseshoe Crabs at the tide pools and he was excited to see the crabs because he had heard about them and some fun facts about their blood. I told him he could touch them and the Rays too. He wouldn't until he asked an employee. It was so hilarious how amazing it was to him that he would be allowed to TOUCH these creatures he'd awed at only in pictures. I also thought it was funny that he thought the shallow pools at child height with no barriers were off limits.

The best part was the complete absence of stress. We didn't need to cram everything into one day, it was impromptu, no children in tow, and buying treats wouldn't break the budget. We went to Disneyland in October and that was a bit stressful...It was crowded and it was expensive so we HAD to make the most of being there. We didn't get to see everything but we pushed ourselves to the limit. We left exhausted and I with a gnarly blister. We were happy to be leaving Disneyland. On the contrary, when leaving Sea World we were so excited to go back since we knew there was more to see and we could whenever we wanted. We're going to take it really slow and just meander our way through Sea World each time and see one show or go on one ride each time we go. I'm so excited to have somewhere so fun and free for us to spend time together. You should've seen Jason during the Sea Lion Show, especially when the otter came out and waved. He was even laughing during the corny preshow skit. I love that he loves to have fun.

Padre Games

We really hit the jackpot this season! Our first game I bought tickets for the nosebleeds on Mormon Night for $10 each. On our way in (an hour and a half late) a couple asked us if we'd like tickets in the premier club seating. Heck yes! The seats were behind home plate and there were waiters available to take your orders. We didn't take advantage of that service since we were trying to have a frugal night out. At the end of the game there were fireworks put to the music from classic baseball movies. I have never seen a more amazing fireworks show! They shut off all of the major stadium lights and the fireworks were being shot off from just the other side of the field. Such an awesome night!

The next game was provided by my wonderful father. He was particularly excited about this game because it was against the San Francisco Giants. Jason is a fan and my dad frequents their games when he visits San Francisco for business. He sprung for some nice seats for Jason, myself, himself, Derek, David, and two friends of my brothers'. My dad's the best!

Our third game was thanks to a coworker who had several free tickets for the nosebleeds and I snagged the last two! 

Our last game of the season was back in the nice seats with my dad and some clients. He had purchased the tickets well in advance and had two to spare. So at 4pm he texted me to ask if we wanted them. Of course! Man, I love my family and being back in San Diego. Hopefully next season we'll be just as lucky!

2nd of August

I turned 22.

Jason is always excited about my birthday and he always does AMAZING. This year he wasn't able to be here. Even though he had just been gone for 2 weeks for military duties, he had to leave again for his usual monthly drill. So Thursday we celebrated. When I got home from work he blind folded me and lead me to the gray room (a name my grandma had given it because, well...it's gray.) and he brought me presents one by one. I had to close my eyes between each present and hold out my hands for the small ones. 

He got me:*

an iPhone charger (No idea where mine went!)

The most adorable apron

Four six packs of mini San Pellegrino

a Kate Spade "Mrs." necklace

Jo Malone-Wild Bluebell perfume

an Ivanka Trump handbag
a Kate Spade tote

Bottega Louie Macarons 

(which he had shipped to me from LA in a really nice insulated bag we will most definitely be using for our next picnic)

Put a couple hundred dollars in our savings

&

Paid off a credit card that was a few hundred dollars!!!!

He did all of this with the money he earned while he was away. Now he's glad he went. He feels like it was worth the heat and boredom.

(There's another 2 rows of Macarons but we ate those pretty quick..)

I know I have to be away but you still deserve the best

-J

After opening presents we watched The Grand Budapest Hotel and had a Papa Johns pizza delivered.  It was perfect.

Of course I was sad to not have him here on my birthday but having my family and Krista near by made it much more bearable.

Friday night I spent the night at my parents'. Saturday, my actual birthday, I went school shopping for my little brother with him, one of my older brothers, and my mom. (This gave me a great opportunity to browse clearance sections.) We got a cupcake from The CupCake Store in Santee. My mom and I got pedicures. Then I met up with Krista and Trevor for dinner at BJ's! I was so happy to be able to actually spend time with them. The past two birthdays had to be crammed into a flat rate box. I could do without the presents, just having the people you love around you on your birthday is what makes it awesome. But I also didn't mind the gifts (:

My parents got me a cute maxi dress and a generous gift card to Ikea. (We're saving up for a few pieces of furniture we've had our eye of for awhile!)

Krista & Trevor bought me dinner, got me a cute cosmetics bag, makeup, nail polish, and a Kate Spade compact mirror!

The compact has "hey gorgeous" engraved on the front. HA! So adorable.

I was SO spoiled this year! I have never had a birthday involving so many luxury/designer names! 

It feels weird to be 22 but glad I got here!

*(He also got me a Coach tote bag but we decided if we are going to spend that much money on one item I have to absolutely LOVE it. It was hard to tell him but he appreciated me telling him instead of 2 months later when he would bring up that I've only used it twice and then I'd finally admit I wasn't crazy about it and we'd be SOL. The Kate Spade bag replaced it and I'm so glad I spoke up! I LOVE IT!!)