Hitched: Life of John and Ebey

{Changes}

2010-07-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

Well its been about five whole months since my last blog post, and I have to say that it quite too long for my liking. A lot has happened in the last five months and to make this post fairly easy to read I will list off the crazy business that has been going on in our lives:

1. I graduated! WOOT

2. I applied for and got accepted into the Master's of Education/Credential program at UCSD, which starts in late August

3. John was TA for a class and got some really great and encouraging responses from students who were in his section

4. We went camping twice in the past month and loved it!

5. We are going to be an Aunt and Uncle to a wonderful new nephew in December (John's brother and his wife Janelle are prego-a-go-go!)

6. My family is spread out across the world right now: Mom in NorCal, Dad in Florida, David in New Jersey, Hannah in Hungary, and Hope in Paris!

7. We are training for a triathlon (we haven't signed up for one yet) and have been swimming and running a bit and will soon start biking. HOWEVER, I injured my left foot while running and have been in a lot of pain when I put weight on it

8. I am still working at Knock Around summer camp at UCSD and love it!

9. My Grandfather's condition has worsened and he is no longer receiving treatments for lung cancer and is instead on hospice care. Please pray for my family and for his journey to heaven to be free of pain and suffering. Click here to read about his journey so far.

10. We have been married for 672 days!

My Dad and me and creepy David at Graduation Backpacking on the Kern River

Crystal Caves hike in Sequoia National Forest

Well its been wonderful, hopefully I can post again in less than 5 months, much love,

Ebey and John

long {WEEK}

2010-02-08T22:16:00.000-08:00

I can't believe its already Monday again! Seriously where did the time go? I really think I must have snoozed for a minute and then woken up and... BAM! a week just was gone.

If I were to use one word to describe my week it would be tired. Or maybe busy and tired if it were two words. Ok ok, fine! If it were three words, and THAT WAS IT, it would be busy, tired, and zombie, if I am alowed to use the last word to describe my week, even if it's not an adjective but a noun. I feel like a zombie! Ahhhh! give me back my brain so I can function again!

John and I were both really busy and generally out of it this week, both of us having midterms, things that were due, and stuff that was crowding our weeknights such as FCA, basketball games (John), married community group, sewing class (me), team dinners (me), and water polo games to be played and watch (me and John respectively). I hate it when we don't have time to spend together! It seriously puts a huge damper on my day and on my life.

SOOoooo, today at noon when I found out that I would have 3 WHOLE hours this afternoon to do whatever I wanted, I decided to drive down to Scripps and surprise John after his midterm with a little hang out time. I waited outside of his class for 30 minutes while he finished up his midterm, and when I saw him finish and turn in his test through the window (yes I was stalking him), I made my move. I jumped in front of the window and waved frantically, all the while a huge smile was plastered on my face. He was more shocked than anything, but ultimately really glad to see me after an awfully difficult test.

We walked around a little bit in the sunny beautifullness outside, then I just couldn't bear to leave him so I decided to go to a seminar that he needed to attend. Can you say BORING? I mean, the woman was not the best speaker to begin with, and the lecture title had something about intra and inter breeding fish or whatever in it, not to mention slides with a gazillion tiny numbers, all that I am sure mean something really important, crammed onto slides that she went through way too fast. I will admit, I did not listen to a single work she said other than her name, and that too I forgot. I was instead watching The Lovely Bones on a pirated movie website (I am fairly confident it is illegal in multiple countries) on my laptop in the very back with earphones. I am sure the woman giving the seminar is a really nice person and is a great researcher, but I would not care to sit through something like that again. I don't know how he does it!

on a completely unrelated note, I scored a goal this weekend against Pomona! Wooo

Here is the run down, click it or ticket! http://www.ucsdtritons.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=31805&SPID=2549&DB_OEM_ID=5800&ATCLID=204883256

And sorry for the abrupt and rude goodbye, but I must go finish a few papers that are due tomorrow!

-ebey

up {DATE}

2010-02-01T11:26:00.000-08:00

I finally was able to complete my graduate application last night and submit it at 2:45 am. ICK! John can attest to how much I was attempting to procrastinate, distract myself, and generally forget that I needed to complete an odious "PERSONAL STATEMENT". He kept me honest with myself. When I was looking at the grammy dresses that Lady Gaga and various other artists put together he totally called me out. He is such a gift!

Another gift that just arrived was an email in my inbox saying that I have passed all of my CSET examinations, requirements to enter the UCSD Masters program in the fall. Things are finally starting to come together, yet I always seem to be running around with my head chopped off!

Tonight I will be sharing my testimony at FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes), but before that I am off to co-teach a first grade class for two hours, study for a midterm I will take tomorrow, dance in ballet class, and somehow manage to eat dinner and get home after FCA to study, all surviving on less than three hours of sleep. (did I mention that I had water polo practice for 3 hours this morning?). Daunting, yet somehow I always make it through those awful days with encouraging words from John and some type of God-given resolve and energy that is beyond myself.

P.S. Date night was amazing, I got the Chocolate Oreo Mudslide and we ended up watching Sherlock Holmes instead because we misread where To Save a Life was playing. It was really fun! I wish the weekend was still here : (

DINNER {date}

2010-01-30T17:47:00.001-08:00

So its been simply forever since I have written a word on this strange and creative thing called a "blog". I really hate that word by the way. It sounds like "blob" and reminds me of boogers, so I will call it something else (to be determined at a later date when a stroke of creative genius strikes).

I will not give a whole rundown of last quarter because it is simply too long to begin to even think about. Let's just say we both got good grades, had a wonderful thanksgiving in Oregon with my family, a relaxing Christmas with John's family, and were able to squeeze in an amazing getaway to the snow-covered Grand Canyon for two nights.

Note: There will probably be a future post on this "booger" about the grand time we had at the Grand Canyon, so stay tuned.

So John and I are going on a date night tonight to Cheesecake Factory (compliments of Christmas gifts) for a yummy dessert... err... I mean dinner, and then headed out to watch To Save a Life (also compliments of Christmas gifts).

Can I just say how much I LOVE date night? I mean, really who doesn't enjoy spending time with their sweetie? And trust me, John is such a sweetie, proof being that I get a scowl and a grumpy face if I let myself out of the car or open a door for myself. Where has chivalry gone these days?

John is currently trimming/shaving his manly beard right now, and will soon head off to the gym to get his lift on for the weekend before we head out to Fashion Valley at 8:00. While he is gone I am supposed to be working on my personal statement for graduate school, which really seems to have it in for me. Gosh, every time I sit down to write it I seem to be instantly tired, hungry, or interested in the news. The news? Yes, when it comes down to it, I am truly and irrevocably a procrastinator if I am interested in the news. I am fine when it comes to completing a History essay, but I really don't like writing a formal letter telling the Education Studies Department at UCSD why I am so amazing and deserve to be a part of of their program. It just seems so...self-centered? Egotistical? Whatever it is, I am finding it difficult to muster up the hubris to complete the darn thing. Ew, enough of school stuff. I want to concentrate on happy things like date night.

Hmmm, I wonder what type of cheesecake I will get? I might even look up the menu online before departing for our date (further proving my point that I will do anything to avoid writing my personal statement). Darn.

ANNIVERSARY {Catalina}

2009-09-19T23:35:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a while since my first post, and much has happened since then! John and I went to Catalina to celebrate 1 year of marriage, we stayed with John's parents for 2 nights, and then shortly after returning to SD we went camping at twin lakes near Mammoth with my dad. It was busy and we have not been home all that often, but it has been really fun. For right now I will post about Catalina and later I will write about camping. . .

Catalina was awesome, we had a blast with each other and also were able to meet a few new people along the way. On the boat ride over we met three guys visiting from Britain, all of whom had just graduated high school. It was fun talking to them and hearing about what they were excited to do while in America. On the Island we stayed in this super neat hotel that had a built in full kitchen! It was awesome to be able to cook oatmeal in the morning and pizza one of the nights we were there. We don't have cable, so it was fun to be able to watch Law and Order SVU and NCIS marathons, such a treat!

The first full day there we went snorkeling in the reserve just off of the old casino. THE FISH CAME SO CLOSE TO US!! They must have know they were protected, they practically were attacking us. It was really really fun!

On our second (and last) night in Avalon we went to a wonderful dinner at Steve's Steakhouse. I got crab amazingness, which John has never tried before, and was quite yummy. John ordered teriyaki chicken and we shared chocolate cake for dessert.

After our dinner at Steve's we walked along the pier and soon got into a conversation with the sheriff of Catalina. He is a super nice guy named Fred who was on SWAT for 7 years and is spending his last few years of service in Avalon. He was kindof fed up with the locals and wanted to "spend some time with some decent people for once", so he offered to take us into the back country of Catalina the next day. We were super excited since tours can be up to $120 per person and you need government approval to go back there. We had an awesome time with Fred seeing the Buffalo, airport, and just generally hearing the dirt on Avalon. He even dropped us off at the Ferry with our bags for our 5:00 departure time.

We had a blast on our little getaway and were relieved that it didn't cost nearly as much as our homeymoon. It is a great little place to stay for a few nights, but after a while it might get a little old unless you have activities to do (like we did).

until next time,

-Ebey

MARRIAGE {year 1}

2009-09-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

This weekend my wonderfully handsome hubby John and I will be boating over to Catalina to enjoy a two night stay in Avalon! We are celebrating our one year anniversary of marriage, WOOT!

Gosh I cannot believe it has been one year already! It seems like yesterday that we were at the Bali Hai saying our vows and shortly thereafter departing for the sandy beaches of Hawaii. Reflecting back on the first year of marriage I can say that it has been the best year of my life! John is amazing and God has truly blessed our marriage and relationship beyond measure. I will treasure the memories we made in those first precious months of our marriage, thinking back fondly to our little one bedroom apartment where most of those memories were forged. Our first year was filled with cooking blunders, hilarious instances of miscommunication, plenty of laughter, too many rented movies, and lots and lots of tickle fights.

My favorite part of being married is just being able to hang out with John from sunup to sundown on the weekends and whenever we can fit in quality time together. Quality time is my love language (how I like to receive love) so naturally this is going to stand out for me the most. We have a blast waking up to next to each other and simply being with one another during the mundane moments of the day. Whether it be homework, cleaning a massive amount of dishes, grocery shopping, or carpooling to UCSD we simply enjoy each other's company.

The first year was filled with far less conflict that I imagined it would be, but there were indeed heated moments where our tempers got the better of us both. I had always thought that there would be a battle of wills when it came to doing most things together, for aren't there two different kingdoms that merge together during marriage? I had thought that possibly battle would erupt in our home, knowing how unique and different two people can be when trying to resolve differences. I think one of our strengths is communication, and this has helped us tremendously when it comes to conflict. We don't let things build to the point of an emotional explosion, instead we are constantly working out issues that arise WHEN they arise, not days later. You could say we have a lot of periodical baby earthquakes instead of a 7.0 earthquake out of nowhere.

Our first year of marriage was not as easy as I might have made it out to be, we had a lot of commitments other than marriage that pulled at us and put strains on our time. John started his master's degree at Scrippts in Geology, I was (and still am) a full time History major and Education minor at UCSD, John was a TA for a class that required him to grade papers until the wee hours of the night (fun times), and did I mention that I am a goalie for the UCSD women's water polo team and work part time? O yeah, and we are involved in FCA at UCSD and also attend a married community group with our church The Flood? Busy is an understatement. We are swamped. However, we both agree that we would rather be married and doing it together, and we do not regret being married while in school. A word of caution to those thinking about getting married while in school: it is not for the faint of heart. We struggled to protect our time and our marriage throughout the business of life and made a huge effort to stay connected during times of crazy schedules. Not everybody can do it, and it took a lot of intentionality and effort to make sure that we spent time together and nurtured our relationship. Maybe this is why I appreciate the mundane so much, the times of going to the grocery store and driving to school together. At any rate, our lives are full and busy but also filled with special moments and times of fun and laughter.

Gosh we laugh so much. We have laughed so much our abs are sore the next day. For example, the most recent instance is when I tried to dye my hair purple with Koolaid. It didn't work, but my hair smelled like a grape Jolly Rancher for a week and every time John and I would cuddle he would crack up and would say "awww, my little grape!" It was awfully funny and I was slightly embarrassed which made it even funnier. Good times. Still get teased.

At any rate, this is a terribly long first post and I am really excited to go out for an anniversary lunch at the restaurant where we got married, and quite hungry, so I will sign off for now.

-Ebey S