Dear Etrain,
Today is Dada and my seven year anniversary. We've actually been together for ten years as of today! Our first date was on March 7th, 2009 and we got married on the same day in 2012. I was going through old pictures and found some of vacations we went on before we got married. I thought it might be fun for you to see a little bit about where we have been...and what we looked like back then! There were plenty of trips after we got married too, but this post would probably go on forever. Maybe I'll cover that another time. For now, let's start with our first vacation ever.
Before I begin, I wanted to explain this photo. I didn't include it because of how amazing I look in it (kidding), it's because of the empty house and green walls. When I first met your dad I had just bought my first house, well, condo. He was still renting a room from some weird guy who didn't like him using the kitchen. (I'll let your dad tell you about that dude.) Anyway, dad had been saving up to buy his first house. Oh boy did dad do good. He bought the coolest house. It may have not had all the finishes we liked, but it ended up being a wonderful house. The first house we brought you home to. Anyway, when he first bought it, he saw its potential even though it had green walls. Like green every where. I had forgotten about those walls, or that we had a photo of them. At least my shirt coordinated for the photo. Ha.
Anyway, back to our first vacation together...in Seattle. According to the photo, this trip was in early June 2009, so Dada and I had been dating for about three months. I have to say we had the best time. Your dad was so fun in general, but also so fun to travel with. It was so long ago I don't remember details. I know we went up the Space Needle and clearly took a ton of silly photos. We went on a tour of underground Seattle, and I remember thinking it was really funny and fascinating at the same time. Afterward, the tour guide suggested an awesome Italian restaurant that was also sort of under ground and cave-like...and delicious. We also got last minute tickets to a baseball game. Neither of us really care about baseball, but we thought it would be a nice activity and we wanted to see the stadium.
What I learned on this trip was that I really liked your dad, I really liked spending time with him, and we could have fun with each other no matter where we were or what we did. Oh! I almost forgot the jazz club dad and I found one night. It was perfect. Not too many people. Dark room, great music, good drinks, and I had the best date. Anyway, this was only the beginning of the many vacations we took that first year together.
The next vacation was to Boston and New Hampshire (and Maine for a day). I may need to ask dad for clarification, but I'm pretty sure we went out to bring Grandma Hennessy home. So Grandma Hennessy (GH) was Dada's grandma and one of his most favorite people in the world. She lived out here in California, but during the summer she would go to her New Hampshire house (where your Grandma North first lived with her brothers and sisters), where it was cooler weather. Then every September a family member would fly out to see her and bring her back home to California. This year Dada had planned to go...and he asked me to go with him.
This was a big deal for me because I was going to spend some quality time with Grandma Hennessy. I don't remember now if I had met her prior to this trip, but it was still a big deal to be traveling with her favorite grandson and staying in her house. Anyway, we decided to make it a slightly larger trip.
We started out in Boston. Apparently I don't have any photos of of us actually being in Boston other than these silly photos from the hotel room. No we didn't bring these, it was just what they had in the hotel room. Weird right?! The only thing I remember about the Boston part of this trip was Regina's pizza. We'll have to take you there one day. It was so delicious. We each got our own pizza and did some decent damage on both. Soooo, good.
We then rented a car and drove to New Hampshire. Grandma Hennessy was so wonderful and made the best meals. It's pretty quiet up by her house so Dada and I did lots of exploring. We drove all over the place and most of it was green and beautiful like this. I do remember we took a day trip up to Maine just for a change of pace. We didn't really have a plan, and the town we ended up in was pretty quiet. I think we walked the harbor, ate a meal, and ended up at the movies. Pretty sure we saw Inglorious Basterds. Overall it was a great trip to the east coast with my favorite man.
So that was September and in October we were off again. This time to Europe. Dada knew someone running a sort of contest/opportunity for small business owners (Dada had a small side business he can tell you about sometime). The opportunity included a free flights. The first was to London, where we had to attend a one day seminar, and one free night stay. Then you also got a free flight to anywhere the airline flew to, so we chose Madrid, Spain. I had a second cousin, Raymond, who was living there and said we could stay with him for free. So, Dada and I got free flights to London, Spain and back home, and free accommodations in Spain. We lucked out big time and the trip was awesome.
I think this was where I fell in love with your dad. We were together for almost two weeks straight, 24/7 and we didn't fight once. We didn't get annoyed with each other. We were both always down to do whatever the other person wanted. I even needed to see a doctor while we were there and Dada sat with me all night to help me through that. The whole time we just had a blast exploring the cities, trying new things, and living in the moment.
You may notice another girl in a few of the photos. Would you believe her name was Alex North?! Alex is dad's cousin, who live in London. It was dad's first time meeting her....and of course mine too. She took us to the Cheshire Cat bar (don't ask me why I remember that, but that bar was soooo cool), then we convinced your dad to go eat Indian food. I will say, food in London isn't really that great, except for the Indian food (or other culture's cuisines for that matter). Alex was so nice and lots of fun. She is married now (so I'm the only Alex North in the family now) and she has kids (or at least one kid). Hopefully one day you'll get to meet Alex and her family. Maybe you kids can play!
We went to this museum called the Prado one day. I can't tell you one thing about the actual museum, but I know we took this photo outside right after. This might be my favorite photo of your dad and I. To this day, it's still my main photo on Facebook and I used it on our silly wedding website.
That was October, then in November we went to Hawaii. Kauai to be specific. Ok, I know. Now's it's getting ridiculous, right? Well I used to work for a timeshare/resort management company, and we had a new property we began to manage called Hanalei Bay Resort. My boss and I used to take turns going to each property and checking it out. We'd take photos that could be used for marketing materials, we'd meet with staff and walk the property to see what marketing needs/opportunities there were, but most of all she believed you just needed to experience the property the way any traveler would. She believed you should have the full experience to understand what the guests experience, have opportunities to talk to them, etc.
So this time she decided to send me. Score! Since I was already going to have accommodations, I asked if I could bring my hot boyfriend (ok, I didn't say "hot" to her). She said, as long as he paid for his flights, he could go with me. Double score! She even set up an activity for us to do while we were there.
I spent the day "working", and dad surfed. We'd meet in our room for lunch, then I'd go back to it, he'd go back out surfing, then we'd meet up for the rest of the afternoon and evening. We had two days like that, then two days for the weekend to just play. We explored the island, had a blast on the mud bugs, and basically fell in love with Kauai.
How handsome is dad is these photos?! I've always loved him with a little scruff. This year he had grown his beard out for "Movember". He HATED the beard because he said it was itchy, but I thought he looked gorgeous. I love that lighthouse photo of us. You know, we took a photo there with you too.
The rest of these aren't vacation photos, but memories none-the-less. I feel like I'm missing a ton of photos, but then again I didn't really take as many photos as I do now. Who knows, so here's what I had. The one below is of Dada and Burger on my couch in my condo. Dada never really liked Burger, but he acted really nice to her when we were first dating because he knew how much I loved her. He has always been a very thoughtful guy. This photo just makes me laugh now.
This photo was taken on the field at Angels stadium. I don't remember why, but Dada had the opportunity to throw the first pitch at the Angel's baseball game. He did great, and I know there's more photos or even video somewhere, I just can't find it.
I know we went on a ton of trips in our first year, so it makes sense that we might have chilled out a bit after that. BUT I still think we might have gone on some sort of vacation before the below happened, I just don't have any photo proof. Maybe I'll try to see if Dada has some photos somewhere. Anyway, in my photo library, this is the big event that happened next!
This post is already long, so I won't tell my version, but you can read dad's version of our story here. (He's a much better story teller, right?!)
Last but not least is our engagement photos. Let's just say this was an awkward experience. I had a friend who was a photographer as a side hobby, take our photos. Dada and I are not models and totally uncomfortable in front of the camera...or at least uncomfortable when we're supposed to be acting serious and in love. We were totally in love, but we're not that mushy, romantic looking couple. We laughed the whole time and had to try hard to look "natural". Anyway, a few came out pretty good. I'm happy we did it, even if it was a bit painful.
Oh, I didn't include one, but we took a series of photos in a red photo booth. None of them really looked that great (hence why I didn't include one here), but while I was going through all my photos you popped over my shoulder and asked me "Mom, was that when you were in jail?"
"Ahahaha. No, son. I wasn't in jail, it's photos of Dada and I in a photo booth."
"Why?"
"Great question, son. Great question."
When people would ask me how I knew your dad was the one, I would say I knew because he was fun and easy. It sounds too simple, and maybe it is, but it's also what's perfect for me. We have the same beliefs on most everything big - morals, values, money, politics, religion, family, etc. Maybe that's what makes is easy. When we do argue its on dumb things like a miscommunication or we're "hangry" and can't decide on what to eat for dinner.
And the fun. Oh your dad is so much fun. Sometimes I call him my 12 year old because he's like a big kid, but that's also what makes him such a good time. He can lighten any mood, he is a hit at any party or gathering, and he tells stories the way no one can. He does tend to embellish his stories, but he'll always make you laugh. At your last birthday party, I had parents asking me jokingly if they could hire dad for their parties because he had all you kids cracking up during the piñata.
I'm such a lucky lady to have such a wonderful husband and rockstar kid. Thank you both for blessing my life.
Love,
Mama
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