pumpkin time :)

I don't actually love the holiday Halloween (I know, I'm just no fun). But I love everything that has to do with pumpkins! So the other night I agreed to go to our local Haunted House, only if afterwards, we could go get pumpkins to carve. The Haunted House, not my favorite (as Jen would say), but they had some fun games and delicious carmel apples, AND Martin won that silly little eye patch that he wore throughout the rest of our Halloween activities. I think he's cute :)

Oh, and I hope you notice all the bunny ear action going on. Yes, that's Jennifer, and it pains her to take a picture without giving bunny ears :)

For cute pumpkin ideas, check out this post from last year. I have a bad habit of collecting pictures from all over; but luckily for you, I have all these great ideas in one spot.

This one is my fav..

I hope you're enjoying all the Halloweeny happenings this week.

I may have a few more ideas up tomorrow :)

music calms my soul..

Martin and I were shopping in Santa Cruz, heard a song being played in a store, asked the guy working there who it was, and he told us. Mumford and Sons. They're from London England, so they've got great accents, and they play "folk rock," which is kind of my new thing. Anyways, the song is called the cave. I have their cd in my car, and this one is my fav.

Also, The Swell Season, is one of our favorite bands, and I think you would love them. They won an oscar for a song they wrote and performed in the movie once, and it's amazing. I fell in love with that song and bought the piano sheet music and fall in love with it more and more everytime I play it. We went to their concert a few weeks ago, and they are inspiring. A guy and girl duo with a band. Guy is irish, girl is czech; so both have great accents, and they're wonderful. Here's a song they played at the show.

{I've been wanting to share the Swell Season with you for a while, I hope you enjoy. And of course I hope you're having a wonderful weekend.}

a few days over in monterey...

s said before for Martin's birthday we went on a small kayaking excursion in Monterey at the Elkhorn Slough, and also over to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was a wonderful weekend. Here's a few pictures. Of course we brought no real camera, but camera phones can capture the memories as well.

2 years ago today...

2 years ago today the love of my life told me he loved me (for the first time) and I said it back. We have been inseparable ever since. I guess Central Park in New York City is as good a place as any to do something like that :)

To celebrate we're spending a few days in Santa Cruz at a lovely bed and breakfast,

oh how I am in love.

My 2 favorite people..

{This picture was taken at an A's game a few weeks ago. Jen had just mentioned that week how much she wanted to go to an A's game, and we were lucky enough to get last minute free tickets from Martin's boss, and so with out any hesitation we surprised her at school and took her out for the rest of the day and went to the A's game! At first I didn't think she was having much fun because it's hard to follow baseball games and I don't know how much she soaks in, but after singing "take me out to the ballgame" she exclaimed that it was "the best day ever." Martin has a way with making things more fun than they really should be, and he does his best work around Jen. We just love her.}

My husband and sister are my 2 favorite people in the whole wide world. And lucky for me, no one can argue or feel bad because they're not one of the top two, because there is just no argument here. My husband and my sister, the two people who I see most.
I have more confidence and love in my life than I have ever had before thanks to my sweetheart. I'm not the absolute easiest to work with day in and day out, this I know. Often times, I let myself become overly stressed and this can just turn me into a different person. The tone and sass that comes out of me is more than I would wish upon anyone and martin takes it in stride and somehow still has the desire to make me feel better. He never quits, and I adore him for that, among a million other reasons. Even though it doesn't seem fair, I feel as if he makes it his daily and weekly goal to keep me happy, and he does a very very good job. For what reason I deserve this, I have no idea, but I am thankful non the less. My heart swells with the thought of how good my husband is to me. I'm a lucky girl :)
Jennifer is the light in my life. I spend every day with her, literally every day. I pick her up from school and most of the time spend the rest of the day with her, with my husband as well (one more reason why I think he's amazing). Jen is my shopping/errand partner, kitchen helper, snuggle buddy, back scratcher, hair brusher, movie companion, and best friend. Unfortunately because I spend so much time in Jen's life I have filled a Mom-type role, and so that's often times how I am treated. And although it would be great to be loved the way she loves new members of the family (new sister-in-laws, or cousin-in-laws) I still know that she loves me, and in a way different from all the rest. She asks me to sleep over every night, which lately has been sad for me to turn down (since I got married), but it means a lot to me that she still wants me with her. Even though I make her straighten her room, and help do dishes, and brush her hair and teeth more than she would like to, and change her clothes when I don't think she matches, she still loves me. Growing up Jen always slept by me. I sleep like a rock and so her moving and kicking doesn't wake me up, and even when we were in different rooms and all the boys were gone so we all had our own space, Jen would still sleep in my room by me. We call her the heater because she keeps you so warm at night, and during the winter at our house, that is a wonderful thing. I miss sleeping by her, but I love that I see her every day. I love that Martin is now best friends with Jennifer and would do just about anything for her. Hopefully one day she'll get to live with us when we have our own house, and we won't ever have to go too many days with out having her in our life.

{This late night ramble is due to the fact that my husband is at work, and I miss him dearly, Jen fell asleep early while I was over, so I went to my own home earlier than normal, and my poor head is just having major issues tonight; the tmj/neck/face/head problems are on and off, but tonight, very very on, it's horrible, and I can't sleep. My late night ramblings don't have much purpose, except maybe to make more aware the special things in our life. I try very hard not to forget, even after a long frustrating or uneventful day, I try to let my husband and sister know how much I love them}

Tomorrow is my day :)

My honey and I have been trying to plan out our week and it has just not gone to plan. We originally planned to go camping Monday through Wednesday and then a trip to Utah for a wedding Friday through the following Wednesday, but due to family issues (on both sides) we had to drop both of those plans! Our back up plan didn't work out either, but we came up with a plan! A spa day for me and my honey in the afternoon, then a little shopping, hopefully a new addition to my camera (all thanks to the love of my life), and then dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Papillion, with just a few of my favorites (Martin of course, my parents and Jen).

Martin I love you so much. I never thought I would be looking forward to my 25th birthday, but I am. My last two birthdays have been the best so far, and all thanks to you. Here's to my first birthday as a married woman :)

Yes, we are home!!

I have taken a few weeks to get this post up, but I wanted to let you know that yes, we are home! We are happy to be back and getting back to regular life, which we love so much. So here's what we've been doing for the last few weeks, and a few pictures to give you an idea of what we got to see and experience.

• April 4th - left the wonderful bay area of California and flew into Sydney Australia..stayed at The Menzies, right in the heart of the downtown harbour ..visited the Sydney Opera House, the Botanical Gardens, Sydney Wildlife World, the Sydney Aquarium, several restaurants in the Harbour, and several ferries around the area..took a ferry over to Manly (about 30 minutes from Sydney) where an old friend of Martin's lives (Katie) spent a few days at her place and visiting the amazing beaches in the area
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  April 11th - flew into Brisbane where my fabulous friend Patty and her man picked us up from the airport and let us stay at their place for a few days..enjoyed some amazing bbq (including Kangaroo) that they prepared for us, and enjoyed the company of their close friends which was ideal, we felt at home again..thanks to Patty, we were able to ride bikes around the city and get a feel for the area, went to a few street markets and took the ferry around their city
  
  
• April 13th - flew up to Cairns, where we met up with Daniel (Martin's brother) and Jeremy (our roommate and Martin's bandmate), dove the Great Barrier Reef and so lots of amazing things, took a tour through the Australia Rainforest, swam through the Milla Milla waterfall, jumped into a few lakes
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• April 16th - flew back to sydney, stayed in the Manly area again, because we loved their beaches so much, visited Katie at her restaurant to say bye
• April 18th - flew to New Zealand, drove on the opposite side of the rode, found somewhat affordable food for the first time in weeks, and had to wear a jacket for the first time in weeks.. drove all around the South Island of New Zealand, saw the Fox Glacier and the Franz Josep Glacier, the Milford Sound, the Fiordland National Park, Mt. Cook, the Moeraki Boulders, hundreds of waterfalls and lakes, probably millions of sheep, gorgeous country side, New Zealand wine country (so pretty to drive through).. ate at Fleur's Place, an amazing and fresh seafood restaurant
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• April 25th - flew home to San Francisco, and so ready to be home

To be honest, we didn't feel that far from home. The food, the people, the landscape, even the beaches, all felt like different parts of California. Sydney was almost identical to San Francisco, with a lot of asian culture and food mixed in with port/harbour culture here and there. A few things that were new to us...

• beets on hamburgers (and egg and pineapple also)
• 3 dollar cans of soda, crazy.. and no refills anywhere, fast food and restaurants
• not big into ranch or bbq; they use a lot of chili sauce (hot or sweet)
• fries are called chips
• pancakes are always served with icecream
• icecreams shops everywhere
• tipping is not as standard as here, also, tax is included in everything already, which is one reason why things seem much more expensive.. minimum wage is around 15 or 16 $.. so servers don't make as much in tips, but they get paid more, have covered health insurance, get vacation time, which no servers get here in the states, get time and a half for working sundays, and you get 4-6 weeks paid vacation a year at almost any job, as opposed to 1 in the states, and that's only if you have a fulltime office type job
• driving on the other side of the road
• not pronouncing things the way they are spelled (Cairns is Cans, Brisbane is Brisbin, Melbourne is Melbin.. just to name a few)
• a few words different here or there, nothing we couldn't figure out
• no toilet seat covers anywhere (I hated that)
• no dollar menus at fast food (everything was a little pricier than we're used to)
• no free wifi anywhere, everywhere charged a lot, anywhere from 5-10 an hour
• lots of travelling students all over.. it seems as though in other countries travelling is a huge part of life and education, which I think is wonderful.. a more travelled and experienced person is a more knowledgeable and less ignorant person.. learning about how other's communicate and cooperate and live and think is a great thing, I think.. We met people from all over, working or just travelling, as either part of their actual college education or a start to
• universal health care (or just about) most people approve of it and have close to no complaints, definitely not as many as I have with my insurance
• recycling and being green is HUGE in Australia and New Zealand.. almost everywhere you go there are separate recycling bins and even food waste bins.. it seems as though most people there are very aware that you need to be more responsible with your waste.. you have to know that everything you throw away goes somewhere, and doesn't just disappear, which probably is why everything was so clean and well kept and nowhere smelled like our Milpitas (which just smells like you're standing in a garbage)

We missed our friends and family so much and want you to know how much we love and appreciate all the time we get to spend with you... we love being home!!

we made it safely to New Zealand!

So the last week has been amazing and busy. We have made our way up and down the East coast of Australia; we started in Sydney and went around that area staying in a few different places, then up to Brisbane (about a 12 hours drive, we flew though) stayed with my friend from high school, Patty, went all around the Brisbane area (not to surfer's paradise unfortunately). Then from Brisbane we flew up to Cairns (which would be like an 18 hour drive) we stayed there a few days, which is around the area that we dove the Great Barrier Reef and made our way through the rainforest, then bake down to Brisbane, and back down to Sydney, a few more days on the beach in the Manly area, and now in New Zealand. I try to stay low maintenance, but I'm still a girl. It would still be nice to have my own bathroom and not constantly be travelling, just so that I can pull myself together once in a while, but other than that, the trip is amazing. We have somehow managed to plan all the days when sunshine is needed on days with sunshine, and days where it's not needed, there has been rain. According to the weather and just our first first hours here, the New Zealand air is much colder, but I'm very much looking forward to making our way around the country. We rented a car (the four of us, Martin, Myself, Daniel and Jeremy) and are planning on driving around a majority of the South Island (which is where most of the sites are). Driving on the opposite side of the road will be interesting, luckily Martin is the designated driver of the trip, so I don't have much to worry about.

Well, I've been trying for about an hour to upload a few pictures and it's just not gonna happen. They haven't really hopped on the fast and free internet train out here, or anywhere we've been. So uploading pictures to the blog is a little difficult, but I did put lots of pictures on facebook. We love and miss everybody. Congrats again to Ry and Mel!! (they had baby boy #4 yesterday).

Welcome Welcome :)

I just wanted to welcome all of my recently new visitors!! Foodgawker is a wonderful site, and I'm happy to be able to share some of my recipes with you. For my regular friends and family, I have recently been introduced to the absolutely amazing website foodgawker.

It's a recipe sharing site, and I have had quite a few submissions accepted! The submissions are based on the photography, so if you visit the site you will see lovely food styling and then you can visit the sites where they came from for the recipe. It's just a wonderful thing!

Oh, and Martin and I are loving Australia!! We are in Brisbane right now staying with my friend Patty, and just having a wonderful time. Tomorrow afternoon we fly to Cairns (pronounced Cans, ya, it's weird) where the weather and surroundings are going to be similar to that of the coasts of central america (southern mexico or guatemala) so very hot and humid!! We plan to dive the Great Barrier Reef and all that, so I'll keep you updated! If you have facebook you can check out my pictures there!

lovin the beaches!!

So we left the Sydney area and have been staying in Manly with Katie Hay (a friend of Martin's from way back when) and we are having a great time! Today was our third day at the beach and we couldn't love it more. The water is warmer than the bay area for sure, and crystal clear and the beaches are clean and gorgeous. Last night we went to an amazing Tapas restaurant, I can't wait to get home and recreate some of the recipes, and then went to ben and jerry's, which is new to the area. A pint of icecream, which we normally buy for about 2 50 or 3$ at safeway cost 12 dollars!! Prices are a little crazy here, it might just be close to Sydney, we'll see if it's all over. But a soda can is 3$, a candy bar is 2$, and you can't get refills anywhere!! Tax is included in almost everything too. So anytime we order something to eat it seems a little more expensive than it really is, because the bill doesn't change with tax, but we can't wait to get up to Brisbane. My friend Patty (from highschool) lives up there and she's picking us up from the airport and we're staying with her for 2 nights and hopefully will get a good feel for the area, then we fly up to Cairns, where we will hopefully dive the Great Barrier Reef!! More details and pictures to come!! We love and miss you!!

We made it safely to Sydney!!

We don't have a lot of internet access here in Sydney, and it's always a little slow. But we're having a great time! After going to bed yesterday at 4 pm because of the screwy time change 16 hour flight and what not.. we woke up around midnight with nothing to do.. so we watched a little tv, tried to go back to bed.. woke up at 4 am, more tv, went to the gym once open at 5 30, went to the pool, showered, found breakfast and internet! thank you starbucks, and now off to have an awesome day. Who would've thought we could get all that done before noon! (actually 11, which is what time it is now). Sydney is 5 hours earlier than Ca, but the next day.. if that makes sense.. So it's 11 am on wednesday here.. but 4 pm on tuesday (I think) where you are. Pretty weird.

I'll put up a few pictures here and there but probably not too many until I get back, unless you can check facebook, I have a few more up there. We love and miss family and friends :)

lets be healthy!!

This week, the love of my life and I embarked on an intense journey; a cleansing diet. I have done a few cleansing diets, the one I think is most effective is the "lemon juice detox." It's a juice made up of lemon juice, organic maple syrup, and cayenne pepper, that is meant to cleanse your digestive tract. You can google the diet and lots of blogs and websites will come up, all with basically the same idea. A book entitled the Master Cleanse was written in the 70's by Stanley Burroughs, a health philosopher, was the first with the idea; since, several, if not hundreds have renamed and redesigned it, but it is basically still the same thing.

The purpose of the Master Cleanse:

•To dissolve and remove toxins and mucous from the body.
•To clean the kidneys and digestive system.
•To cleanse the glands and cells of the body.
•To remove waste and hardened matter in the joints and muscles.
•To relieve pressure and irritation in the nerves, arteries and blood vessels.
•To create a healthy blood stream.
•To return youthfulness to everybody, even the elderly.

After completing a cleansing diet (which I do anywhere from 3-5 days) I feel refreshed, energized, my fatigue and constant feeling of being tired is alleviated, and it's like starting new. Your liver controls your metabolism and it works to detoxify your body, but because we live in a country where unhealthy and unnatural foods are a part of our every day diet, it becomes over worked and unable to do it's job to it's fullest. When I have stayed on the cleanse for 4-5 days (which is really key) I not only lose about 5 pounds from my midsection (stomach size decreases, intestines clear up, and any swelling or inflammation disappears) but I also notice my skin is clearer and has more elasticity, and cellulite diminishes!! That's what really sold me on this diet the first time around. Cellulite is created from toxins that were unable to be processed by your organs and so it settles in the layer of fat just below skin level, which then creates a dimple or pinch, and doesn't allow the fat to lay smooth. Now unfortunately some damage done by cellulite is irreversible, but not all of it. I only stayed on the cleanse for 3 days, and because of that I didn't notice as much of a change as I have in the past, but it is possible.

Because this diet does slow you down for the first few days I'll admit that it doesn't fit in everyone's schedule. Martin and I chose Monday to Wednesday, because he doesn't work and we don't have any huge responsibilities on those days. But, I have good news, there are less dramatic ways of reaching the same results; but it's a lifestyle change, not a quick fix.

A few years ago (well more like 5) I stumbled upon the studies of Dr. Perricone, a dermatologist that studies anti-aging. Actually, my dad first introduced me to him because he used to frequent our public television station with lectures and information about his books; Ageless Face, Ageless Mind, 7 Secrets to Beauty, Health and Longevity, and The Perricone Promise. His concept of dieting and lifestyle are all about removing inflammation (which is what causes cells to be damaged and then regenerated, which increases the aging process, in your skin and internal body). He encourages you to take daily vitamins, eat lots of fish (especially salmon) and lean meats, nuts and legumes, and incorporate fruit and vegetables in every meal. Sounds pretty logical right?? Well, you have to be careful with what fruits and vegetables you eat, they need to be low on the glycemic index and therefore low in starch. A quick way to figure that out is, eat lots of berries, and green veges. Berries have very high amounts of antioxidants (which are very good for you) and green vegetables are usually full of fiber and vitamins (of course there are good vegetables of other colors though).

After my excitement in finding this amazing doctor, I found out he had a book specifically written about acne!! At the time, I was struggling with acne, and had been taken medications for years, that would all eventually stop working, and I was trying to stray from daily medications anyways. I went on amazon, bought the book, followed his 28-day guide, and within a week, I noticed a dramatic improvement. The acne diet, unlike the others he has written about, has a high intake of fats, good fats though. Who would've thought, that eating more fat would improve your skin. For years in my dieting I would try to cut out all fats, well that will never happen again. Not only did my acne go away, and after a few months of following the diet relatively closely, I noticed it was gone for good, not just short term. I can go days without taking care of my face, or eating healthy, and it doesn't make a difference, that never used to be the case. So my acne cleared up, my energy levels were amazing, I had lost some unhealthy weight and couldn't believe all I had to do was change my eating habits; no drugs, no face washes, or creams, it was amazing!!

I've said a lot, I know, but it's because health has always been a passion of mine, and I've been wanting to share this with you for a while, and I finally had my excuse!! This is my first day off of the cleansing diet, and I intend to eat according to Dr. Perricone's diet. It's almost completely gluten free also, so I don't have to worry about altering it to fit my current health needs.

Being healthy should be a lifestyle, not a fad, and I truly believe that. It seems as though everyone wants a quick fix or someone to tell them that you can cheat and still lose weight or still be healthy and that shouldn't be the answer your looking for. If you want to change your health you need to think about what you eat and what you're putting into your body. We weren't created to eat the food that we have available right now, that's the truth. Any doctor, nutritionist or health specialist will tell you, you can eat bad food, and no you won't die, but you're slowly doing damage to yourself, and taking away from how good you can feel.

I wish you all good health, and maybe just start with some small changes. Eat fruit in the morning instead of carbs and dairy. Eat one less sweet a day. Try a salad at lunch or dinner, instead of pasta.

with love,

Kristin :)

i'm going on a trip to..

AUSTRALIA!!

Martin and I are so excited we can barely contain ourselves! Daniel (Martin's brother) just arrived there this week and he'll be there about a month before we show up, so he's scoped out a few of the things we might wanna do and when we get there he'll have some things figured out for us, but we need more ideas!! We're flying into Sydney and planning to stay there a week, then we're probably going up to Brisbane, and maybe all the way up to the Great Barrier Reef, then back down to Sydney for a few days and then we'll fly over to New Zealand. I'm not sure what part of New Zealand we're flying into but we plan on travelling through as much of the country as we can. So let's hear it!!! Who has been there? What have you heard is a must do or a must see??

Our Valentine's Day

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day!! Yesterday was busy for us, so today is our "unofficial valentine's day".

{this picture was taken at the tech museum in san jose, it's a thermal image of the love of my life giving me lots of hugs and kisses as he usually does, I'm just so darn lucky}

Our Wedding Announcement!!

Yes, I'm very happily married, which is why I have been away from blogging this month!! I finally got all of our family/friend addresses together (well almost all) and got our announcements sent out this week!! So I hope you received yours!



Just wanted to send our happy news your way!
We will still be living in Fremont,
but our permanent mailing address is..

P.O. Box 8162
Fremont, Ca 94537

So keep in touch
and have a wonderful 2010!

Love,
Kristin and Martin Murray

If I missed you, please email me your address. I had my mom and Martin's mom get a bunch for me, and Cindy helped a whole heck of a lot, (thank you very much ladies) but I know there are plenty missing. My email is kristinannbeck@gmail.com if you want to get your address to me, at least for future reference. We've been moving most of the month it feels like (mainly I have been moving) but it's coming along.

Bridal shower plans are in the works, so keep a look out for the invites!!

Our Story...

I have a little story for you all. Because I was never actually engaged, not too many were able to ask or hear much about Martin and I, and how we came to be. I don't keep a journal, I know I should, and so, I thought I would write it all out and share. Life is great, this last year has been more than amazing, and the best year of my life, and all thanks to the man of my dreams.


Although Martin and I have known each other for about 4 years, our romantic relationship only trails back to around April of 2008. We met while working at Outback Steakhouse in Fremont, where I stayed for only about a year, although he was there about 5 (wow). During the year I worked there he had started a new relationship and was off and on in an old one, so dating wasn’t something on my mind. I found a great group of friends while working there who all thought highly of Martin, but didn’t necessarily spend a lot of time with him or his group of friends. He was one of the few that I tried to make conversation with regularly; if ever we were closing or opening together, so when there was downtime.

Just over a year after starting, because of many outside sources, I decided it was time to make a major change in my life, so.. I moved to Utah! My sister and favorite cousin were in the midst of moving themselves, and I thought, why not?

I kept in touch with a few people from work after I moved away, thank goodness for social networks like myspace and facebook. And for whatever reason, I would check every now and again to see how Martin was doing. Although I knew his brother better (he also worked at Outback with me, and actually trained me, and was my age) I had always felt a slight connection to Martin. Every time I was back in town I would try to visit Outback and have dinner with a few of my friends, or at least visit those working, and would love any opportunity to talk to him, just as friends, never with anything else in mind though.

After living in Utah about a year and a half and having so many problems with school, work, my health, living situation, and my financial situation, I decided that I wasn’t supposed to be there anymore. I moved back to Fremont and knew that I would find more what I was looking for in life there. On top of that, school would be cheaper, living would be cheaper, jobs pay more, etc. etc.

When I finally moved back and had let everything soak in after a few months, I met up with some friends at Outback just like old times. They were discussing some plans for the weekend and Martin’s show came up. I knew he had written some songs and played the guitar, but I had no idea he was pursuing a career in music. With a few friends I went to his show that weekend. Just happy to have gotten out of the house and been around some new people, it was enjoyable. On my way out, I said great show and goodbye and he said, let’s get some coffee later in the week, and I said sure. And that’s really where it started. After work one night we met up and went to bay street coffee, where we both found out neither of us drank coffee and we got hot chocolate. Talked for a few hours and I guess I kind of knew he was the one. In a nut shell at least. (Within the next week or so, I told my mom we were soul mates, but we weren’t going to date, we were just too different).

At the time we had very different lives; I had just met someone I thought I could date, and he did not want to date anyone, but we clicked. The following week I went out to dinner with him a few times, had a few more long conversations and then I spent a week away, visiting the one I thought I could date, and it turned out I was very wrong. It took that trip for me to realize a guy like Martin was what I really wanted, whether or not he was the one, wasn’t as important at the time. Long story short, it turned out we loved being around each other. We could see each other almost all day every day and not get sick of each other and from there it all happened so fast. He left for a cross country tour/vacation with his brother. After a month of being a way, a group of my friends went out to New York to surprise them, where I didn’t know what would happen, at that point we were friends, and that was it. He told me he loved me as we watched the sun rise in central park the first morning I was there, and we’ve been inseparable ever since.

After about a year of dating I knew I would never find anyone as amazing or someone even with the deep down ability to love me as much as he did, and so I knew, that was it. I think it was probably around the same time for him as well.

Never once had I been the one to initiate marriage conversation, yet it was brought up often. Whether to me, or my sister, he found a way to bring up “future wife” comments or “future brother-in-law” comments. Finally I asked, when’s this going to happen, since you seem so sure of it. And Martin replied with a “you’ll see.” At this point I think I just melted inside and was just hopelessly in love. We found ourselves happier than we had ever been and more in love than we ever expected. Random days would be thrown out (by Martin) of when we would get married and I just went with it. I had no idea the seriousness or how soon it was going to happen, and I was just overjoyed that I didn’t have to worry about it. I knew I would never find myself in a 6 year + relationship wondering, what am I doing, or what does he want to do. (Which was a fear of mine in the beginning).

One day it came up again, let’s get married, says Martin. And I said ok. How soon? He says, I like 2010, it’s a cool year, and easy to remember the anniversary. I say, how about January 2nd. He says, perfect :) and that was it. That afternoon, we realized that January 2nd is a palindrome (01/02/2010) and a Saturday, and we were so excited. We looked up court information for Santa Cruz, because we knew we had wanted to elope in Santa Cruz and from there we quickly planned the whole thing. It was a weekend so we couldn’t do it in a court, and we decided we wanted our families there. We had a picture perfect setting for the wedding festivities, Shadowbrook, one of our first dates, and for the next month or so we kept it all a secret. Christmas morning we announced to our families that we were getting married the following week, although some knew (for planning’s sake) and others had a hunch, because we had asked everyone to keep that date open for a very important dinner they were invited to. It was perfect, the weather, the ceremony, our families, and of course, us. That last month actually felt like it was forever until we were getting married. And when the day came it was an amazing joy and a sigh of relief. We did it. We got married and we are just overwhelmed sometimes with the love we have for each other.

the stars aligned...

I know some of you may feel that we rushed things, or had ulterior motives (like pregnancy) but the truth of the matter is we and are so in love it just made sense. In the past few weeks I've been thinking about all the little things that just sort of worked out perfectly, leading the way for us to get married. We love just about everything about each other, and could not be happier. So, to make things read easier, I'll put it in list form.


The little things..

• 
  
  I have always wanted a very small group of people at my wedding. My sister and even brothers have planned and talked about weddings since before I can even remember, and some have just always known what they wanted. I never really had anything set. But I know that I often find myself much more shy in front of large groups, and I just have thought that a wedding should be a more intimate affair.
  
  
• 
  
  Members of my church tend to get married young and fast, and I've known that for me, this would probably not be the case. For more than just the fear of scaring him off, I never talked much about getting married. The future was spoken of (hopes and dreams and crazy ideas) but that's where I stopped it. Martin initiated the husband and wife talk. I really never knew how serious he was about it until we literally picked a day. Although I always knew how much he loved me, and how he wanted to be with me forever, so there just wasn't much of a worry there for me. I knew that if it was meant to be, he would need to be the one to make it happen, and he did.


• 
  
  I have never needed a diamond ring to know that I am loved. I'll admit there are engagement rings that are just so beautiful any girl would love to have one, but for me, it has never been necessary. I think this was crucial for Martin and I, because getting married wasn't something that had to be saved for, or well planned out. (Like him finding out what ring I like, my size, and then buying it, and proposing). Since the beginning I think we just knew. And I had told him, when the issue was brought up. I didn't need a ring, or an official proposal. The thought of just knowing you're meant for each other and knowing that you both feel the same way was how we decided to get married. (We both have beautiful white gold bands.)


• 
  
  In order to be married I didn't feel any major life changes needed to occur. I was more than happy to move in with Martin and his friends that he already lives with. I would live on a boat (he's thrown this idea out) or in another country, or in a loft, or an apartment, or with family, whatever worked for us. So when he started throwing out the big "M" word, the only thing we really had to think about was, is this really what we want, and how soon.


• 
  
  A big expensive honeymoon wasn't on the must list for me either. Just being married and moving in together was going to be such a thrill for me that I didn't need much else. Lucky for me, we already had a trip in the works to Australia, so when we picked our date (01/02/2010) I said perfect, Australia can be like our honeymoon. Which we couldn't be anymore excited for. (We'll be gone most of the month of April).


• 
  
  When the thoughts of marriage were floating around, I had no idea what martin had in mind (but he definitely had something in mind). I like cold weather, and winter, and fall, and I would be happy to be married at any time of year. When Martin was asking on a regular basis, wanna get married today? (joking or not, I didn't always know) I was ready at any moment. He thought 2010 was a cool year (easy to remember the anniversary) and I threw out the date. I knew the 2nd was a Saturday because Heidi wanted her baby shower on the first Saturday, and much to our surprise, the date is a palindrome. Whether or not Martin was originally 100 percent serious, he loved the date, and we just knew it was going to be perfect.


• 
  
  At the time of planning, Martin had Saturdays off work, so it was an easy yes. And other than a few quirks with the planning of my family, everyone was going to be in town.


• 
  
  Daniel had let us know a few months before that he would be moving out on the 1st of January (he happened to have the biggest room in the house) therefore, his room would be available for us, just after our wedding day. Note: this room is quite large and has a huge closet. So we never had to worry about whether or not I could fit, even though I have a lot of stuff, we knew it wasn't going to be a problem. Also, he lives in Fremont, pretty much perfectly placed between our families' houses.


• 
  
  A few years ago Martin put his name on a few affordable housing lists and we assumed his name would be getting closer to the top, which it is. So even though we are more than happy where we are, we have options that will be soon in the mix.

I know there are probably quite a few more little and big things that made everything perfect, but this is the bulk of how our quickly planned marriage came to be. We're coming on two weeks being married, and even though we've both had a cold, we couldn't be happier. Still working on moving in, and everything is honestly better than perfect.

wedding pictures continued...

Thank you to everyone for all the congratulations and love sent our way in the past few days.

01/02/2010

As promised, here they are, my wedding pictures.

I am so in love with my husband, sometimes I can barely contain myself. Somehow we manage to light each others lives in ways never imagined. This past Saturday of January 2010, my dreams came true; I married my best friend, Martin John Murray.

I have a few more pictures to go through still, hopefully I will have them up soon. Don't I have an adorable husband?

I would like to thank my family and Martin's for being so wonderful on the day of our wedding. With the last minute suprise I didn't know how everything would go, but it was perfect. Thank you family, we love you..

xoxo

Martin and Kristin Murray

p.s. Jana we love you, thank you so much for taking our pictures.