Hot Sabbath

 Today we went to the beach after church.  Being Mormons, we tend to avoid recreation on Sundays, in order to honor the Sabbath day and keep it holy.  That being said, it is lovely to spend time as a family together enjoying one of God's creations: the ocean.  It was so nice to lay in the sand next to Mr. Nederhand and read our book.  We love reading together.  I loved hearing his gentle voice mix with the sound of the waves as they caressed the shore.

A nice and shady little hut we found on the beach.

After reading, Anthonie asked me if I thought we were romantic.  "Of course we are!" I replied. What could be more romantic than sitting in the sand reading a good book?  Then we tried to list a few of our favorite romantic moments together.  Our favorite memory was of the Rosarito, Mexico beach where we went for a walk in the middle of the night.  I still remember the smell of the ocean and the feel of the cold air on my face as he kissed me.  That was over six years ago.  Whenever I think of the miracle that we are together--through all the time and trials--I am filled with the sweet knowledge of God's love for me.  We never would have made it without His help and His love guiding us.

Inside the hut

When we came home from the beach, it was still so hot in our little house.  (Not over 80 degrees, but we have no AC here!)  So I decided to run through the sprinklers.  Mr. Nederhand came running with me.  We played freely, like children, screaming at the cold water and teasing each other.  I hope our days can stay this carefree for a while.  It is a luxury to have so few worries.

View from the hut

Handsome husband reading

In other news, my friend, Caroline, came to visit our church with her son Eli today!  I feel so blessed to share my love for the gospel with such a dear friend.  I hope she felt the same joy that I did, listening to the members' testimonies.  It is a personal thing to share our beliefs, usually held so closely to our hearts, with others.  The best gift that one friend can give to another is to share a core belief, a kernal of truth, and hope that they feel similarly.

Happy Sabbath!

My Baby is Coming Home!

 I went and paid for the couch on Monday.  But our friends Dano and Jeremiah were not free to help us get it home until Thursday.  It's been the longest wait of my life.  Every day I just kept dreaming about lounging in my comfy sofa.  I was so excited that it was coming home that I took a million pictures of the process.

Anthonie, Jeremiah and the warehouse guys loading my baby up.  Dano's as excited as I am!

Did I mention it was raining?  Our friends are the best!!!

Sofa waiting for the feet!

 I wanted to get home and set it up IMMEDIATELY.  But we had made plans to play racquetball with Dano and Jer in exchange for hauling our sofa.  So we unloaded it at home, then headed to the Navy gym. 

Dano and I played a game, in which I lost horribly (but I'll get better, maybe?)  Then we watched and played with cute baby Breken the rest of the time.  After the boys played several games (and Anthonie lost them all--which serves him right for bragging!), we headed to Pita Pit for dinner. Yummmm...

By the time we got home, it was really late.  I was still excited about getting the feet on our sofa, but Anthonie wasn't too thrilled.  He was a good sport though and did all the hard parts.  I'm so lucky to have him!

Finally put together!

It feels so good to have a sofa!

Furniture Fever!

Vintage dining table in creme

 I'm going crazy! Somehow I didn't realize that after getting married we would have NO furniture.  We've been sitting at a card table for almost two months and people are noticing that we don't have a sofa.  The bishop came over to visit when we first moved in and he asked us if we needed anything besides a sofa.  It's pretty bad if your bishop is asking you if you ever plan to get one. 

The good news is that the wait is over!  We finally got our Navy benefits and a large check for our moving reimbursement.  So two days ago, I went and picked up this cute table.  I saw it on craigslist.org  a few days ago and luckily it was still available.  It fits perfectly in our space and now we can have four guests for dinner!  I am in love with the chairs.  Anthonie was very supportive of my decision and helped me clean them up.

Sofa in the Salesroom

Today, I convinced Anthonie to go with me to the furniture store on base, called the NEX Home Gallery.  I had heard that they don't charge taxes there and saw that they were having a 5 - 30 % off sale!  (Hopefully we're holding a lucky ticket for 30% off.) 

As soon as I sat on this sofa, I knew I wanted to take it home with me.  It's the exact color and shape that I've been wanting.  It's brand new and it's so cute.  Anthonie could see that I was falling in love, so he agreed that we would come home and "talk it over" and make sure that it fit in our budget. 

Sofa's chevron pattern in tweed!

Of course, as soon as we got home I started talking.  "It's the exact size, shape and color that I want.  We won't be charged taxes.  It's cheaper than some of the used sofa's I've seen on craigslist.  Plus you want a new sofa anyway.  It was comfortable..."  I was talking and thinking about how perfect it would be, when I realized that my lips were being blocked... Anthonie was kissing me while I was talking!  So for a while we kissed.  And then I started convincing again.  Finally Anthonie says, "Angela, we're getting the couch."  I was so excited that I wanted to leap for joy and shout YAAYYYY!!  But I was already being pulled into a steamy embrace that lasted for quite a while....  ;)

I'm so excited that we're getting a sofa!!  More details soon to come!  And maybe then I'll get pictures of our cute house up!

Fashion Fun and Friends

Black bubble necklace

Checking out my booty

I'm totes digging my new blue pants.  Ok, let's be honest, I'm obsessed!  Last time I wore them, my adorable husband said, "Who is the lady wearing the hot pants?  Oh yeah!  It's my wife!" This comment immediately turned me on (we're newlyweds... it's to be expected!)

Since I've had more free time in the last five weeks than I have in the past five years, I'm really having fun experimenting with styles.  Lest you think, "But it's June!  Why are you wearing a sweater?" let me explain.  It's cold here in Washington!!  There's not even been a clear enough day for me to wear short sleeves yet!  Yesterday, I wore a sweater on a bike ride!  I am not used to this weather and I am terrified that I will miss out on my HOTT summer.  So I'm wearing hot clothes instead!  

Also, before someone rains on my parade about sock buns being "so last season" let me say, just say, this the easiest hair do I've ever had!  Please don't ruin it for me.  Yes, I've read that they can look "matronly" in the words of Elle magazine, but seriously -- what's matronly about a bright orange-red sweater with flowers?  Or my cute, young and adorable face?  If you think "matronly" while looking at these photos, I may have to punch you in the face.


Besides overanalyzing my closet, I've also spent a lot of time skyping/face-timing my lovely friends around the world!  My day is always brighter when I get to talk to my Mom or Sister (who live in Abu Dhabi, UAE). And if Courtney calls me from Alpine, I can be sure that no house tasks will be done for the next two hours (or three, or five...)  Viewers beware; we spend most of that time making faces at each other.  As shown here:

 And of course we laugh together afterwords about how weird we look.

Recently, I've discovered a new friend in Oak Harbor who has a beautiful view off her back porch.  The best part is that we're related! My great-aunt-Wanda is the aunt to my uncle!  It really is a small world (and Wanda's world is the prettiest of them all!)  I'm looking forward to grilling some hot dogs and enjoying the view this summer!

Wanda's backyard view

1st Month Anniversary

Today is our First Month Anniversary!

I posted this picture on Instagram saying, "Yay, baby!  We made it!"  Of course, this is only the first of many anniversaries, but we still wanted to make it special.  I made sure to capture the most important things in our home right now -- our wedding rings.  (Of course, I had no table to put them on, so they're resting on the TV for now, but THINGS don't matter!)

Before I could even get my picture posted, Anthonie wrote me a sweet love note before leaving for work.  Of course, it made me cry. The best line was, "Thank you so much for making this place a home. I love what you have done with it."  I am so blessed to have an appreciative husband who loves to compliment me.  I am so grateful for everything he is doing and how hard he works to provide for us.

Right after the inagural anniversary post, I opened the front door and found this:

My diploma!! I feel so honored to finally have a piece of paper showing my sacrifice and accomplishment in college.  Yay!!

Later, Anthonie took me on a special date.  We hiked to the highest spot on Whidbey Island.

Panorama of Goose Rock, near Deception Pass

We ate a little picnic of summer sausage, cheese, and "Mormon Wine" (aka. sparkling apple cider) as we basked in the spectacular view and enjoyed holding each other.  We also finished the book we've been reading together, "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss.  I highly recommend it; the main character, Kvothe, is so interesting.  All in all, it was a very monumental, romantic and memorable day.  I'm so happy to be married to my love, for time and all eternity!