Many Moments of Marital Bliss

Just wanted to send a quick little note saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY HUBBY!!!!!

Today we are celebrating his 23rd birthday! His celebration will probably last beyond today, since he has classes. :( Boo.

He is the best hubby! This is our first birthday celebration together as a married couple! Besides being so tired, so far, so good!

I love you babe! Happy Birthday!

Dear Family and Friends,

This week and weekend has certainly been an eventful one. As many of you may know, Doug is taking a few classes for "professional development." He is happily working at KRS and taking some classes to make him a better legal assistant. I am so proud of him! So our weeks find us rather tired and busy. I am loving every second of teaching. This past week we had a party for Shakespeare's birthday and funeral. Lol. The kids loved it. Its was food and competition galore. The highlight of the week was a very special visit from a certain fireman... Craig Smith! Craig decided to retire on Sunday, April 20th, but before he finished all his duties, he did one more special thing for my class. He was our very first speaker for our career research unit. The kids certainly loved him! It was such a blessing to have him in the classroom. For those of you who are not members of Grace, Craig is the wonderful gentleman who played the violin at our wedding! :) Thank you again for that Craig! I know I owe you for the rest of our lives for that! :)

The fun continued with Craig, as many of his family and friends got together to celebrate his 28 years of service to the Los Angeles Fire Department. Many of the men who worked with him gave him some touching words and spoke of his many accolades in his service to the community. The most touching moment of the weekend was when Craig got up to say the benediction. With as many tough men present as there were, it is safe to say that many tears were squeaked among this crowd. Craig and Cheryl killed the fattened calf and provided everyone with an amazing BUFFET lunch from Lucielle's bbq. I know the fire department will miss him greatly, but we get the blessing of having him around more!

Cheryl, you are an amazing wife and mother. All of the hard work and love you have put into your family really shows! You have loved your husband and children with a love that is only from God. I know I deeply admire that and hope to love Doug in the same way!

Craig, congratulations! While you are still quite young, we know that God has so much in store for you! You are truly a great man of God and it is amazing to see someone of such great success give all the glory to God! :) You are an inspiration to many. We are blessed to have you as a hero in our lives!

I hope you all enjoy the pictures. It was such a great weekend! The weekend isnt over yet though! We are on our way to Daniel and Eleanor Holm's house to celebrate their son Noah's baptism! What a blessing!
May God bless and keep you all!

Dear Family & Friends,

I could probably dedicate this entire blog to memories of the wedding. As I write about the things that Doug and I are currently up to, I will occasionally through in some wedding memories. Forgive me for not posting pictures of the wedding yet. Doug and I want to show his parents the pictures in person. I don't want the fun to be taken away from them! There is definitely a difference when people see the pictures in person! I did, though, want to share my something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue with all of you!

I am sure you did a double take there. No, the dress I wore was not my mom's, but the handkerchief that I carried was maid out of my mother's wedding dress. My sister actually had asked my mom to make something out of her wedding dress, and being the good sister that I am, I stole her idea! My mom gladly agreed to give us both something very intimate and what no one else could give us... a piece of her wedding! So I called my Grandma, Bama, and asked if she could craft this delicacy. Now the saga begins to unfold. My grandmother agreed and ended up putting her BLOOD, sweat, and tears into this beauty. My grandmother ended up puncturing her thumb with a needle. It went all the way through! Thank you Bama for the sacrifice to make this so beautiful! So my grandma made my mother's wedding dress a gorgeous handkerchief. My grandmother also added a piece of her wedding veil and the green ribbon from our wedding invitation. My grandma also monogrammed our initials DFB (Doug Fisher Beth). This is truly an amazing keepsake.









My sister and I have a very special relationship. We have been best friends since the moment that she came home from the hospital. This wedding was especially memorable because my sister stood right by my side as my maid of honor and best friend. Man, so many years of memories! Its amazing how one day can bring so many of them back. So when my sister flew in from Annapolis at Christmas time, she could not wait to give me her very special gift. I was tired and sweaty from working and commuting, so I couldnt show her my true appreciate at that moment, but she unveiled this elegant crown. Each year we give each other swarovski crystals. This was my most memorable gift. Thank you sissy. It meant so much to me. I truly felt like a queen in that crown!




Cheryl is my second mama. My mom is very proud to be my mother and Cheryl is the only other lady in our lives who she will agree to give that title! The Smith's have truly been such a blessing in our lives. From the moment we moved to Rialto they welcomed us, came to all our games, and followed us through the major steps of our lives. Our wedding would not have been possible without all of Cheryl's help! Cheryl put so much hard work into this wedding. So as we were doing some food planning and what not she had asked me if anyone had offered a something borrowed. She knew our colors were green. She offered me a gorgeous green jade bracelet. The bracelet truly popped in all the pictures. It was such a wonderful detail of elegance. Thank you Cheryl! We love you!

My Something Blue..... Handmade Garter

Of course the something blue came in the shape of a garter. My grandmother made a garter out of my mom's wedding dress as well. She added some beautiful blue ribbon. Boy is my grandma talented! Thank you Bama!

Look forward to more details about the wedding later! :) We truly had the wedding of our dreams. Weddings can be so stressful and when all is said in done, there are a lot of headaches, decisions to be made, conflicting desires, and crazy times of preparation. As Doug and I look back at our wedding, we are just happy to be married. We are thankful for all of you who came. We are thankful for all of you who helped. We had the most beautiful ceremony. Most of all, we know that God was smiling down upon us giving us His blessing to a life full of love!

Until we see you again... God bless you!

I know that I have been so horrible at writing. I apologize. Jeff, my new brother :), came over today for lunch. He gave me a copy of our wedding slide show. I am incredibly blown away at his talent. I am so so floored to think of all of the good times that Doug and I have had together. I am so in love with him and each day it is growing. As corny as this story is, I have to share it. Doug and I were able to take my parents out to Claim Jumper a month ago. Doug asked my parents what their favorite thing was about being married. My dad replied "That I am more in love with Kawai now than when we were first married. And I fall more in love with her each day." The other day, Doug looked at me and said "your dad was right. I am falling more in love with you each day." I cannot wait to continue to grow and achieve that "old love" that Doug's mom spoke about at the wedding reception! Well enough with the mushy stuff for now... I bet you all want to know what we have been up to!

My second mama, Cheryl, was saying that she hoped we'd write right after the honeymoon. Well, wow! Doug and I have been doing some crazy things with life. So I want to give you a recap on the HONEYMOON first!

Doug took me to Napa Valley for our Honeymoon! I was so proud and impressed with him. He planned the entire thing by himself. It was so nice not to have to worry about it! So after the wedding, Doug swept me off to The Mission Inn in Riverside. This was were our good friends Daniel and Eleanor Holm were married almost two years ago! We ate to our hearts delight the next morning. Then we hopped into our Volvo (yes... I know, but seriously it was an amazing car! It was a LUXURY VOLVO- thanks Steve). We road tripped all the way up to Nor Cal. It was such a wonderful time. Doug had another surprise for me. Along the way we stopped off at Kohl's. Doug took me on a shopping spree. :) It was so great. I was wearing my "I love my hubby" shirt, so all of these women were giving me smiles and asking me questions. I was so proud to say that I had been married for a day! It was a good thing that we stopped off at Kohl's, because I left EVERYTHING at the church! I didnt have any jeans or shoes. I just had nice and dressy clothes.

We finally arrived at our first destination, the Zinfandel Inn at about 7pm. It was an intimate little bed and breakfast. Doug and I felt like we were living the life! The owner was this very knowledgeable and fun man. He referred us to some great places to eat. Our very favorite, though, was the pizza joint Tra Vinge! People who visit Napa usually go for the very posh food. We just wanted a good pizza and beer (weird we know! We were in WINE COUNTRY... dont worry we got enough of that though!).

Our first full day in Napa, Tuesday, brought many adventures and RELAXATION! We went to our first mud bath! We walked around the cute town of Calistoga and went to one of the cutest candy shops ever! After that we hit up a few wineries. Then Doug took me for a night on the town of St. Helena. We ended up driving to Rutherford and ate some wonderful steak at the Rutherford Grill.

Wednesday, our 2nd day in Napa, was filled with fun and excitement. We went hiking up Mt. St. Helena. It was about a 10 mile hike, but we made it! After our hike, we drove down the mountain. We decided we should try to see if we could check into our hotel room early. It was a good thing we did, because we were absolutely IN LOVE! The Wine Country Inn is by far the most incredible place I have ever stayed! They definitely hooked it up! They upgraded us to their best room. This wasnt a room though! It was a private cottage. Our little college overlooked a fabulous vineyard. They had state of the art everything! The thing I loved the most about it was that they had no tv! It was just Doug and I truly enjoying each other and our beautiful surrounding. This fabulous place had local wineries come everyday from 4:30-6. They had asked us where we would dine that evening. We told them we were so happy with our room and that we would dine in. We did not order room service. We did it the much more fun way! We went to the grocery store and stocked up on so many goodies. We ate to our hearts content. We enjoyed a bottle of wine on our private patio.

Thursday, March 6th, was our last full day in Napa. We traveled to many of the local wineries and enjoyed ourselves immensely. One of the best sights was the Castle... Castillo de Amorissa. I may have spelled that wrong. Our only complaint was that that organization seemed really money hungry. If you visit there, don't get sucked into their expensive wine tasting. We definitely got taken advantage of there. We tried not to let this ruin our time. From the castle we went to a few other places.... and then Doug, always full of surprises gives me another great gift! He says that I can a free for all photography session with him. So we ran through mustard fields, visited a number of wineries, and had a wonderful last night in. Of course, we didnt go out and eat. We ate in and loved EVERY second of it! I will say though, the culinary scene in Napa is AMAZING! I know it should be with the culinary institute there, but I have never tasted such great food! :) This is, of course, the very brief version of the honeymoon. If you would like to see more pictures, you copy and paste the links below to see our pictures!

With love and excitement,

To see pictures copy and paste below:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2229401&l=48d53&id=3304510

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2229408&l=8ec2f&id=3304510

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2229412&l=5c84d&id=3304510

Ps. If you click on any of the links in the text, they will lead you to some of the places we went to or stayed at during the honeymoon! They wont open in a new window, so just press the back button if you want to get back to this window! Enjoy!

Greetings Family & Friends,

Welcome back! I am sorry that this blog has been down for so long. Doug and I have certainly been enjoying married life. We had an incredible wedding. We want to thank all of you for making it so memorable and wonderful! You all have certainly helped us start our life together off on the right foot. We appreciate your prayers, support, and love!

A couple weeks ago, Doug and I hosted a housewarming party for our college friends and family. As I was in the kitchen being a good host, I was talking with my good friend Kristin about married life. We were talking about how we want to share all of the adventures together. So I thought, if you cared to read, I would care to write! Even if no one reads, sometimes it is nice to have some kind of journal to document the journey that Doug & I are embarking on in our marriage. :) So I hope you enjoy watching our marital bliss unfold just as you saw it begin! We love you all so much and God bless you!

Dear Family & Friends,

This is coming WAY later than I had intended. I caught the crippling flu this week! My school sent me home after I threw up after lunch (graphic I know). Doug has been such a trooper taking care of me this entire week! I am so surprised he has not caught it yet. I hope that if he does catch it, he will catch it soon! The wedding is only 9 days away!!!!!!!

But, as always, I digress. I wanted to share some wonderful and beautiful memories of my second and final shower. Doug's mom, Gayle, threw me such a beautiful and intimate shower at a very special place, the Madonna Inn. The Madonna Inn is considered the half way point between the Bay and SoCal.

Early Sunday morning, my mom, Kelly and I woke up and piled into the car. Kelly and I had just spent a wonderful day and a half together celebrating with the girls at my bachelorette party. This was certainly an eventful weekend. From the moment that Gayle told me she was hosting me a shower, I was pretty stoked. Then, a few weeks later I got an email from her saying that it would be at a very special spot- the Madonna Inn! The Madonna decorates their restaurant with pink hearts everywhere (you can check out the pictures). Between this shower and my mom's shower, my 2nd year apartment at UCSD was put to shame! There was pink everywhere! What I loved the most though, was being with my "new" family! Doug's family has welcomed me since day one. I feel so incredibly blessed to be a part of their family, to be welcomed into their special traditions, and to be able to go on trips with the "cousins." Lol. Doug has a very special relationship with his cousins. They are very blessed to share such a close relationship!

Kelly, my mom, and I arrived in San Luis Obsipo after Yahoo's map system gave us HORRIBLE directions. Those of you who know me know I LOVE to take pictures. Kelly was such a good sport with my picture taking. We pulled off into a beautiful scenic view of the ocean and took pictures. If you are able to view the albums you will see one of me with my arms in the air. I was screaming the whole weekend "IM GETTING MARRIED!" Our road trip was certainly fun! The great company, the random turns, the stop at the 99 cent store, and so much more made is memorable!

We we arrived, we met up with Doug's wonderful family. Gayle was busy making sure everyone was perfect at the restaurant. Fran was running back and forth to help. For those of you who do not know Fran, Fran will ALWAYS be the first to help ANYONE out! Even when she is supposed to be on vacation or resting, Fran has such a giving heart that she will sacrifice everything for others! Fran and her sister Juli will be doing the scripture readings at the wedding! So, of course, being with Doug's girl cousins Fran & Juli is always fun! We headed down to the restaurant at about 2 o clock. The entire restaurant was beautiful. I felt like a princess. Gayle had put her very special touches all over our table. She crafted a beautiful centerpiece out of our wedding invitation. She had placed some perfect pictures around the table and had adorable wedding rings everywhere. Everything was decked in pink. We feasted to our delight and had a fun time with the presents. Thank you Ladies for blessing me so much that day! Very sadly, my mom and I could not stay for bridal bingo..... but at New Year's we will have to play! Im not going to let us get out of that! :) Especially when Doug and I stay in the honeymoon suite at Grandma and Grandpa Wrights. lol j/k. After this wonderful and intimate shower, my mom and I had to head back south to do a bunch of bridal errands. Before we left, Gayle ordered a fabulous and magnificent cake! You need to check out the pictures!

So long story short (and my head is still filled with Nyquil and other meds... sorry for the words being all over the place).... I had such a blessed and amazing shower! Thank you Gayle and Kelly for all of your love and hardwork! Thank you Karen, Meg, Anna, Fran, Juli, Grandma Wright, and mommy for making the day so special! I love you all and I am blessed to be your family! And finally, when all is said and done, I have to say THANK YOU to GOD! I never could have imagined him blessing me with a man like Doug... and then going ABOVE AND BEYOND and gifting me with this amazing family. Ever since I was a little girl I asked God for just good enough... and he has truly blessed me with great. I have the BEST in-laws. I dont know of many mother-in-laws who would go out of there way like Gayle did to go above and beyond. At the root of Gayle's heart is always the intention to bless and give to others. I am certainly most fortunate to be on the receiving end. As I enter into this new family, I hope that she will take a break and be on the receiving end! Thank you for being the great stuff! I will cherish you always and I hope you know that that is the way that I view you for life! I AM SO EXCITED TO BE A PART OF YOUR FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!

See you all in less than 9 days!

Dear Family & Friends,