our new little family member.

let me just start by saying i'm not a dog person. i'm really not an animal person of any kind. i've always secretly (and sometimes not-so-secretly) mocked those people who are obsessed with their pets. you know, the ones who make photos of their dogs their facebook profile pictures and put their animals in human-like clothing... i've never understood it.

(does this make me heartless? maybe.)

but husband has recently talked me into getting a puppy, something i've always put my foot down about with a firm "no". how he sweet talked me into getting one now i'll never know, but let me tell you this... in 3 short days i've become that person i've never wanted to be! i've become a dog person! (or at least, a "my dog" person... let's not get too crazy here.) i really love our new little guy, so much so i'm about one step away from dressing him up in a matching outfit and making an entire photo album of him.

dog lovers, i'm sorry i ever judged you. i'm one of you now.

so, without further ado, let me introduce you to our newest little family member, our tiny maltipoo, mr. feeny (a la "boy meets world.)

chad grew up with/wanted a big dog, i didn't want a dog at all, so he represents the perfect compromise. and he could keep us entertained all day! he's he the cutest!?

little babies.

lately we've been reminiscing about the beginning of our relationship quite a bit, and then last night i found this picture hiding on my computer. we were eighteen and nineteen years old without a clue (and yet i still give him that where on earth did you come from? look.)

we met at a show, the format. i remember coming home and calling my mom to tell her about this cute boy who drove us and how much he reminded me of seth cohen. she says she knew then that he was going to be someone special (i never talked about boys, i've always been pretty private.) at first it was a bunch of "24" and mixed cds and a lot of christian college cliches, but by the time we were heading into our sophomore year it had become apparent that we had something very real. fast forward six years, one nine month break up, one long distance segment, much growth and a whole lotta livin'... and here we are. and it feels oh so good.

it's been six months.

and i honestly love marriage more every single day. happy six month anniversary, to my husband whom i love and adore and can't imagine a life without.

la jolla love.

our two day one night mini-vacation in la jolla was, well, heaven.

i can't begin to tell you how much i needed to travel somewhere. anywhere.

(even if it was only an hour away)

and to get away with chad, just me and him... perfection.

we explored caves and watched the harbor seals (the funniest little creatures.)

chad spotted a whale right when it started to rain on us.

and then it rained harder and then it poured.

so we went back to the hotel and took a loooooong nap .

we ate. and ate. and ate.

burgers and parmesan-garlic fries and fancy filets and lava cake and one big ol' breakfast.

then this evening we snuck home, still in vacation mentality (and totally sleepy).

we changed into our comfs and cooked a little meal

and cuddled up to watch angelina jolie kick some butt.

i love vacations, even if they're small ones.

one year ago (yesterday).

one year ago yesterday chad and i were engaged.

i had been planning a surprise birthday party for the boy on february 6th, 2010... little did i know he was going to be the most difficult person ever. after a day full of white lies (on both our parts) i had finally gotten him in the car to go "meet his family for dinner" when he decided to be even more difficult and take a detour to the los rios district in san juan capistrano.

"we're going to be early! let's just go kill time and walk around for a bit." he said.

i was not happy. we were going to be late to his big party.

as we walked up to my favorite yellow house in the district, i realized that the tables had turned, and i was the one that was about to get the surprise.

the (then uninhabited) house was lit up with candles everywhere.

on a table on the porch was a wooden box, filled with pictures and letters from our families.

i read through each sweet and beautiful letter in disbelief, and when i was done chad got down on his knee just as bon iver's skinny love came on the record player. (good timing, eh?)

he said a bunch of wonderful things that neither of us remember (cliche, but true) and apparently at some point i asked "can i say yes already?!"

then our siblings came out of the woodwork and we all celebrated.

it was so surreal.

oh, and that surprise birthday party? all chad's idea. it was a surprise engagement party, and he'd brought in friends from all over the place to come and celebrate with us! clever boy, getting me to plan my own engagement party.

it was the best.

p.s. if you are ever in san juan capistrano go to the los rios district (the oldest neighborhood in california) and go and visit hidden house coffee. our little yellow engagement house has been turned into the most charming cafe.

quarter-life never looked so good.

mister's 25th birthday was a complete success, which means i get to give myself a "win" in the new-wife category.

the morning started off with a breakfast burrito in bed for chad and a text message for me from my boss saying that i could have the day off. i can't imagine a better way to start the day, really.

we spent the morning laying around on the couch and watching those crazy kardashians, tosh.o and boy meets world. then we got motivated around noon and went out to lunch, followed by some shopping and an afternoon movie, "the fighter." loved it.

we headed home, jamming to the new kanye, and got fancy for dinner. then the most delicious meal at the chart house over looking the harbor. gluttony galore. we rolled out of the restaurant so full we could barely move, back to our place for some funfetti and moscato. more gluttony. a little old school super mario brothers until we then passed out on the couch to "cruel intentions."

days don't get much better than this.

happy birthday to this handsome man.

happy birthday chad mcneely! who knew that six years ago, on your nineteenth birthday (when we met for the first time) that we'd end up like this? i love you always and forever. today we shall celebrate your quarter life, and the anniversary of our meeting! thank you for bringing so much light into my, and this, world.

living with a boy.

thanks to my dear college roommates i have a constant stream of "friends" quotes running through my head at pretty much all times. i seem to be able to conjure up one for every situation in life.

today i'm thinking about when monica and chandler are moving in together and it's rachel's last night in the apartment. she's all packed up and about to move out and they are all crying and monica says "and now you have to leave, and i have to live with a boy!"

well friends, i've lived with a plethora of beautiful ladies in my life. from living and sharing a bathroom with 30+ girls in the dorms, to an apartment we called the womb with my 4 soulmates. one summer i lived with 7 other girls for two months in a tent made out old sailboat sails on the shores of catalina island, and another time i lived with 3 other girls in a trailer that the university tastefully called a "mod." i've lived in vietnam with vietnamese women and in pink vietnamese hotels with girl teammates. even growing up my poor father was outnumber by my mother, sister and i.

some of the girls on 5th south, circa 2005.

my wombies. photo circa 2008

my hotel roomie the summer of '08, miss erica.

the little pearl, my vietnamese host sister.

baby sister leah and i, circa 1994.

miss marina, one of my catalina tent roomies summer of '07.

(photo by promise tangeman.)

i've lived with amazing girls, smart girls, creative girls, super clean girls, messier girls, funny girls, responsible girls, loud girls, quiet girls, silly girls, serious girls... yet none of that prepared me for having to live with a boy for the rest of my life.

while we really are having great fun getting to know each other as roommates and figuring out how to live together, here's a fun little list of some of the differences i've observed.

• the change piles. for a while it would really perplex me why i'd find little piles of coins placed around the house, or loose change scattered on the floor in front of the closet. then one day i realized! boys don't carry purses and their wallets don't have change compartments, so they just put it in their pockets only to be set out on the counter or the coffee table later.
• everything is a musical instrument. this may not be a boy thing as much as it's a chad thing, but let me tell you... that boy can make some sort of rhythm on anything.
• xbox. living with girls all my life i've never really experienced the xbox. sure we had a wii (that actually belonged to chad) and we played freetetris.org like no one's business, but never shoot-em-up kind of games. now, however, it is not uncommon for me to go to bed to the sounds of gunfire against zombies.
• this conversation. erin: "what are you thinking right now?" chad: "nothing." erin: "seriously? you can't be thinking nothing." chad: "honestly, i'm nothing thinking about anything." erin: "then what are you feeling?" chad: "nothing" erin: "oh good grief."
• the tivo list. in addition to modern family, cougar town, mad men and glee (our favorites) our tivo is also full of csi type shows and modern marvels and tnt dramas.
• oh, and this conversation! erin: "i'm really craving something sweet! let's go get ice cream or chocolate or make cookies!" chad: "eh, i don't really like dessert." erin: "that doesn't make any sense."

and so on and so forth. oh he may be a strange creature to live with, but boy do i love the mystery that is living with my husband.

yes he is a boy and his ways may be foreign to me, but at least i like to look at him.

merry christmas (a day late.)

honestly, the best word to describe our first married christmas would be lovely. it really was just perfect... relaxing and fun and joyful. we loved every moment of the weekend, even the moments spent in the ER.

that's right, the ER.

on christmas eve chad and i were out "playing santa" and delivering goodies to some friends. we were leaving presents on doorsteps, knocking on the door and running away, off to make the next delivery. well at one of the houses i got a little over-zealous with my "run away" and totally ate it... fracturing and spraining my wrist in the process. yep, i'm just that klutzy. so in addition to the pretty sweaters that santa brought me, i also get to sport this super cool wrist brace.

dear husband, thank you for making every situation better. somehow you made the ER on christmas day an incredibly funny experience. for this (and about a million other reasons) i love you and think that i'm going to keep you around for a little while.

three months.

exactly three months ago from this very moment i was getting ready to run through a sea of sparklers and take off to the w hotel westwood and eat room service in my wedding dress.

then came ten days of hawaiian bliss.

then came lots of presents, lots of ikea and target runs, and lots of arranging and rearranging.

and then the beginning of a new life as we know it.

honestly, i feel like we've been married a lot longer than three months, and i mean that in the best way possible. it's just so..... right. it's been challenging. it's been growing. it's been eye-opening and mind-opening. and it's been and so. much. fun.

dearest husband, thank you for loving me the way you do. thank you for making me laugh harder than anyone. thank you for encouraging my soul every day and for the support that you provide me. i can say with no reservations that this has been the best ninety days ever, and it's only just the beginning..

9.19.10

thanks you jeremiah bonjean photography, we love you!

honeymoon-ing.

our honeymoon was seriously the best time of our lives.

after the craziness of the wedding process (though the wedding was seriously magical for us) nothing felt better than sitting in that "get-away-car" knowing that all that lay in front of us for the next ten days was laying around on the beach and eating like kings.

dear hawaii, thank you for being so good to us. you were exactly what we needed and were the perfect place to spend our first couple weeks as marrieds.

dear north shore,

you have such beautiful soul about you.

i hope we meet again soon.

dear chefs and cooks of maui and oahu,

and we ate more delicious hamburgers on your beautiful shores...

thank you for the good eats.

thankful for.

hello blog world,

after a few unsuccessful attempts at a blog, hopefully this time we're here to stay. we are erin and chad mcneely, a newly married couple figuring this whole "life" thing out together.

and today is thanksgiving (!!) and today we start our blog, thankful for so much. thankful for the chance to spend the holiday weekend with the most wonderful family, and the knowledge that we have the very best and most loving friends. thankful for the fact that we have food on the table and won't have to worry about where we will find food next. (and the fact that the food on the table is the most delicious food!) thankful for our beautiful God and His grace, and thankful for the fact that we have found each other, and that we get to do life side by side. and thankful for cheesecake, too.

we are just loving being married, and our hope is that this blog will let you in on the little world we've begun to create for ourselves. (marriage is fun!)

and now i leave you with some lovin' from a magical thanksgiving a few years back (when i lived in a beautiful place we called "the womb"... but more on those beauties later.)