Beach Trip with our Friends!

The Longs' at the Beach!

I wrote The Longs' on the sand, but failed miserably to make it look presentable, so my very neat and tidy husband wrote The Longs' which is pictured. Of course it looks perfect!
And the funniest picture of all time: Branden with the sad face in front of the 'me' in the sand! What a crack up!

Later that night we headed over to Del Ray Beach for a bonfire and hot dogs. It was Chad's first time ever to roast hot dogs on the beach! Crazy! The group shot took about ten times before we got one that worked! Aren't we all so cute!?

And it wouldn't be us if we didn't have a goofy shot! Beth can't do goofy so Chad just made her laugh. And I'm pretty sure my goofy face just looks constipated!

Our reduced fat hotdogs on whole wheat buns... We live on the wild side!

Our wonderful friends Chad and Beth. Beth is my best friend and Chad is Dan's... And they are an item. No pressure but we hope it works out!!! Love you guys!

Wednesday Date at the Rose Gardens

This week, I planned our date to the Rose Gardens. I planned to stop at Chipotle and bring dinner to the Gardens where we'd eat on a blanket. As we arrived, to our surprise, there was a free concert! The music was pretty good. It was a full on orchestra with a lady who sang soul music. I'll be honest, Dan and I had a good laugh at her expense with all the "oooh" "No, no, no" "uhhhh huhhh" -- It was kind of comical in a way. Nonethelesss, we really enjoyed the cooler weather and live music.

At first we sat next to these really drunk English people. I leaned over to Dan and commented on how hard it was to take them serious with their accents. Even drunk they sound so professional! They soon left and instead we were surrounded by the dozens of 'earth muffins' sippin' on their wine out of a box from handcrafted cardboard paper cups. You have to hand it to them though, they're very resourceful!

After the concert, we headed into the Gardens to take a few pictures... And this is what we ended up with.

While we listened to the "uhhhhh huhhhh's," we played Blokus on our picnic blanket, a family fun game. Dan had never played it before and ended up being a natural at it. It was quite fun. I am certain that men have within them a natural ability for perceptual ability. He sees moves that I cannot and I feel perceptual disabled!!! But this game is too fun to give up on... I believe I can!!!

Adios from the Longs! We love you all!!

DaTe NiGhT!!!

Daniel and I have decided we are going to continue to "date" now that we're married. We've decided on a date a week. I read in a book about an idea to each write five date night ideas and draw out of a "hat" where the date will be that week. I really liked this idea because it gives you a chance to think creatively about possible dates and then you can still be spontaneous because you're drawing from ten choices. Yes, dinner and a movie is fun sometimes, but I LOVE being creative on dates.

My date ideas for this 'go round' are:

1. Go to a free concert somewhere in the Portland area.

2. Walk the waterfront and get dessert somewhere.

3. "Ready, set, Fire"! Paint your own ceramics

4. Go to a "drive-in" movie (in the back of our car somewhere or an actual theatre)

5. See a play, musical, broadway, or any show in Portland.

While I love my ideas, I need more. I'm searching for fun, fairly inexpensive date ideas. Please post any particularly memorable dates for us to try!!!

Nerds!

So Daniel and I were out to dinner at Chevy's when we came back to the car and discovered Dan had broken his sunglasses. My jaw dropped and I started to laugh because two days prior, I had broken a pair of sunglasses in the exact same spot resulting in my left lense falling out. I thought it was funny when Dan proceeded to wear the sunglasses while driving. A few moments later he explaims that the bi-lense is causing him to feel sick to his stomach. He then pulls out the lense, and squints the lense in place. We were about to pee our pants we were laughing so loud. It was a sight to see... but little Isaiah in the backseat was confused at the commotion.

A Few Months Hiatus and I get Married!

Istarted blogging and thought it would be incredibly easy to upkeep. It seems that I just don't quite have the ability to keep up with two forms of blogging, that of Facebook and my Blogger. But by the request of many, I guess it's time to try anew and post something current.

I GOT MARRIED! May 30th, 2009 was our big day and I no longer am Monica Vrtiska (something I'm having a difficult time getting used to) and am now Monica Long. It's a lot of fun to have a name like Long. "Long" suffering. A "Long" time. And my brother-in-law Adams favorite: 'Long'-erie!

OUR FIRST DANCE

My sisters surprised us with a dance rendition of "I know something about love" as seen on My Best Friends Wedding! Mindy is so theatrical and all the sisters were SO cute!

Toast at the reception

So this is one of my favorite pictures. Here we are signing our marriage certificate and I can't believe how excited we look! Dan and I had a good laugh when we saw this picture of us.

Some of our bride and groom shots. We took pictures at the Rood Bridge Park in Hillsboro. The colors matched ours (green and white). It was a PERFECT day! Yes, a little hot but we were worried about rain and instead got beautiful blue skies and it was over 90 degrees! But I wouldn't change a single thing about our entire day... except maybe my sisters actually showing up at the right time to take pictures!

One of my favorites! SASSY!

Just For Giggles

8 TV shows I like to watch:

1. Trauma: Life in the ER

2. Survivor

3. Iron Chef America

4. The Office

5. Planet Earth

6. First 48

7. Oprah

8. House

8 Restaurants I like to eat at:

1. Costa Vida (Since Cafe Rio isn't in Oregon)

2. Chevy's

3. On the Border

4. Claimjumpers

5. Benihanna

6. Mio Sushi

7. Pizzicato

8. Typhoon

.
8 things that happened today:

1. Woke up in extreme pain from snowboarding accident that left me almost unable to turn my head to the left.

2. Went to church

3. Watched Planet Earth with Dan

4. Worked on a puzzle with Dan

5. It snowed!

6. Dan started to vomit and diarrhea at the same time and I was on the couch with a heating pad on my neck... We were quite the couple today!

7. Watched a dancing show with my parents.

8. FINALLY updated my blog!

8 things I am looking forward to:

1. The pain in my neck to go away.

2. Getting married.

3. Having children

4. The Second Coming

5. Getting a job during the DAY!

6. Going snowboarding this season

7. Going ice skating with Daniel

8. Getting my student loans paid off!

8 things on my wish list:

1. Get in shape for the upcoming season of races!

2. Starting a family

3. Not having to work fulltime anymore

4. Going back to school for a masters or doctorate degree

5. Be a better member of the church

6. New running shoes and workout clothes

7. Learn how to wakeboard

8. Go on a tropical vacation

8 People I tag
Lindsey

Bridget

Stephanie

Molly

Kyle

Jessica

Alexis

Chelsey

From The Request of Others

Two Crazy Kids In Love....

I've been dating Dan for almost seven months now. It's been a journey for sure. But one thing is for certain, this is a man I can let my hair down with and be totally and completely me!

Not only can I be me, but we are kind of cute together. It just looks like we fit.

A few weeks ago, we were holed up at my parents due to a pretty significant snowstorm! It was tons of fun! We made dinner together, made breakfast for my parents, watched a church video, played in the snow, walked about a mile over to his brothers, and played games. It was such a fun time and I honestly think that this was the weekend when I knew that I was definitely in love!

Another thing I absolutely love about Dan is that we both enjoy doing the same things. Dan and I love doing the same activities and it really helps our relationship. We both like to snowboard and recently went for the first time together. I must admit it was quite attractive to see him tear it up out there! We also enjoy working out together and we've gotten to the point where going to the gym isn't the same unless we go together... It's kind of adorable actually. We've also recently gotten into puzzles and Planet Earth. I think we're 65 years old in twentysomething bodies! I definitely have fun when I'm spending time with Daniel.

And the best part of it all, he loves me and accepts me for the zainey woman that I am, and I love and accept him for the goofy man that he is!