So many people have been asking us about our honeymoon! It has taken us awhile to get settled in, so this is the first time we are seeing the pictures ourselves! It is fun to look back on our honeymoon. The time went by so fast! Isaac and I both felt like the time we spent on the cruise was long enough. Honestly, we were anxious to get back to our apartment, get a real shower, and settle into our new life as husband and wife.

Right after the reception, Isaac and I left to stay in a hotel about a mile away from our venue. We were there for two nights. The hotel had a king sized bed, along with a separate area with a little kitchen and living room! It was probably the nicest hotel either of us had every stayed in. The second night we decided not to go to sleep because we had to be at the airport by 3 am in order to catch our flight. To pass time, we washed the wedding stuff off of our car (that was sad. We missed people "honking for love") and saw a movie. If you haven't seen Split, we highly recommend it!

The day of the cruise Isaac and I wore these matching shirts. Mine said "Wifey" and Isaac's said "Hubby". Throughout the day people were congratulating us and wishing us well. We met a lot of people who were celebrating their anniversary. Some couples had even taken the same cruise 10 years prior, and were back to celebrate! It was really neat!

The very first thing we did when we were finally able to get onto the ship was EAT. We were starving! The price of the cruise includes the majority of the food. There were a couple things you had to pay for, like a few things on the room service menu, as well as the stake and lobster in the dining room. We got lucky though, because some of the best food we have ever had was FREE and UNLMITED. For a small price, soda and juice was also unlimited, so we were happy campers!

Our first stop was Catalina Island. This was our favorite part! We docked pretty close to the shore but not quite, so we had to get on a little boat that took us to the Island. We walked around for 3 or 4 hours going into all the tourist shops. Most of them had a lot of the same stuff, but every few stops we would run into some really unique things. The weather was beautiful, and it was so nice to enjoy

it.

When we got hungry we tried to find the most unique place we could. We settled with a restaurant called Luau Larry's. The establishment seemed pretty normal, until we rounded the corner to see a built in cave! Obviously, we had to take advantage of the spot and eat inside of it. Isaac tried a bison burger, and I had one of the most delicious plates of nachos I have ever had. I am not much of an adventurous eater. My sweet husband is though, and he was kind enough to pick a place that had food I would eat.

Blurry, but you get the idea

Carnival Inspiration- Our ship from the Island

Isaac and I spent a lot of time that night wondering the ship and looking at all the activities they had available. We decided that we would try out one of the comedy shows, and that was well worth it! The Comedians they had on board were hilarious! Too bad we can't remember their names!

The next stop was Ensenada. We were SO excited to have a beach day, so we made sure we woke up early, ate some breakfast, and were ready to go as soon as they started to let groups of people off the ship. When we got up to the main deck we were pretty disappointed. Ensenada looked nothing like Catalina. When we docked in Catalina, we could see the Island and the shops, and the view was beautiful, no matter which way we looked. Ensenada? Not so much... We docked in what looked like a construction site. There were cranes and huge dump trucks everywhere. Turns out, there were no excursions that allowed us to simply go to the beach and hang out for a few hours. That is all we really wanted to do, so we decided not to purchase any excursions. We just assumed we would be on the beach. We were very wrong! Isaac saved the day though, and as soon we realized there was no sandy shore in sight, he went down to guest services and found out what we had to do to get to the beach. One super sketchy bus ride later, we were finally at the beach. It wasn't the Bahamas, but it was still fun to go.

Not pictured: the horrible pictures of me in my swimsuit haha

 That night and through the next day, we were at sea. We spent most of our time at the pool and eating everything that was available to us. We did take time to nap, which was much needed. We felt like we had to take advantage of every possible thing there was to do, and that wasn't very relaxing. Most of the activities were geared towards drinkers. We found plenty to do of course, but we stayed out of the casinos and away from the party activities.

Up until this point, neither of us had felt sea sick. We were well prepared for it to occur, but it didn't-until our last night. I think it was because we were always asleep when the ship was moving, we hardly noticed any movement. It got pretty bad, but we tried to tough it out and enjoy all we could!

The whole time we were on the ship, we chose to eat at the buffet or a couple of the restaurants they have on deck. The last night we decided to go to the fancy dining room. We didn't even realize it was there! Everything was included in the cruise cost, so we decided to splurge and order steak and lobster with our appetizers and drinks. IT WAS SO YUMMY! Unfortunately, the dining room was at the front of the ship, and our table was right by a window. We got all of the movement, and it made the dinner much less appetizing then we had hoped. The staff was so wonderful though, and let us pack up our leftovers to take to our room for later-it wasn't as rocky in our stateroom. We stayed long enough to enjoy some delicious bread pudding-which was also free. Before we left to call it a night, the whole staff performed for us! It was so fun! Cruise ships are great vacation options if you want entertainment!

As I am typing this I realize all I am really telling you about, is the food... Ill be honest- I have waited so long to write this post, my memory seems a little shaded.

We got back to Long Beach at about 7 in the morning, and we were lucky to get off right away. Carnival is awesome about making sure your shuttle is at the port at on time, so we were at LAX by 8:30. We were really looking forward to being in Los Angeles. Our flight didn't leave until about 9 pm, so we had the whole day to wonder around! We planned on taking an Uber to some tourist sites, but I was raining the whole day, and we didn't realize we couldn't check our luggage until 4. So, we decided to catch a ride to a near by ihop and have some breakfast.

We had so much time to kill, we went to the movies and saw La La Land. That is another movie worth the time if you are interested in musicals!

After the movie, we hauled our luggage down the street and picked this really weird Mediterranean place to eat. I don't remember what it is called, and I am not really sure where it is located, but the food wasn't the greatest-it was close though, and we didn't want to walk around LA with all of our luggage.

Hunch back of LA?

I would probably bore everyone to death if I continued on, or added more details to our trip! We ate a lot of food, soaked up the sun, and enjoyed each other. I could have gone anywhere and I could have done anything. It was the uninterrupted time with my husband that made the trip everything we wanted! It was so nice to have a break from work and from reality for a while!

A lot has happened over the last week, so I look forward to the chance I have to sit down and tell everyone about it. Married life is fun!

xoxo- The Forsgrens

The Honeymoon Stage

I have not written a blog post in months, and with my recent dive into marriage I thought it was necessary! I was given council a long time ago to write in my journal every day. While on my mission, that didn't seem like too much of a problem. I've slacked tremendously though, and I have no written record of all the exciting things that have happened in my life over the last 9 months! It is funny how important words on a blank page (or in my case now, a computer screen) can mean so much to so many. I express my emotions best through words, and I have missed the outlet blogging has given me!

Since this is the most personal blog I have made, I figured an introductory post wasn't too necessary. My mother will read this because she is my mom, and my husband will read this because he loves me. Anyone else who stumbles upon my blog has the potential to increase my views, and share in the joys and craziness of my life!
So, there's that.


Isaac and I have been married coming up on two weeks now. I know what you are thinking... barf. Who counts how many weeks you have been married? I dont feel like two weeks is any sort of recognizable accomplishment. Especially when I consider the fact that my grandparents have been married for 60 years. Now, that is an accomplishment! When Isaac and I visited with them a couple days before the wedding, my grandmother pulled out a piece of paper that said, "I love and adore you. Have a good day!" My grandma had written a little note for my grandpa to find when he woke up for work. On the bottom of the paper, was a response from him that said, "Right back at ya, baby!"
My heart turned into a puddle of love. Perhaps that doesn't seem like much. However I saw a small glimpse of what I hope Isaac and I can have 60 years down the road. Small acts of kindness and appreciation go a long way-especially in marriage. Life gets tough. Can you imagine what couples go through during 60 years of marriage?! My grandpa still looks at his wife with stars in his eyes. Every phone conversation I have with my grandma I hear the words, "Your grandpa is so patient and hard working. He takes such great care of me." They both have spent the majority of their life building their family on principles of love and admiration for each other and their children.

As I mentioned above, its amazing what a few little words can do! Their example has meant a lot to me over the years, but has become ever present as I step into the new role as Mrs. Forsgren. I hope I never take Isaac's love and patience for granted. I hope we can always appreciate the foundation we worked so hard to build. Heaven forbid I loose my mind, point me back to this blog post, and remind me of the important lesson my grandparents taught us that day.

As expected, my life is pretty surreal right now. To answer the question so many have asked me: No, marriage doesn't feel any different. To be honest, it doesn't even feel real that we are married. Perhaps I can thank my mission. I had 7 companions and 4 areas. I was use to different living situations, and well prepared for change. Something I have noticed though, is that your honey moon can set up false expectations for what life will be like when you return. I mean think about it. You start out your marriage with this huge party. You dress up, dance like crazy, and get sent on your way with a few hundred bucks in your pocket. You sleep in a bed you never have to make, use towels you never have to wash, and your day job is far from your mind. If you are blessed like us, you spend 4 days on this huge yacht. Food and drinks are unlimited, the hot tub is the perfect temperature, and you spend hours with your toes in the sand soaking up the sun. Who knows when the two of us will ever have a vacation like this again! Someone told us at the end of our reception, "Remember, this is only the beginning." What wise words!


  I am still convinced that Isaac and I work well together, so this transition has gone pretty smoothly. All of the traveling did give us both a pretty nasty head cold. Both of us take turns waking up the other because of coughing fits. And of course, Tuesday morning came too quickly. We both returned to the adult responsibilities we left behind two weeks ago. It is fun to come home to my best friend.  He is so patient with my need to put all of these girly decorations all over the house. Every time we make something look cute, I thank him for letting me set it up! We do it together, and its been a good experience to finally make something ours. If you ask me, we have quite the system. I do the laundry, while he takes the trash out and takes care of the things that I cant reach. Marriage is about teamwork, right?

We are both learning more about each other's families, especially since he has officially met all of mine. Isaac comes from a very tight knit, large family. I come from a small family, and they are all back home in Colorado. It is weird that I have "In Laws" now. I am still not use to being apart of a family so large, so my quest to develop personal relationships with all of them will continue. I will be excited to have Isaac strengthen his relationship with my family. Having our families come together for the wedding stood as a reminder for me, that as imperfect as all of us are, families are eternal. I think Isaac and I got lucky to have the family that we do, because they have been nothing but supportive and loving since day one.

I am looking forward to the blog post i will make about our honeymoon! It is way over due, and we have some fun pictures to share. I know our parents are anxiously waiting to hear all about it. Mostly because all they have heard is, "It was a blast and we are exhausted." Haha sorry Mom and Dad!

Well, before I bore you to death, let me end with this: Marriage is wonderful. Anything ordained of God and deemed as sacred shouldn't be anything less. I would probably be rolling my eyes if I saw a whole blog dedicated to someones marriage and family, but I am starting to see things a little bit more clear. Family life is eternal life, and I am not ashamed to share the love I have for my own family.


Until next time!

XOXO- The Forsgrens