{Our Two Year Wedding Anniversary}

Happy Monday everyone! How are you all doing? It’s been snowing buckets in Amsterdam and it’s been causing all sorts of chaos – with trains and planes – and worst of all.. with me! I guess biking in 23-degree weather was a bit ambitious for me, because this weekend I came down with a nasty bug that has me bed-ridden today. Husband is taking great care of me and it’s not so bad having a beautiful snowy view out the window. I just wish I could go outside and enjoy the wintery white weather!

Speaking of the huz… Corey and I are creeping up on two and a half years of marriage! Now, I know that’s not a super long time, but what I will say is boy does time fly!! I feel like we just celebrated our two-year anniversary, which I realized I never blogged about!

While I wish we could’ve done something extravagant and luxurious to celebrate our wedding anniversary, I was flying out to Portland the next day and work was crazy busy at the time, so we settled on a romantic dinner at a gorgeous restaurant. We got dressed up and headed to De Kas. This place is so awesome. It sits on the edge of a lush city park in Amsterdam and is probably the coolest looking restaurant we’ve ever eaten in. It also happens to be one of those super fancy restaurants that doesn’t really have a menu. Each day the chef has a three-course dinner planned that consists of three small starters, a main course and dessert. The best part is everything is made with local, fresh ingredients grown in the restaurant’s very own nursery.  We decided to fancy things up even more and get the wine pairings with dinner. The whole things was a fun and special experience and the perfect way to celebrate two years of wedded bliss. Here are a few photos from the occasion.

And P.S. Yes, our wedding anniversary was in August and yes I am wearing tights and a blazer... Why? Because there is no summer in Amsterdam. Yeah, I guess you could say I’m bitter about it :)

 {Photos ©  Liz Denfeld}

{Fancy Up Date Night!}

Corey and I love dinner and a movie as much as the next couple, but we're always looking for fun ways to change up date nights. A couple weekends ago we decided to buy tickets for a beautiful cello show that was playing at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam - it's a stunning venue known for it's great acoustics. We thought it'd be a fun excuse to get dressed up and do something different. We had a delicious dinner and shared a bottle of red at this cute italian place just blocks from the concert hall. Once arriving for the show, we realized a free glass of wine came with our tickets - score! The fun continued! We finally sat down to enjoy the beautiful music of Amber Doctors on the cello. It was a night to remember! Here are a couple tips for classin' up your next date night - enjoy!

 {Photos ©  Liz Denfeld}

{Our Wedding Video}

Yes, you read that right. And yes, our wedding was over two years ago... 

As much as I wanted a professional videographer at our wedding it just wasn't in the budget.

I knew I had to have at least some footage of our day, so we had two FlipShare cameras floating around all day, capturing who knew what. 

At the end of the wedding I was just happy to get both cameras back in one piece!

It was so fun to see what video had been taken. Some of it touching, some of it downright hilarious.

So, what do you do with 50+ little videos taken throughout your wedding day? 

Well, probably nothing, despite your best intentions.

Until a great friend (and bridesmaid) decides she wants to help you make them something special. 

I knew it was going to be a huge undertaking, and when the finished product hit my inbox yesterday I squealed with excitement and joy!

Jena - a talented graphic designer - took a jumbled mess of home videos and made them into a video that makes me laugh and cry every time I've watched it (yes, I've already watched it more than a few times!).

We will never be able to express our gratitude for such a personal and special gift. I know how much work this took and it is something we will cherish forever and ever!

So without further ado... Our wedding video!

The Denfeld Wedding from Jenafer Brown on Vimeo.

{Happy New Year!}

I realize this post is coming a wee bit late, but I figure we're only three days into 2013 and I can't let 2012 go that easily. Happy New Year!

-------

I truly can’t believe I’m sitting here reminiscing on another year come and gone. And what a year it was! 2012 brought so much adventure… Putting this post together and reminiscing on so many memories made, I realized why I am so darn exhausted all the time... We've been BUSY. We traveled to over 10 countries (including the UK for the Olympics and living out a dream vacation in Greece), we had lots of family come visit, I went home twice, was in two weddings for two of my best friends… we made new friends, thrived living on our own far away from everything we know and love back home, grew so much closer, celebrated two years of marriage and so much more. It’s been a truly incredible year. One we’ll never forget. And 2013 has so much greatness in store, I’m so excited it’s finally here! We’ve got big plans for this year, it just might be the best one yet. So here’s to 2013, full of so much possibility. Hope it brings you all love, happiness, health and prosperity. Happy New Year!

Here’s a look back on some of the highlights of 2012. Thanks for following along on all our adventures!

 {Photos ©  Liz Denfeld}