Seven.

Today Sarah and I have been together for seven years!!

Seven isn't necessarily a significant number, and with all that has been going on here lately it is passing without the biggest of celebrations, but I wanted to take a moment to recognise it.

Seven seems like a really long time. It's well over half a decade of love, laughs and adventures (and of course the occasional argument). Soon it will be in double digits, and I can't believe how quickly it is going. But I guess they say time flies when you are having fun!

So, in honour of the day, I thought I'd list my 7 favourite things about Sarah at this moment in time:
1. She makes me laugh with her wit and silliness, which always puts a smile on my face
2. She is the smartest person I know, both with her random fact knowledge and her
3. Her eyes - they are big, beautiful and always convey her inner feelings
4. She is so generous - always going above and beyond to make me feel special, doing chores that I don't want to, and making my life even better in so many ways
5. The. Best. Cuddles.
6. I love how much she loves Bisbee, and seeing how amazing and protective and loving she is with her makes me so excited for the future
7. She is truly my other half. The first person I tell good news to, who I run to for comfort, who I want to travel with and cook for and make smile every day

And now, a highlight photo from each of our seven years together. Here's to many, many more!!

Year 1 - Sarah's 26th birthday and our first trip together to St. Malo

Year 2 - our time in Sydney, living together for the first time!

Year 3 - Our trip to Naples

Year 4 - We got engaged in Idaho!

Year 5 - (technically slightly after) we got legally married in the UK

Year 6 - we became Mrs and Mrs Smith!

Year 7 - Our big honeymoon road trip to California

I love you, wife!!

Warming Chicken, Leek & Sweet Potato Pie

In honour of British Pie Week, we teamed up with Jus-Rol™ to create a dinner perfect for these cold evenings (Spring, where are you??). It is delicious, straightforward, and with the help of Jus-Rol™ (all of the yummy pie crust with none of the hassle of creating it yourself!) it's ready on the table in less than an hour including baking time!

 Also if you have a dog, she will be very envious!

Sarah had a long day in London, so I thought I'd treat her to one of her favourite dishes - my girl loves a pie. We have been obsessed with sweet potato lately, so I had to include that, and I knew she'd love it even more if it had chicken in it, as we are eating vegan during the week at the moment, it was a real treat for her!

Yummmm

I made sure to decorate with pie crust hearts - the way to the heart is through the belly!

It smelled amazing, so she was excited from when she walked in the door - and it was so good that she tried to tempt me into giving her the second portion - I resisted so she could enjoy it again today!

Something tells me I'll be making this again soon, and maybe experimenting with other pie fillings, always with Jus-Rol™ of course!

Click the receipe to enlarge!

Please let us know if you give this recipe a go - I'd love to hear how it turns out!

*Disclaimer - Jus-Rol sent us a voucher to enjoy some of their products, however as a loyal product user I requested them, and all opinions in this post are completely my own.

San Francisco 6.4: The San Fran Finale

Our time in San Francisco finished with a trip to, across, and beyond the Golden Gate Bridge - one of the landmarks we were most excited to see.

Setting off early, we were driven to the Golden Gate Bridge by Laura's Mum and dropped off just outside the museum. It was a great spot to take some pictures across the bay before we started our walk. It also gave me the opportunity to check my facts and stats in regards to the bridge's structure #geek!

Here are the highlights:

• It's 1 mile wide
• 3 miles long
• Opened in May 1937
• 227m tall
• Took 4 years to build
• It's not Golden - its official colour is actually International Orange!
• 3 babies have been born on the bridge (at the time we publish this :))

It took us a little over an hour to walk the bridge on a beautiful clear day - this included plenty of time for pictures, standing over cargo ships as they sailed below (L and her Dad were waving and trying to get them to honk at us....age is just a number, after all haha!), animal spotting and enjoying a spectacular view of the bay. It also gave us time to avoid the many cyclists who decided they owned the path....seriously, watch your back!

Once we got the other side we met Laura's Mum and drove up the a viewing area called Hawk Hill just behind the bridge. It took about 15 minutes on very windy roads but the view from the top was spectacular.

Next on the to-do list was Muir Woods. We thought the cool woods would be a great way to get out of the afternoon heat and we were right. We got there for 3pm, just in time for a 'Tree Talk by Todd', which was a talk by one of the park rangers on the history of the woods and the unique qualities of the redwoods. He was so enthusiastic, and informative!

The park itself is actually a national monument. It was preserved by John Muir, a naturalist who helped preserve the forest with the Kent family (who bought the land). The woods even held a United Nation meeting in 1945! It gets over 6,000 visitors a day and you can see why. There is something special about walking through the ancient woods with trees you have to stretch your neck right back to fully appreciate. Their colouring is also something I've never seen before. It was fascinating to learn about the qualities that made the trees so sought after (the bark was great for building houses as it was resistant to disease, mold and bugs) and the preservation that now takes place. Also some of the trees grow in families with new trees sprouting from the base of an older tree - lovely!

We did a 5 mile walk around the main part of the woods checking out all the main points of interest and by the time we were finished the sun was setting.

After all the walking we were in great need of refreshments, especially as the temperature was a high of 20 degrees C so we headed to Sausalito, a 20 minute drive back towards San Francisco but not quite over the bridge. With beautiful waterfront views across the bay and a stunning harbour it was a perfect place to stroll around and explore. We even discovered an all year round Christmas shop and floating mosque.

The highlight was the meal we had overlooking the bay. The Barrel House Tavern paired amazing food with an intimate atmosphere and a beautiful view of the sparkling lights of San Francisco. It was a perfect end to our stay with Laura's parents and we spent the whole night reflecting on just how much we had done in our short stay. We loved San Fran!

San Francisco - USA Road Trip Part 6.2

The next day in San Francisco was our most packed - such a beautiful city, there was so much to see and experience!!

We started off the day at breakfast with our lovely friends Steph and Corrine - you might remember when we met up with them January 2012 when we were visiting NYC, now they have relocated to the West Coast so it was lovely to see them in their new habitat!


As we were already in the Mission District, we took the chance to check out the Mission Street Murals - so vibrant and beautiful, all with meanings and opinions, we spent ages there looking at it all.

From there we headed to the Mosaic steps - a loooong and steep staircase in the city with, not surprisingly, a mosaic of tiles on them, it was stunning, and the view from the top was breathtaking!

We headed up to the Twin Peaks - a must see, according to our Uber driver the night of the wedding. We weren't disappointed - you could see for miles up there! The city, the Bay, the houses, the bridges - it really gave us perspective of how big the city is.

The next bit of our day in the city was my personal favourite - visiting The Castro was such a highlight of the trip. I am a big fan of Harvey Milk, and loved the film 'Milk' where Sean Penn played Harvey, so was so excited to be able to see where he began the gay rights revolution.

We got to go into the site of Castro Cameras, which is now the Human Rights Campaign office - a great non-profit, we bought some swag and headed to another recommendation (this time from Steph and Corrine) - Hot Cookie. Sarah LOVES cookies so we were very happy to munch on them as we continued through the district.

We even got Bisbee a souvenir from there, a rainbow ring from an awesome pet boutique!

Hungry even post-cookies, we went to Chinatown, where we stumbled upon the oldest Dim Sum restaurant in San Francisco. It was just what we needed - delicious, and the staff were so friendly. We definitely recommend eating there if you are in the area!

With our bellies full, we decided to ride a cable car! Mum and Dad got on the back, and Sarah and I decided to hang off the side, which was slightly nervewracking but lots of fun! We took the cable car to Fisherman's Wharf, so were able to take in a stunning view of The Bay, Golden Gate Bridge, and Alcatraz as we neared our destination.

We saw the sea lions at Pier 39, cute and noisy as ever - they will forever remind me of my childhood dog, Abby, who I swear looked just like one - and watched the sun set in the direction of the Golden Gate Bridge. I reflected on how lucky I was to be seeing these sights with my parents (as well as my wonderful wife!), as they had driven for two days from Idaho to spend this time with us!

We ended the most wonderful day with cocktails, appetisers, and THIS amazing dessert from Boudin's, which is a shop famous for their sour dough bread (my favourite!). We had parked in Chinatown, and as we headed through an urban park to our car, we were mesmerised by a group of about 40 older Chinese men and women, all practising Tai Chi, perfectly timed - it was so peaceful and magical, and a great way to end our day in San Francisco.

Next time, our final San Fran post - crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, Muir Woods, and Sausalito!