The other day Lucas looked over at me and said, “I’ve loved you for a long time Melanie Jones.” It’s moments like this when my heart explodes and my mind is flooded with years of memories. After all, its been 12 years since he first told me he loved me… and 11 years since I said it back. But that’s a story for another day 🙂
This week Lucas and I will be celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary. So it’s probably time to document our honeymoon…
Since we got married before our last year of undergraduate school, Lucas and I had almost nothing when we officially started our life together. I brought a 13-year-old Toyota Corolla to the marriage (thanks to my generous parents for buying it for me a few years prior) and probably $50, while Lucas brought around $300 and lots of school scholarships (so his tuition was covered!).
When we went to the bank to merge our accounts, the banker looked at Lucas’ account, looked up at me, and said, “well it’s clear you didn’t marry him for his money.”
Looking back at these photos has me laughing at how young we look, how much has changed, and also how bad the photo quality is! I’m so happy iPhones have upped their photo game in the last 6 years. (I can’t even remember which version of phone I had in May of 2013…)
Our wedding and reception was in El Dorado Hills/Folsom and our planned honeymoon was in Carmel (3.5 hrs away) so we stayed in a hotel in Folsom on our wedding night and drove to Carmel the next afternoon. We also wanted to attend our friend’s baby blessing Sunday morning (day after the wedding) so we went to that, got some delicious pizza for lunch and headed out to our B&B.
Bed & Breakfast
I used to get jealous when I’d hear about friends’ extravagant honeymoon plans. We would have loved to go on a cruise, stay at a resort in Hawaii, or leave the country, but we couldn’t afford to do any of that. The only reason we were able to go to this funky bed & breakfast in Carmel was because we found a Groupon for half price stay and our Bishop (a good family friend) generously gave us $300 to pay for it. Now instead of being jealous of trips others went on that we couldn’t, I think back on the funny, random adventures we had in Carmel/Monterey and I just feel grateful and happy.
Private Beach
Well it wasn’t a private beach it was a state beach… but we were the only people there so it felt like a private beach! This beach was near our B&B so we went there the first night after checking in to catch the sunset and another day when we could enjoy the sun (or try to! It was still cold even with the sun out).
His best warrior 3 at the time. He’s made progress over the years. 
Cannery Row | Monterey
The moment Lucas realized he was at least a foot taller than everyone around him…
My favorite memory from wondering around cannery row was when we drove slowly down the street (about to park) and one of the Corolla’s hub caps broke, popped off, and rolled down the street. I’ve never felt classier : )
Scenic Drive
I remember one of the “must see” places in Carmel we looked up was a scenic drive around pebble beach (golf resort) called 17 Mile Drive. We planned to go but when we got to the entrance and saw the $12 fee we said, “we’re good, thanks!” Haha then we drove around and made up our own scenic drive. We did a similar thing when we realized the Monterey Bay Aquarium is $30 a person… either we’re frugal college students or cheapskates. You can choose.
After 4-5 days of being gone, we took the long way home and stopped in Santa Cruz at some fun thrift shops and the most delicious acai bowl place (at the time we had never heard of such a thing but loved it!).
I love you, Lucas Charles Brook. Let’s get married again!