Still crazy after all these years (well just five)

So John and I have been married for five years as of tomorrow :-)

It's been a great ride so far- lots of fun, travelling (16+ countries since our wedding day) and moving (10+ rooms/apts), learning, growing in our careers, and a bit of just general growing up. I was writing an email to a friend this week and thought again about these girls in Philadelphia that I taught sexual health to- they always thought that I was (at 23) to young to be married and to old not to have kids yet. They asked why I'd want to be tied down to a man- of course I thought that having kids would tie me down and being married to John has never made me feel that way. In fact- I think he has the opposite effect- I'm sure a good deal of our travel and moves and excitement are motivated by him- I just add some flair along the way :-)

To celebrate we went to Bandung, Indonesia (kind of near Jakarta and home of Stephen the Great) and for a few days went into the mountains. Bandung is a nice city- highs of 80 rather than 95 like in Aceh :-) and mountains all around. We ran into our friend Hengky (should have taken a picture) who we worked with in Aceh and that was such a treat- especially because we adore him and it was his birthday.

We had a great time celebrating our anniversary in the hills to the west of Bandung- the weather was really cool at night because of the altitude so we had a fireplace in our room. During the days, we went to the botanical gardens for a bit of hiking, to an animal safari park (thanks to Bev for the recommendation), and to the spa attached to our hotel (I think we got 7 hours of treatments in three days :-) ) There is nothing like vacationning in a country like Indonesia for value. We ended up borrowing our friends' (Jason and Elissa) motorbike which was super because we were able to blow by lots of traffic and spend more time enjoying the hills.
The hills were gorgeous- these twin volcano peaks and in the foreground were rolling tea plantation hills.
This is the waterfall we hiked to in the botanical gardens near where we stayed.












Our spa treatments were kind of spectacular- in three days I had a facial, manicure, pedicure, two 90 minute massages, a steam bath, a body scrub, and an aromatherapy bath. John and Jason (see next post) agreed that it is much easier for some guys to enjoy the finer luxuries of spa treatments once they're married.









I love this picture so much that I'm going to make it our new profile picture. This tiger cub was three months old and its fur was so long and soft (like a little tiny kitten who has that early fur fuzz that eventually goes away). Its paws were huge though- bigger than the palm of my hand, so I'm not sure that I'd want to be its friend in a couple of years.