One Year!

I know that this post will be just a couple of days early, but with Justin playing his game at the moment I find it is probably best to fit in some blogging time for me! Okay, y'all, this is exciting. Are you ready? Are you sure? Don't spill your cider over this or anything. Okay...if you are sure...the news is......

This Sunday will be our first wedding anniversary!!!!!

See that bouquet? Justin handmade each rose from book paper 7 months before. He gave them to me the first time he told me he loved me. Needless to say, my bouquet was a no-brainer.

Sorry, probably wasn't the excitement I was building you up for, huh? Even so, it is really exciting- just mainly for Justin and I though, I know. :)

My way of saying it/without saying it too early! I surprised him at work with a Caramel Apple Spice. I kept the sleeve on it, knowing he would see my writing peaking out from beneath. He found it 5 minutes after I drove away, lol. Not as crafty as the bouquet he gave me the next day, but he did take this picture to save for later I found out.

Y'all I just don't even know where to start. This past year...this past year has been incredible. It has been so full. I don't feel as though I let life pass me by for once. I feel instead as though for the first time (in a really long time) I lived every day. And, no, it wasn't because I got my fairytale wedding. I mean it was a beautiful wedding in my mind, but to me it was real. It was personal and there wasn't a single item there that wasn't touched by Justin and my family, or a single memory made that I regret because of its imperfection. I digress. Back to my point...

Down here, you can't count on fall arriving in time. The air was crisp and cool, but real fall leaves were in short supply. We used these fake leaves in place of birdseed.

I have loved every day- even the snottiest, miserablist, stormiest ones. (Which one of those does not exist in the human dictionary? :)) I have loved them because they were all filled with purpose. They didn't (even the relaxing, lazy ones) fill wasted. They felt- for lack of a better adjective- right.

Probably one of the few couples in existence that took 10 pictures total on their honeymoon. We were too busy relaxing in pajamas and cooking up meals for the first time in our cabin. It was SO beautiful there! 

I have learned so much with Justin. I have learned to laugh without regret and to talk even whenever it is really, stinking hard. I have come to know the pleasure of random hugs, and what it feels like to have someone love you so much that he is crazy enough to think you are beautiful even when your makeup is gone and your hair is a rats nest and you still have morning breath. (Yep, the last one is "EW!", but sweet in its on married kind of way.)

What can I say...except that I am an amazing Car Passenger Artist! Seriously, Love, you should just retire and let me make a career out of my skills. :) Honestly, I was trying to stay awake and it is a long, LONG ride back from Georgia. Will and Nicholas are my family's dogs that Justin hates by the way. They feel the same, so all is good.  

I have come to know that my way is not always the only way to do something, let alone always the right way. (To Rielle and Baby- I am already anticipating your I told you so's, so why bother to send them sweet, loving brother and sister that you both are. :)) I have come to appreciate that at least one of us enjoys the grocery store. (Justin truly has made this one so much more entertaining). I have found comfort in the little things- like the squeeze of a hand to alert each other to a shocking sight or crazy conversation. (You know the times when "Oh my gosh! No she didn't!" just doesn't fit appropriately into the situation.)

Our first trip to Natchitoches together! Christmas lights!!

Our first trip to Marshall, Texas together! More Christmas lights!!!!

I have found comfort in kicking off the comforter in the middle of the night (which I truly hate to do) for the sake of keeping safely wrapped in my husband's arms. I have even found that Transformers G1 cartoon episodes are NOT the safest thing to have playing while working on a blog. I thought I would be so disinterested that I could type or paint or whatever I wanted to do, but let me tell you, one too many episodes of accidentally glancing up to find Optimus Prime locked in magnetized chains or on the brink of death has made me nearly as bad as my husband with that show. (He couldn't make it easy on me and have been a Tiny Toons addict like me, could he? *sigh*) Basically, Megatron is a Mega-distraction.

Our first Christmas Eve! New Christmas pajamas!!!

Justin has proven to be a truly loving husband and I do not doubt that I have married a good man. He may not be the most talkative person in the world around strangers, and we all know my family is still committed to helping him with his speech in fluent sarcasm, but he talks to me. He is sincere and kind and honest nearly to a fault. He is a wonderful nurse. I mean who else's husband runs willingly to the store for frozen treats when they feel bad? (He brought back my favorite ice cream last time, and it was not on the list.) He does everything he can to make me feel better, including going all fitness-know-it-all on me when I have a leg cramp. I've always had problems with them, but within the last year I've enjoyed at least 3 or 4 that had me curled up in a ball crying. That is how I came to learn that my husband can remain perfectly calm and take control of nasty situations, especially the ones where I am laying thinking of how embarrassing it would be to die of a leg cramp and praying it isn't possible. 

1st time at the Duck Pond together!

He is there for me and looks after me without me coaxing or begging for him to care. When he makes a promise he keeps it, and he is pretty good at coming up with random, little fun things to do together- like Taco Bell at midnight or walks in the park before a ride with banana snocones and good music.

One of many, many banana snocones with cream consumed this year. There was more to this one, but...

Oh, and have I mentioned he works hard for us, and he does it without complaint. He is good at what he does- very good. I am proud of him. Not only for the work, or the ice cream, or the removal of random lizards that break into our home (another story), but because of his heart. My husband has a good heart. When he loves someone, or something, he loves them unconditionally. He may not always like them, but even if he doesn't, he takes it personally. He is more apt to feel responsible for any disappointment he may feel than to give them their fair share of the responsibility. (An admirable trait that I lack to be honest.) When he knows something is important to someone else, he does all he can to respect that and even help if he can. When he makes a promise, he keeps it because he knows someone is counting on him. Justin is a good husband.

In the past year, we have made our mistakes. We have made some pretty exciting milestones. We have laughed and cried and fallen asleep more than once on the couch. Everything, whether good or bad, though has been together.

Playing with my new phone!

I love you, Justin. Thank you for an amazing first year. I am looking forward to many, many, MANY more! Happy 1 Year, Love!