Four Years Later

Four years today, you guys. Four flipping years! How can I have been married for four years already?! Time flies whether you want it to or not. I remember finding all these nuisances when we lived in the apartment and pining for a house and now that we have one, I look back on those days as golden. Literally. Sitting with him, eating dinner in our little yellow kitchen was golden. They were good and carefree times. But that doesn't mean this third year of marriage hasn't had it's highlights! We've been much busier with house projects so the list is a bit shorter, but we still have some fun memories.

Favorite Memories
- Having bonfires on our newly finished patio.
- Dressing up in our Star Wars best for Halloween.
- Participating in the Drumstick Dash together for the first time.
- Building a gingerbread house, complete with granola bar chimney.
- Hosting a large New Years Eve party at our house, complete with fireworks.
- Meeting with a Mormon team several times, causing us to dig deeper into our faith.
- Celebrating our birthdays with friends.
- Going camping in Missouri with the Watkins siblings.
- Having our own marriage weekend at home.
- Babysitting for friends from church.
- Finally visiting the Chicago family together.
- Vacationing in Lincoln State Park.

Marriage Lessons
There's really one lesson that's stuck with me this year. The marriage ceremony revolves around two people becoming one, but for years I've struggled with how to do that. How do two people become one? Are we supposed to have scads of hobbies together? Are we supposed to read our Bibles together every day? Is there a rainbow pill that will fix it? Well this year I discovered that the answer is time. Time will make you feel like two bodies with one shadow. Time will sew you together, stitch by stitch. Time, and all it's growing and sharing and moments and memories, will make two people into one.

So while we have our disagreements and frustrations with each other, I still feel a bit lost and aimless when we're apart. I have trouble falling asleep if I can't play footsie with him under the covers. I look forward to the Sunday afternoons when I get him all to myself. My hand still feels at home when it's in his. Time has brought us closer and as great as it is now, I can't wait to see how it will be in another four years!

5 Favorite Quotes

I love romantic quotes. There are a few especially that make my heart beat a little faster and my mind linger on my husband. Some of them I've known by heart for a long time and some of them are newer to the repertoire. Either way, they get me a little nostalgic for our days of love made from butterflies, carefree Saturdays and simple romance. Here are five of my favorite quotes about love and marriage.

"I  have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature." - Jane Austen

"This is one of the miracles of love: It gives a power of seeing through its own enchantments and yet not being disenchanted." - C.S. Lewis

"Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove:

O no; it is an ever-fixed mark, 

That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wandering bark,

Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks 

Within his bending sickle's compass come; 

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, 

But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

   If this be error and upon me proved,

   I never writ, nor no man ever loved."

- William Shakespeare, Sonnet CXVI

"Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own." - Robert Heinlein

"There is no such cozy combination as man and wife." - Menander

What are some romantic quotes that make your heart go pitter patter?

Three Years Later...

Today is the day! Three years ago but what feels like yesterday, we stood holding hands, trying to calm the excited jitters and just repeat the phrase that Pastor Steve said. And then, after an afternoon of hugs and pictures and smiling till our faces hurt, we ate frozen pizza for dinner and forgot to take forks to the hotel so we could eat more wedding cake. The day our adventures began was the best day of my life, and I'm so lucky to have a husband to continues to try to make each day the best day. While some may not have been awesome, here's some pretty good ones!

Favorite Memories:
- Huddling around a steaming cup of hot cider at the Feast of the Hunter's Moon.
- Camping with some Watkins siblings in the October cold spell.
- Hosting our small group in our home.
- Having new friends over for dinner and games.
- Celebrating birthdays with the Watkins family.
- Putting up our new huge Christmas tree in our new house.
- Our first Christmas morning in our new house!
- Celebrating my birthday at The Melting Pot.
- Breakfast, relaxing and a giant cheese plate on Valentines Day.
- Participating in a marriage study with our church.
- Painting our bedroom white.
- Babysitting together for some friends.
- Hosting Easter dinner for my family.
- Digging out the space for our patio (which became a not so favorite memory after a while...).
- Serving in the sound booth together at church.
- Having BOTH OUR FAMILIES over for Mother's Day (it was seriously the best ever).
- Going on a roller coaster together for the first time.
- Discovering the best place to get onion rings.
- Roadtripping to and from our vacation destinations.
- Getting to spend a week in the same place we went for our honeymoon.
- Playing Minecraft until very late at night together.
- All the Starbucks and surprise dates he planned over the year.

Marriage Lessons:
- Everybody says love is a choice... and it really is.
- Participating in his hobbies will make your husband really happy.
- Serving the Lord and other people together is the best.
- This is a little more personal: Doing what you normally do (cleaning, cooking, laundry, etc.) doesn't speak to your husband's "Acts of Service" love language. Find something to do that HE usually does.

Read anniversaries 1 and 2 for other things I've learned.

Three years later, Dearest Carl still shows me how to love better, serve better and just be better. He is the kindest, gentlest, most hard-working person I know and I learn from him every single day. Here's to another year of learning, growing and adventuring!

Two Years Later...

Are you ready for a sappy post? Oh good. :)

Two whole years ago I donned a lace-y white dress and walked down the aisle to meet my beloved. And I'm really glad he said "yes". This year has been so so full. More learning, more loving, more living than I thought possible. And I'm so blessed to have the man I do to walk beside me through it all!

Favorite Memories:
- Walking around Feast of The Hunter's Moon and eating Pumpkin Pie in September.
- Getting to meet some of Dearest Carl's colleagues while walking to support ALS.
- House hunting and looking through lots of walls.
- Turning Dearest Carl's cubicle into a giant gingerbread house.
- Making a successful Christmas Morning Breakfast!
- Being snowed in at the apartment and building a ginormous snowman.
- Joining a Bible Study together.
- Fridge and stove shopping.
- Closing on a house!!!
- Putting rugs and curtains in the newly bought house.
- Attending baby nephew's baptism in Chicago.
- Going to the Humane Society and adding a kitty to our family!
- Opening our home to friends and family for food and fireworks.
- Introducing Dearest Carl to my mom's side of the family.
- Camping for the first time (yes, this is a favorite memory!).
- Going on a weekend vacation at Lincoln State Park.
- Dreaming and working on the new house together!

Marriage Lessons:
- Be open. Share your thoughts, feelings, ideas.
- Choose your battles carefully. Some things aren't worth the arguing.
- Being tenderhearted is hard sometimes, but totally worth it.
- Be each other's biggest cheerleader.
- He is God's child too.

Life Lessons:
- Stop. Breathe. React slowly.
- Lipstick is wonderful and should be worn every day.
- Sometimes what you asked God for doesn't turn out the way you hoped, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't thank Him for it anyway.
- Waiting is hard. Really hard. But if you wait prayerfully, God just might surprise you!
- Starbucks is still worth every penny.

Every day with Dearest Carl is a gift straight from God. He makes me smile like no one else and he works so hard to provide for us and make our home into a beautiful place. He knows how to do everything and he encourages me in whatever endeavor takes the moment. I am so thankful for my handsome, hard-working, cookie-loving, computer genius husband! Here's to another year of adventure!

One Year Later...

One year ago, this happened:

I can't believe it was actually a year ago! Funny how it seems like its been forever since I married my Dearest Carl, and yet I remember this like it was yesterday. I have so much to say about this past year that a short post wouldn't suffice. So here is a long post with many thoughts and reminiscing from this Wife of one year.

Favorite memories:
- Game nights and movie nights with hot chocolate and friends.
- Gingerbread house planning.
- Plum pie triumph.
- Christmastime: setting up decorations in our apartment, wrapping presents, listening to Christmas music, Christmas morning together.
- Slipping under flannel sheets on cold nights.
- Birthday bagels and spending the evening together instead of watching the Super Bowl.
- Valentines Day surprises.
- Birthday helicopters.
- Playing Lego Wii games on lazy evenings.
- Visiting Michigan friends together.
- My month of love, surprises and adventures for Dearest Carl.
- Trying to grow tomato plants on our kitchen windowsill.
- Florida vacation: beach, audio books, ice cream, games, laughs, relaxation.
- Friday morning breakfasts together.

Marriage Lessons:
- Forgive fast.
- Be humble and ask for forgiveness fast.
- If something riles me up, take a minute to really ask myself if it is worth the argument.
- Repeat and reword the explanation until we're on the same page.
- Be careful about what I ask for. He'll do his best to get it whatever it may cost him.
- Sometimes, life just requires Husband Hugs.

Life Lessons:
- Work and money are priorities in life, no matter how much I like it or don't.
- Driving time is perfect prayer time.
- Pasta is easy, cheap and versatile.
- You can't hear crickets, piano music or people's voices when you're talking. Be quiet.
- Starbucks is expensive but worth every penny.
- Patience isn't just a virtue. It's absolutely necessary.
- Computer jobs always take longer than the estimated time.
- Being an aunt is awesome.
- No matter what he says, Dearest Carl is ticklish.
- Big things don't seem so big when you're out under the big sky.

It's definitely been an interesting year for me, full of learning more about God, my husband and myself. God has stretched me and blessed me and made me lean on Him more than I ever have before. It's been a challenge but here at the start of another year of marriage, I look back and smile as I see all that He's helped me through. So here I am with my cup overflowing and looking forward to another year with my wonderful husband!

I love you my darling Husband, even more today than a year ago and I'm so glad God gave you to me!