There's been family turmoil, a job lost, we've lost touch with people we were friends with, and we've battled some medical issues that are still partially ongoing for both of us. We lost a member of our family that we had just started to spend more time with.
We also bought a house, started a new chapter of our lives in a new area of the metroplex, and I got a new job that puts me in such a better place in so many ways. We are on a new path religiously that we both are SO EXCITED about, we are pretty sure we have found our new church home and we are looking forward to making new friends and getting involved with a church community group. We have reconnected with family members on my side that we feel SO blessed to have in our lives.
Through it all, Andrew and I have been learning the ins and outs of marriage. While it definitely takes work, we both feel like we are going strong and are communicating very well through everything. He's been so supportive of me through what has been an incredibly difficult year. He didn't even bat an eye when I lost my job and half of our income. He was super excited for the opportunity to get me into a better job where I could be paid better, where I could be recognized for all of the hard work I put in, and where I could enjoy what I did each day. He constantly encouraged me for the 3+ months is took to find such a job, and no one was more excited than him when I was offered the job at Fidelity.
I know that every woman thinks her husband is the best, and I'm no exception. I told him the other day that he should teach a class to men that sometimes make silly "mistakes" with their wives. Andrew listens to me and does so many little things based on the things I say to show me that he loves me and is thinking of me, and while that seems like such an obvious thing...I know from listening to other women that it's not the most common thing from the male population, haha.
Andrew...I can't even put into words how much I love you. You make every day so wonderful and I can't imagine where I would be today without you in my life. I've learned so much about myself since meeting you, and I have grown as a person as a result. I love you more and more everyday, and I cannot wait to celebrate many, many more anniversaries with you.
So!!! We had such a great anniversary weekend! Andrew ended up having to move all of his plans he had for us from Sunday to Saturday once he found out I wanted to just chill at home during the day on Sunday. We woke up Saturday and got dressed and ready for the day. We first picked up the cake from Romano's Bakery over in Dallas close to downtown, and then dropped it off at my sister's to sit in the fridge to save us from having to drive all the way home and come back out to Plano for our day of fun. She took a picture of us:
The kiddos were outside so we got to visit with them for a minute. They were playing around with bugs and freshly raked leaves.
Afterwards, we went to PF Chang's for lunch. That's where we had our very first date when we met in person. We had a really great time, ate some really yummy food, and just enjoyed the time together. After lunch, we went and browsed around a few shops. We stopped into Pier 1 Imports to check out their holiday decorations and ended up leaving with a Christmas present for someone! We've slowly been getting stuff here and there for the few people on our list, so it was great to cross one more thing off the list. Then we went across the parking lot to Lifeway Christian store to poke around. I've been sadly unable to locate my Bible, and it's been extremely upsetting to me. Plus I've been wanting Andrew to look around and see about getting himself a Bible. He didn't seem too interested, so I just picked up my own copy of The Chronicles of Narnia (they had ALL seven books in one and it was the "adult, unabridged" version!) and we left.
We stopped at Paciugo and I was able to get THE best gelato flavors ever: extra dark chocolate fondant with sea salt caramel to go with it. Those two flavors combined taste EXACTLY like my favorite candy by Harry London, and it was just heavenly to sit inside and enjoy that treat. We don't have a Paciugo near us, so we have to take advantage when we have an extra minute in the Plano area. Andrew got mint chocolate chip and amaretto chocolate chunk.
After that, we picked up the cake from my sister's house and headed home to put it in our fridge. We had about 30 minutes to waste before church started, so we went to a Kirkland's in Highland Village and found some real treasures! We found THE CUTEST countertop canisters, they were marked down a ton and were THE LAST ones there.
He and I have been having trouble agreeing on what we want on the counter as far as canisters go, and so we were relieved to get this set of three for under twenty bucks!
We also found an absolutely PRECIOUS picture for our bathroom that was under fifteen bucks. Here's a closeup of it, and then a shot of where we're going to hang it:
Then we went to church, it was our first time visiting The Village for a Saturday night service. It was very crowded, but the whole building was just FULL of people our age and we are feeling super encouraged about this place. They said that it's about to be registration to get into a home group, so we're anxious to visit their visitor's center next week to get some more information on that. The sermon that evening was PERFECT for us: they talked about marriage, and how husbands and wives are supposed to be towards each other and in their relationship with Christ. It also was centered around the holiday season, and how people can enjoy the commercialism of everything, but don't forget THE REASON for the season. We were given these Advent Guide workbooks to use each week, and we're really excited to get started on those next Sunday.
After church, Andrew found out that my anniversary present was finally ready, and so he dropped me off at a clothes store while he went to go pick it up. I was able to find a PRECIOUS dress at Lane Bryant (ON SALE for $24...unheard of!!) for the upcoming Christmas party at work. I still have to go back and get a cut little shrug since it's probably going to be chilly out by the time the party rolls around, but the dress is super cute: pics to come later.
So, drumroll for what Andrew got me as a gift (he made me open it immediately once I got done at the store)...he got me something that satisfied both the traditional paper gift AND the modern clock gift:
He got me a cute little picture frame that has a clock in it. It says "Anniversary" up the right side, and underneath the clock says "A time of reflection and celebration for God's many blessings of the past and a hope for the future."
And he got me something so wonderful for the paper...a new Bible. It's pink and it's soft and buttery and it has my married name impressed into it and the pages are lined with shiny silver and I just couldn't be anymore in love with it!!
Oh, and him not seeming interested in getting a Bible?? It's because he ordered HIMSELF one when he ordered mine, haha! What's funny is that the Bible I saw when WE were in there that I liked for him is the one he picked for himself! It's super handsome and SOOOOO fits him:
After I opened my gift (his is apparently on backorder, so he can't get it until next week, SAD!) we went to the movie theater for my surprise movie. I waited out of earshot while he bought tickets, and I made sure not to look around and catch sight of the showtimes. So I didn't know what we were seeing until it started: and it was the new FOOTLOOSE!!! I absolutely loved it, I thought it was a GREAT homage to the first one. They put a new spin on several of the songs, and even kept some of the dialogue the exact same. I knew that any actress would be better as "Ariel Moore" than Lori Singer was, she was terrible. So I loved Julianne Hough as Ariel. I was sure that no one could be as good as Christopher Penn as "Willard" and John Lithgoe as "Shaw", but I felt that Dennis Quaid and whoever played Willard (no idea who he was) did SUCH a great job! Andrew thoroughly enjoyed it, too. Totally awesome and I am in search of the soundtrack. =)
After dinner, we picked up Chipotle to-go (I'm now slightly obsessed), and enjoyed the rest of our evening at home. We got a good night's sleep, and today we were up before 9am. We went to Costco and Walmart to pick up food for our meal on Thursday, and we are thrilled not to have to go to the store this week to deal with crowds and empty shelves. The rest of the day, we have just chilled and rested. We hand-washed some champagne flutes so we could pop open a bottle of champagne that is the same as the one we had on our honeymoon. Dewey had a LOT of fun playing with the packing paper, haha.
Then he crashed beside me while I blogged, he has had so much fun being home with us today!
We FINALLY cut into the cake tonight! So beautiful, and so yummy! We never put our topper on at the wedding in all the hustle and bustle, but we did today! And it looked great!
Andrew popped open the champagne...
And so we had a yummy anniversary snack this evening!
It's been a great weekend, celebrating a really wonderful year together as husband and wife. Despite the emotional ups and downs from life's events, we are so happy together and so in love. Thank you to everyone for your support this past year, we love all of you so much and appreciate everything you all have done! I'd type more, but Blogger has been kicking me off and running super slow so I have to go right now, haha. Love you all, and have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Congrats on the start of a second wonderful year together.
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