525,600 Minutes

How do you measure, measure a yeeeaaaarr? GREAT song.

On Monday, Josh and I celebrated our very first anniversary!! Cue the fireworks, the balloons, the confetti, and the dancing dolphins!!

It's so hard to believe it's been a year since we said forever to each other! It feels like yesterday and it was the best day ever! It went by so quickly and wasn't without its hiccups, but I had SO much fun and felt so blessed to become the wife to my very best friend.

This time last year we were enjoying our honeymoon in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee.

In the Mtns of NC

On the Blue Ridge Parkway

Before I give you all the details about how we are going to celebrate surviving our first year of marriage, I want to share what this year of doing life together has taught us:

1. Do not go to bed angry. No matter what. There were nights we were up until 12 or 1 am (on school nights, no less!!) working things out. I went to bed angry one time and will never ever do it again because it solves nothing, makes you even more tired, and you just get angrier and angrier.

2. Stick to a budget and save. Being a relatively new teacher making beans for pay and being married to a man that may clock 103 hours in a pay period but only get paid for 40 of them (because technicians only get paid for the work they do) we have learned that a lot of times our attitudes toward each other and stress levels revolve around money. What has made the biggest difference is being devoted to tithing to our church. One of its core values is that you cannot out-give God and He has proven this time after time. When we are faithful to Him, He blesses us! Maybe not with more money, but definitely with better attitudes and peaceful spirits. So instead of being against each other about money, we've learned to take it on as a team and hold each other accountable to the budget that we set together (even if it involves me pouting over a throw pillow; true story).

3. You can never say "I love you" enough. I know it's cheesy but I take every opportunity to tell Josh what he means to me. It helps us stay grounded and remember what brought us here in the first place- love!

4. Even though you share the same bed, you don't necessarily get enough quality time together. It's very important for us to set aside time to do things together we enjoy. Sometimes it might only be the ride to the waste management facility to take out the trash; other times we may actually have time and money to enjoy a meal out and a movie. Regardless of what it is, we make the time to continue getting to know each other. It helps reinforce our bond.

5. You cannot grow closer to each other if you are not growing closer to God. We have had some rough times this year and the first 6 months of our marriage were not that great. We were very selfish and self centered, and not growing in the Lord like we should have been. We had to stop and evaluate and realize that there was tension and friction between the two of us because there was tension and distance between each of us and God. The Lord cannot teach you and bless you if you are turned away avoiding Him. I know I avoid Him because I do not want to face my own sin and desires, but when I give those desires to Him and repent and try my best to do better- He blesses us. We know what direction to go in and He makes His presence known. And it's wonderful!! It's very liberating to know you can trust Him to guide your steps instead of being a stressed out control freak- trust me on this!

So one year is gone, and I am so excited to continue our journey together. Pregnancy? Baby? Another dog? More home projects? A trip to England as a couple? All are on the agenda, but the when and how are unknown. I have a year of formal evaluation at work this coming school year and I need to be on point. We also have debt to pay down (more on that later), sick leave to save up, and projects that must be done around the house before I will feel comfortable welcoming a little one (or ones... I am a twin :P) into our family.

Until God makes it happen, we are focusing on living life to the fullest and best right now, enjoying each day as it comes and being thankful for what we have!

Stay tuned for the scoop on our anniversary celebration!