Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes...

Last month we celebrated our 1^st wedding anniversary! It was simple, (tax season. Nuff said.) but it was nice to spend time together. We went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse and shopped a little in St. George the Friday before. Sunday night we were hanging out, enjoying some precious us-home-simultaneously time and we reflected about the last year. Here are some highlights:

Josh started working full-time at the festival, doing what he loves

My brother, Chad, was called to serve in the Mexico City North mission and is still loving it and having lots of success

I was called to serve in the Young Women Presidency

Josh was called to teach the 11 year old boys in Primary (anyone else sensing a theme in the populations we tend to work with?)

My mom was married to Richard, who we just adore

I was promoted to a supervisor position at Sunrise

I was hired part-time at Wingers (I just can’t get enough of that place!)

We visited the Grand Canyon with John and Bobbe for my first time

We became an aunt and uncle in October when little Joseph arrived and welcomed another little Joseph into our lives when Kellie and Troy brought their second child into the world. We love both of them so much!

Josh was offered a job assistant directing A Midsummer Night’s Dream this summer with Fred Adams

Only shortly after our 1^st anniversary we received our clearance letter allowing us to be sealed for Eternity

It has been an amazing year! We love the life we are creating together and are excited for everything that it is to come!

Now and Then

Our first Valentine’s Day together turned out to be nothing like we planned. Cara’s family invited us up to attend the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House over Valentine's day weekend. It worked out nicely because it’s a lot easier to have a night out on the town in Provo than in Cedar so, the night before the open house, we decided to get all gussied up and have dinner at Carabba’s and see the new Valentine’s day release, He’s Just Not That Into You. And gussied up we got! I curled my hair, we wore nice clothes…we made all the necessary preparations…except, ya know, the dinner reservation and movie tickets.

Of course every showing was sold out and Carrabba’s had a 2 hour wait. We remembered why we love our little Cedar. Poor Josh felt so bad! He wanted to make me happy but everywhere we went the line was way out the door! And then I started thinking outside the box and remembered how much I love California Pizza Kitchen. I suggested CPK and they weren’t on a wait-probably because a pizza joint isn’t usually considered a particularly romantic atmosphere. Go figure!

Not only did we walk in and were seated immediately, but the manager recognized me from our days serving at Wingers together and gave us a discount! We had a great meal and were so pleased with ourselves for beating Valentine’s Day at it’s own game. After dinner we went to check out what wasn’t sold out at the movie theater and ended up seeing the “Underworld” Prequel and loved it! We had so much more fun than I think we would have had we followed “the plan.”

~So, now that you have some context, I’ll tell the story of our first Valentine’s day as a married couple.~

I was a little disappointed when I was scheduled to be on call at Wingers for the evening on V-day, but I figured we’d just make it work somehow. We got worried that I’d get called in and be stuck there all night so Josh suggested we go out to lunch so we at least got some "us" time in. I got all pretty and we went to Chilli’s and made the most of Josh’s lunch break. Later Josh came home and we gave each other our cards and Josh unveiled a beautiful Calla Lily plant for me so I could have my favorite flowers anytime! By the time I called in to Wingers and was told I wasn’t needed, we were pretty cozy and neither of us felt eager to brave the crowds and busy restaurants so we went down the street to the Maverick and bought…wait for it…Bahama Mamma hot dogs to eat in the comfort of our own little home.

I spent the evening scrapbooking with Josh next to me playing on the computer while we watched Terminator II on AMC! It was perfect! We decided it was just the best way to spend Valentines day: have a yummy lunch when no one else is out and enjoy our favorite hot dogs at home in the evening. As for the totally non-traditional movies we keep choosing…I wouldn’t mind keeping that one around either!

Brimming Over!

I'm just so stinkin happy!
No one told me being married to a great guy was so much fun and so wonderful! Okay. Maybe SOMEONE said something. But they must not have said just HOW wonderful it is! Anyway, somewhere along the line, communications did not come through! I am happier now than I have ever been in my entire life. And I had fun being single.
So, for the sake of anyone unsure of how totally AWESOME marriage is...

I love:

Coming home to kisses and questions and long "my day" stories
Waking up to kisses and "how did you sleep?" 's
"I love you" texts, even though I already know
Dreaming about the future
Giggling about the past
Winks
Paying bills together and hoping and hoping all of our checks clear
Working on projects together
Driving together
Lazy Saturday mornings
Prepping lessons together on Sunday mornings
Sex (let's be honest here)
LAUGHING!!
Telling everyone how happy I am

...and so many many other little and big things that contribute to this amazing relationship that I look forward to for all Eternity. I can't wait to go to the Temple with my sweetheart, and I'm so grateful for his love and our abundant life together.