Happy #1 to My #1

Baaaahhhh!
How has it been a year already?!?
I am SO happy I chose this guy (below) to spend the rest of my life with!
Husband training... I mean marriage, is suppose to be hard isn't it?!
We are in no way perfect, but we are perfect for each other. 

Ups and downs come. Minor melt downs (see this post if you're skeptical!). Disagreements.

However, in the midst of that comes self-sacrifice, respect, honor, and joy. 

LOVE is Beautiful. 

I feel blessed every day that this guy chose me. Me?!? 

He's a phenomenal man of God. Man of Integrity. Man of Honor. 

Looking back, this year has been full of changes. 

We adjusted to marriage. 

We celebrated with my brother and sister-in-law at their wedding. 

We grieved with our family over the loss of my father-in-law. 

We rejoiced in the announcement that we were planning to be parents. 

I don't know what the next year holds, but I know that we will be strong together.

I'm looking forward to the years to come! 

Today, I'm reminiscing by looking at our engagement and wedding photos again. 

Here are a few (in case you like seeing them as much as I do!):

And here are some pics from exactly one year ago today :) 

(I never get sick of looking at them!)

Thank you love for a wonderful first year of marriage!

1 year down, 79 to go! *fingers crossed*

{xoxo}

Goodnight Kisses

Look at this picture ^^ Isn't that nice??? Is it really too much to ask for?!?

My husband is wonderful in sooo many ways. We work well together, we compromise well (or at least he does, lol), we both try to be patient, and we both respect one another. But even with these things in place, marriage is a huge adjustment and it can be hard!

I picked the adorable picture of a couple cuddling because that seems to be an ongoing battle in our marriage. I LOVE cuddling! I could cuddle with him all night. I can fall asleep like that, and wake up like that. And not only for the comfort, because my husband does make a wonderfully comfy big spoon, but for the warmth. Russ actually asks me if I put my feet in a tray of ice before I went to bed some nights. I just run at a colder temperature. I need his warmth to be able to get comfortable in the first place.

The result of this challenge is that he will cuddle me when we first go to bed, while we chat or do a devotion, but then just as I start to get sleepy he'll give me a little kiss and turn his body around to hug his pillow for the rest of the night. At first it made me sad. Then a little angry. I fought it (cause I know he likes cuddling too!), thinking that obviously he'll change his mind and come back to me. But then I gave in. It's just not as comfortable for him to sleep that way. Now the routine is: I get cuddles until he can't take it anymore, and then I get my "goodnight kiss".

We laugh about it at night now ("Hey! Where's my goodnight kiss!"). It's a silly thing, but it was something that we seriously had to talk about and learn to compromise on. This is the process that we live by now.... What do I want? What does he want? How can both our needs get met? What am I willing to sacrifice? Do I really love him that much? lol. The answer is yes... I do love him that much.

I love him. So I compromise. On most things... but I still want a nice long cuddle every once in a while!

Love xoxo

This is my belated Valentines Day post. I think there are many mixed feelings in the world about Valentines Day. When I was single and lonely it wasn't particularly my favourite day... but I use to find ways to have fun with my girlfriends. These days I have the love of my life, and I'm excited to celebrate love with him - although he doesn't really need a special day because he does a good job of expressing that to me on a regular basis. But I still like so celebrate Valentines Day the way I use to - by thinking of it as a day to celebrate love in general - mothers, fathers, friends, boyfriends, children, etc.

So instead of posting about my love-life, I thought I would share some of the things that I've learned about love from the people who showed me everyday: my mommy and daddy.

• Love is beautiful
• Love means putting others first
• Love means taking off other people's gross, smelly socks after they've worked a hard day
• Love means making sacrifices
• Love is smiling & laughing at his jokes even if no one else gets them
• Love means encouraging one another and telling her that she's "hot" (especially when she feels like she's not [although she ALWAYS is])
• Love can be expressed through hugs, kisses, ass-grabs, and sweet nothings - even if your kids are grossed out
• Love is not only shown with flowers (although they are much appreciated when they do come!)
• Love is in the little things - getting a plate of food, getting up early to make coffee, encouraging her decisions, making time to watch silly tv shows together
• Love needs to be expressed every day
• "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8

Happy (belated) Valentines Day everyone!