365 Days Later

(Or 366 as D will correct me... Last year was a leap year, he says...)

As of October 8, 2012, I officially became an experienced wife with a wealth of knowledge about how to have a perfect marriage.  What?  Stop laughing.  I'm totally serious.


All pictures thanks to Caroline Herron!  LOVE YOU girl!



Okay, so maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but I DID officially become married for a whole year.  I can hardly believe that time has moved so quickly.  It's crazy to think that a year has already passed since my most favorite day of my life thus far.  I feel like it was just yesterday, but at the same time, I find it hard to picture myself as not married to this wonderful husband of mine! 

I thought I would take the time to list a few things that I have learned in this first year.  I can't wait to look back at this list a year (2 years, 10 years, 50 years) from now.  I'll probably laugh at myself, but that's the fun part of marriage, right?  You are both growing.  The culture around is changing.  Our household dynamic will be transformed.  The learning process will never stop! 

Here's a slice of our first year.  I'll probably think of more later and want to add to the list...

1. Being married is thebestever.

2. Being married is thehardestever.

3. D and I make cookies after almost every meal.  (He is grabbing some out of the oven as.I.type.) The 50-years-from-now me is going to read this and say, "SEE!  You did this to yourselves!!!!"

4. It is no longer scary to have a boy in the bed next to me every night.

5. I still wake up every morning to get ready by myself.  I've been doing that since middle school.  Why do I always have to be somewhere first?!  The 10-years-from-now me is going to read this and say, "He has his time coming, young one.  Just wait for the little Gibbys to be waking him up every morning!"

6. We are NOT planning on any little Gibbys any.time.soon. 

7. TV is our vice.  At any given time, we have at least 5-6 shows DVR'd every week.

8. Making time for Bible study together doesn't just come automatically.  Devotions do not just "happen" because we got married.  Devotions do not just "happen" because my husband is a pastor.  We have to be intentional.

9. We have tons of friends.  And non-tons of time to see them.

10. D is still a gentleman who opens the door for me every day.

11. D will watch all types of movies with me.  Most of you know that he has a weak spot for chick flicks.  BUT (*recent discovery*) I now know that he will also... WILLINGLY... watch Lifetime movies.  Yep.  Truestory.

12. It is the most wonderful feeling to have a permanent companion for any occasion.  I don't have to wonder... who will go with me?  I don't have to think... well, now I go home by myself.  NO!  He is there!  For all of those things!  YAY!

13. I do NOT like it when D goes out of town.  My house is creepy.  And things fall by themselves.  And my backdoor opens and slams.  And it's terrible.  So I sleep on the couch with the TV on ALL NIGHT.  Everything magically is okay again the moment he comes back.

14. We can be thrifty when we need to be, but otherwise, we are not very good at that.

15. If I don't put the new toilet paper roll on the holder.... it will never go on.

16. We are both lazy when it comes to keeping the house clean, so no one is ever allowed to come over unexpected! (Seriously.  Don't do it.  I won't let you in.)

17. D and I generally have the same taste in home decor, so that makes it very easy when we buy things for the home.  Unfortunately, we don't have much "home" to put all of the things we buy in...




We will always remember our first home!

 18. God does not let me go to bed with an angry heart.  If I am upset or frustrated or hurt or whatever, I cannot go to sleep until I tell D what I am feeling.

19. D is a great listener.  Sometimes he reacts quickly, but he never lets an argument be left unfinished.  And he doesn't let me shut down.  He works so hard to make sure we are okay.

20. D handles the finances because he is good at it.  Praise the Lord he actually understands all that stuff!!!

21. Marrying the man that I did also meant marrying into a family name.  That means that all the little boys we have one day are supposed to have "Wayne" in their name somehow.  Idunlikeit.  BUT I think we are finally starting to come to terms with working around it.  (Fingers crossed, people!)

22. We are good at making meals together.  D cooks the meat.  I make the sides.  And it is always yummy.  (Except sometimes when I try a Pampered Chef recipe and it's not as tasty as the recipe would lead you to believe...)

23. D will never stop trading cars.  He says he will one day when he finally gets "that one great car".  Yeah right.  I'll believe it when it happens.

24. Sex is not like the movies.  There.  I said it.

25. I am married to my absolute best of the best friend.  He has my back every day and I know it.  I have his back and he knows it.  I trust in him as the head (lowercase "h") of the household as he follows the lead of Christ, the Head (capital "H") of the household.  Even if that means moving to Florida.  (AHH! I typed it!  The words are on the world wide web!) Yes, that means moving to Florida.  For those of you who are seeing those words for the first time... I will post more about it later.  It's been in the works for awhile, but I've kept it close and personal until it was time for everyone to know.  All I know is that I couldn't do this, and I believe that I wouldn't be doing this, if I wasn't with this man.  How blessed am I to be able to follow the path designed by our Creator with such a wonderful and loving husband.




We will begin a tradition of taking a photo with a picture from the year before.


Happy 1st Anniversary, love!
I love you Fluffykins.
Boop!