Summer 2013

I apologize in advance for such a long post! Go grab a drink, you're in for the long hall. 

Since I've been busy blogging about the pregnancy I haven't really taken time to share all the fun things we did this summer. I cannot believe it's almost over but I am looking forward to fall and all it has to offer (football, awesome weather, campfires..etc)

We kicked off this summer celebrating the wedding of one of our good friends from college, Josh. He met a great girl from Maine and they had a beautiful weeding up there. (fun fact: we found out we were pregnant while in Maine!)

I took a long weekend off work and we made our way to the great state of Maine. The wedding festivities were so much fun and we are so happy we were able to share their special day. (For those of you wondering, and I know you all are, yes I saw a moose... see photo below)

After we returned home from Maine, I got pretty bad morning sickness but I mustered up all the energy I could so we could go out to eat on our 2nd wedding anniversary!

I look absolutely terrible so we will keep this picture small....

Because I was so sick and we didn't really feel the need to get each other gifts this year, we both went with sweets instead. I got Chad a cheesecake (his favorite) from a local bakery and he got me a cupcake and dessert bar from another local bakery. Unfortunately for me, I didn't get to eat any of it! I also didn't take pictures of any of it, you'll have to use your imagination.

In the beginning of July we were off on a much needed vacation. We took a trip to South Carolina with my parents and my sister and her two kids. Thankfully, I was starting to feel slightly better and was able to enjoy myself. 

We did a lot of laying on the beach (my favorite) and eating (also my favorite!). 

We did a mini photo shoot on the beach, with my new camera, and got some great new family shots. 

We even took a day trip to Savannah one day while it was gloomy and raining. 

On ward with our busy summer... 

When we got back from vacation I threw my best friend a bridal shower. It was so much fun and everything turned out great. 

She got a lot of great gifts and even had 2 surprise out of town guests that she was super excited to see. We got a rare photo of all the bridesmaids in one place (such a cute group!)

We had yummy mimosa bar (that I was unable to take part in, boo) and a delish dessert table. 

Soon after that it was time for her Bachelorette party! We spent the day at the pool with gifts and cake and then hit the town for dinner and drinks afterward. 

Overall, it has been a jam packed but extremely fun summer and it's not quite over yet! Hopefully I will be better about posting updates as they happen to avoid such long blog dumps! Stay tuned...

Our First Anniversary!

In June Chad and I celebrated our 1st anniversary! We are extremely surprised at the ease at which we adjusted to married life. We both have said that this first year of marriage has been wonderful and it went by VERY fast. We have taken survey of our married friends and asked what they thought of the first year of marriage. While most agreed with us that it was great, others said "The first year of marriage is hardest". Come to think of it I've heard that a lot. I think what helped Chad and I out is that we lived together before marriage, we knew each other's quirks and bad habits. We had been together so long that there were no real "surprises" once we were married. We kind of just went on living like we did before marriage.

Back to the survey, most that we spoke with (that didn't say the first year was the hardest) said that the first year with a new baby was the hardest! We will have to cross that bridge when it comes!

I decided to start a tradition of taking our picture at each anniversary to document what we look like/where we are in our lives. Year One:

So for our first anniversary, Chad had several surprises lined up for me! The first of which was dinner at an amazing steakhouse: Tony's steak and seafood! It was the most amazing steak I have every had in my life. The atmosphere was romantic, the serves were awesome and we even got complimentary dessert for our anniversary! I wish I would have taken some pictures of the food, but I was too busy stuffing my face! =)

After dinner we went back home to enjoy the top tier of our wedding cake. 

A little back story: I hard been extremely worried about the year-old wedding cake we have had in our freezer. I couldn't imagine that anything, let alone a cake, could be even remotely good after being frozen for a year! So true to character, I complained and worried aloud and my amazing husband reassured me it would be fine. Here is what our year-old cake looked like after being unwrapped and taken out of hibernation

Fast forward to our anniversary night: So we got home from the restaurant and to my surprise my wonderful husband had bought a brand new cake just like the one if the freezer, down the the frosting and decoration. The same bakery used the same cake and frosting and even used the ribbon from our original cake to make this new and FRESH cake. I was sooo very excited! 

I went ahead and tasted the year old cake, I had to spit it out. It was terrible! I was so thankful for the new and DELICIOUS cake!

After cake we exchanged gifts. Traditionally first anniversary gifts are supposed to be "paper" and Chad and I tried to stay true to tradition (plus paper is pretty cheap so it fit in the budget!!).

I got the final two books of the Hunger Games series. (Which is amazing by the way)

And Chad got some awesome Science books for his classroom. He can now learn how to blow things up, but in a scientific way =).

Overall, our first year of marriage was amazing! I can't wait to experience all life has to throw at me as long as I have my wonderful husband by my side! Here's to 80 more anniversaries! I hope they are all as easy as this first one!