Two...

Today, we celebrate two years.

Two babies.

Being too blessed.

Four Years Ago

Four years ago, I was just a girl headed to Oklahoma for a weekend of fun with friends.  I almost didn't make it.  A flight cancellation on Friday afternoon resulted in a re-route to Tulsa instead of Oklahoma City and a serious conversation about just skipping OKC all together and meeting up on Saturday instead.  In the end, I flew to Tulsa and drove to OKC because I had promised two of my friends I'd help serve as matchmaker to introduce them.

Four years ago, The Boy from Texas was just a boy headed on a trip to look at cattle and go to a football game with his buddy.  He almost didn't come.  Work was busy and he wasn't sure he was really in the mood.  It was Oklahoma in August, which meant basically dripping sweat the entire time.  He didn't know any of the girls they would be hanging out with.

Four years ago, the girl and the boy first laid eyes on each other at the Hampton Inn in Bricktown.  They ate their first meal at Abuelo's.  They danced their first dance at the Wormy Dog.  They kissed their first kiss (oops!) late in the evening after everyone skipped down the street after shutting down that bar.

Four years ago, the boy didn't talk much to the girl the next day.  They sweated through what must have been the hottest football game in history.  The boy called another girl to come out with them to dinner.  The girl danced with another boy at the Penny.  And the two went their separate ways.

Four years ago, it started.  Today, it continues.  One boy.  One girl.  A little house.  A red-headed toddler.  A few cows.  A couple of dogs.  A baby on the way.  It's been great and hard and everything in between.  But we're sure glad to be doing this together.

That boy and that girl did pretty well that night four years ago.

One Year. What We've Learned

One year ago this weekend I donned a white dress, he sported a new cowboy hat, and we vowed to love each other for the rest of our lives. 

It has been an adventure, the last 365 days. So in looking back on our first year together, I thought it would be good to reflect on what we have learned about love and marriage and what not. Begrudgingly, The Boy from Texas pitched in a few thoughts as well. 

1. Divorce is not an option.  No matter how bad the fight or how annoying the habit, we never threaten to leave. We don't joke about it. We don't consider it.  Because once it is an option, even in the back of your mind, it is an option. And that is a major problem. 

2. Be flexible.  Some things will not go as planned. Heck, almost nothing will go as planned.  Case in point...we thought that we might be pregnant by our first anniversary. Instead, we have a 6 week old.  Flexibility is important. 

2a.  It does not take everyone a year to get pregnant. Refer to item #2.  The fact that you are 30 and have old eggs apparently does not always change lesson #2.  

3.  Know how best to communicate, generally and on specific topics.  Knowing the best way to discuss things is critical.  Example: We cannot discuss money over text message without someone ending up mad. If we have those conversations in person or on the phone we are good.  Learn how to (and how not to) communicate with each other.

4. Our marriage not all hearts and roses. And no one else's is either. I am working on a complete blog post on this topic because I think it's that important. Society doesn't do us any favors by acting like other marriages are perfect all the time. They aren't. The sooner people figure that out the better. Don't get me wrong, a lot of the time for us it really is roses, but there are those days where a thorn gets thrown into that in the mix. Understanding that this is normal and will happen is important.

5. Simple phrases go a long way.  Don't underestimate the effectiveness of using "Thank you," "I'm sorry," and "I love you."  Use them more than you think necessary.

6. Talk about what bothers you or you don't get anywhere.   The Boy from Texas included this one. In doing so he said, "No one is a mind reader. Write that. Do you hear me? That needs to be in the blog. Write that down."  Enough said.

7.  And now, the best for last. We are so much better together than either could be apart. And we try to always remember that and be grateful for it every day.

One year down...a lifetime to go. 

What a Difference a Year Can Make

One year ago today, I said yes to a very important question from a very cute boy with a very sparkly ring.  (If you'd like more detail than that, click here to read the full he-said/she-said story.) .

Within the last 365 days, the following events have occurred.

- We celebrated The Boy from Texas 29th birthday in Gruene.

-  I bought a white dress.

- The Boy from Texas got a new job.

- The Boy from Texas moved to a new town.

-  I somehow convinced my bosses to let me transfer my job to a new town 9 hours away from College Station.

- The Boy from Texas got a new pick up.

-  We took engagement photos.

- We celebrated my bachelorette-ness with a perfect weekend at the lake.

-  I moved.

-  We said I do.

- We went to Canada for our honeymoon.

- I turned 31.

- My friend and I ran my third half marathon jokingly saying we wanted to do it before we got pregnant.  (Be careful about such jokes....we are both due less 5 days apart).

- We sold my house in College Station.

-  We went skiing (little did we know at the time there was a growing baby under my green jacket!)

- We bought an adorable little house.

-  We found out we would be adding a third person to that adorable little house in 9 months.

- Our attempt to announce our news to may parents in a creative way was a major flop.

- We announced our news to the public.

- We started adding onto our little house.

- We road tripped with my Dad to Iowa to buy a ram.

- We let Big Jake announce some big news about The Baby from Texas.

- We got a tractor.

- Our dog (and my favorite running buddy) died.

- We got a puppy.

Whew.....anyone else tired?

I don't know what the next year will hold.  But I do know that I thank God every day for The Boy from Texas and the chaos that is our life.  He has made dreams come true that I didn't even know I had.  There is no one in the world I would rather be on this little adventure with.

I'm very glad I chose the right answer to a very important question from a very cute boy with a very sparkly ring one year ago today.

6 Month Anniversary: #tysaidno

6 months ago tomorrow, I said I do to The Boy from Texas on what I'm going to go ahead and deem the perfect wedding day.  Since sappy is not really our style, I decided to go a different route in this 1/2 year anniversary post.

Shortly after we got engaged, I posted something on Instagram with the hashtag "tysaidno."  One of my friends commented that she was excited to see how many times I used that hashtag during our first year of marriage.  I thought that would be an interesting statistic, so I kept track of things that Ty has said no to during the first 6 months of our marriage.

And here we go.

*  Pink flamingos in the front yard.  I texted him a picture of something similar to this while registering for wedding gifts and said, "Can I?"  His response, "No."

*  Riding in a hot air balloon on our honeymoon.  I said, "We could do a hot air balloon ride!"  His response, "The only positive thing I can say about that is that at least we would die together.  No."

*  Naming our firstborn son Tyreek. After the OSU running back with this name ran back the touchdown to tie it up and get us a victory in Bedlam football, I felt like this could be a good way to honor the player, plus it sounds a bit like The Boy from Texas' first name.   His response?  "Um....no."  (Less than a week later, Tyreek was kicked off the football team for beating his pregnant girlfriend...The Boy from Texas was right on this one.)

* Getting more dogs.  I suggested we should take home three, maybe four, dogs from a pet adoption day because they were all alone with no one to love them and had really sad eyes!  "Since when are you such a dog person?  No."

* Buying matching moose footsie pajamas in Canada on our honeymoon.  *Dirty look.* "No."

*Eating lettuce wraps.  Me:  "I found a really good recipe for lettuce wraps and I think you might really lik...."  TBFT:  "No."

*Ingesting the placenta.  Me:  "You know some people take part of their placenta, put it in a smoothie, and drink it."  TBFT:  "Who the hell are these people?  We live in America. NO!"

One Month Anniversary: Thoughts So Far

We have officially been married 1 month as of today.  In light of this milestone, I figured sharing a few thoughts on this topic might be in order.

I absolutely love being married to this man.

It is so much fun being able to see each other every day....this living in the same zip code is all that it was cracked up to be!

I really enjoy cooking.  Usually he comes and sits in the kitchen and we chat while I make dinner.  It's probably my favorite part of the day.  Good thing, because that guy likes to eat.

Apparently boys put off a lot of body heat while they sleep.  As someone who is always (and I mean always) cold, it's like my own little space heater!

But, there have been some bumps in the road. 

We've learned that when one of us gets dressed (in what she perceived as being a really cute outfit), the other should not respond with, "You really  need to learn how to buy pants."

I quickly figured out that I am a much, much happier person when I gain some exercise endorphins.  Because it has been like -5 degrees around here, that meant a gym membership was required.  Best money I've spent in a long time.

He mocks Chicago Fire.  I'm pretty sure there was something in the vows about not speaking ill of your wife's favorite tv show.  However, three weeks into it, he now knows everyone's back story and he was even giggling at part of it last week.

Two people create a LOT of laundry.  Seriously, I feel like the washer and drier never stop.

Then, there was the butter incident.  I made some yummy apple dumplings (recipe coming up tomorrow!)  He tasted them and said, "They're good, but they are really buttery, you might should have used less."  Well, I wasn't happy with that comment, got my feelings hurt, and pouted for a while.  However, when I went back to look at the recipe.....turns out when I halfed it, I forgot to half the butter.  So he was spot on right.  I hate it when that happens.

Life in the Panhandle

It's cold here.  Like, for multiple days the high was not above freezing.  This girl had sort of acclimated to College Station winters and this took so me major readjustment.  And lots of warm sweaters!

I now drive 45 minutes one way to work each day.  I thought I might hate it, but actually, I kinda love it.  In the mornings, I pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet on my way to work.  I'm terrible about getting "busy" and not making time for that, so this is the perfect opportunity to pray.  In the evenings, I get to see the most incredible sunsets.  I've probably pulled off at least 5 times in the last month to take pictures.  It also allows me ample phone time with my friends.  As a girl who spent so long single, I have a routine of long phone conversations to keep up--particularly with the girls--and the drive allows me to do that then, instead of when I'm at home with The Boy from Texas.

Post-Wedding Life

I thought that I'd have so much more free time now that I'm not doing any wedding planning.  I was wrong.  I am writing thank you notes.  Loads and loads of thank you notes.

Super Mom has been kindly emailing me a photo a day or so to keep me going while I wait for the entire set to be done.  It's so much fun to see what she was able to capture with her camera (and cat-woman like maneuvering) on the wedding day.

We still have wedding gifts trickling in, which makes it like Christmas several times a week.  When boxes stop appearing on the front porch, I am going to be a little sad.