celebrating 365 days of marriage

a few weeks ago {that's how far behind on posting i am} M & i celebrated our first year of marriage! we joke that we managed to make it this far. but i like to think that making it a year is something to be proud of. because i am proud of us. proud of how well we try to work together {notice the word try}. this year was fun yet also a challenge. we found out marriage isn't playing house but a lifestyle that takes patience & compromise. something that i still need to work on. i'm so blessed to be married to a man that respects me & understands me better than i do. 

so for our first anniversary we celebrated by visiting the town of st. augustine. we were only a short fifteen minute ride from the town & planned to take full advantage of that fact. it's filled with history around every corner & not to mention all the precious shops. being on an island we experienced a few popup showers here & there but nothing could ruin our day. we found an adorable cafe that had bubble tea. boy! was the tapioca soft! we walked along the water hand-in-hand & reminisced about our wedding day. we found the only mexican restaurant on the island which was nicely located by the water to enjoy dinner at. if chips & salsa was the last thing i'd ever eat i'd be okay with that. & no brotherton vacation is complete without overdoing it on the sweets. so when we stumbled upon a fudge shop we naturally bought five squares to share. that same evening after the sun set, we played on the beach with sparklers. 

hidden cafe that had heavenly bubble tea ^^^

our fudge that disappeared quickly ;) ^^^

 sparklers!!!

can't wait to celebrate many more years.
xoxo
-L

celebrating one year of marriage

i love being married. i love that i have a husband who values our marriage. who respects me & treasures what we have together. he puts me & our pups first before himself. & he's constantly working to make our lives better. i'll never understand how i was so blessed with this man. i love you mitch. you're the light of my world. this year was a huge learning experience but what i'll remember the most was all the fun we had. i can't wait to see what year-two has in store for us & the many after that. 

i love you.

yours. 

friday's letters {26}

this picture is completely unrelated to this post.

dear beach trip we had to cancel you. since my mother-in-law is ill the doctors don't think she'd be up for vacation. but as long as she gets the treatment she needs, that's all that matters.
dear anniversary you'r right around the corner! we would have been at st. augustine but not anymore ^^^. but last night i figured out M has something in the works. he told me not to push him too hard to find out what it is. i'm really bad at that though. if i don't know what it is i usually think to high & get disappointed when i find out what it really is. so, the real questions is, do i push him or not?
dear anniversary gift year one is paper. what does that mean? like a card?
dear insanity workouts you're literally insane. that's all i have to say about you.
dear God i was thinking about how everything in my life has worked out okay. there used to be a time when i wished i could go back in time & change things. but as i write this, i don't wish that anymore. You knew all along that everything would be okay. You just sat back as i learned on my own. watched me fail but knew i'd be okay. it's so clear how much Your hand works in my life. i'd be lost without You.

happy friday!!!
enjoy your weekend with the ones you love!

one year ago i said "no"?

it's a weird feeling thinking about how much my life -- our life -- has changed since last year. before last year i was confident i would be an independent working woman, living on my own with maggie, paying my own bills before i ever thought about marriage. you know, "living the life". but one year ago today, on a routine hike at our hiking grounds, M kept asking to take pictures {way out of character}. we were three miles in when the tripod was set up for the last time...

as i'm posing for the picture, i feel for M & realize he's not in reach. i turn to him & see he's on one knee. i was in SHOCK! that's an understatement. this was so unexpected. we had NEVER talked about getting married. i mean, we knew we wanted to marry each other, but just never once talked about it. so my initial response was "no". no as in, "no. this can't be happening. is this real?" that kind of no. i didn't notice i was saying "no" until M got this horrified sickening look & started to pull away. that's when i caught myself & said, "yes". poor guy was about to faint.

i wish self-timer allowed for more than ten pictures because it would have caught me joining him on the ground, in tears, kissing & hugging, smiling & more tears. the moment was so raw & private, sometimes i wish it was caught on video just so i can see it all over again. 

after that day, the idea of being an independent working woman, living on my own was something i no longer wanted. i wanted to experience everything new, tough, exciting, & stressful with M. because i knew my life would immediately be better with him. & thus we got married six months later surrounded by our family & friends. 

this was actually the last time the tripod was set up. i look like a hot mess, but notice the ring? woohoo!

happy one year engagement anniversary babe {wow, that's a mouth full}.

it's been a joy being yours. 

i love you, oh so much.