Two Years and Still Counting

Last year, I said I was going to snap a photo on each anniversary. So far I've stuck to my word. I know, I know, not that hard when you only have two years under your belt. But I'm really going to try and hold up this tradition. Fifty years from now, it'll be fun looking back at these. So here you go.

 Here we are getting ready to celebrate year two!

Year one at Harpo's!

I still love going back and looking at all the pictures people took of the best party we've ever thrown. Here are a few pics of the best day of my life. Many thanks again to Rebecca Peters for capturing our big day!

Year three, here we come!!!

Renewing My Vows (with this blog)

Ok, wow! So it’s been forever. I made it all the way to 2012 and beyond before any new blog posts. I’m ashamed. But I will not look back in regret. I will not dwell on the past. I vow to blog on more than an annual basis. This is my promise to you.

Speaking of vows, while I was browsing my daily gossip sites, I saw headlines about various celebrities and their vow renewals.  I asked myself, what’s the point of renewing wedding vows especially when you've only been married a couple of years? Country singer (can you still call her that?) Leann Rimes and D-list actor Eddie Cibrian reportedly celebrated their one-year anniversary by renewing their vows. In Paris, Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon just renewed their vows for a fourth time.

What changes in a year to where you feel you need to repeat pretty much what you said a year ago? Does it make the marriage stronger? Is it setting the tone for the next year of marriage? Maybe, but Seal and Heidi Klum renewed their vows six times, the last one being in May 2011. Look where it got them? 

Question: Do you register for vow renewals? That Gucci china sauce boat was so last year. Time for an upgrade so let’s throw a vow renewal.

Maybe celebrities look at vow renewals as a milestone that their marriage simply outlasted their expectations. I guess in the celebrity world, any marriage that lasts more than 72 days is a good reason to celebrate. I didn’t hear about the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (that’s Will and Kate for you commoners) renewing their vows or throwing a royal star-studded bash to celebrate their first anniversary. Instead, it is reported that they went to a wedding and then had a low-key night in their cottage. How quaint.

As I look back at two years of marriage, I think about the vows I said in front of our close friends and family. Derrick and I said we would stick together through sickness and health, prosperity and financial struggles, good times and bad. I will love and be with him until death separates us. All of that still holds true today, tomorrow and forever as far as I’m concerned.

I’m not bashing vowel renewals. Couples, you do what you need to do keep the romance alive and I’m all for celebrating. I just always thought renewal ceremonies were reserved for marriages that have lasted five years or more or if you’re trying to rebuild your relationship by reaffirming your commitment to each other.

Regardless, couples are free to do whatever they want. If they want to renew their vows, more power to them. I just hope each time they do it, it actually means something and two months later we aren’t hearing about their nasty divorce and who will get the Versace china in the settlement.

In the meantime, I’m looking forward to celebrating my two-year anniversary in the lowest key we know how: a nice dinner, some good conversation and maybe a little Call of Duty on the Xbox … and I vow to enjoy every minute of it!

What do you think of vow renewals after a couple of years of marriage?

It's Our Anniversary

Cue the music!


Tony! Toni! Tone! is so appropriate for this post. I always like to add a little throw-back jam to spice the blog up a bit.

Derrick and I celebrated our first anniversary on May 1. I couldn't really call it a celebration. My immune system decided to let down its defenses and allow some kind of bacteria or virus to attack. The Saturday before our anniversary, all I did was lay on the couch wrapped in a blanket and watch Swamp People (fascinating show) while Derrick worked on the yard. I managed to muster up enough energy to go to my parents' house that Sunday to get our cake topper so it could thaw after being in the deep freezer for 365 days. To our surprise, it was delicious! My mom did a fabulous job wrapping it up. I didn't remember how big our cake was until we opened the topper. That thing was huge!

Wedding cake.

Our anniversary cake.

After getting the cake from my parents, I had to get my bottom in gear and play kick ball even though I felt terrible. I did make Derrick take a corny First Anniversary picture. I think I'll make it a tradition.

Not one of my cuter moments.

We ended up losing our game, but I was just glad I didn't keel over and die afterwards. I did manage to get hit in the face with a kick ball. Regardless of my ill-timed illness (pun intended), Derrick and I felt very blessed to celebrate a year of wedded bliss and we certainly are looking forward to many more. Yes, life is Lunderful.

I Know, I Know

It's been a while. Spring is has sprung, so it's time to dust off the cobwebs on this 'ole blog and start posting again. What better way to ramp things up again than to talk about my upcoming wedding anniversary. That's right, folks! It has been a year since yours truly tied the knot with her beloved husband. In honor of remembering when I married the love of my life, I plan to catch some of the hoopla that is the wedding of Prince William and the future Princess Kate. All of this fanfare has really gotten me intrigued. What will she wear? What will here hair look like? What does the cake look like? What's on the menu? You know, all the cheesy, boring stuff Derrick's been so glad to be done with over the past year.

Of course, I won't spend the entire weekend with Wills and Kate. Derrick and I will kick off our first anniversary weekend tomorrow night when we head to dinner at the Hereford House. This restaurant has a special place in our hearts because it is where we had our first date. However, the location we are going to isn't the same location we went to three years ago. Some angry person decided to burn and destroy the original location where our love began to blossom. That's okay, angry person. Fortunately for you, there is another location in the 'burbs, but it won't have the same magic as the one downtown. Oh well. The other location will have to do.

Our Saturday likely will be filled with yard work (a must-do activities for couples in the deepest of love--no arguments will come out of this, I'm sure) and on our actual anniversary, we'll be playing kick ball. Yes, Derrick and I have gotten our lazy butts out of the house each Sunday afternoon for a couple of games of kick ball with some good friends. Our team has been doing pretty well and we're hoping to make it to the playoffs.

Sunday night, we'll probably look back on our day while eating a cake that's been in my parents' freezer for the past 365 days. Thank goodness we have the video because it was such a blur. I don't remember much. It's true what they say, the day goes by so fast. The year seems to have gone by even faster.

I'll be sure to dish on what I thought about the Royal Wedding (if you care about my opinion on such matters) as well as update you on the inaugural anniversary weekend. I promise it won't be three months from now before I write again. Stay tuned ... really, I mean it.

Staying the Course

Yesterday I had a meltdown (a meltdown no 31 year old should have, especially when operating a motor vehicle). But yesterday’s meltdown equals today’s profound wisdom, so I thought I’d share.

My route to and from work involves a usually busy street, but yesterday, the drive home was much slower than normal. Both left and right lanes were backed up so I decided to stay in the right lane in case I wanted to turn on to another street. I remembered that one of those streets was a dead end so I kept deciding not to turn each time I inched passed one only to see that they were actually thru streets. Finally, I got close enough to what was causing traffic to creep along: a stalled car in the right lane. The part of my brain that lacks patience told me to make a right at the next opportunity, so I did. Sure enough, that was the one street that was a dead end. My week was already starting out pretty lame, and when I say lame, I really mean it's been full of suck. So this was enough to make me completely lose it in my car. I’m sure people thought I was crazy. I had to turn around and not only go face the awful traffic, but also pray that drivers would have pity on me let me in so I could get around the stalled car. Fortunately, two drivers did and I was back on track and heading home.

What does this have to do with the profound wisdom I want to share? Well, I’m sure, at one point or another; we have felt like the road we’re taking to get to where we want to be in life is taking too long. So what do we do? We take short cuts to avoid obstacles. Then what happens? Short cuts seem to only make it worse. Lately, I have been feeling like it’s taking too long to achieve the things in life I still want to achieve. But, if my drive home yesterday taught me anything, it was when I get off course, somehow, the good Lord gets me back on track. I was reminded that although I want what I want when I want it, life doesn’t always work that way. I’m not saying I should just sit back, do nothing and all my dreams will come true. But with a little patience and a lot of faith, I know the things I desire in life will come when the time is right. Until then, I’ll just turn the music up and rock out while I wait.

Are you taking short cuts or staying the course?

Vinyl Revival

I read an interesting feature on USAToday.com about how vinyl records are making a comeback for the holidays. Um, I thought that happened years ago. In fact, a few years ago, Derrick's first Christmas gift to me was a turntable and some records. It was the sweetest gift ever because I'm a sucker for nostalgia. The recent article made me remember Christmas 1984. I was four years old and my dad gave me a turntable and an entertainment stand for it (I'm not sure if it was for me or really for him at that time). My very first record? New Edition. I also have this album on iTunes, but Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky, Mike and Ralph just don't sound the same. I loved that turntable and as a child of the 80s, I did try my hand at DJing by scratching records. I'm surprised I didn't ruin them.

Occasionally, we shop around for records. It's a fun way to spend some time together, we don't do it nearly as much as we used to. We mostly stick to the old stuff, the stuff we grew up on and stuff our parents listen to. I can't imagine buying Lady Gaga on vinyl. It just doesn't seem right. But so far we've got some John Coltrane, Heart, Rolling Stones, Marvin Gaye, The Allman Brothers and even Grease on vinyl, and we really have enjoy listening to them (well maybe it's just me who enjoys listening to Grease). I bet Christmas music would sound divine on vinyl. We may have to check that out.

I thought I would go ahead and include a little something to brighten up your Friday and take you back to the ol' school. What's in your vinyl collection?

Thankful Again

So my 30 days of Thanksgiving was an epic fail. I guess after Day 8, life started getting a little crazy. That doesn't mean I haven't been thankful these past few weeks. So I compiled a list of 22 things (in no particular order) I have been thankful for as we lead up to the end of the year.

22 - My wonderful furbabies, Beasley and Stella. They are getting into the Christmas spirit by playing with the ornaments and chewing on the Christmas tree.


21 - Our home. We've been in our house for a year and it's been fun doing little projects here and there. It really feels like it's our home.


20 - Spending Thanksgiving with my BIG extended family. Bless Derrick's heart. Since most of my extended family is from out of town, Derrick doesn't get to see them as often. So we had run through pictures and go over names before we made it to Thanksgiving dinner.

19 - Saturday coffee talk with my mom. Since the wedding, my mom and I decided she would come over the first Saturday of every month and have coffee. It is just a time for us to spend some quality time together.

18 - I survived my first 5k. I am thankful I didn't keel over and die after running that thing. Unfortunately, I haven't ran since so I need to get back into it. But I'm still glad I made the effort and proud of myself for how I did.


17 - My gas oven. Even though it's retro (I think the brand is Hot Spot or something and it came with the house), I love cooking with it.

16 - I can cook. I am thankful for this because if I didn't, we'd probably starve.


15 - Changing seasons. I am not a fan of cold weather, but I am thankful that the seasons do change. It lets us know that time goes on, things change and so do we, hopefully for the better.

14 - The little things. I am thankful for a friendly smile or a helping hand. Even if the teenager at the drive-thru window tells me to have a nice day without throwing my food onto my lap, I'm pretty content.

13 - My book club. This is one of the best group of girls you'll ever meet. They are supportive, hilarious and just good people.


12 - Anti-aging cream. Yes, I have started using this stuff. Might as well slow down the signs of aging, right?

11 - Our leaf blower. This has been a godsend this year. Last year we just left piles of leaves all over the yard throughout winter. When spring came, we had large circles of dead grass. This year, we invested in a leaf blower/vacuum/best invention ever.

10 - A job to go to. It's been a rough couple of years for some folks. I thank God every day that I have somewhere to go. And while every day may not be the best day at work, as long as I have a job, I will always be grateful.

9 - Multi-colored pens. They keep me organized and make my notes look pretty.

8 - K-State and MU going to bowl games. This makes our household very happy.


7 - Amazing friends. Between the both of us, Derrick and I have a great group of friends and we cherish each and every one of them.

6 - The storms in life. When it rains, it pours but eventually the sun comes out again. Believe it or not, I'm actually thankful for bad days because I always learn something about myself and they only make me stronger.

5 - Only 10 days until Florida. I can't wait to get to some warmer weather and little mini vacay with the hubby.

4 - 19 days until Christmas break. I need a break in a major way.

3 - A free Saturday. We spend most of our fall traveling to football games, but every once in a while we get a Saturday to do absolutely nothing. I love those days.

2 - An amazing year. It's been a great year filled with lots of changes and exciting things. I'm looking forward to 2011.

1 - My husband who is my world and my best friend.