The First Year of Marriage

With so much house stuff going on, it’s easy to forget that I do have a life outside of painting and tearing things up.  This last weekend, Scott and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary.  Even though we were dirty and tired and typically prefer to stay indoors, we decided to take the evening off, clean up and celebrate!

We started the night off at Corridor 44: our favorite champagne bar in Larimer Square.  It kind of looks like a fancy, old-timey bar, and the large storefront window overlooks the twinkly lights in the square.  It’s so charming, and for those obsessed with the bubbles, it’s the perfect spot to celebrate.  As we we were leaving, the bartender flashed his hand in our faces to show us he had THE SAME RING AS SCOTT!  This is important, because Scott has a pretty unique ring, and this is the first time we’ve seen anyone else with it!  As we were discussing this, a third guy in the bar came over–he’s getting married soon and wanted to see the style of ring. We had to get going but it seemed like he really liked the style, asking his fiance to come take a look.  How random but cool!!

We fancy.

Obsessed with this quote, and want to shout it every time I sip champagne from now on.

He cleans up well, but the LITTLE blotch of paint on his wrist made me crack up!

From there we headed to Osteria Marco for dinner.  Sunday nights they roast a pig, so Scott ordered that and I dove in to a plate of short ribs with–wait for it–red wine risotto.  I may have a new favorite food.  Risotto cooked in red wine??!?!  Heavenly.  I had a drink called “The Sparkle” and our dinner was perfection.  For dessert we had some delicious little bread pudding and then headed home.

Our food was so yummy. Highly recommend this place!

The First Year Fellows!

On the way we debated: we had a bottle of champagne in the fridge (a sweet gift from Treana) but should we drink it?  By this time it was 8:30 and you can’t just have A glass–you have to drink the whole bottle…. what to do??

We figured we have the rest of our lives (later filled with kids and such) to go to bed early, so of course we drank the champagne 🙂

And by “we” I meant the dogs. KIDDING! You know I wouldn’t share…

Proof that pups drink from the outside of the glass. My favorite part is Sadie’s jealous face in the very corner of the pic!

I know some say the first year of marriage is supposed to be the hardest, but honestly, this has been the best year of my life!  I got to travel all over with my best friend, we just bought a house together, and I swear I married in to the sweetest, most supportive family.  Case in point: Brooke (my sister-in-law) sent us a super thoughtful card and house-warming gift and Scott’s parents sent us an engraved champagne bottle!!!!

HOW CUTE IS THIS?!?!

On April 13, 2013 I became the luckiest girl in the world.  A year later, I still feel just as happy, just as loved, just as lucky 🙂

Celebrating 5 Years (+ one day)

Yesterday was mine and Scott’s 5 year anniversary (dating–not marriage).  It is kind of sad that I had so much going on at work, that we couldn’t make it in to a big celebration, but that really wouldn’t have been our style anyway 🙂  Instead, we ordered some delicious pizza, popped some bubbles, and just spent time catching up with one another (he was out of town last week and we had friends in town all weekend).  It made me realize that over the last 5 years, I’ve come to enjoy just being with him as much as I enjoy anything else.  That is love, right?!

The last five years have been big ones for us:

• We found each other and blended our 2-dog family
• He supported me through the death of my mother
• I made it through my TFA teaching commitment and he passed his CFP (which took a year of studying)
• We traveled all over the US and even to Mexico and Belize! (seriously–the boy and I get around!)
• We moved in together, moved to a new state together, merged finances, and bought some furniture 🙂
• We got engaged and then married!
• We’ve (almost) bought a house together–the place where we’ll have and raise our future fellows!

I am so, so lucky to have met the man of my dreams.  Is he always perfect? Of course not.  But he perfectly balances out my shortcomings and I swear we’re like a perfect fit for one another.  Where I’m weak, he makes us strong, and I do the same for him. 

The next YEAR has a lot in store for us, let alone the next five.  Here’s to a lifetime more!

A love letter from my future (current) husband

Years ago, Scott told me that he had planned to first say “I love you” on a weekend trip to Sedona.  He had set-up the perfect little trip and wanted to top it off with those magical words.

But, Scott also knew himself pretty well.  He was worried he might accidentally blurt it out  after one too many beers, and was worried that I may chalk it up to the alcohol. Or worse, that I may fall into the “he-said-it-but-was-a-little-drunk-and-now-is-probably-too-embarassed-so-he-keeps-saying-it-but-probably-doesn’t-mean-it” way of thinking.  So, my sweetheart wrote me a letter.

He never showed me this letter until much later–it wasn’t necessary.  (Side note: while he didn’t last until our Sedona weekend, he did choose to say it on a walk home with fireworks in the background.  Talk about sparks flying! :))  But years later, when he was moving he found the letter and gave it to me anyway.  I have had it stashed in a  safe place (read: a drawer I NEVER clean, which puts it at no risk of accidentally being thrown away!) and want to frame it one day.  It is the sweetest love letter from a man who would one day become my husband.

I don’t want to share the letter because the words are our special little secret, but he dated (and time stamped) the letter so I would know the exact minute he knew he had to tell me that I was his love.  The best part?  It was almost four years later (within days!) that we got married.  When you know, you know 🙂

I found the letter again today, and it took me back to those moments.  When we fell in love.  When years later he proved that he had known so long ago.  To our wedding day, and realizing the date was more perfect than we realized.  I am one lucky, lucky lady.

Married Couple Date-Night IN

Today is Wednesday, and it is one of my most favorite days of the week.  Why you might ask? Because it is married couple date night IN!  That’s right, Scott and I found a way to do that whole “date night once a week” thing in a way that is much more realistic and sustainable for us-both financially and energy wise!  We dedicate one night a week to being home early, cooking ourselves a yummy meal, and spending time disconnecting from work and stress.  We will usually get wine or champagne (yes, we drink champagne for no reason at all–OTHER than the fact that we’re happy to finally be married!) and just catch up.  It sounds silly, but it’s one of my most favorite rituals.

Sure, we still go out on date nights, but this way we still feel like we get that time together, and don’t have a lot of the excuses that sometimes get in the way of a date-night OUT (i.e. I’m too tired, we don’t’ have money, it’s too far, I don’t want to be out late, etc.)  Plus it keeps our weekends free for spur of the moment plans.

Gotta keep the love alive, right? 😉