Time has flown, but at the same time when we look back at all the ground we have covered, it is overwhelming to realize how incredibly blessed we have been!
Our celebration this year was so much more low key than last year. The whole idea of "our first anniversary" kind of psyched me out and I wanted everything to be perfect. So, I guess what I learned this year is that "perfect in pictures" and perfect for us are two completely different things.
The Lord continues to teach me that comparison and entitlement are what deflates the joy out of any situation.
I can't tell you how frustrated I get around Valentine's season with the "He better do good" (yes, I know that is horrendous grammar) mindset. From what I have seen, there are far too many couples that suffer from that syndrome around anniversary time too.
I am all for a man demonstrating love on special occasions, who isn't???
But, what is it at the expense of? The more I thought about it, I boiled it down to two points:
1. As a wife/girlfriend/whatever, are we loving, admiring, encouraging, and exaulting him in the ways that he needs? If he feels like you are his #1 cheerleader, he will want to be yours, not because he has to, but because he loves you and doesn't want to disappoint you.
2. What about every other day of the year??? I would much rather a sweet note left here or there, an out of the blue "I love you and wanted to see how your day has been" call or text, or even a "Could you make time to take Peyton for a walk with me, I'd really like to talk something out with you" over a few big extravagant celebrations each year. I'd argue that if the extravagance is that important to you, its not about celebrating what should be most important. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with "go big, or go home", just the value put on it.
Side note (while I'm talking about marriage): I can't remember the quote exactly, but one of my sister-in-laws shared it and went something like:
"Don't compare your everyday to someone else's highlight reel."
What this meant to me was you have absolutely no idea why that friend on facebook's husband bought her "for no reason" flowers. You never see posts like "my husband and I had an explosive argument last night, he slept on the couch, but he learned and sent me flowers at work this morning." I know that isn't always the case, some men regularly show their love through gifts, etc, but the moral of the story is that the whole story is not told on social media, so make sure you don't start comparing apples to oranges in your marriage/relationship.
Our 2nd Anniversary Celebration
I had a test the day after our real anniversary, sooo, yes I did ask DJ if we could celebrate the evening after my test. Which brings me to my favorite part of our celebration. We don't eat out often, its just not our lifestyle or budget. So, He called me around 11 and said he had hoped to come home and surprise me for lunch, but didn't think he was going to be able to. Instead he wanted to grab some Moe's for dinner so I wouldn't have to worry about making anything with my test coming up. My day was made right there! I didn't even care that he wasn't making it for lunch, I was ALL about the thought he put in :)
Yes, I got flowers. When he gave them to me he had the biggest smile on his face "Aren't you impressed I remembered those were at our wedding?" So impressed babe :)
Our anniversary evening feast, absolutely loved!
Well, that got me to thinking of something special I could do for him, and continued to spend the bulk of my afternoon (that I should have been studying through) making him one of his favorites, carrot cake.
Cheesy, I know, but it was the ugliest little cake I have ever made, so I had to do something!
Long story short, I may or may not have worked the system a little bit because rather than just one big special night, we celebrated Monday night with Moe's, Tuesday night at the Blue Marlin, and continued to celebrate with carrot cake for the rest of the week :P
Tuesday night was so great, we got dressed up and headed to a nice seafood restaurant downtown, had some delicious food, and walked around the capitol building like we were in high school without a care in the world.
AND, he made reservations, which seemed silly for a Tuesday night, but it was the week of the Master's and every restaurant in town was packed out! So, as they told the couple in front of us there was at least an hour wait, we were ushered right to our table. I was so proud (and so was he) :)
And that is a little glimpse into our crazy, simple, but overwhelmingly blessed life :)
Oh, PS: we bought a gun as our anniversary gift to each other, I know, so strange, nowhere close to ordinary, but I wanted to get a gun someday and DJ seriously thinks its the coolest thing in the world, so I wouldn't have it any other way!
