6 years.

We both agreed that it feels more like 3 years but 6 years has flown by.


This guy I'm married to...I can't imagine someone who would have fit me more perfectly. It is so amazing to see how our relationship continues to grow and stretch and change as the years go on.
I am so thankful for him... his calm nature (admittedly, bordering on TOO laid back sometimes) but providing the voice of reason when I get worked up about something...the way he puts his relationship with God at the top of his priority list and is constantly studying and reading the Word...the way he makes me laugh - and when I get to make him laugh and his face lights up.



I love being his wife. He is so consistent, kind, generous, and hard-working. He gives, gives, gives - expecting nothing in return.

So, a little throwback to that sweet day in the park by the river.

 I'm glad we had nearly 4 years of dating to decide that we wanted to get married. I'm glad that our marriage is built on a strong friendship - that we actually LIKE hanging out together and just being friends. I like that he rolls his sleeves up. I like that he lets me be silly and weird and loves me just the same.

As we have made it our sometimes tradition, we are going to take a picnic to the park and eat in the same spot we got married. I love this guy - and I hope we get 70 more years together.

A productive day.

One of the things that I wanted to do for Chad for our anniversary was to deep clean the house. I know, it sounds really 1950's housewife and not at all the independent woman that I believe I am. But, in my defense, since I work so much, sometimes my share of our house duties falls by the way side. We share most things evenly - or just take turns doing them - but admittedly, it had been a while since I had done THIS much cleaning. (Don't think we live in messy house - unless you count Gwendolen hair - we do clean!). Bottom line, I knew that a deep clean would probably bless him more than anything I could purchase him so it is one of the reason I took 2 days off this week.

So, here was my TO DO list for yesterday - updated with what I actually got done:
- sand mud on walls in bathroom
- wipe down walls and dump drop cloth
- paint ceiling and walls in bathroom
- paint bathroom cabinet
- vacuum all floors
- do all laundry and put it away (this ended up being 5 loads...my dryer was exhausted)
- clean up hiking stuff in guest room from Leconte trip
- clean up kitchen and put away dishes
- clean up craft stuff in spare room
- clean out/wash/wax car (this one is totally for me!)
- clean up dining room table
- clean up the other guest room that has been holding bathroom renovation stuff
- hang Chad's 3D map that he got for Christmas (this is almost embarrassing)
- deep clean hall bathroom
- clean off front porch (the number of spider webs is unreal!)

Obviously, I didn't get everything done in the bathroom that I wanted to get done but my arms were tired from nearly 2 hours of sanding! I need a little help/advice from Chad on the next step (ceiling) anyway so I was sort of in a holding pattern until today anyway.

My house is so clean that I feel like we should leave so we don't mess it up! p.s. he also noticed, which only slightly surprised me. I was still awake when he came home last night and he was like, whoa, thanks for cleaning! and THAT rocked my world.

Today's plans include catching up on our favorite TV shows, hopefully lunch with his parents to celebrate his mom's birthday (which, by the way, is the same day as our anniversary. Another story for another day), a trip to Lowe's (because what romantic day doesn't include a trip to Lowe's?) then a matinee movie and dinner down by the river. Le sigh. I love days like this.

 (Edited to add: I DID actually buy him things but they aren't here yet. I'll show them off when they arrive.)

5 years.

Today marks being married 5 years to one of the most patient, generous, dedicated, hard-working, funny - in his own way, thoughtful, weird (I had to say it!), and loving man. It has been an honor to be his wife - through good times and bad times - he is my cool, calm, collected, always making me think about life differently guy.

A lot has happened these last 5 years - we've marked a thousand memories down but surely we have millions more to go. I know people always say this but sometimes I feel like it was just last week that we were standing there in that park by the water making our lifelong promises to each other. And sometimes, I can't believe that we've made it this far.

Chad is surely my gift from God. He is calm when I am anxious, offers thoughtful responses that make me see the other side of every situation, challenges me spiritually, leads our family, makes hard decisions and easy ones when I can't, and continues to love me when I might feel unlovable.

I took today off work to spend some time with my guy. It's been too long coming! Granted, he has to work today so we are only going to get the morning together BUT...I also took tomorrow off work to hang out with him the entire day. So, we'll truly celebrate tomorrow and today we will just hang out at the house together. I love this guy...

Oh traveling...

Well, I thought I was done traveling for the summer but apparently I was wrong. I knew I had to be in Knoxville this coming Wednesday for our monthly staff meeting but it was just going to be a day trip - back before Chad even really knew I was gone (leave before he gets up and back before he comes home from work!). Then, my bosses boss came in on Friday and asked me if I could go to Knoxville Monday and Tuesday of next week to participate in our big strategy meetings. I had not been asked to participate before now, which was really fine with me, because large percentage of our staff WAS going to be in there and I could get tons of stuff done in their absence. I had big plans to work on my departmental budget and plans all day on Monday and Tuesday but as it turns out, the decisions made in this 2-day meeting will affect those plans a lot. So, it doesn't make sense for me to a)work on my budget before that meeting or b)be absent from those meetings if they will be making decisions about the work my team will be doing.

Oh well. I am a little sad that I will be gone for another 3 days when I was convinced that I was gone traveling - and had promised my guy that I was. I really do love my job but I think I need to be super conscious of spending some quality time with my guy in the next few weeks.

p.s. our 5 year anniversary is next month! Where did those 5 years go?? And what am I going to get him for a gift (traditional: wood, modern: silverware)??

Leaving soon...

We are going on vacation this week. Not gonna tell you which days or where - no creeping allowed - though I am sure you will see plenty of updates on instagram where I am @stelmosweetness and on Twitter where I am @Love10984. Follow our vacay and 4th anniversary there.

4 years.

I would like to report that our 4th anniversary is next week – blessedly on the day we will be arriving at the beach for our vacation. So, I started thinking that now would be a good time to get started on Chad’s anniversary present. A little research later and I discovered: the traditional gift for a 4th anniversary is fruit and/or flowers. Uh. Ok. Let’s try modern…and that would be appliances. Which might be slightly amusing if our microwave didn’t die last week. Thankfully, my husband is super handy and believes that he can fix the microwave (the spring that holds the door shut appears to be broken) so I should expect some fruit. I’ll buy him a bag of apples.

Or wait, I’ll take my fruit blended in an adult beverage with a umbrella on top while I admire the ocean.

romance.

Here on the celebration day of our 3rd anniversary, I can't help but feeling a little sentimental so if you don't like cheese, you might want to skip this post. You were warned...

We joke all the time that I did NOT marry a romantic. Considering his exact words were "so, you wanna get married, or what?", I think it is safe to say that my Chad - though he is many things - probably should not be called romantic. However, looking back over the years, I am starting to realize that the dude might be more romantic than I ever gave him credit for. Like many things are, I guess romance is in the eye of the beholder. I have tried in the most recent past to be more acutely aware of things that Chad does for me - trying to see them from his eyes, from his priority list, and from his heart - instead of just seeing them how I would normally see them. Every Friday when the trash gets taken out, he is blessing me. Every time he unloads the dishwasher - a job he knows I hate - he blesses me. Every time he gets up earlier than me and quietly ushers the dog out and closes the door so I can sleep for another blessed 30 minutes, he blesses me. I know these things don't really seem romantic and in the most traditional sense of the word they aren't. They are just daily necessities or small thoughtful moments that looking back are reminders of a romance that is sometimes unseen and unspoken.

Most recently though, Chad has done two things that he probably thought were not a big deal but I saw them as hugely romantic and almost tearfully recieved. First, he suggested that we take a picnic out tonight and eat at the park where we got married. And he suggested that the food be Chick-fil-a. I think that is a triple romance whammy. A picnic? In the park, at the table where our families sat when we got married? And Chick-fil-a? Guy knows how to win my heart. So that is our plan for tonight - our 3rd anniversary. I am hoping for a breezy, quickly cooling evening.

Second romantic moment...I got home from work today, changed clothes, let the dog out, and went to check the mail. My mom and my sister and Frannie somehow managed to perfectly plan the delivery of sweet anniversary notes (I can't ever get mail delivered on the right day...how did you guys buy off the mailperson?!?). There was also a postcard from our trip to the Turks and Caicos, addressed to me from my husband. He could never have known that it would arrive today and probably couldn't have planned it if he had tried; I didn't even know he sent me a postcard while we were down there. But he thought of me. And he knew I would get it weeks later when I needed a reminder of a sweet, fun, memorable trip while struggling through the busy fall season at work. And he mailed me a postcard. I know - it doesn't seem like much - but those two things were so sweet, understated, perfectly CHAD that I am quickly reminded that I married the right guy for me and I am blessed every day to be his wife.

I do have a fun addition to our picnic tonight. I went by the cupcake store today and bought two cupcakes for us to share with our dinner. One that is lemon flavored - to remind us of the cupcakes my sister lovingly baked for our wedding. And the other is chocolate with peanut butter frosting - to remind us of the cake my best friend's mom baked us for our reception at my parent's house. I am loving trolling through sweet memories today and I am excited to spend the evening with my handsome, funny, smart, strong husband.

3 years!

I can’t believe that 3 years ago we were standing on that lake shore promising to “love each other, when it seems easy and when it seems hard”. It has been some of the most incredible years of my life, filled with experiences, memories, challenges, and triumphs. I am so honored, blessed, and thrilled to be his wife; I have the most hardworking, loyal, dedicated, strong, and faithful husband – blessings beyond what I would have ever believed had I not lived it these past 3 years.


We are having a picnic at the park where we got married for dinner. His idea. (and I say I didn't marry a romantic. Ha!)
Here’s to 80 more!

i was wrong!!

As my sweet friend Dani pointed out in the last post's comments, I was wrong about the 3rd anniversary gift!  Oh NO! All my ideas are out the window.

Note to self: you rarely get comments on your blog. When you do, read them. They might be important.


So, LEATHER it is folks. Help me out!

coming right up!

Our 3rd anniversary is coming up in just over a week and I am seriously struggling with what to get/do for my sweetie! The traditional gift is cotton - which might not be so bad - and the modern gift is china - which we do NOT need or want so that's out of the question! However, a nice new set of sheets for the bed or something might be nice...

Our friends Emily and David gave each other fun gifts for their 3rd but I can't seem to come up with any great ideas! 

I need suggestions!! What have you given your spouse that they really loved (and that hopefully wasn't expensive!) for an anniversary? It doesn't have to fit the cotton/china traditions but it might be fun to throw that in there too!  I have enough time to make something if I needed to but don't know what to make or get him. He is frugal, impossible to shop for, and a minimalist. Help me out!