A Year of Marriage

Brenden and I have been married for a year! We celebrated our first anniversary yesterday.

And let's just be honest, I thought the day was going to suck.
Reasons:

• We would be driving all day long from Athens, Georgia to Galveston, Texas.
• We would be in a car driving all day long from Athens, Georgia to Galveston, Texas.
• We would be driving in a car for fourteen hours all day long from Athens, Georgia to Galveston, Texas.
• We would be driving in a car all day long after having driven in a car all day long the previous day when we drove from Washington, D.C. to Athens, Georgia.

Enough reasons?

Oh wait, I forgot one more! We were leaving at 4am. To drive all day long. From Athens, Georgia to Galveston, Texas

But I was wonderfully wrong (shhh, don't tell Brenden. He still admits I'm always right!) in thinking that the day would be a miserable day of cramped, tiring, boring traveling. There were a few things I had forgotten:

• I actually happen to love road trips. I blame my family for fostering such a love in me. There is something about the changing scenery, the thrill of each state's welcome sign, stopping to get gas or food and stretching out my legs in a place I haven't been before and breathing the new air. Also, how many days in a year can you feel alright about sitting around all day long? Not many- so I try to enjoy the time I have to sit and think and read and listen to music without feeling an ounce of guilt for not cleaning my house or cooking a meal or being otherwise productive.
• My husband is hilarious. He is literally the funniest person I know. He is very observant and clever so his jokes are often observations of something odd or ridiculous that people have just accepted as normal. Or he'll make a joke about flatulence. Also, recently, he noted that if you scramble the letters in the word "opposite" you can make it say "poopsite." He makes me laugh all the time especially during lengthy car rides.
• We had great books to read and great music to listen to. We've taken many road trips together in this single year we've been married and for a good 4,000 of those miles we didn't have the option of great music to listen to. Many moving trucks do not have CD players. BUT! Our trusty little Honda Civic does have one! The speakers in the car aren't so great (something actually rattles in the front passenger side door when the music is loud) but there is great music nonetheless. We've gotten better about taking turns playing our CDs; it used to be an almost all-or-nothing deal where we'd only play Brenden's CDs or we'd only play my CDs in the car. We've become much better at sharing the CD player. And we both love reading so having great books to read makes road trips more enjoyable.
• We were driving from Athens, Georgia to Galveston, Texas. We were actually making our way to Texas for the first time since the summer. Shouldn't that be enough for a first anniversary celebration?
• Fast. Food. Many people dislike fast food. Brenden and I are not in that category. We really like fast food. We try to avoid fast food since it is expensive and not exceptionally healthy. But we afford ourselves this convenience and little joy when we take road trips. Yes, we considered making sandwiches and packing them in the cooler but then we thought of McDonald's breakfast (the only meal we like at McDonald's) and Whataburger sandwiches and we told the bread aisle at the local grocery store, "Sorry, not today. I'll see you when I get back from Texas."
• This point is similar to a previous point listed. We would be in Texas in less than 24 hours with family. Eating food. Playing games. Laughing. Enjoying one another's company. Seeing old friends. Teasing siblings and cousins. Giving little gifts that couldn't wait until Christmas.

Though Brenden and I didn't get to go to the temple yesterday like I'd wanted since we'd been driving all day and our anniversary dinner was with my entire family and not a little romantic dinner like many people probably have, it was a great day. We took a trip back to where we started, spent time with some of the people who have been there for us from the beginning, finally got to have more than a single bite of our wedding cake, and now we can look forward to wonderful Christmas and New Year celebrations with our families.

The year has been difficult but it has certainly been wonderful. We've had many blessings and much love and kindness sent our way. We still love each other and somehow we continue to love each other more each day. Yes, that's sappy but it's true. And good things come from sap, like maple syrup and fossilized mosquitoes from which you can replicate dinosaur DNA (see IHOP and Jurassic Park). We have much to look forward to this next year!

"So don't stop believing" and "let's get this party started!" -Brenden (see Modern Family)