Three Years of Marriage

Three years of marriage. 8.5 years together. One sassy kid and another on the way. Travels. Cross country moves. Air Force life. Late nights. The good, the bad, and the everything in between. We've been through a lot in our time together, and I wouldn't want it any other way. The bad makes us appreciate the good all the more. The occasional distance makes us not take each other for granted when we're together. This life isn't the easiest, but it's special, crazy, and fun. It's unique and beautiful, and there's no one I'd rather co-pilot with. Happy third wedding anniversary to my handsome husband!

I accidentally called Dan my wife at the end of my vows (that I wrote) in front of all of our family and friends and had the moment epically captured via photographs AND video... see below! Ha! 

We couldn't have done it without all of these amazing friends! I'm sad that the last time we were all in one place was at our wedding. 

Forever thankful to have a husband who will dance in the rain with me! 

Year Two (Cotton) Anniversary: The Gifts

Our second wedding anniversary was just a couple weeks ago, and I never got around to sharing the gifts we exchanged. I headed out of town for a week just after this, so I had already pre-written and scheduled my blog posts for that timeframe.

Better late than never, right?

We decided last year before our first anniversary to follow the traditional anniversary gift theme each year. Last year was paper, and I gave Dan a typed version of our wedding vows (that we wrote ourselves) to each other, and he gifted me (paper) tickets to see The Rolling Stones play at Arrowhead Stadium, which was a blast.

This year was cotton themed, and it was a little more difficult to decide what to give Dan. Unlike last year, I was preoccupied with a crazy baby, so I ordered his gift on Etsy from BeCoProductions.

It is a custom cross-stitch of one of our wedding photos. The seller was wonderful to work with and accommodated all of my special requests - like flipping our photo so we would be on the correct side with "Mr. and Mrs.", making sure some of my hair was showing even though it wasn't in the photo, and even adding Dan's tiny ribbons on his uniform. I am in LOVE with how this came out, and we have it hanging in our dining room now.

Dan got a little more creative with his gift, and he definitely does know me well. He decided we didn't need any more "stuff" in the house, so he rented a COTTON CANDY MACHINE for us. Guys, I am not even kidding. This man is a keeper! He knows the key to my heart for sure. I am obsessed with cotton candy, always wanting some at ball games and carnivals. He truly does know me. We had a blast making 45 (yes, 45!!!) things of cotton candy one night. We let Annabelle help for a while before her bedtime, but she looks cranky in the picture below because she was tired and mad that we wouldn't let her have any. Sorry, kid, but you of all people will NEVER need straight sugar. 

The cotton candy machine was such a fun surprise!! We had so much fun making it... and he rented it from Outdoor Recreation on base - how cool! I didn't even know they had them. 

Do you follow the traditional anniversary gifts with your spouse?

Anniversary Trip: Smoky Mountains

After we left Nashville and Lynchburg, Dan and I drove to the town of Pigeon Forge! It was... interesting. We weren't huge fans of the town itself, but the scenery nearby? Definitely worth going for. We have been missing Colorado like crazy for the beautiful mountains... and while the Smokies aren't quote the Rockies, it was just what we needed!

We spent most of an entire day driving through the mountains and stopping every once in a while to hike around, once up a gigantic hill that I thought was going to kill me - yes, pre-pregnant Janelle would have made fun of me. Ugh. But the hike was worth it for the views!

I'll stop talking now and just let the pictures finish...

Have you been to the Smoky Mountains?
Are you a mountain person like me?


    

Paper Anniversary - The Gifts

Dan and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary on Saturday.

We like the idea of traditional gifts... and the first year is paper. We were both stumped and perplexed for a little while... and then my creative side came out.

I ended up typing out our wedding vows to each other on Photoshop and printed them out in 5x7 size. I trimmed off the excess white border, and put them in opposite sides of a three window frame. For the middle window, I had to include a wedding photo, of course! I chose one of my favorites, made it black and white, printed it to 5x7, and trimmed the white border.

I made sure to print all three on cardstock to play it safe... that counts as paper, right?

Dan went with concert tickets for me. Tickets = paper... I'm convinced. We're going to see The Rolling Stones play in what is probably their last tour ever... at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City (where the Chiefs play)! This is seriously my dream concert in my dream venue. I'm a little nervous about being 29 weeks pregnant at the time, but... Baby Cookie will just end up loving classic rock 'n roll, right? It's the same day as our baby shower, so we'll be going after that, and I'm stoked! (He technically didn't buy the tickets yet because he's been monitoring them online at other locations, and the prices are dropping significantly shortly before the concerts... so we're going to do that!)

How did you celebrate your first anniversary?
What's your favorite anniversary gift yet?