One Year Anniversary Pictures

On October 6, 2012 my husband and I met our photographer, JB Photography on campus at the University of Oklahoma. It was such an enjoyable experience, and I hope we get to take pictures with her again! :) You should definitely check her out if you live in the Moore/Norman/OKC area.

My husband didn't even realize we had been out there so long, which is saying something, because that man hates having his picture taken. 

Also, we had great communication through Pinterest. I created a Pinterest board dedicated to anniversary picture ideas and she followed it. She knew what style I liked and basically everything I wanted. Love it!

Well here are some of my favorites, and it was so hard to pick so few. 

We had taken a few pictures of us holding the letters in our laps, and I couldn't help but put them on my head. I love how the pictures turned out! It's so us!

The picture above took so much work to get, because the balloon kept blowing every where, but it meant so much to me that our photographer never gave up and kept working with us to get it. My plan is to use red, heart shaped balloons in every Anniversary shoot we do. The number of balloons will match the number of years we've been married. I have this vision of us all old and wrinkly surrounded by fifty red, heart shaped balloons. :)

Our photographer was a GENIUS and had us hold an empty chalkboard so she could write whatever we wanted with her photo editing software. I asked her to use the word Always, because it references Harry Potter. TJ, I love you like Snape loved Lily! :)

The end of our pictures, but the beginning of year two! :)

One Year Anniversary: What I Would Do Differently and What I Wouldn't Change

What I would do differently: I want to write this out because we had some great ideas that just fell by the wayside and were forgotten.  I really want to do them next time, but I just know I'll forget about them by next year.

1) TAKE MORE PICTURES!! The lack of pictures we have from our One Year Anniversary Celebration is absolutely pathetic.

2) Wear my wedding jewelry (and shoes). I had intended to wear my wedding jewelry (and shoes) to our dinner, but forgot. :(

3) Drink from our wedding flutes. I had also intended to drink all weekend from our wedding flutes, but forgot. I don't really care what is in the flutes, because everything tastes better out of wedding flutes.  And I think it would make for some very cute pictures for us to be drinking soda or water from them.

4) Take pictures at the Harbor. It's where TJ proposed. :)

5) Listen to the song TJ proposed with. We need to get that recorded.

What I hope to do again: I so enjoyed our weekend, I don't want to forget those thing either.

1) Watch our wedding videos.

2) Be flexible and don't schedule every minute. We had nothing planned for Sunday and it worked out very well.

3) Plan ahead and use Groupons. We did have a couple of things we wanted to do (like visit the museums) and got to do them at great prices, which meant we got to do more of other things.

4) Eat at some favorite places and some new places.

5) Spend the time together and focus on each other. Leave other obligations and worries behind.

Anniversary Celebration: Day 5

Monday 10/1/2012

Our actual anniversary was the day we spent the least time devoted to it.  

We checked out of our hotel after watching some more HGTV, which we watched a lot of that weekend. I blame my brother for recommending it while we were there.  We discovered that we both love the Property Brothers. 

We arrived at our clean apartment. I have this thing about cleaning the house before we go on a trip so that we don't have to deal with a messy home and unpacking, which is always disorganized.

We spent the rest of the day preparing for the upcoming week including normal adult activities, like budgeting and meal planning. 

I guess we can't stay in our own little world of happy celebration forever. 

Looking forward to what this next year has in store for us. :)

Anniversary Celebration: Day 4

Sunday 9/30/2012

We had already decided to skip church this Sunday, so we slept in, which is something we rarely get to do.  And I should say that I slept in, because TJ just can't. 

Well, we ate breakfast at Waffle House, which is delicious, and totally not nutritious, but we enjoy it. We didn't have much planned for the day so we just sort of winged it.  We went to the nearby dollar movies (total lies, it costs $2 per person, per movie) and saw Ice Age: Continental Drift. I love to watch animated movies,  but I was very confused during this one. It took me a little while to realize I had never seen the second one, so I had no idea why these two female mammoths were swinging from trees, but overall it was good. 

We then used one of our groupons to go to the Museum of Osteology.  Neither of us were expecting much, and we were both pleasantly surprised. Once again, I would love to show you, and future me, the pictures we took, but I can't find my camera cord!! Might have to buy a new one. :(

I never knew bones could be so interesting, but I was really intrigued by all of the skeletons they had. You just have to see it for yourself. Oh, and they had a penny machine! And next to it was a change machine that gave you four quarters and one bright, shiny new penny for your dollar. Of course I got all the pressed pennies they offered. :)

We then went to dinner at Qdoba with a birthday coupon I had been emailed. We both love their chicken quesadillas! 

We then went back to the (Two) dollar movies to see The Avengers for the third time. Definitely a movie you should see at least once!

Afterwards we went back to our hotel and each took a bite of our one year old wedding cake.  Let's just say that I'm glad to have my freezer space back. :)

Tomorrow I'll tell you all about our actual anniversary day! :)

Anniversary Celebration: Day 3

Saturday 9/29/2012

We woke up to a dreary day and big chance for rain.  Ultimately we all decided (photographer included) that we would have to re-schedule. I was sad, but it was the best decision to make at the time.  Luckily, I had been able to print off two free tickets to the Science Museum for Smithsonian's Day.  TJ was way more excited than I anticipated.

We had a lot of fun there.  I wish I could show you the few pictures we took, but sadly they're on my camera, and I can't find the cord! 

If you ever have a chance to visit there, with or with out children, I highly suggest it. 

We went back to our apartment, packed (we had booked a local hotel for two nights) and got ready to go to dinner at Charleston's. I vaguely remember having gone there twice before; one time included very cheesy potato soup. I was not impressed this time. I'll probably forget this visit as well. Their menu was just so limited and, in my opinion, over priced. Oh well.

Then we headed to our hotel. It was the same hotel we had used for our honeymoon, and we had a great experience then.  Also, it has an indoor pool and hot tub, which I was really looking forward to using. 

So we check in to the hotel and head up to our room.  I'm the first one through the door and I started laughing because there were TWO BEDS!! I'm not sure where the error was made, but we some how booked two beds for our anniversary celebration! Oh my, we had a good laugh about that. 

Well, we started reminiscing about our first year of marriage, and odd or sad as this may be, neither of us remember much. I don't think its for a lack of things happening, but because so much has happened that we can't remember them all. This only served to remind me that we should be more intentional about recording our second and following years of marriage somewhere.  And here it shall be! :)

After we settled in an unpacked, we watched our wedding video for the VERY FIRST TIME! I'm so glad we waited a year because it almost seemed new. I also loved getting to see my brother-in-law John dance down the aisle as our ring bearer for the first time! :) Our video was edited beautifully, and I loved hearing our vows again and just re-experiencing this whole thing. I loved that what our pastor told us at the altar was true a year later. I plan on watching it every year for our anniversary to remind us what we promised to each other.

And then, we watched our reception video. We had no idea TJ's friends were going to do this, but they set up an area in our reception venue where our guests could leave us video messages. And they were completely UNEDITED! This just made it much more fun to watch. We teared up and laughed and enjoyed being reminded how much we are loved and supported in this marriage. Just such a blessing to us.

We went to sleep that night knowing we are blessed beyond what we deserve.

Tomorrow I'll tell you all about Day 4!!

Anniversary Celebration: Day 2

Friday 9/28/2012

Friday morning we woke up to our two nephews singing us a beautiful song (see: crying). We spent time with them and their sissy.  TJ and I attempted to put a onesie on Noah.  It was absolutely pathetic how long that took us.

My brother went and got us breakfast from Chiloso's, which is the most delicious place to get breakfast burritos! Yummy!!

My dad came by and visited with us for a little bit.  Miss him so much!

Then, TJ and I decided to visit IKEA.  We hadn't gone down there with any particular plans, but it was much closer than I expected.  As soon as we reached the top of the escalator we saw some friends from church.  They were in Texas for the D6 Conference and were stopping at IKEA on their way back to OK.

We had fun walking around IKEA and playing with all of their set ups.  My favorite was the kitchen section and their interior organizers for corner cabinets.

Like this Corner Cab Pull Out Shelf 

or

This Cabinet Carousel (excuse me while I wipe the drool from my face)

We ended up purchasing a kitchen trash can (ours was much too small and didn't have a lid) and an egg slicer (it's used to slice boiled eggs and I eat them on toast for breakfast most mornings). 

We ate lunch at IKEA, which I would never suggest to anyone. The reason it is so cheap is because they don't give you plates or plasticware of any sort!! We ate our pizza off of wax paper, and it tasted like a Totino's frozen pizza.  Oh, and the cinnamon roll was not that good either. Oh well, now we know.

We made the short trip back to my brother's and spent more time with babies.  We ate Popeye's for dinner, which is one of my husband's favorites and there are none in our area, so I was happy for him.  I loved that they gave large portions, but let's just say I don't necessarily miss it here.  

My dad and step-mom came to visit and took us to Braum's for dessert.  It was so nice to visit with them and just share some time together. 

We had been discussing off and on all day whether we wanted to wait until morning or leave that night.  We ultimately decided to leave that evening.  You see, we had anniversary pictures scheduled the following day and didn't want to be too rushed.  I know we should have re-scheduled, but I just didn't think of it at that time.

So we headed back the very next day after we arrived, at about the same time.  It was a much too short trip, but I'm so glad we were able to see everyone again.  Next time we will stay longer and take many more pictures!

Stay tuned for Day 3!

Anniversary Celebration: Day 1

Thursday 9/27/2012

We both worked a full day and met at four o'clock to head to Texas.  We finally arrived at my brother's and sister-in-law's home around 9 pm.  One baby was still awake... little Jonah.  Well, not so little anymore.

He was very cuddly with his Uncle TJ :)

We stayed up a short while chatting with Richard and Anna and cuddling Jonah and quickly went to sleep in preparation for the next day.

Also, I found my camera! I had left it at their house the last time I visited in June, but I could've sworn I left it at the hospital after visiting Jennifer and baby Blair.  Oh, memory, you liar! Now, I just need to find the cord that goes with it.  Wish me luck!

Tune in tomorrow for Day 2!!

October 1st

I know you're expecting me to talk to about our first anniversary celebration, and I will in another post, but not here.

And maybe you're expecting me to reminisce about last year, our wedding day, but that's not my plan.

You see, I want to tell you about the twenty-three October firsts that came before 2011.

From 1987 to 2010, here is everything that happened on an October 1st that stands out to me.














Absolutely nothing.

You see, October 1st was just another day in a year.

And now, it's one of my favorite and most important days in every single year.  For the rest of my life.

It is amazing to me how marrying TJ changed so much about my life, for the better, of course.  Even a day of the year has now forever been changed for me.  A new day to celebrate a new life together, forever.

And soon, I'll give you all the details about our One Year Anniversary Celebration.