Reflections on 1 year of Marriage

When I was single I used to pride myself that I thought I was independent. I could go to home depot, I had my own tools, ladder, lawn mower, etc. Ok I was pretty independent and although some things were fun learning to do, deep down I always wished it was different.

Now I am married. I love being married. About once a month at least I think to myself, wow, having a husband around really is handy. When I was single I would get myself into little predicaments and then start getting so bugged thinking ‘where is my husband when I really need him?’ Here are a few situations that have happened this year where I found having a husband around really comes in handy.

Gopher in window well when trying to sell my house –

Single Days: Ignore it and hope that the potential buyers don’t see it running around down there.

Married: Shane comes up with a contraption to set down there and try to trap it, fills the hole and spends quite a while getting the situation taken care of.

Broken/loose rain gutter banging against the house –

Single Days: Call my dad and beg him to come over and try to fix it. (Of course he always would.)

Married: Without even asking Shane got up one day and fixed it. I am not even sure how he did it, but he did and it worked.

Go to Home Depot and try to find one tiny little thing in that huge store –

Single Days: Wander around trying to find someone to help point me in the right direction while trying to describe what the little thing looks like and have no idea what it is really called.

Married: Shane may not know exactly where it is but at least he knows what it’s called we are looking for now. And for some reason more people come up and offer help then they ever did as a lonely single girl wandering around lost in the store.

Changing a lightbulb at the top of my vaulted ceiling –

Single Days: Go get my huge ladder out of the garage that is really too heavy for me to carry by myself (why did I even buy such a big ladder?), drag it through the door that keeps swinging closed on me and almost banging into every wall in sight. It’s about a 30 minute process, no joke

Married: Shane goes and gets the ladder like it’s a piece of paper, brings it in, sets it up, changes the lightbulb in 5 minutes tops.

Toilet making a repetitive clinging noise –

Single Days: Ignore the sound and pretend it’s not there, I mean if it’s not dripping water and it’s flushing then everything is just fine right? Or, shut the bathroom door and you really can’t hear it anymore. Or…break down and call the plumber while getting bugged that a 5 minute fix will cost you $100 or more.

Married: A quick trip to Home Depot (see above) and 10 minutes later the toilet is as good as new.

All in all Shane does a lot more then just this. I love him even if he didn’t do any of these things. But he really has been sooo helpful with everything and more. He claims he isn’t or doesn’t want to be handy but I know he can do a lot more then he lets on. I really couldn’t ask for anything more.

So for all of you that have been married too long to remember these things, think of how you would’ve handled a situation if you were single with no spouse to help you out. Yep, marriage is great and not just to have someone around to help me out of my predicaments but to have a companion that loves me unconditionally. Sick or healthy, bald, falling out hair or long and beautiful, sleeping or hyper, lazy or hard working, bored or too busy…he loves me and I love him!

Happy 1^st (of many) Anniversary, I love you Forever!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

Yesterday I was sitting at work when the receptionist called and told me I had a delivery at the front desk. In my mind I thought, 'that could only mean one thing on the day before Valentine's' The receptionist must have read my mind because she then said 'Don't get too excited, it's only a book or something.' A little disappointed, I finished what I was working on and then decided to go see who dropped off a book for me. When I got to the front desk this is what I found...



A huge, beautiful, bouquet of flowers. He has sent me flowers every Valentine's since we met. The first year we were dating, the second year we were engaged and now this year we are married. I told him that I didn't need flowers every Valentine's but I'm not complaining because it sure is fun to receive them. I have an amazing guy and I'm so glad he's mine.

Last night we decided to celebrate a day early. We went to PF Changs (yummy lettuce wraps and my favorite dish, Chicken with Black Bean sauce.) Then we went and heard Peter Breinholt's Valentines performance to a small intimate crowd. It's already been a great Valentine's Day!

A visit from California

A couple weekends ago my good friend from high school came to visit. She lives in California and decided to come hang out in some cold weather. She was disappointed it didn't snow while she was here but we had a great time. We went shopping, to a movie and dinner and then really just hung out and got caught up with each other. It was fun to see her and hope she will come again.

While we were shopping we went and bought a few little clips that I can put in my hair. It's fun to have hair long enough to actually be able to put a clip in it. So this is the way I have been wearing my hair lately and I really like...and so does Shane.