Oh happy day and the following 365 happy days

We did it! We tied the knot today a year ago. It is our first anniversary and what a great first year of marriage it has been. My parents were given "Ten Commandments of Marriage" on their wedding day, and as a gift to us my parents gave a copy to us as an enlarged print in a beautiful frame. I have loved seeing this everyday in our home for the past year as it's a constant reminder of so much truth.

Do not think you can read each other's mind.

Do not use the hinting method.

Do share your love every day.

Do communicate your concerns to each other.

Do not avoid conflict in your marriage.

Express your deepest feelings to each other.

Realize that your ultimate security is not in each other but in God.

Be a model for your children.

Be willing to take courageous risks in your plans for your future life together.

Permit your conditional love to be refined by the unconditional love of God.

I have been so blessed by an incredible man who I am able to do all of the above with and he makes it easy. I not only love him, but I really like him too! I was prepared to find out bad habits or new things about him after we got married that would be annoying or surprise me since I was told this happens a lot after a couple gets married. But lo and behold, he was as wonderful as I thought he was before we got married.  I had always heard the cliche that when people get married they aren't used to living with someone and they fight over little things like squeezing the toothpaste from the wrong end. Of course, we learned new things about each other living under the same roof but they've all been great things. Rather than having little things get either one of us upset we usually end up laughing at each other (this is because Caleb has the best sense of humor out of anyone I know).

The marriage advice I heard often was "Don't sweat the small stuff." And I agree now after being married a year! If you sweat the small stuff then that means you're going to either want to change the way a person is or you're going to start resenting that person because they won't change what you want them too. Hey, we both squeeze the toothpaste differently and it's not a problem at all. Don't let small things make you unhappy with the person who you are to love for years and years to come. 

Caleb is such a caring, patient, compassionate, unselfish, very thoughtful and humble man who I grow to love more and more each day. We do not have a dishwasher and Caleb consistently helps with dishes after meals. He is so gracious. He writes the sweetest poetry, letters, and notes for me. One day in February just a couple days after Valentine's I was putting dishes away and I found a note at the bottom of a stack of plates I hadn't used yet and it said "Someday you will find this and know that I love you. <3 Caleb <3 10/25/11" He put that note in the stack of plates back in October and knew someday I would find it when I pulled out the plates to use. I loved that!

I look forward for the years to come as our love continues to grow and deepen for each other as we experience changes of joy, happiness, and even tough times. Happy Anniversary to my husband, my honey, my hero, and my hottie! I love you Caleb