One Year Already???

We are pinching ourselves. We absolutely do not believe that we have been married for a year already. We recall boarding the plane to go to Mexico together as if it happened yesterday. And, we feel so incredibly blessed that we were able to share that special weekend with such great family and friends. In order to celebrate, we drove down to Gatlinburg, Tennessee and rented a private little cabin. It included spectacular views, a hot tub, and even a whirlpool red heart-shaped bath tub. We enjoyed going to Gatlinburg so much a couple of years ago that we felt it would be a perfect get away. The drive is about 7 hours from the west side of Indy, and is worth it if you go for 3-4 nights. Since I have had a few people ask me about where we like to go and eat, I decided to post a list of our "Must See/Eat in Gatlinburg." See other post for details.

One of my favorite memories of this trip: beating Kenny at Hillbilly Golf! He did not golf this year, but I still expected him to beat me! The mini golf course is up on a hill and offers country decor such as tractors and port-o-potties. Then later in the trip we played Circus 3D golf and he beat me. So...now we need to go some where to play a third game of miniature golf to settle the war. He only won by 3, so I got this! :-)


We also really enjoyed taking Old Time photos together, and riding the Ober Gatlinburg tramway up the mountain for beautiful views. Something new we did...the Titanic Exhibit. They provide you with your own boarding pass which offers the story of a real passenger of the Titanic. You go through various rooms, which represent various parts of the ship and you get to experience 1st class, 2nd class, 3rd class, feel how the water felt when it was sinking, and much more. At the end, you find out whether or not the passenger you were given survived or not. Tip: Go at a time when it is slower so that you do not have to wait to see artifacts. And, of course we loved the delicious food! My favorite meal of the trip was at The Old Mill. It may be ranked as one of the best meals of my life. Seriously. We also really enjoyed our meal at The Peddler Steakhouse, which boasts a great view of an outdoor creek and they provided us a romantic candle lit dinner for our anniversary.


It was such a nice weekend away together. And, it was fun to talk about how the next time we visit in a few years we will have little ones with us. While the thought of kids gets closer as time goes on, it was so nice to enjoy time with each other. This past just has just flown by, and every moment together is precious. Even the time together in the car during stop and go traffic. :)

Heart shaped tub in our cabin

What did we learn during this trip?

1) Life is busy, but no matter what, make time for each other.

2) Decide how much money you want to spend on a trip, take that amount out in cash and only get more out if you absolutely need to. Plastic makes it so easy to keep spending.

3) Never travel home on a holiday such as Labor Day...it will result in spending 10 hours in stop and go traffic, versus the 7 hours the trip should have been.

The awesome Labor Day traffic (not)

What did we learn during our first year of marriage?

1) Time flies. Don't take any moment for granted.

2) Living together before marriage helped make the transition easier for us. While this is not for everyone, we made the decision to live together for at least a year before tying the knot because we felt it assisted in making a more informed decision.

3) No matter how prepared you think you are, combining bank accounts and thinking "our" money is much more difficult than we thought.

4) When things are really busy (which they always are), make a schedule to ensure all of the important things are done (date night, working out together, cooking for one another).

5) It can be difficult to juggle the holidays. For Thanksgiving and Christmas we have 4 different houses to try to visit, and we are still trying to figure out the best way to do this.

6) Finding a church together takes time, be patient and don't give up.

7) Adopting our dog Maya together has forced us to work as a team even more, and has brought us a lot of joy. Great prep for parenting.

8) Take time apart occasionally, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

9) Some say that the first year of marriage is the most difficult...if this is true, that was a cake walk!

10) Even when we thought we could not be any closer or more in love, it happens. We hope to be the couple holding hands and smiling at one another at age 80.

Exciting Events That Occurred Over Our First Year

1) Amanda received a promotion at work.

2) We purchased our first brand new car (2011 Honda Civic).

3) We visited Mexico in April and had a memorable vacation (with parents Ron and Margie).

4) We purchased a cabin on our family's property in Southern Indiana.

5) Amanda was accepted into the IU Master's in Adult Education program.

Thank you so, so much to our family and friends that God placed in our lives. You are our world and we are so blessed to have you. And, thank you for your patience and understanding during this crazy-busy last 12 months as I have been working in Terre Haute. God has a plan, and although it has been a major challenge to miss out on time with family and friends, we know it is not forever. Cheers to a fabulous first year of marriage; we pray for many more years of health and happiness together.