The ONE YEAR Mark

I'm guessing that if you are reading this blog, then you were a part of the extremely hot wedding ceremony that took place one year from yesterday.  Well, believe it or not, Memphis is even hotter.  So it is only fitting that...

Randy and I have just celebrated one year of marriage!  (This time we were smart and made no outdoor plans.)

Since the trip to Mexico was the "big" celebration, we had a pretty low-key day.  We decided that Arby's had to be our anniversary meal since that is where we ate on our wedding night.  You see...after an absolutely gorgeous, hot day, it started pouring on us as we were driving down the interstate in the convertible.  As we got to the hotel, we realized we hadn't eaten anything but a bite of cake, had no "to go" boxes, and the GoTen restaurant at the bottom of the hotel was closed.  So what did we spend our time doing?  Walked to Arby's in the rain, begged the people to give us food even though they were about to close, listened to 'Walking in Memphis' playing in the restaurant, and then ate our combo meals while watching Sports Center.  Sounds pretty glamorous, huh?  Randy was elated last week when he saw the commercial that Arby's now has a $5 combo meal, and that he was getting off the hook and not having to dress up to take me to some fancy restaurant.  (By the way, I don't think the boy has worn a single tie all year, so it really would have been a hard thing for him to do.)  We went to Arby's after church, then came home and unwrapped the cake.  Oh....the cake....

Whoever wrapped up our cake--you know who you are!--left the live orchids in the cake, complete with the clear little water tubes and everything.  So when I unwrapped the cake, there was a not-so pleasant smell and coffee-bean-brown flowers on top.  I still ate some (not the top) and it surprisingly tasted good, but I couldn't convince Randy.  I can't really blame him because Mexico is still trying to live inside his stomach.  Anyways, I spent the next three hours making grapefruit and buttermilk cupcakes from scratch.  Randy loves grapefruit and I've always wanted to make the recipe, but it consists of cupcakes from scratch, grapefruit compote, a buttermilk frosting recipe, then topped with candied grapefruit (which I also made from scratch)!  In the end....WAY too much frosting!  But good.  We ate our cupcakes, drank sparkling grape juice out of my fancy glasses, and watched our wedding video (mostly in fast forward).  

Because the first anniversary gift is paper and Mexico was our big gift to ourselves, we went with only cards.  Of course, they were both homemade.  I wrote a poem...Randy made a puzzle for me to put together from clues on pieces of cut paper.  The message?  It had something to do with our "Hartman Family Motto" which is about as cheesy as it gets, but here it goes-- "Two Peas in a God Pod".

This year has been so crammed full of "firsts"--Memphis, dental school, teaching, being married, trying to get away from an argument in a one bedroom apartment, new compromises, new payments, taking in a "slumcat", cooking new recipes, making new friends, etc.  Everything has been so exciting and has felt like another marked milestone.  Because I was so consumed with wedding details, I didn't think too much about actually moving away from family and friends before the wedding.  But looking back on this past year, moving away is the best thing we could have done.  Now don't get me wrong, I have missed my family and friends more than anything...but together, Randy and I have shared everything and grown so much in our relationship.  I think there is something to be said for being by yourselves for a while, and it has been a huge growing opportunity.  Our marriage has strengthened through the good times and bad times of the past year, and our differences have become the means of helping one another.  We have also challenged our faith together and questioned what a marriage in Christ should look like.  With all that we have learned and experienced in this first year, it may sound strange...but I am kinda relieved that the first year is over.  I have always been one to do better in a familiar, comfortable setting.  I am content with a life that some would think is a complete bore, and I am really looking forward to a year with (hopefully) less surprises and more everyday memories.  Like I said, everything from this past year has felt like another accomplished "first", so now we get to work on all the little, small things...the details.  And I love details.