I heart October 1

Today is October 1 and we are celebrating our First Anniversary! Actually, celebrated is a better word as we really declared the whole weekend to be celebratory. In many ways I can't believe it's been a whole year and in others it seems like it's been forever (in the best sense).

We've been going through the play-by-play of our wedding week for the past several days and remembering how much we loved our wedding - flying to Nashville for the festivities, dress fittings, crying in the middle of the shoe store when my sweet friends all arrived, our rehearsal dinner, everything! I'll try to post some photos later today from all of the wedding festivities- I wasn't such a dedicated blogger then so I'm sure you're all dying to know the details (just kidding, but indulge me!).

I once heard someone say that your wedding day is the least happy day of your marriage. Not that it isn't an amazing day but that it doesn't compare to living life everyday with your spouse. I agree! As many of you who know me well know, I spent many hours thinking about "marriage" and trying to get my head around that concept as completely as possible - what is it like, how should I be feeling, what does all of this look like. Thanks to so many of you who supported me through my analyzing and thinking and all along the path that has lead us here.

I'm not sure how to totally articulate this but I think it's incredibly important. Maybe it's just semantics to many, but to me hearing about "marriage" from friends was something that I could only grasp pieces of; the word and concept of "marriage" were quite ambiguous and a little overwhelming to me. However, the reality of living life with Adam everyday has been the greatest gift I've ever received. And it's amazing because of him and our relationship, not because of some higher state that we've entered into. Does that make sense at all? It's finding the person that's right for you and living daily in that relationship. I'm not nearly as much of a fan of "marriage" as I am of Adam. I think it's kind of like "Christianity" vs. Jesus.

I'm continually amazed at Adam and how he loves me and serves me in a capacity that seems far greater than mine. I know it's only been a year, but I still get genuinely excited to wake up and see him next to me each day and to know that he'll be in my house when I get home from work. The past year has brought many more challenging circumstances than we would have liked or anticipated. But when I think of the past 12 months, it's truly joy and actual happiness that are my first reaction. The yuckiness and hard stuff kind of seems to fade away - I can't even explain or understand it.

So, I know that's all a little deeper than how we usually roll on my blog, but it's the reality of my life and I wanted to share with you!

In other news:
1) Happy Anniversary to The Witts as well! Thanks to you guys for sharing this first year of it all with us!
2) "Back to school, back to school, to prove to Dad I'm not a fool" - Yes! Today is Adam's first day of school at UCLA! He has a little more info about it on his blog if you want to hear about it. I tried to persuade him to take a picture of himself since I'll be at work when he leaves for his first day. Also mark your calendars that Mary actually just quoted a movie.