Five years and the next seven

One of our first photos together at his brothers wedding

On February 5, 2013 Andrew and I will have been in our relationship for five years.  This is now my longest relationship.  We'll be married for close to five months by then as well.  My mother-in-law once told me that the first seven years you're married are the hardest.  She said things will happen in those seven years that will make you both question your relationship, struggle, fall more in love and then eventually realize that you were always meant to be together.

Our first Christmas Card photo 2011

In our first five years as a couple we have been through so much that I often wonder if the first seven years will be similar.  When we first met, my dad lost his job of 28 years.  It was an awful time for my family.  His grandmother became very ill and his mom spent much of her time as a caretaker.  Andrew bought a home and I moved in with him, no commitment at that time other than him being my boyfriend, but I knew it would come with time.  At our two year anniversary things were really looking up and that second year I cherished so much.  We really grew into a good couple and people around us could see our love.  I went back to school that year and Andrew supported me all the way, allowing me to give up working full time so I could focus on school and an internship.  I graduated and got a job, which I later grew to hate but had to stick out for a whole year.  In our third year, my grandpa was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer.  I was devastated but Andrew was always there to listen, to let me cry, to let me be angry and he visited my grandpa with me nearly every time I went to their house.  In April of 2011, shortly after our 3 year anniversary Andrew proposed and I was so happy I thought nothing could top that moment.  By the next spring, my grandpa was really sick and I had started a new job.  I was planning a wedding, trying to be there for my family, trying to be a good housekeeper and juggling a new job that would include traveling for 5 days two weeks before my wedding.  I was so stressed and scared that I could never get everything done.

Engagement

We got married on September 22 and my grandpa died on September 27.  Talk about a roller coaster of emotions, but steadfast as ever, there was the love of my life watching me and my whole family fall apart.  I knew in that moment that I could not have picked a better man to marry.

Through everything bad and good that has happened Andrew has always been my constant.  Yes, he makes me insane but I honestly can't stay mad at him.  We've had about three fights that I would call "major blowouts" and one of them was literally three weeks after our wedding.  I was so scared, I didn't know if a fight as a married couple would be different than one as an engaged couple or a dating couple.  It wasn't pleasant but things are much calmer since and it brought up more things that we just needed to further discuss and clarify. 

Someone also told me at our wedding that you have to make yourself fall in love with your spouse every single day.  They said to always "date" one another and that will keep the romance alive.  Its now my personal mission to try my best to do this on a daily basis.  I know that life is not meant to be easy by any means and that love is a rare gift that we should all treasure.

So what Wednesday!

 

This week I'm saying So What......

•  If I cannot stop thinking about the weekends in December and all of the fun stuff we have planned: a trip to Amish Country, an ugly sweater party, Christmas cookie baking and lots of time with family.
• If I am planning a trip for our 5 year "dating" anniversary.  I don't think we'll be doing a summer vacation so a weekend at a cabin with a hot tub is just the ticket!  We used to go to Hocking Hills every year in February so I guess its more of a tradition than a dating anniversary thing.
• That there really isn't much I want for Christmas.
• That I retract that last statement, I want a million dollars to shop at Joann Fabrics so I can do more crafting.
• If I'm just now thinking of hand-made gifts I want to make for Christmas, darn Pinterest!!!!
• That I already have all my Christmas cards ready to go and I was too cheap to order photo cards.
• That not only is everyone getting Christmas gifts from us that involve wedding photos but probably something home-made too.  I'm being cheap this year.
• If Andrew already has his Christmas gift because I let him pick it out on Black Friday when we were at Lowes.
• If this whole thing has turned into stuff about the holidays....whoops!
• If I am an old lady who loves to knit and be in bed by 10pm!

What are YOU saying so what to this week?  Link up over here at Shannon's blog!

4 day Thanksgiving weekend recap

Having four days off work was amazing, and add onto that, getting out of work early on Wednesday!  I was so happy!  So here's a recap of our whirlwind weekend:

Wednesday night: I FINALLY GOT MY HAIR CUT! I will have to post a pic soon when I don't feel like a blimp from over-eating and aunt flo.....but its a just above the shoulders bob and I colored it a rich brown, but its not too dark.  I think she cut off around 3-4 inches and I really only grew it out for the wedding and couldn't take the length any longer.

Thursday was Thanksgiving with my family, at my grandparents house.  This was our first big family event since my Grandpa passed away, I worried all day about how sad it would be but it was actually a lot of fun, though it was hard without him there.  We ate, talked, drank and laughed our heads off and went home with lots of left overs.  

Friday we did a little shopping when we dragged our butts out of the house around 8:30am.  Most of the stores we chose to go to were not that busy and some of the early bird deals were still going on.  We didn't get any gifts, mostly things for the house and ourselves, I did get all my wrapping paper/bows/ribbon thanks to an awesome sale at Joann ETC so at least that part is done.  We met my brother and his fiance for dinner that night and had them over to watch Elf, we were all passed out by 11 because we're old and lame.

Saturday was Thanksgiving with Andrew's family, they made it a Greek food theme which I was not at all thrilled about.  I don't really like Greek food and his family went vegetarian last year....needless to say the meal was not my favorite and I ate again when we go home.  We visited with his great aunt who wasn't feeling well enough to join us for dinner and headed home for another lame night sitting on the couch.

Sunday I cleaned my house, cooked a ton of food and had my parents over to watch the Steelers game.  They played like $*it and lost to the Browns, which was depressing and miserable.  But it was fun having my family over.  After everyone left we finished putting up our Christmas lights, here is a blurry instagram of the house and one of Mr. and Mrs. Claus on the porch.  

 

I was not at all ready to get back to the grind today, but I'm hoping to get a lot accomplished at home this week and I'm excited to spend time with my mom and a friend this weekend and get our tree on Sunday!!!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Thankful

I've been doing the "days of thankful" on Facebook and I've spent all month posting about things I am thankful for such as.....

Coffee, my crockpot, my husband, my in-laws, my family, my job, our home, all the talented people in my life, bargain shopping and my pets.  I know its a good exercize this time of year to tell people what you are thankful for and I'm sure at dinner tomorrow we will go around the table and share something, and my mom will cry.  This year is going to be rough, it will be the first holiday without my grandpa and he loved the holidays.  I knew I had to write this post today because tomorrow I will be a heap and I'll be busy cooking all morning, laying around watching the Macy's Parade and enjoying a morning with my husband.

I'm thankful too for this blog, no matter how few comments and "looks" I get, its a place for me to let it all out and I need that sometimes.  I'm thankful for the other blogs I read as a way to see other people's lives that are similar to mine, keep up with friends who are far away and to get ideas/make myself feel awesome because I can't spend all day crafting and doing awesome things with my imaginary children.

I'm thankful that despite what my family has been through in the last four years, we are stronger than ever.  Through job loss, illness, death, grief and sorrow we are always a strong group of people and I couldn't be happier that I also married into an amazing family. 

Last night after a good heart to heart about so many things that I've been stewing about, I am happier than ever that I made the decision to marry Andrew.  It has not been easy for us over these nearly five years, we have had our fair share of ups and downs, but I see things leveling out now.  There are still a lot of places where there is room for improvement but we will get there one day.

And last but not least, I'm thankful to finally get a hair cut tonight after spending 18 months growing it out for the wedding.  I'll post pics soon if its something really drastic.

I hope that all of you have a blessed, safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

That time I got a cat and went nuts on instagram

I decided to look through my Twitter photos last night (do you follow me?! shameless plug apostle922) and noticed I appear to have turned into a crazy cat lady.  I have been wanting a cat for three years and finally talked Andrew into letting me get one for my birthday.  Once the wedding planning got into full swing, right after my birthday in May, getting a cat fell off the radar.  Then after going to four shelters we found Bradley. I discovered Instagram right before getting Bradley so here's how the obsession started.

In Andrews chair, his favorite spot :)

Yes I knit, no I'm not old!

The night we brought him home, after he hid under the couch
for about five hours.

Please don't judge me, I know I'm a crazy cat lady and I do still love my dog just as much.  I need to be more equal opportunity with my Instagram photos.

I guess this is better than pictures of my dinner, Starbucks cup (please read about that here, love this blog) or a selfie.