fall fix

photograph from Pinterest.com

I've been a little homesick for fall over the past few weeks. Apparently in Arizona the cacti and palm trees stay green all year long. Go figure. Since my little display of pumpkins and fake leaves atop our entertainment center just isn't cutting it, we are doing something way more fabulous to get our fall fix this year.

In three weeks we will be traipsing around Central Park, Times Square, The National Mall, and other fabulous sites in New York and Washington DC. 

And I'm just dying with excitement over here because my three absolute favorite people in the world will be traipsing right along with me. I don't think I will get a wink of sleep until then. I mean, really? Look at this place...

why not just make a habit out of once a month?

 The Arizona Life in August:

1. School started! I am student teaching senior English at Mesa High School. In the last week I have read 138543 student essays. And I will admit that I love EVERY minute of it.


2. Tyler got a JOB! A career-type job that means we are probably calling AZ our home for a while. So proud of that man, so proud.


3. We have done a fair share of getting lost frolicking around Phoenix, AZ. It's just SO big. It makes us miss Idaho just a tiny bit.                                                


2. We witnessed a little MLB action at Chase Field. Unfortunately,  no foul balls made their way up to the nose bleeds.
3. Shopping in Arizona is AMAZING. It can also put a nice dent in the bank account. At least we're savvy shoppers and we find outlet malls and such on every block. 


4. We have finally found an ice cream shop that is suitable for our needs. It took many failed attempts before we found ourselves slurping raspberry/brownie bite shakes at Culver's.


5. On another note...we joined a gym. Who knew that people living normal non-college-going lives could find time for such frivolous activities?


6. I saw a number on my phone thermometer I thought I'd never see. It said 117. No. Joke.


7. We got a little blogging gig on the side for an
 SEO company. We write 60 articles a week about important topics such as Baretta firearms, Arizona hard money lenders, and fulfillment companies. Long story. But it's money. And we've done worse things for money...like participate in two years of faithful plasma donation.


8. We've almost lived in the pool. The great thing about Arizona is that you don't even have to take a towel. You get out of the pool...you're dry. Just like that. "Yeah, but it's a DRY heat," they tell us.


9. We absolutely adore our new ward and all of our new church-going friends. They really help Mesa feel like home.


10. We attended our first Mesa Jackrabbit football game. They lost pretty ridiculously but I don't know that I've ever seen a school with so much school spirit. They even have legitimate purple people...high school boys try out (yes, they try out) to be a "purple person." If they are so talented as to make the "team," they get the privilege of painting their ENTIRE selves purple and standing in front the crowd screaming at the top of their lungs for the duration of the game. Hands, feet, face, armpits...all purple. They do wear shorts though. (That could be awkward.)

Anyway...

We haven't melted yet. So that's good news.

lately

Life lately has been...busy...to say the least. The last two weeks have been filled with joy, tears, excitement, and exhaustion. Here's a quick run-down:

*Tyler came home from working in North Dakota, much to my excitement. And much to my dad's disappointment. The two of them have become pretty good buds over the last three months.

*We packed up our lives and left our little home in 807. While it was one of the more exciting moments of the week, I couldn't help but shed a few tears as we left the apartment we used to sit on the street corner and look at, dreaming of the day when we would get to live there.

*Lots of family and friends came to share our big day with us as we graduated college. It was a touching and inspiring day in so many ways. BYU-I sent us off with memories that will always be cherished and high hopes for the future.

*We made one last quick trip to Salmon to play in the 24th of July softball tournament. Then, we buzzed up to Island Park to get some water skiing in. Tyler is grateful that I will now stop complaining...baaabe, a whooole summer without skiing. It's been a common lament since summer began.

*We drove for two solid days to get to Mesa. We visited family in Utah, stayed the night in Beaver, and finally pulled into our new abode on Wednesday evening. After staying six nights in six different places, we were glad to have a place to call home, even if only temporarily.

*Yesterday, we visited Mesa High School. It was absolutely fabulous--the principal and my cooperating teacher were so welcoming and the school is just stunning. I'm sure it will look much different when 3,300 students fill it up next week. To hear more about that adventure, you can visit my official "teaching" blog here.

*Then, we lounged by the pool, grilled shish kabobs, and explored our new city. Between the shopping and the food here, I don't know if we will ever leave. Yesterday was mild, we were told, at 106 degrees. The summer sun is relentless, but the beauty of Arizona makes it bearable.

*Today, Tyler had two job interviews. With two more on Monday, we are hoping that something works out in his favor. He looked so handsome this morning, all nervous in his shirt and tie. He's really somethin', that man.


Sometimes life is just too good to be true. Somebody pinch me!

our first dam race

Well, I crossed one item off my summer bucket list.

Last weekend, my sister-in-law and I ran the Teton Dam 5k race. It is an annual race held in remembrance of the Teton Dam collapse in 1976.

We almost decided against it the night before. You see, our curiosity got the best of us so we left the house with our robes, slippers, and contact-less eyes to find the route we would be running. It was quite a show. We would pull up to a street sign really close so we could squint and make out the letters, only to find that we were (yet again) on the wrong street. Meanwhile, we were hoping and praying that we wouldn't get pulled over because of what must have appeared to be drunk driving.

When we finally found the route, we were a bit stressed to realize that two miles of it was uphill. We fretted and worried and didn't sleep a wink all night. That way, we were nice and tired when we got up in the morning.

We had made a promise to ourselves to run the whole way, and we were glad we did. It was such a satisfying feeling to run across the finish line. We are looking forward to running many more--and longer--races in the summers to come.

Mostly, we're just happy to have a shirt on it that proves we finished the dam race. That's a big deal around here. Having dam written on your shirt.

What can I say? We're livin' in the bubble.

green pants & rexburg wind

A few weeks ago, my friend Lulu pulled out her mad photog skills and snapped some pictures of us Hansens. She's pretty much good at everything.

While not a lot has changed in our little family since we had our engagement pictures taken a few years ago, I think taking family pictures annually is a good habit to get into. It's fun to see how people change over the years, and always a blessing to have documented those precious moments in time.

Also, it's great fun in 50 mph wind.

And green pants.

I mean, really.

our favorite

I hate to admit it, but watching Tyboy trudge through 3 feet of mud with a slimy, dead fish in his hands is kind of, well...attractive.

Something about watching him do his favorite thing in the world just makes a wife happy. He has been working so very hard for our little family and I enjoyed every second fishing with him sitting on our picnic blanket watching him do his thing.

And my favorite? He hates to keep the fish. One, because he knows I don't like to cook them OR have them stinking up our freezer. Two, because he's a compassionate guy like that, just in it for the pleasure of a day spent on the bank

My "prize" from North Dakota was a brand new pink fishing pole. It has a push button and a fancy little grip on the rod, too.I was a trooper and cast it probably 40 times before giving up. (Believe me, that's an improvement from last year.)

...

Something about life's little pleasures. Just makes you happy to slow down a bit and spend some quality time with good ol' Mother Nature.

on being married to a good man

I am so blessed.

That just hit me tonight.

I know that I know it everyday, but some days I know it more than others. I opened the mailbox today and saw an "official document" addressed to Tyler Hansen. So I open it, because that's what any wife would do.

It's a diploma.

Not the kind designed on Microsoft Word and handed to the student of the month. Nope. A real one. Signed by Kim B. Clark and Thomas S. Monson. With one of those fancy little emblem imprints. On official cardstock, nonetheless. A Bachelor's Degree with husband's name on it. Tears welled up in my eyes for a second as I thought about all the nights I watched him do his homework at the kitchen table. The furrowed eyebrows, hand under his chin, nails chewed down to stubs, his diligent but handsome looking face on. He worked for every calligraphic letter printed on the certificate, and then some.

I hurried and took a picture of it to send to everyone I know.

Ty texts me back, "It feels so good to have  this part of my education done."

I think, "it feels good?" How about freakin' awesome, amazing, fantastic, this-is-what-you've-slaved-for-for-the-last-four-years good?! You bet your buns that's what kind of good it should feel.

Humility, that man, he's got it. Never heard him toot his own horn, not even once.

Then, he tells me later that he worked 14 hours today. Mostly he shoveled dirt. But it felt good. It was a good day. I suddenly felt kind of guilty that I took a nap, read a book, watched tv, and possibly even shopped a little bit today. Meanwhile, he was shoveling dirt and feeling good about life.

 I think it's true what they say about marriage...whatever one person lacks, the other person makes up for and vice versa. I'm not sure what that man lacks, other than the ability to navigate his candy wrappers to the garbage can, but I feel pretty darn lucky to have found him. Sometimes that scary thought crosses my mind of what life would be like without him. As quickly as it comes, I dismiss it, knowing that I don't even want to know what I would do without my best friend.

And I know that good isn't a  very strong word in today's world, but he is so good. I could list a lot of adjectives to describe him, but I think that does it. I have myself an inside, outside, all-around good man.

xo

summer bucket list

(pinterest.com)

Ahhh summer....you and your neighborhood strolls, sticky watermelon fingers, bbq dinners, sun-tanned toes and carefree days have arrived again. I couldn't be happier to see you!

This summer will be an adventurous one for us, to say the least. The sun is out and we've got the itch to experience the world. Besides simply lying outside and soaking up the heat, we have some other things planned, too.We like to think of this as the last summer before we actually have to be grown up. {Because even after you graduate, you still get that one last summer to play, right?} Just a few things we have planned for the months in the sun:

1. Graduate college. That one also gets crossed off of "life goals" bucket list, too. Woo-hoo!
2. Visit the Grand Canyon. And Havasu Falls...see that picture? Ah-mazing.
3. Soak up the sun on a beach. Any beach. Get this girl to the ocean!
4. Visit the San Diego zoo.
5. Read lots of books.
6. Perfect my "I'm-not-scared-of-you-even-though-you're-in-a-gang" face before teaching high schoolers this fall.
7. Find a few mom&pop icecream shops for the husband. He is a tad stressed about the Arizona heat.
8. Finally get the tent out that we received for our wedding.
9. Improve my golf game enough so that Tyboy will take me out in public.
10. Run a 5k. Or at least finish one. We'll see how that goes.

Anyone else have a summer bucket list?

quite possibly the most awkward twenty minutes of my life

Anyone who has lived in an apartment knows the joys of assigned parking stalls, three flights of stairs to carry splitting grocery bags up, and strange and uncomfortable sounds through shared neighborhood walls. You know the drill. My favorite though? Oh, it has to be when the maintenance men come to unplug your toilet while husband is away.

Disclaimer: the toilet was already plugged when I got home from a trip last weekend. So either some creep has been in here clogging up the pipes while I am gone, or the cheap plumbing of mass-produced buildings has failed me. Let's go with the latter.

Anyway, I planned not to be here when he came. I really did. I was gone most of the day, but of course, the odds were not in my favor. The maintenance man showed up at the door, and I--mildly horrified that I kind of knew him--showed him to the bathroom. I sat awkwardly on the couch texting Tyler:

"he's here."
"omg this is so embarrassing."
"kill me now."
"please?"

No response. Men. Always there when you need 'em, eh?

The maintenance man did what he needed to for about twenty minutes before deciding this was a two man job. He called in the professional. So, there I sat. Again. Oh-so-awkwardly. This time though, I pretended to attend to some important business on my laptop. Very convincingly, I might add.

They consulted each other on the woes of toilet-declogging, meanwhile I am dying inside a little bit. I hear a "geez, this is bad" come from the lavatory. I am cursing Tyboy for being far away--thinking that even if he couldn't unclog the commode, he could at least make this situation a lot less awkward, on account of he and maintenance man are fishing buddies.

I hear a flush, then they leave.

They tell me don't worry, EVERYONE in the building is having toilet clogging issues today. It's the plumbing system, they say. It's not just you. Your neighbors have it too.

Maintenance man could have started with that. Really really could have, should have started with that.

Oh the joys of apartment living.  We only dream of the day when we have a house (and a toilet) of our very own.

conquer the world

One of my favorite ladies told me something the other day that has stuck with me throughout this week. As we were talking about all the places life has taken us and will take us, we got to thinking about the perceptions people often have of another person's goals. It's kind of sad to realize that not everyone loves or supports the fragile and precious dreams of others. In fact, many find criticism and judgment to fill the place where support is so badly needed. However, that shouldn't keep us from trying. She reminded me that it's OK to want to conquer the world.  And that right there summed up everything I have been feeling.

Tyboy and I will probably not conquer the world anytime soon, but that doesn't keep us from wanting to. Yet sometimes all the things we are "supposed" to want keep us from doing the things we really should do--those things we have talked and prayed and worried and laughed about together. In all reality, it's not the whole world we want to conquer, just our little corner of it. It's funny how monumental a realization like that can be--those "ah-ha!" moments we all know and love. Reminds me of a quote I have come across a few times lately:

"If your dreams don't scare you, they're not big enough."

I think we can both agree that we are sufficiently frightened, but even more excited to conquer our little piece of the universe.

Worry Less

I think I shall print this out and hang it on my wall. Next to it though, I think it needs a "But go easy on yourself." 'Cause sometimes doing all of these things simultaneously is just exhausting. And even more exhausting is the way you feel after your criticize yourself for not doing what you should when you should. I think we are all our own worst critics, most of the time.

Surprisingly, there has been quite a lot of eating healthy, exercising, working, and staying strong going on in this house. Not surprisingly, there has also been a lot of worrying. There's a little bit of crying and whining that goes on when that favorite man of yours is so far away working. Yet, it's amazing how wonderful it can feel to just call the mother and cry it out.

I often say a lot of nonsensical things to her like, "this isn't fair," "I'm lonely even though there are lots of people who care," "no one cares though," stuff like that. Stuff that isn't true, usually. She gently reminds me that it is fair because it's work, and a lot of people don't have that. And that everyone cares, but they have their worries, too. It's easy to roll my eyes at her sentiments and think easy for you to say, you who gets to see your husband every week. Except then she tells me about when she was a young wife. And how she stood on the front porch--toddler clinging to her leg, baby on her hip--and fell apart inside as she watched my father drive away to work for weeks at a time. No cell phones, no Skype, no communication. She was so strong.

Hearing stories like that makes me think that it probably isn't so hard to be me, after all. Thanks to the wonderful world of technology, I at least get to talk to Tyler everyday. Sometimes, when I'm lucky, he even gets charming and texts things like "let's dream about each other tonight, k? somewhere on a beach."

So this week, I vow to worry less. Instead, I think I will appreciate more. I have a handsome husband who is working hard for our future. (Might I interject, I do worry some that he lives with my dad in a camp trailer. Who even knows what embarrassing stories of my childhood could arise in such a confined space.) I also have a mother full of wisdom and love. And I'm especially grateful for her as we celebrate these women gave us life.

This week, those two things are more than enough for me.

places

It's true what they say, home is where your heart is. But what if your home is all over the place leaving your heart a bit panicky and fragile? What then?
Lately, I have been here...the place that will always be my home.

Tyboy has been here.

Which actually looks like...

The boys so lovingly call it the buttcrack of America. Charming, eh?
In two short months we are headed here:

And then after four months of that, who knows really. So our hearts are all over the place. You can see how this presents a small dilemma for a hometown type of girl. The more I think about all of our upcoming adventures, the more excited I become for all the places this life will take us. It worries me some that we don't have a home though. The one and only place we call our own. Where are our hearts, then?

Tyler has expressed this worry to me before being that he grew up in Utah, moved to Indiana, lived in Mexico for two years, then in Rexburg, meanwhile his family moved to Missouri...you see how things can get a little confusing? And then there's me--on the opposite end of the spectrum--who lived in the same quaint little neighborhood for 18 years of my life.

We hope to find a home someday--some place to truly call our own. But for now, I think we are content in knowing that we can make home wherever we happen to be. That whole "home is where the heart is" phrase has really struck a chord with me lately. There are two ways to interpret that, really. Of course, your heart is at home--in which case mine would be in little old Salmon, Idaho. The place where I can almost smell the tangy spices of salsa being concocted by my mother and placed oh-so-carefully into individual jars throughout the fall. The place where I have laughed, cried, and grown. Where I learned to work, and work hard. The place where my heart is cared about and dealt with tenderly, where my feelings and dreams are appreciated and understood. The place I know I can always go to and be and a little girl for a minute or two. My heart will always be there in some ways.

The other interpretation--and the one I am particularly fond of at the moment--is that you can make your home wherever your heart happens to be. Wherever your body takes that pounding muscle of yours...that can be home. It just takes a little effort to make it feel that way. So, for now, while Tyboy and I are 1,000 miles apart and oh-so-lonely at times, it's good to know we are both at home, in a way. He can find comfort in the tiny camp trailer he and my dad call home, while I keep myself busy in our third-floor one-bedroom apartment. Both of our hearts are where they need to be until we discover that place we will someday call our own.

note to self

(Pinterest)

 

Sometimes I forget this. Especially at this point in the semester. And this point in our lives to be exact. We have had so many changes occur over the last few weeks, my mind feels like it is permanently on the spin cycle of the wash. (Speaking of that, you should see the pile of laundry at our house.) Anyway.

Tyler is working so diligently to finish up his last semester of school. He comes right home, plants himself on the couch, and does homework until the wee hours of the night. (Sometimes I see him sneaking a peek at ESPN, but give the guy a break.) We close our laptops just long enough to share a meal, and then we are back at it. And by "meal" I mean 3 nights of leftovers accompanied by a hotpocket and diet pepsi. However, I must admit...we sort of love this life we're livin'. A lot. It is hard to believe that Tyler will be a college GRADUATE one month from today. You better believe we have been saying that word around here a lot lately. (Graduate. Graduate? Graduate!)

Sometimes I just wish I could do everything. Some days I would take that over being able to do anything. I have prided myself on remaining relatively calm all semester, but I have recently entered into that inevitable whirlwind panic mode where I just calculate in my head all day, adding and subtracting hours, thinking that there is nooo possible way I can do all that I need to do in this tiny amount of time. Nooo possible way. Do you know what I am talking about? Am I losing my mind a little bit? Homework is going to be the death of me, I tell ya.

he's sexy and he knows it

I'm going to make a confession here, ladies.
I did not marry a fashionista. Or whatever the male version of that word is.
Most of the time I am grateful that Tyboy doesn't have much fashion sense. That means I never have to pretend that I love an ugly Christmas sweater because he knows better than to buy me one in the first place.

I was just browsing through some old pictures on my phone and I came across these bad boys.
I am not lying to you...these are the outfits he came up with. Sad thing? He was being dead serious.

Let's see, in round one we have stripes and plaid. Don't worry, I didn't even consider letting him out of the house dressed that way.

In round two, a sweater and plaid shorts. Yes a sweater. It was summer. And he may or may not have had an emotional attachment to those plaid shorts. They might come up missing one of these days.

Round three, I believe he was giving me the "you can kiss it if you don't like my style" motion. Yep, looks like that's exactly what is happening there.

Round four, he gives up. And poses for a picture. Leaving all fashion sense to the woman of the house. Smart move on his part, really.

Tell me ladies, what am I going to do about this dilemma?

Good thing he has such a good lookin' face, that man.

reading

I have been doing a lot of reading lately. Like a good 4 hours per day, no joke. When I'm not reading, I'm writing about reading. Or thinking about what I am supposed to be reading. Or telling Ty what I have been reading about only to huff and puff and read him passages that help him understand what I am getting at.

Get the picture? Most of the time I love to read. Sometimes, however, I feel so burnt out on it that I think my eyeballs will fall out at the turning of another page. (Did you know the word "eyeball" comes from Shakespeare? You pick up information like that along the way.) Anyway. On nights like these, I can think of a million other things I would rather do than read. Like watch The Office. Or write my own dang book. Or clean the bathroom. Seriously.

But then, I read books like Of Mice and Men, The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, Beloved, The Things they Carried, Passing, Twelfth Night and Much Ado about Nothing and I lie awake at night and think of all the things I learned. All the thoughts I wouldn't have had if I hadn't been faced with the moral issues literature asks us to consider... I ask myself questions like "is it true that we don't read Shakespeare, Shakespeare reads us?" "Why do we read books with unreliable narrators?" And the one question that plagues me most, "What the heck good does sitting around talking about literature do me?"

Then, I always proceed to have this epiphany. It goes:  hey, you know what? I aamm in the right major after all. I love this stuff.

I am so grateful for knowledge. For brilliant souls who so beautifully demonstrate life's complexities through story. If I have learned nothing else at college, (don't get me wrong, I totally have) it is that I love to read. It has changed my life. It has shaped me as a thinker and as a learner.

Feeling pretty thankful for my education right now if ya can't tell.

sad day

A few weeks ago we took Ty's car to the junkyard. It was a day full of mixed emotions.

Poor old Betsy was falling to pieces and costing us a small fortune. On more than one occasion I stomped around the house complaining about how I hated her and she hated us. But then, when we were jump starting that beast for the last time, we got kinda sad. We remembered how we went on our first date in that car, how we drove all the way to Utah and back listening to the blinker's clicking sound, how we had to jumpstart her at midnight in the pouring rain on campus. Memories like that. 

Although Tyler wouldn't admit it, I think he was a little sad too. He got to drive ol' Bets one last time to a junkyard in Rigby. We felt a little guilty driving her there, taking the keys inside, getting our check, and then leaving forever. It was kind of like leaving a little puppy at the pound.

It's strange how you get attached to a car. You forget all the times you cussed it and think only of the places it took you. Sad day. The small compensation we received from her begins the savings fund for a new car in the future. For now, we share. 

It's not so bad.

vday, bday, & anniversary weekend

Seems like we do a lot of celebrating this time of year.

Between December 25 and March 11 we have five holidays.

Here are updates on 3 of the five:

1. For our anniversary we went to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. That's our favorite place to go when we feel like wondering around and pretending like we're rich. $23,000 for a fur coat. Sure. Why not? Sometimes it's even fun to fake a little accent like we are all hoity-toity and from another country.

We also went on our honeymoon to Jackson Hole so it's kind of special to us.

2. For Tyler's birthday I did a little planning and we reenacted our first date. I blindfolded Ty and took him to Gringo's where we ate our first meal together. I even made sure we got to sit at the same table we did two years ago. Then, we went to a Latin Dancing workshop on campus. Surprisingly, we still sucked at it after all this time. Who would have thought? Lastly, we went home and ate cupcakes and opened presents. (That part we didn't do on our first date.) Ty kind of has this thing for bears if you didn't know. The cupcakes were supposed to look a little more ferocious than that. Whatevs. Also, I am taking Tyboy to a Jazz game on March 17th...my first one ever! We're pretty stoked about it.

 

3. That last picture there is Huck. We got him for Valentine's Day. We loved him and gave him a spacious abode and kept him fed and entertained. Then he died. It's a touchy subject.

 

things i need

I try not to use the word "need" unless absolutely necessary.

But you know what?

I'm just gonna go out on a limb here and say that I need:

1. a big BIG diet pepsi.

2. for my husband to be home instead of listening to people complain about how their computers don't work all night.

3. speaking of computers, I need my internet to work so I can do that which is of most importance.
(ehemm...catching up on grey's anatomy.)

4. for it not to be monday.

5. for my brain to work faster/harder to plow through all this disgusting homework.

6. for my PINK sweats to not be in the dirty laundry.

That's all.

Now tell me, is that too much to ask? I mean, really.

i would just like to share this quote and say mondays are not that bad

Usually I just dread Mondays.

Like have a fit, can't sleep, be grouchy, and procrastinate-my-homework dread them.

I realized today that that is just a tad dramatic, so I decided to tackle this Monday to the ground.

Mondays really aren't that bad, when you think about it. They are a time for new beginnings, a great day to start (and probably give up on) another diet, fresh white pages in your planner, a day closer to the next weekend, a refreshing time to look toward the future. It is a time to feel accomplished for all that you did last week, a day to find balance, a day when you are not yet dead-tired and irritated at all the weird people at your college.

Also, how 'bout this quote? Tell me you love it.

{Pinterest}

I needed that today.

year one

 Wow! Is it possible that it has been a year already? It feels like just yesterday I married that handsome devil of mine. Now I feel kind of old, and not so newlyweddish. I remember my mom telling me the day before I got married, "Well daughter, you're going to be an old married bag tomorrow." 

It was such a tender thing to say, really. Right?

There are so many things I could say about our first year of marriage, but I think I have mastered the art of simplicity and have narrowed it down to five. We shall call it  

The 5 Things I Learned in the First Year of Marriage:

1. Just when you think you can't love another person anymore, you do. 

You find some more love inside of your heart that you didn't even know was there to begin with.

It's pretty magical. I remember thinking on our wedding day that I couldn't love Ty any more than I did at that moment. I look back on that now and laugh.There have been so many tender moments when my love for him has grown.

2. It's the little things that matter most. 

No, it is not the little candy wrappers I find beneath the couch cushions, nor is it the pieces of used dental floss that lie around the bathroom sink. The little things like making dinner together, going out to get ice cream, having someone truly care about how you broke the copy machine at work, or how you had to sit at a red light for three hours today. That kind of stuff. When you're married, your seemingly mundane life matters to someone else.

3. Everyone feels love differently, which in turn means everyone needs to be loved differently.

 Strangely enough, you can have hundreds of things in common, but be different in the way you feel love. Learning to love another person how they need to be loved is an art, and it takes time.

4. You need to laugh everyday. 

I'll admit sometimes I just get all uptight and overworked about the most idiotic things, and if I'm not careful, they can ruin my entire day. There is hardly a thing in the world that can bring people together like laughter. The best kind of laughter is the kind where no one else would understand why you are laughing, but you and him do. And that's all that matters, when you think about it.

5. There are no perfect marriages, but there are perfect moments.

Cherish those. Embrace those. Write them down, remember them, look back on them. 

You'll find you wouldn't trade them for the world.

Happy Anniversary to my love, Tyler.

One year down, Eternity to go.

xoxo.