3rd Anniversary :)

We don't get very much sunshine around these parts, these days. But today was an especially sunny day, in every aspect. We celebrated our 3rd year as Mr. and Mrs. A, with our new addition dressed in a new pink outfit (that we picked up from Costco yesterday after signing up for our first membership :).

But before we embarked on our special day's adventure (aka taking a trip to a very delicious and local gluten free bakery, and dropping by a scrumptious bbq place to pick up our dinner), Jose and I exchanged gifts. I received the beautiful flowers above, along with a dark chocolate Toblerone (one of Jose's first dating gifts to me).

I loooove sunflowers (which is why he included those sunny golden flowers above), but roses are an important part of our special day, so Jose included them in the bouquet. He said the color combo reminded him of love and sunshine, and I agree. Roses are special to quite a few people, but a poem about them was included in a portion of wedding vows.

I like giving homemade gifts, but I wanted to give Jose something relevant to our anniversary. This gift didn't require much making, and I'd been wanting to do it for awhile now...

We wrote a portion of our vows; I finally got a chance to print and frame them. Jose's vows to me are on the left, my vows to him are on the right. The middle picture is pretty familiar, isn't it? ;) I had to laugh when I was putting this together. Take a look, my vows are about twice as long as Jose's. I just read a few days ago that women utter quite a few more words than men on a daily basis. I think that definitely applies to our marriage! :D

Jose thought of a fun anniversary idea. He said that, starting this year, we should record a "state of the union" meeting. He said we should discuss the high and low points of the year, so that we can watch the videos every year on our anniversary to see how we've grown as a couple. I love that idea!

Cheesy, but that's how to make IT last!

This summer has been jam packed with activities, from delivering a baby and moving twice to interning and attending law firm social events. Jose's been busy with the latter, along with working full time. So some days we'll only see each other for about 15 minutes, if at all. I'm trying to get used to being an attorney's wife, as silly as that sounds. Mentally, he definitely has it harder. But sometimes I really miss him. Since we have so little time alone, I've been trying to come up with some ideas on how to better communicate with Jose, without having to necessarily see him or talk to him on the phone. When we can't give each other a hug in person, we right each other cheesy blog posts.

Blog posts? Ha! That's right. Idea number one. I told Jose we should create a blog that only we have access to, so that we can write notes to each other and then read them when we aren't able to talk or see each other. Kind of like passing notes in class, except we don't have to worry about the teacher catching us and reading the note out loud! ;)

...But here I am posting a snippet of a note/post he wrote me last night! (I hope you don't mind, Jose ;)! I just feel so lucky to have a sweet man in my life who loves me this much and still makes my heart swoon and say "aww"! I'm not gonna lie, one of the things that first attracted me to Jose was how nicely he expressed himself on paper. So, instead of being love at first sight, for us it was love at first read :).

Here it is:

As I was driving home, I ended up doing what you did while you got lost that one time in the hills. I'd drive up and down, and every time I'd go up, I'd see all of downtown Austin's lights. It reminded me for some reason of the times I'd sit up at the balcony at night in the dark, staring down at all of these people who had others to spend time with at night. I was alone on the quiet balcony, while the drag was all lit up, with tons of people walking around.

And it made me all the more grateful to get home and be able to give you a kiss. In fact, I was happy that you were awake... so that I could tell you I love you.

because You're here.

There's something simmering on the stove every day
and
I'm thankful for the dirty dishes.


Against an old cold wall
there is a used couch,
with worn but inviting cushions.


There are crumbs sprinkled across the floor,
and paid bills in the drawer...
Snowfalls outside our window,
And books for books, in piles.


But there are no questions
Or
sealed boxes
in the
small closets
whose doors never close.


There are no flecks of insecurity
clinging like dust
to tired childhood belongings.


There is a peace
that comes with seeing
an unopened box of tissues...
next to my pillow
(next to you).


This is home:
With confidence and empty wallets
we can open the front door and smile,
even if and especially when
uncertainty rings like a desperate salesman.

The best Valentine's Day Gift

...this is it, what more could a gal ask for?