One Year.

This past Sunday marked our 1 year anniversary, and I just couldn't believe the way the past year has gone. All the twists and turns and promotions and travel -- it is just crazy what can happen in one little year.

Even though Mike and I have been together for a (really) long time, this past year has made me even more thankful for him. I'll keep the mushiness to a minimum, but I am amazed at the tenderness and grace he shows me on a daily basis. He loves me when I am most unlovable (usually any time after 10:30pm, when I start getting crabby and mean). He loves me when I am insecure and scared (like when I decided to go to the bottom of the world for 2 months). And he loves me when I get super emotional (like when I started bawling after our entire stack of dishes came crashing down off the shelf). And I'm so thankful for it.

Mushiness is over now.

So, where are we after one year of marriage?

Six months after landing his new job in property management, Mike got promoted to Asset Manager and now gets to experience the joys of being the "Go-To" guy for any and all issues a tenant has with their apartment! Everything from leaking roofs to bed bugs to heat issues to broken appliances to "my apartment smells like Pine-Sol" -- property management is always exciting!!

Obviously, I deployed to Antarctica and got the chance to travel New Zealand; experiences I'll never forget. With Raytheon's contract ending on March 30, I shifted into job-hunting mode upon my return to the States, and in a few weeks, I'll be starting off on my next adventure: working in HR for a company called Arcadis. I am SO excited about the opportunity!

We've gotten involved in the Children's Ministry at our church -- teaching the K-1st Grade Sunday school classes once a month. We definitely enjoy teaching the kiddos and coming up with creative ways to occupy them for 30-45 minutes, but our favorite part is the hilarious things the kids come up with. Somehow, they manage to work in Star Wars or "I Know More Spanish Than You" competitions into our Jesus-focused activities. Very amusing.

Other than that, we've just been doing the usual snowboarding, hiking, and exploring Colorado! We are so blessed to be where we are, and we are so amazed at the life God's given us. We can't wait to see what the next year brings. :)

Peace, love & mawwiage. 

My Life is Complete

Mike and I made a deal.

I could buy this...

...if I would spend $100 to buy him video games for when I'm in Antarctica.

DEAL.

And now I own a fancy camera.

And my husband is a nerd.

Peace, love & expensive cameras.

Oh Geez.

Talk about a slacker. Life has been crazy the past few weeks, to say the least. With me working overtime, catching up on my new job, trying to make it to all of our commitments, and ...snowboarding...I've totally neglected my blog!

I can't believe my Antarctica deployment is less than 7 weeks away! I've got my airline itinerary, so it's officially official. It's a little sad that I have to leave on Christmas night, but I cannot wait to get down to the Ice and have an incredible experience, both professionally and personally. And I can't wait to celebrate our one year anniversary (a month early) in New Zealand! The bar has been set really high now for future anniversaries...so maybe we'll celebrate year No. 2 in Bora Bora? :)

Mike has also officially presented his Christmas list to me: it is entirely video games. I'm not a fan at all of video games, but I did promise to grant him his wishes. I just couldn't resist the puppy eyes and the "...but I'll be so lonely while you're gone..." Denver friends, will you please make sure my hubby doesn't turn into a Zelda hermit while I'm gone? Also, I'm going to need someone to check in weekly to see what he's broken/ruined, and if it's repairable. Example: he dropped my (scalding hot) cute lime green iron the other day and burned carpet onto the sides of it. Permanently damaged? No. Repairable? Eh, basically. But that may not always be the case...

Love you, Mike :) Forever. Even when you damage things.

Peace, love & BurnedCarpet.

Fear.

"It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, 'Always do what you are afraid to do.' "
Ralph Waldo Emerson






So I guess that includes going to Antarctica, huh? I was feeling nervous about it today: nervous about being away from Mike, from my home, from my own bed, from everything that's familiar to me. I'm trying to trust that the Lord will give both Mike and I strength and courage in this season of life...but man. Antarctica is far. And 7 weeks is almost 2 months.

But, I'm locked in and there's no turning back now!

I can do this. I can do this.

Simple.

Two words can describe my weekend: thankful & joyful. 

On Saturday morning, when I had to be at work at 7am, Mike got up with me and made me a cup of coffee. So simple, but so sweet. He didn't need to get up early on his day off!

On Saturday afternoon, I got the sudden urge to bake cupcakes. (Like, a LOT of cupcakes. So many that I had to give a lot away.) The recipe was awesome and they turned out great even at altitude, and I really did enjoy giving them out to friends. Being thankful for something as simple as cupcakes might seem odd, but delicious food is something I take for granted. There are so many people in the world who don't have the luxury of being able to bake or eat yummy food, so I'm thankful for never knowing the pain of hunger. (Click here to read about a project that our church took part in to help feed those in need. I couldn't go because I had to work -- see above -- but it's an awesome organization!)

On Saturday evening, when I was sleepy and cranky after working and baking absurd amounts of cupcakes, Mike made me get up and go on a walk at Castlewood Canyon State Park. There were no dramatic peaks, but it was so peaceful, and it made me so glad to live in Colorado. Thanks, hubs, for getting me off the couch! 

On Sunday afternoon, we hung out with friends from church, and I was so grateful for and excited about the community we've built and the relationships we've developed. The people of Denver Pres are awesome, and have blessed us in so many ways.

And last but not least....it looks like the Cards are going to the World Series. :) 

Peace, love, & LotsOfCupcakes!

On Being Married

So, I'm sitting here by myself while Mike is working, watching Survivor on our new TV that we just got a few weeks ago! I don't care at all about the show, I'm mostly watching it because I haven't had TV in 10 months and could really use a good dose of mind-numbing trash (apologies to Survivor fans). The best part? We pay nothing for our cable. :) Good ol' rabbit ears gave us 30 free channels, for a $10 one-time payment. We are really good at crunching money.

Anyway, I was thinking that I should share some things I've learned about my husband/marriage over the last month, and what life looks like now that we're semi-settled in.

1. Annoying living habits: Mike leaves cups of water everywhere and always forgets to shut the cabinets in the kitchen (which are, conveniently, the perfect height for me to hit my head on when open). In his defense, I have little habits too, like the fact that my electric toothbrush leaves crusty toothpaste messes everywhere; or that there is a constant arsenal of socks in the bed because I take them off in my sleep; or that I don't like him squishing my cute throw pillows on the couch. ("Christi, they're pillows! They're supposed to be squished!" Yeah, ok, I know. But it makes them deformed.). Anyway, we're kind of enjoying learning about our little quirks (for now), just because we're so happy to finally be living together. :)

2.  Similar vices: These include leaving clothes on the floor, forgetting to move the laundry from the washer to the dryer (resulting in having to re-wash the already-washed clothes because of the mildewy smell), and using entirely too many bowls to the point where we have to run the dishwasher just because we need more bowls. Oh, and hating to clean the bathroom.

3. Wonderfulness: Marriage rocks, hands down. Especially when your husband always cleans the dishes, will sit down with you for hours to form a budget, constantly makes you feel loved and cherished, and never ceases to make you laugh.

I'm glad that special person is you, Mike Wall. And I plan on not annoying you too much, or at least trying not  to. :)

Back to the Real World

Now that Mike and I have been settled into our little awesome Denver apartment for about a month now, I feel like I can finally breathe a little (although that's difficult at 5,280 feet in the air). The wedding gifts have been crammed into every nook and corner of our 670 square foot abode, the thank you's have been sent, and the old gaming systems that Mike "just couldn't get rid of" have been....discarded. :)  

So, I guess this is the part where we settle into married life, have 2.5 kids and the coveted white picket fence. However, we are only 23, and we live in a rockin' state with a lot of 14,000-foot mountains that are calling our name. We'll have the kids and the house...eventually. But for now, we're excited to live and learn in this new place. And we want YOU to hear about it and follow our adventures, just as a way to stay connected with us. 

Peace, love, and Rocky Mountains.