ONE WHOLE YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today, as of about 7:15pm Danny and I will have been married for ONE WHOLE YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When I think back to what that day was like, it amazes me that we got it all done. There was the frenzied phone calls asking what everyone was doing that night, the buying of a dress, cake, snacky desserty foods, and flowers. And as I think back I am so so very grateful to my wonderful in-laws. Mom, Kami, Sara and I went out in search of a white dress. I ended up choosing a plain, but pretty Temple dress in hopes of wearing it to the Sealing. But with just less than a month to go, it's pretty obvious that I'm getting pretty pregnant, so I think that's not going to happen. (actually I tried it on about a week ago, and it's so snug in the midsection that you can actually see where the indentation for my belly button is!) After a crazy hectic morning and afternoon, Sara, Mom and Kami dropped me off to get my nails done and took care of everything else. I was so surprised at everything they had done when I finally saw the church. I just want to say that I had nothing to do with the tables and decorations, and flowers that night. They got in touch with some ward members, (I think Sister Bushman actually is a wedding planner, and Sister Thorton is a professional photographer) and set everything up while Kami was holed up in a tiny room wrapping bouquets. Meanwhile I was taking advantage of Cristi's vast knowledge/talents hair and make-up wise (again, almost no contribution on my part, Cristi's just that awesome) while my sister ran around in my car ferrying Dan around and picking up stuff from the Lines family home. And buying a really cool yellow dress at the last moment.
Since then, Dan and I have had an interesting first year of marriage. We did tons of really neat stuff like our trip to women's conference last year, and the Anderkin family reunion, and visiting Dad in Illinois for his 50th birthday. We adjusted to each other's living habits and sleep schedules. I relearned what kinds of foods will and will not be received well-and what is expected to be in the pantry at any given moment. (like mac 'n cheese-I never get it, but to Dan the idea of having none in the house is crazy) We've had fights, we've had fun, and all in all, we've grown a LOT over the past year. And now we're getting ready to go to the Temple at the end of the month. It is such a blessing that we can be sealed together with our families. because while it may seem like a really long time for us now, in the bigger picture our time on Earth is just the snap of a finger, and I want to spend so much more time than that with Danny. And with our family that we're continuing. The challenge now is to get ourselves and to help the rest of our kiddos get to where our little boy is right now. This first year has had some really high peaks and also some really deep lows, but all in all it's been great. And I hope that we have lots more years with lots more peaks than valleys! Just kidding, I know that the trials and the bad times have made us stronger-both individually and also together. But I have to admit, I prefer the good times! :)