Slow and Steady Wins the Race

It was a seriously stormy night on Thursday, so we decided to stay in and carve our pumpkins. I forgot how much work that was - especially when you don't have a mom around to lay out the newspaper, cook the pumpkins seeds and clean up the mess. We miss you, Moms!

We got down to it and noticed that our pumpkins were the thickest we had ever seen. I could barely get the knife through it. Recipe for losing a finger, but I made it through safely.

Our different styles were very apparent early on in the process. Kyle is an uber-perfectionist, always focusing on high quality. (aka OCD!) He used a stencil of an elaborate picture of wolves howling at the moon and took an hour to carve a beautiful masterpiece. I, on the other hand, am what you might call a "good-enough-er." My mission is to get things done and move on to the next task so I'm generally okay with average. (Sorry, Dad.) Accordingly, my pumpkin was finished in 20 minutes and looks like something a grade-school child would do. (I've heard of "patience" before, I just don't know that we've ever met.) We're each special in our own unique way. :)

I'm the first to admit that my brothers got all the artistic talent in the family. They have more talent in their pinky fingers than I have in my entire being. I tried to do Jack from The Nightmare Before Christmas. You see it, right?!?!

We did finish off a successful evening with the best part about carving pumpkins anyway ...

Autumn in Arkansas

Fall came later than we're used to, being down South, and is still lingering. The longer the better for us! (Sorry to those in MN, WI and CO that have already had to deal with the dreaded S word!) Don't think that we've had a perfect Fall season, though. With as much rain as we've had, we really haven't been able to get out and enjoy it much. Literally, it rained for two weeks straight in September!

I know I'm biased being a Northerner, but I don't think the colors are a as vivid and breath-taking down here either. (I mean, it doesn't get much better after you've experienced Fall in Door County, right?!?!)

Here's the transition out our back window:

One Year Down ... FOREVER to Go!

One year ago, we were joined by family and friends in beautiful Door County, Wisconsin to officially start our new life together. It was the best day of our lives - to be in our favorite place, at our favorite time of the year, surrounded by our favorite people - it really was magical. I get to have a slumber party with my best friend every night for the rest of my life ... it doesn't get any better!

Our last year together has been full of excitement, but it has not been without its challenges. The day I returned to work after our honeymoon in Jamaica, I inquired about a new job posting for the Walmart team in Arkansas. Well, the rest is history. My amazing husband supported me and my career and packed up to move south. Thanks to the complicated relocation and the agreement with Polaris to get Kyle back to Mpls on a regular basis (with a few fishing trips and girl weekends thrown in,) we found a way to be in separate states for 94 days this past year! That's 3 whole months apart during our first year of marriage. Not the way we would have planned it, but somehow, it has brought us closer, and we cherish our time together even more.

Our anniversary celebration started on Monday when Kyle surprised me with a delicious home cooked meal and said "happy anniversary week" when I walked through the door. We took the idea and ran with it, stealing the term from our good friends ... Anniversary-Palooza was packed with some great home cooked meals, a few of our favorite movies, a performance of The Riverdance, a trip to our favorite pizzeria ... we celebrated every day! Kyle even baked me a cake and cooked a full Thanksgiving dinner!

When the special day finally arrived, Kyle surprised me with breakfast in bed ... and ... a beautiful diamond anniversary ring!!!! I was completely shocked! I had mentioned at one point that it would be pretty to get a second band to border the other side of my engagement ring -that was the symmetric/OCD left side of my brain talking. My husband remembered that discussion (and my ring size!) made his way back to Shane Co on one of his Mpls trips and truly suprised me with the perfect gift. In Kyle's words, I will have "perma-smile" for the rest of the day! If our life continues to be as amazing as this first year, I plan to have perma-smile for the rest of my life. :)

Thanks to everyone who sent us cards, gifts and kind wishes to commemorate our first year of marriage. And thanks to my husband for making my life complete.