Our First Anniversary

I can't believe it's already been a year since our amazing wedding day!  It seems like just a few months ago that we were sending invitations, putting together center pieces, choosing our readings, creating itineraries, and planning all the details of our perfect day.  I am so thankful to have such a dependable, hard-working and adventurous husband who challenges me to be a better person.  I love the beautiful life we've created in the southwest with our four-legged, furry babies, and by this time next year I hope to have our own house.

 A few memories of our Wedding Day...






For our First Anniversary we went on a weekend trip to Moab, Utah, where we spent Saturday afternoon mountain biking, ran a half marathon on Sunday, and visited Arches and Mesa Verde National Parks.  This trip was pretty representative of our active and adventurous lifestyle.  Moab was absolutely gorgeous!  On the night of our anniversary we splurged for a night at the Red Cliffs Lodge, nestled in the mountains along the Colorado River.  We did a wine tasting at Castle Creek Winery, drank champagne on our patio with a gorgeous view of the red-colored mountains, and treated ourselves to a fancy dinner at the Cowboy Grill.  I hope all of our anniversaries will be this memorable!
Red Cliffs Lodge, Moab

View from our patio

Red Cliffs Lodge

Arches National Park
Traditionally, the gift for the First Wedding Anniversary is "Paper."  This is symbolic of strength from the interlaced connection of the paper's individual threads.  We gave each other cards for our anniversary, and to stick with the "paper" theme I got some paper flowers the color of our wedding bouquets to decorate our room, and a journal to record the stories of each of our future anniversaries.  We saved our paper trail maps and park guides.  My mother-in-law made us a beautiful collage of the paper items from our wedding -- our Save the Date postcard, wedding invitation, rehearsal dinner invitation, itineraries, ceremony program, and newspaper announcements of our marriage.  This was such a beautiful and thoughtful gift!





Our first anniversary was so perfect and memorable and I hope for many more years to come!
Cheers!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Pacific Northwest Bachelorette Party

Image
I just returned home from a memorable weekend in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, celebrating my sister, Katie, who is getting married in just a few short weeks.  Four years ago she, as my Maid of Honor, planned the most unforgettable and fun-filled bachelorette weekend for me:  San Francisco and Sonoma Bachelorette , and now it was my turn to do the same for her!  We gathered together a group of twelve women from Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, Salt Lake City, Manchester, Santa Fe, Denver, and Seattle to celebrate the Bride to Be.  I wanted to have some organized, pre-planned group activities, but also plenty of down time for games, lounging, and drinking wine.  While we wanted most of the weekend to be spent at a cozy cabin overlooking the serene water of Puget Sound, we wanted one exciting night out on the town, and I think we achieved that balance.  Here's the breakdown of our weekend events: 1)  Night Out in Capitol Hill We arrived...
Read more

High Altitude Baking: Coffee Cake

Image
Happy January!  I have two weeks left of my maternity leave and I'm trying to make the most of it by spending lots of quality time with Baby Ady before she starts daycare.  It's going by so fast!  While I'm home I've been using my crock pot a lot, working on some yarn projects, taking long walks with Ady and Kua, reading, and doing some baking.  I have struggled with high altitude baking since moving to Santa Fe 5 1/2 years ago.  Cookies turn out okay, but I usually have to make some adjustments with cakes, and my breads are often mushy in the middle and crispy on the ends.  I can get by okay with a few of my favorite recipes that I have practiced multiple times, but it's often hit or miss.  For Christmas, my secret santa got me this amazing cook book, Pie in the Sky: Successful Baking at High Altitudes, that explains the chemistry behind high altitude baking and gives suggestions for adjustments to make at various altitudes.  Ingenious!  ...
Read more

My Bachelorette Party: San Francisco and Sonoma

Image
I have the best Maid of Honor in the world!   Between grad school, work, and preparing to move into a new apartment, she miraculously found time to plan THE BEST bachelorette party ever (and 3 time zones away, I might add).  I had such a fabulous time being surrounded by (and loved and adored by!) all my best friends for four days. The weekend started at 4:30 a.m. Thursday when my Santa Fe friends and I drove to Albuquerque (a 50 mile trip made possible by Panera breakfast) to catch our early flight to the Bay Area.  After a 2 1/2 trip (complete with Bloody Maries, Tequilla Sunrises, Coffees with Baileys, gossip and a few bridal magazines) we landed in Oakland!  One of my dear bridesmaids from Chicago who had arrived a few days earlier picked us up and we headed into San Francisco.  We met up with the other gals, checked in early to our hotel (Parc 55 Wyndahm in Union Square) and set out to explore the city by foot.  Som...
Read more