Memories...Months 1-10

Ryan and I are approaching 100 months of marriage, which I am super excited about. I can't wait to celebrate the day together, even though I still have to plan most of the celebration!

But in honor of this day coming up, I thought I might take a stroll down memory lane and revisit some of my FAVORITE memories over these last 100 months. (Some of these memories may not necessarily be some of the most fun moments we've had together, but some perhaps strengthened us and grew us.) 

Today I'm throwing it all the way back to the beginning. Months 1-10!

Month 1. 

It was a busy month, which is bound to happen when you get married in DECEMBER. Hello, honeymoon, moving in together, and a bazillion Christmas traditions and gatherings all thrown into less than a month!

But one of my favorite memories from that first month was (of course) our honeymoon. It was such a delightful week. Perfect weather, every single day. Sunsets on the beach, every single day. My first time in a kayak. My first time on a tandem bike. Long morning walks on the sand. Our first dinner cruise. So much dreaming and talking and the beginning of this beautiful journey. I adored every moment. 

Month 2. 

We hit the ground running with real life in this second month. We spent hours working on the house Ryan had owned prior to our marriage, freshening it up to sell. We settled into life at home together. We recovered from the busy holidays. But one of the biggest memories of this month was working together at our first WBCL Share week. (Fundraiser, for those of you who might not know.) Ryan took two days off work to volunteer all day long so he could be with me. I felt so loved by that choice! And we had fun on the air together, too! Our first radio appearance together since his proposal. 

Month 3.

We celebrated our first Valentine's Day together during this month, and most of the rest of our time was taken up by planning our at-home wedding reception, which took place in March, following our December wedding. But one of my favorite memories from this month was our first trip to a marriage retreat! It was in Fort Wayne, and we had the best time learning more about marriage and spending time with some of our friends who were also there! 

Month 4. 

We had a lot of fun days during this month: working concerts for the station, going on a bunch of dates, and enjoying the spring weather as it appeared. We even celebrated our first Easter during this month. But my favorite day was our reception day. I got to wear my wedding dress again, our whole wedding party came to be with us again, and so many of our friends and family gave up a Saturday afternoon to celebrate with us! We showed our wedding video on the big screen and had an ice cream sundae and coffee/hot chocolate bar. And perhaps my favorite part of all was getting to have a photo shoot in the prayer chapel where I spent so much time praying for a husband and over our future marriage. 

Month 5. 

A month with more concerts and work, but a month in which I got to celebrate my husband's birthday for the very first time. I had long wondered what it would be like to celebrate a husband's birthday, and in this month, I finally found out! I loved surprising him with donuts and coffee first thing in the morning, a present all wrapped up, and dinner at one of his favorite places, followed by a coffee date. This was a treasure indeed! 

Month 6. 

WHEW. This one was a busy one! We celebrated all kinds of birthdays (Braeya's, mine, and more), attended our first wedding together, built our pirogi (some of you know exactly what I'm talking about and others of you are very confused right now...it was a pergola, but Ryan got the word mixed up and it forever became the pirogi), ripped apart our entire kitchen in our Marion house and overhauled it in a single weekend (new paint, new countertop treatment, new hardware, new flooring, new curtains, new decorations, and even a new stove!), but I had two most favorite memories from this month together. One was my birthday. Ryan made the day so special for me from start to finish, including taking me on a fun walk-in-the-park-and-photo-shoot-too date after we went out to eat. I had so much fun that night! The other was our first ever birthday trip, which has become an annual tradition for us. That year we went to the Creation Museum and had a special adventure of ziplining together. That produced the still most-loved photo of our entire marriage. 

Month 7.

We enjoyed a beautiful summer that year, which included a lot of fire pit/hammock time in our pirogi. So much fun. (We miss those days!) But I had two favorite moments that month. The first came on  Friday night. We had been up since 4:30 that morning and both worked a long day. Then I had to drive to Ohio that night to work a concert. I didn't get home until 1:00 a.m. I fully expected Ryan to be asleep when I got home, but he was waiting at the front door, eager to show me a surprise. I found out he had worked all evening to put lights in our pirogi ,and we stood in our yard at 1:00 in the morning and danced under the twinkle lights. It was such a sweet moment! The next day he surprised me with a date he'd been planning for a while: horseback riding! I'd never done this before and we learned it's not my gift. But oh the stories it provided. Dear sweet Peaches (the horse I rode) has probably not recovered from me any more than I've recovered from her! But it was still a fun date!

Month 8. 

So many more firsts this month! Our first fourth of July together, complete with fireworks over the lake, our first movie (more on that in a moment), and our first trip to the county fair. That included my first Ferris Wheel ride! We were in the Three Rivers Festival parade together, and worked a golf scramble together. We spent a weekend at the lake with Ryan's family, and were in another parade together in the middle of that weekend! I had two favorite memories from this month. One was from our first movie together. Ryan surprised me with a summer date to the drive in to see Monsters University. He even made a whole movie-watching nest in the back of the car, complete with pillows, blankets, popcorn, and pizza. I adored (and still adore!) his creative dates! And at the end of that month, while we were at the lake together, we sensed our call to ministry together. I still treasure that freezing cold, rainy summer day, under a picnic shelter at the lake, when we knew God would use us together - somehow, someday. 

Month 9. 

Another busy month with home renovations! We put down all new flooring in the living room, dining room, and hallway of our Marion house. We even hid a time capsule in the house while we were at it! We did a little sprucing up in the full bathroom in that house, too, which included installing a stackable washer/dryer front loader unit that opened up SO much space in the room! We also put down landscaping stone and brick all around the house. But one of the biggest moments of our month was heading out on our first ever cruise together! We flew to Miami and then headed out to Key West, Grand Turk, and Nassau. It was my first time out of the country (other than to Canada) and I loved it. We went on a segway tour, climbed to the top of a lighthouse, and even enjoyed a private beach for an afternoon! Never in a million years did I ever imagine I'd get to go on a cruise! Ryan has given me so many beautiful adventures, and this was just one of them!

Month 10. 

Cookouts and picnics and low key nights at home were the order of the 10th month. We had been through such a busy summer, between working on our house and working in general, and we were ready to just sit back and enjoy. I think one of my favorite parts of this month was a picnic that we had in the park. There was nothing major or spectacular about it, but it was a sweet night out together, and sweet nights have made up these last 100 months. I'm grateful for each of them. 

When I look back on those first ten months, I honestly have no idea how we squeezed in so many dates. We were double commuters and renovating a house! But I'm grateful for the foundation we built in that season, spending so much time together (especially when you consider how much time we spent apart), establishing our home, and blessing one another intentionally by investing in one another. 

Thank you, Ryan, for making those first ten months such a sweet season!