we made it a year!

Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1 Corinthians 13:7

How has a year already passed since Byron and I got married?  When we talk about our first year of marriage, in some ways it's like we've been married much longer than that, and in others it seems as though we were saying our vows just yesterday.  We've had a crazy 365 days and it's funny to think about all that's changed for us in that time.

Our first year of marriage was busy, filled with the uncertainty of jobs, and provided us countless opportunities for us to trust that the Lord had something greater in store for us.  Byron and I have grown closer and stronger than we were a year ago as we've supported and encouraged each other in difficulties, prayed through the ups and downs, and praised God for the wonderful blessings we've received.  

I've been blessed with one of the best man in the world to call my husband.  A man who loves me when I'm completely undeserving and better than I've ever dreamt.  Someone with an uncanny ability to make me laugh when a smile hadn't surfaced all day.  He writes sweet notes with Scripture and hides them in my lunchbox.  How did I ever get lucky enough the snag this guy? 

Our anniversary began with a brunch of strawberry french toast and cafe au laits.  And bacon.  Of course there was bacon.  Byron surprised me with a new wakeboard vest -- I'm a lucky girl!

We went to Three Blind Mice for dinner, of course.  We discussed quite a few other places, but no where else is as perfect for us as Three Blind Mice.  Not everyone can go back to the place they celebrated their marriage for each anniversary, so why not take advantage of that?!  Not the mention, it's our favorite place anyway!

We sipped on celebratory champagne after dinner, then shared a slice of our original wedding cake, which had made itself quite comfortable for the past year in my parents' freezer!  Surprisingly, the cake was incredible.  Seriously, you never would've known it'd been frozen. Sugar Kneads gave us a top layer of our wedding cake as an anniversary gift.  They say, "Who wants to eat year-old cake?" [but they must not have tasted their own!] Naturally we wrapped the cake from our wedding back up and put it back in the freezer til next year!

The rain stopped long enough for us to make it to dinner.

This is the fresh cake...but the one from the freezer doesn't look too different!

I thank God every day for blessing me with such an incredible husband and I look forward to many, many more years together!

Byron turns 25

I'm not sure what Byron and I were thinking when we got married in May!  As if it weren't busy enough already with Mother's Day, Byron's birthday, the end of the school year, and Memorial Day we thought we'd add an anniversary into the mix!  That being said - in the midst of all the craziness, Byron's birthday was Thursday!  When we were planning the wedding, Byron always joked [and still does] that his birthday will be forgotten since our anniversary is only 3 days after, so I gave my best effort to make his birthday special.  This year, because I love him so much, we celebrated for 2 days!

We celebrated his birthday [on his birthday] with dinner with his parents and Nick followed by some red velvet cupcakes.  Yum!  After his first full day being a quarter of a century old, we got dressed up and went to a fancy steak dinner {no pictures, whoops!}.  

Happy 25th, Byron!  Wishing you a wonderful year with many blessings!

the 6 miles that almost killed me

Let me preface this entry with: I've never said so many curse words in a two hour period.

Before.  When we were dry and clean and nervous. 

Earlier this year Byron registered us for the Savage Race.  We thought, it's a 6ish-mile course with 25 obstacles . . . that'll be fun, right? Challenging, dirty, and insane, yes, but 'fun' may not be the word I'd choose to describe it.  I am not stretching the truth one bit when I say that the Savage Race was legitimately one of the hardest things I've ever done.  Even without the ridiculous obstacles, the running alone was incredibly difficult.

I feel like nowadays we sign our lives away on waivers all the time, but the three page waiver for this race was no joke.  I wish I'd mentally prepared myself better because it was a lot tougher and rougher than I'd expected.

Less than a mile in, we met our first obstacle, 'Shriveled Richard,' which was a dumpster filled with ice water.  I'm not exaggerating, it was ice with a little water, that we had to fully submerge in and swim through.  After conquering it, nothing seemed too terrible [probably because my legs were frozen for a good mile and lost some brain cells in the process!].  Climbing walls, barbed wires, mud, a 3-story jump into a pit a muddy water, balance beams, mud, a pyramid of hay, climbing walls, more mud, and a giant slide led us to my least favorite obstacle.  'Tazed' was it's name and it involved crawling under livewires [while soaking wet].  Three zaps from those terrible wires and I was done.  What a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad obstacle.

This is what happened right before getting 'tazed' . . .
quite the strategic planning!

almost thereeeeee.

crossing the finish line.

we made it alive.  whew.

Byron and I did actually have fun finish!  It was more of a marriage-builder than anything else.  I wouldn't have attempted it or survived it without him.  I know he had a great time and I'm glad we experienced it together, but I'd like to keep my ice in my drinks and the electricity away from my body from here on out!  I've never worked so hard for a Miller Lite.

Buffalo Chicken Wraps

I've stated before that I love buffalo chicken anyway you serve it and statement is still truer than ever.  I may have stumbled upon the easiest way to make it: in the crock pot.  What?!!  It honestly could not be simpler [really, I don't think it can be screwed up] and after hours of bubbling, it's perfectly moistened and shredded without a knife.  We put the chicken in whole wheat tortillas as well as big leaves of iceberg lettuce along with some shredded carrots and a drizzle of light ranch dressing.  The buffalo chicken wraps were perfect for lunch and dinner since they're not heavy and go well with fresh fruit and veggies as sides.  Mmmmm.

Ingredients:

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1- 16 oz can of Chicken Broth

1/2 white onion, diced

1/2 cup of your favorite wing sauce (I use Texas Pete Wing Sauce) 

1 stalk of celery

shredded carrots, tortillas, iceberg lettuce, shredded lettuce, and ranch or bleu cheese dressing {for serving}

Directions:

Add the broth, and hot sauce in the crock pot and stir them together until combined. Place the chicken in the crock pot.  Make sure the broth is covering the chicken!  If you need to, add more broth or water until the chicken is covered.  Pour in the diced onion, then add the celery.  Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or on high for about 4 hours.  

When you're ready to eat, shred the chicken with a fork.  Using a slotted spoon, move the chicken onto your tortillas or large lettuce leaves.  I added more hot sauce [yum!].  Then add the shredded carrots, and lettuce, then a light drizzle of dressing.  Enjoy!