Marriage Series- 52 Happy Moments

Ashley @ It Is What You Make It // Kalyn @ Love.Laughter.HappilyEverAfter  // Mallory @ From California to Kansas // Karla @ Forever Newly Wedded // Maggie @ A Weaving of Grace 

Samantha @ Designer in Teal // Veronica @ Passion.Pink.Pearls // Kaitlyn @ Wifessionals // Emily @ Newlywed Moments // Callie @ My Something New With You

If you missed the intro to this marriage series, check it out!

{here}

June is the most exciting month of this year for multiple reasons but especially because of our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY on June 9th! I have been awaiting it for a while now and have loved celebrating each monthly anniversary leading up to it.

Today I am thrilled to share lots happy moments and memories from the first year of our marriage. I love that I get to document this special occasion in such detail so that I can look back on it for years to come.

I am taking my own spin on this weeks topic. I am not very good at portraying humor and sarcasm on the blog so instead I am going to share 52 happy moments from the first year (some specific, some general)!! Why 52? Well there are 52 weeks in a year so....

Here are my favorite things that have happened since June 9, 2012.

1. going on our honeymoon cruise to the carribean
2. changing my last name 
3. coming home after the honeymoon and opening wedding gifts with our parents
4. redbox movie nights
5. going on walks around the neighborhood
6. decorating the apartment for Christmas
7. picking pumpkins at Ashland Berry Farm
8. going to the Watermelon Festival
9. playing with Camden and Maddie (our little cousins)
10. celebrating Tim's birthday at Busch Gardens Christmastown
11. celebrating Valentines Day with a heart-shaped pizza
12. getting groceries together 
13. doing DIY projects 
14. eating out...a lot
15. making our place a home
16. getting jobs in our chosen fields!
17. getting smart phones
18. cuddling on the couch
19. VT football games as alumni
20. going to friends weddings as a married couple
21. making major loan payments
22. puppy shopping haha
23. Friday cheers
24. finding a church home
25. the crazy nicknames Tim makes up for me
26. hosting our families in our new place
27. watching an entire series of House
28. Denise visiting and having dinner with her and Justin
29. watching The Walking Dead on New Years
30. going to UVA to watch Hokie Basketball
31. hiking by the James River
32. the Tacky Lights tour
33. fishing (and by that I mean watching Tim fish)
34. watching Tim graduate with his Masters
35. trying new recipes
36. 4th of July fireworks on Brown's Island
37. exploring Belle Isle with Ty and Gabby
38. Easter at the Carpenter Center
39. making homemade ice cream
40. going to the gym
41. swimming at our apartment pool
42. frostings cupcakes and cookout milkshakes
43. seeing the Jefferson at Christmas
44. decorating gingerbread cookies with Anna and Ryan
45. exploring Carytown- the Byrd Theatre, bookstore, unique shops and more
46. the Irish parade
47. drinking hot cocoa and watching the snow fall
48. reuniting with Brittany in Blackburg
49. Olivia and Chad visiting for the day 
50. the VMFA
51. thrift shopping and yard sales
52. planning our anniversary and future vacations

More on our 1st year of marriage coming soon!

I want to start a new tradition: whenever we have a funny or special memory we will write it down and put it in a jar. Each anniversary, we will open up the jar and read the notes from the past year. What do you think??

June 5:

Highlights of 2012

2012 was a huge year for me and I am sad to see it go, but I can't wait to see what 2013 brings :) Here is a review of what 2012 meant to me. Enjoy! What are looking forward to most about the new year?

January:

• started my last semester at Virginia Tech
• kicked off the New Year in Carytown
• last day of working at J.Crew

March:

• was given an awesome bridal shower by my sister and best friends

April:

• participated in my last Relay for Life as a student
• did the 3.2 Run in Remembrance

May:

• Became an ALUMNI of Virginia Tech
• did a lot of last minute wedding planning
• had 2 more awesome wedding showers!

June: 

• MARRIED my best friend
• had a fabulous bachelorette party
• went our honeymoon cruise to the Caribbean
• moved to Richmond
• turned 22!

July:

• One of my beautiful friends got married (Chelsey and Sean)
• started this blog :)

August:

• started my new job at Courtney Ludeman Interiors

September:

• visited Blacksburg for the first time since graduation

October:

• Went to my first Highpoint Market

November:

• wedding dress shopping w/ Denise
• first Thanksgiving as a married couple

December:

• weekend getaway to Williamsburg
• met John and Sherry from Young House Love
• the hubby turned 24!
• celebrated being married for 6 months!
• our first married Christmas

Happy New Year!!

Weekend in Williamsburg

As I mentioned before, we spent the weekend in Williamsburg to celebrate Tim's birthday and our 6 month anniversary. I'm glad I planned ahead so that we could see a lot in a short amount of time. And we even made it to the outlets on Sunday :)

We headed for Williamsburg Saturday morning. Its so nice to be so close by in Richmond because we were there in no time. We walked around William and Mary's campus first. It was beautiful and so rich. The history of it just makes it so charming. It was a great (warm December) day for a visit.

I couldn't resist getting a pic of the old brick sidewalk.

This is the Wren Building (oldest one on campus- it was built between 1695 and 1700)

This was the inside set up as a museum now. This is how the old classrooms would have been set up.

Then we wandered over to Colonial Williamsburg. It was so crowded but worth it, especially because it was decorated for Christmas! It was pretty neat to step back in time.

And we spent the rest of the evening at Busch Gardens Christmastown! It was so magical with the whole park lit up. I loved going up the tower and overlooking the whole park. My favorite area was definitely Escape to Pompeii (thats in the last picture). It was breathtaking. If you are close by I would highly recommend going (unless you really hate crowds). 

YAY Coke!

What Christmas festivities have you done this year? Next on our list is the Tacky Lights tour!

XO Samantha