Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever After!

365 days ago today I married the man of my dreams. He is my best friend, my confidant, my lover (sorry mom). In the past year he has exceeded any expectations I had of a husband. Foster is my rock. He pulls me up when I have sunk so low that I don't feel I will ever get out. He makes me laugh with the corniest jokes, and can make me feel absolutely content just siting next to him in silence on a long drive or on the couch together. I feel whole when I am with him. I can't explain it, I never actually thought I would ever find that "true love" that you see in movies, but that is truly what I have. We hardly ever fight, except if I go off on a drunk tangent, and we are really one of "those" couples that would much rather spend time with each other than anyone else in the world.

A prime example of what an amazing husband he is; I have mentioned this before,when I have drill weekend, he takes care of the household chores. I walked in last night to deer meat tacos. They were amazing! I was so happy that dinner was made and I didn't have to worry about it, and Foster was quite proud of his dinner choice. 

Today Foster and I revisited the restaurant that we had our first date. It is an delicious Greek place. I t was great to go back to the place that set the tone for our relationship.

After dinner, Foster and I headed home to start our new Anniversary tradition. We decorated our tree. Foster is known as being a bah-humbug kind of guy. I would even go as far to call him a grinch. He likes to shop and spend a little money on the family, but when it comes to decorating and music, he would rather not participate. However, tonight he was a great sport. He downloaded the Transiberian Ochestra, poured us each a glass of wine, rigged the tree topper, and assisted me in my tree trimming. I know, being his wife for a whole year now, that he probably did all this just to please me, but I love him all the more for it. If you have read the book "The Five Languages of Love", you would know that it is sometimes better for your relationship to do things you don't like in order to please your spouse. This in turn keeps them happy and then they want to keep you happy. This was probably one of those instances, but that just proves what an amazing husband he is.

It's funny, I never enjoyed decorating my parents' tree after I hit 13 years old. However, there is someting different about decorating your own. Now, don't laugh when I show you pictures, but we had 2  strands of lights for the tree already, but had to head to the store to get a third. I got "white" lights. Little did I know, that LED and regular lights are going to glow a very different "white". I wrapped the lights around the tree, and this is what happened:

I LOVE it! Although they are different colors, it is still perfect in my eyes, because it is our first Christmas tree. Just like our first year of marriage, our Christmas tree is not perfect. It is a little flawed. I think our Christmas tree is a perfect reflection of our first year as husband and wife. There were so many VERY bright moments in this year, but unfortunately, along with those came some dark moments too. The varying brightness in lights represents this. Rosie has been very prominent in our lives although she doesn't reside here on earth with us, just like she is present on our tree:

Our pasts are represented,

One of Foster's ornaments growing up

our present,

an ornament for our beautiful pup Reagan

Foster bought me this one in New Orleans this past week.

and  the star at the top represents the hope that we have for the future.

Here are just a few of the other ornaments that adorn our tree.

The full Irish blessing on an Celtic Cross

Foster had this personalized with our wedding date on the side of it

The Claddagh has a special meaning for Foster and me.

an Irish blessing

My Irish angel

As you can see there is a trend. I LOVE my Irish heritage. It is so rich with tradition and history, and I am not just talking about the drinking part. I love everything about it, and I am sure my little Irish angel is up there looking over her mom and dad as they try to have the closest thing to a normal Christmas they can without her.