Dave and I celebrated our first anniversary last week. It was a fun milestone. The time passed quickly and we both feel like we squeezed as much adventure into this year as we could. We spent the day remembering different experiences of the past year. Dave woke me up before dawn to hike up Ensign Peak for a picnic breakfast with the sunrise. Daybreak has a special significance for us- we fell in love watching the sunrise every morning on a trip to Mexico in the beginning of our relationship. Also, he proposed to me on top of Timp during the sunrise.
We had previously decided that we wanted to abide the traditional gift list: first year is paper.
It was fun to try and come up with something meaningful that we could do with paper. Dave wrote me a series of cards that compiled into a fabulous poem reflecting back on the year. I decided to write him a little book about my side of our love story. Here’s a good part:
“There was something special about that five second exchange. Once I met Dave, a little piece of my brain started working in a way it never had before, and though I went about my normal life that week, there was a part of my subconscious that was intent on finding out more about him. I was happy to see him in church the next week. This time he sat with Gordon Canada, who was a good friend of mine. After sacrament meeting I was introduced for the second time, and this time that little piece of my subconscious became fully activated, sent a shock to my heart, and I made a rash decision: I was going to marry this boy.
It’s too bad that there is so much formality and social protocol that goes into courting. If I had been able to follow the spark in my heart, I would have wrapped him up in my arms, kissed him right there in the chapel, and told him that I would be his forever if he’d have me. Even I am a little too conventional for that. I did, however make a sort of mental assessment of the situation. I was convinced this was my prince. He was unaware that I was single, let alone struck with Cupid’s arrow for him. It would be a windy road to the altar, but I would be socially savvy like any other smart girl and wait for him to call. And wait for him to call. And wait for him to call. “
It is always fun to have a reason to look back over experiences and memories. Life gets so busy and crazy that I sometimes forget to enjoy the little moments that create all of the goodness in living. Our anniversary was a good time to remember how fun life is…the good and the bad and the strange. It’s all a part of the journey.
