1 year of marriage.

June 29, 2013

"You may have noticed that the books you really love are bound together by a secret thread. You know very well what is the common quality that makes you love them, though you cannot put it into words...Are not all lifelong friendships born at the moment when at last you meet another human being who has some inkling...of that something which you were born desiring..." -C.S. Lewis

Braden is the only person in the world who so closely shares that secret thread with me. I can pinpoint the moment I realized this. It was an email Braden sent me on June 28, 2011. We had spent a lot of time together at school and gone on several dates but I was at home for the summer and was moving to Texas the next week to begin graduate school. Braden wanted me to visit his home in Rhode Island and I was resisting because of the timing and circumstances. He sent me an email explaining his feelings and that secret thread suddenly became so evident. That thing that can't be put into words. His last sentence was "Please come." 2 years and 1 day later we were married.

Three weeks ago we celebrated our 1-year wedding anniversary. What a year it has been. When we moved to New York we were newly married. We had so much to figure out together. We navigated everything from finding a new church family to mastering the subway system and figuring out how to use the laundromat. But, oh, how we have so much more to figure out. Luckily, we have the rest of our lives to work on this marriage thing! It is the most sacred endeavor I have ever entered aside from following God. Braden and I view marriage as an absolute forever and I feel beyond blessed to live the ups and downs with this human being who somehow gets me.

To celebrate our anniversary, Braden and I had a little Kentucky getaway. We started by exploring Mammoth Cave National Park where we took the "Dooms and Dripstones" tour.  Entering a 400-mile system of caves is not for the faint of heart! You enter what is known as the "new entrance" (By "new" they mean it was discovered in 1920's) by descending 280 stairs through vertical shafts. The stairs are so narrow you have to walk in a single-file line. Before entering, they warn everyone that evacuation from the cave to a hospital could take several hours. They also reiterate that this tour is not for those with fear of heights or claustrophobia. It was intense! But we loved seeing the beautiful caverns. It is incredible to think that the stunning and enormous Mammoth Cave is hidden away under the earth.

After Mammoth Cave we made the 2 hour drive back to Louisville where we leisurely sipped lattes and perused books at Heine Brothers' Coffee and the adjoining bookshop. This was probably the best part of our entire trip. I just love drinking a good latte with no place to be. It's the absolute best. Plus Heine Brothers' is organic fair trade and everything tastes divine. Wish we had one in NYC! After coffee we headed to our hotel. This was our first time staying in a hotel without family since our wedding and I was so excited! We had a pretty small budget for our getaway so we used Priceline to find a 4-star hotel downtown. It worked out really well and we had a great time staying at Hyatt next to 4th Street Live. We walked to The Spaghetti Factory for dinner, marveled at how cheap it is compared to eating out in New York, and spent the rest of the evening swimming in the hotel pool. We also read notes of encouragement and advice that friends and family wrote at our wedding! Guests wrote notes to us for our honeymoon, 1-year anniversary, and 5-year anniversary. It was so fun to finally get to read the 2nd set of notes and was a great way to relive the wedding.

The next morning we drove to Kentucky Kingdom for a day of throwback fun. Well, throwback for me. I grew up spending summers running around Kentucky Kingdom with my friends. It has been closed since 2009 and recently reopened so I was super pumped to share it with Braden. But it wasn't quite as glorious as I remembered :) We were also probably the oldest people the park (aka, not high schoolers). Still, we had a blast riding rides and playing in the new water park area. The best part? They added a sea lion show!!

This trip was such a blessing after originally thinking Braden would need to be working in New York on our anniversary while I stayed in Kentucky. It really reminded me of the importance of getting away and kicking back every once in a while. After our trip we drove with Emily and Tyler to Missouri where we spent a few days with my Grandmother and parents, then drove back to Kentucky for the 4th of July weekend, and finally made the 11+ hour drive back to NYC. Such a busy but fun way to kick off the summer with my husband of 1 year!

This bus took us deep into the woods to start our cave tour

No trip to Mammoth Cave is complete without the obligatory picture outside of Dinosaur World

A look down at the lobby of our hotel

A view of Kentucky Kingdom from the top of the ferris wheel

Sea lion show! Probably where I would work if I'd stayed in Kentucky :) 

On the road again! Headed to Portageville, MO to visit my grandmother

Roadtrip view

Visiting my friend Krista and her husband, Austin. Krista and I were the new kids on the 1st day of 5th grade together!

Getting ready for Independence Day fireworks in LaGrange with Tyler's family

We visited The Frazier Historical Museum, The Kentucky Show!, and Kentucky Science Center during our last day in Louisville. If you're ever there check out Museum Row on Main. It's 10 attractions within 4 walkable blocks for just $30! Wish we'd had more time to visit them all!

Kristin & Rodney's wedding.

High school friends at Kristin's wedding. June 28, 2014. 

We have been so busy traveling since school got out and so much has happened that I’ve almost dreaded writing about it all. But I want to remember everything, so here goes. I’ll begin with Part I: Kristin’s Wedding (You can read about my friend, Kristin, here). Here are some highlights from the weekend:

•      A 14 hour drive from NY to KY.
•      Throwing a small lingerie party immediately after getting out of the car.
•     Working with Emily and Kristin to make all of the flower arrangements (we had no clue what we were doing and I think they turned out pretty darn good!).
•     Going through the rehearsal and realizing just how magical the ceremony would be if the rain would hold off (we had a 50/50 chance of thunderstorms).
•     Spending the entire wedding day with Kristin, getting our hair done, taking pictures with her amazing photographer, Katie (who happens to be an old high school friend!) and watching Braden bloom into a wedding videographer.
•     Saying after out very last picture, “Does that sound like rain in the distance?” and then stupidly standing around until suddenly it was down pouring on us, running toward the castle (did I mention the girls got ready in a castle!?), squealing “Cover the bride!” stopping to take my heels off so I could run faster, and being tackled from behind, by the bride, who did not realize I had stopped.
•    Laughing over and over about above incident.
•     Being SO nervous about the fact that it was practically monsooning at the time the ceremony was supposed to start. Meanwhile, Kristin was so calm!
•     The sunshine finally coming out and having the ceremony outdoors! It was incredibly beautiful and Kristin’s entrance was perfect.
•    Kristin’s new stepdaughters, Brittany and Trinity, fist-bumping as they walked back down the aisle when the ceremony ended.
•     Tyler and Amanda singing their own version of a Backstreet Boys song for their toast
•     Dancing the night away with my cute date who makes every wedding super fun
•     Watching Kristin and Rodney have one last dance together after everyone had left to gather for the exit
•     Failed attempts at convincing Kristin not to bring her stuffed bear on the honeymoon! 

Whew! I thought I would just share a few highlights, but as you can see, this really was such a special wedding to be a part of. My only regret was forgetting to eat the cake! ;) I couldn’t be happier for Kristin to have found her guy and I know they will have a lifetime of good times together. Rodney came as a package deal with twin daughters and it has been sweet to watch them turn into a new family. Kristin will be an amazing step-mom! The one thing that stood out to me the most throughout the wedding weekend was the way that Kristin was constantly checking in on everyone around her, making sure they were happy and comfortable. Her first thought was always others, even on her wedding day. I’m honored and blessed to you as a friend, Kristin! Congratulations on your marriage!

The day after Kristin’s wedding happened to be our 1-year wedding anniversary. I will pick up there in the next post. Until then!