anniversaried

A year and a week ago, this happened, and it was really great:

Also, this picture happened, and it is one of my favorites:

I kid you not when I say that it (aka getting married to D-Top on the Hizzop) was the best decision I've ever made, even though at the time, I was scared to death since life was changing around me way too fast (word to the wise: if you want to go on a crazy roller coaster ride, get married and go to law school soon after. You will have FUN). BUT I will say that I was not scared about marrying this guy:

Not only has he proven to be the best cheerleader (sans pom poms), but he has also proven to be an even more awesome person than I thought he was when we first started dating five years ago. Rock star? Yes (both literally (a la Guitar Hero) and metaphorically (a la pure awesomeness)). Superhero who can work full-time and go to school full-time and still get better grades than me? Yes. Gourmet chef? We're working on that . . . (and actually, David is fantastic - one of my favorite things is when we make dinner together. We make an awesome team).

To commemorate these events, David and I celebrated last weekend (sort of). In reality, we had a family reunion/wedding to go to in Arizona, and so that's what we did. I will be honest and say that at first, I was a little bummed, especially since I had imagined that our first anniversary celebration would go down differently. BUT our little trip was fantastic, and I cannot complain when I say that our first anniversary was perfect.

Last Thursday (the night before our anniversary), we drove down to Cedar City with David's brother and his wife, and convinced them to go see a play at the Shakespeare festival. We saw Love's Labour's Lost. I will say that it wasn't my most favorite play, not because the acting wasn't good, but because it is one of Shakespeare's stranger comedies (and I mean stranger in the sense that it isn't really a comedy at all. Not only does it not end in a marriage, but the women tell the men "Hasta la vista!" for a year to prove the men's faithfulness. The ending saddened me, mostly because I didn't have very much faith in the male characters). Despite my problems with the script, the staging (Regency Era (a la Jane Austen and the rise of the witty woman)) and acting were awesome.

We also snagged a picture in the gift shop wearing these:

The next day (our anniversary), we drove the rest of the way to Mesa, Arizona. Along the way, we ate Chik-fil-A as a partial celebration of our wedding day (quick story: the night of our wedding, David and I were starving. After our reception ended, David's best man and brother bought us Chik-fil-A chicken sandwiches (with pickles). I'm not even joking when I say that those were the best chicken sandwiches I have ever eaten. To commemorate those awesome sandwiches, David and I ate some on our anniversary. And they were still just as good as I remembered them).

We also had dinner with all of David's family to celebrate his grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary. It was great, and I mean that sincerely. I know his grandparents really appreciated having so much of their family there (especially since most of their children and grandchildren live out of state). There was a really neat feeling of love during that dinner, and because of that, I realized that I was being selfish for coveting our anniversary. Long story short, I'm grateful we spent our anniversary with such awesome people who have created such an awesome family.

The following day (the day after our anniversary), David's cousin got married. We spent the morning in the Mesa Arizona Temple (I want to go back there someday and see more of it - it's really pretty on the inside), and after the ceremony and pictures ended, we spent the rest of the day at David's grandparents' house. It was also this hot outside:

And it was still hot when we went to the reception that night. The reception was really gorgeous - David's aunt and uncle have the perfect backyard for an outdoor reception (except for the fact that it was so hot). Still, it was fun to be with family and hang out with them that night.

And then we drove home! Huzzah for an anniversary and a vacation! Though things didn't happen the way I had imagined, it was still a great weekend. I feel like I learned a lot about not being selfish and gained a new perspective on the importance of family. Plus, I'm super grateful for David and his family. They are the best!

P.S. I apologize for stealing so many pictures from family members. If you object to this stealing, let me know and I can uninclude them from this post.