do you remember?

my dearest luftwaffe-

do you remember one year ago to this exact day and hour?
we were running around downtown salt lake city, freezing our bums off, watching the fireworks, while stealing kisses every chance possible.
what a perfect honeymoon.

can you believe it's already been a year since we sealed the deal of our lives?
one year since we promised to love each other for forever and nothing less.
it feels like it was just yesterday.

remember how early we had to wake up to get ready?
no wait, that was just me.
4:30 came much too soon after staying up until midnight to put the final touches on our reception decor.
remember picking me up from the hotel room where i was getting my hair done with the girls?
my heart skipped a beat when you walked through the door.
the day had finally come that i got you for keeps.
remember how late we were in getting to the temple?
it was a good thing they couldn't start things without us.
remember how beautiful our sealing was and how great it was to have our friends and family with us in the Lord's very own house on our very own wedding day?
remember how you stepped on and ripped my wedding dress in front of all of those said friends and family?
don't worry babe, there wasn't any major damage done.
remember how cold it was taking pictures outside?
it chills me to the bone just thinking about it.
remember how perfect merilee made our luncheon?
remember all the wonderful things that our loved ones said about us there?
do you remember how handsome you looked in your air force blues?
it still melts my heart.
remember how great our reception looked?
i couldn't have asked for it to have turned out any better.
do you remember all the people that came to wish us well on our special day?
remember the great food that was served?
me neither.
next time we get married, let's be sure to eat some of our own food that we took weeks to plan out.
remember the drive up to salt lake and the countless number of times we looked at each other and yelled, "we're married!"?
remember getting to the hotel room, you in your tux and i in my dress, and hearing all the oohs and ahhs from passerbys?
remember the first thing we did {well, almost the first thing ;)} was order pizza because we were starving?
remember the feeling of being able to snuggle up and fall asleep, knowing that we'd never have to say goodbye and part ways again?

oh how in love i was with you that day and how even more in love with you i am today.
happy {late} anniversary honey.
thanks for one fabulous year.

love,
your wife

top five friday

#1. zooey deschanel. she has come a long way since 'elf' if i do say so myself. i've seen her in movies like 'yes man', '(500) days of summer', 'failure to launch', etc., but my all-time fav is her tv show 'new girl'. oh my hilarious! you've got to watch it. i think if i could have any actress' hair, it would definitely be hers. what i wouldn't give to be able to pull off those gorgeous front bangs! anyway, since this weekend is new years', it just so happens that i came across zooey and joseph gordon-leavitt performing a cover of 'what are you doing new years eve?'. i thought it was too cute not to share, so i hope you enjoy it as much as i did:

#2. one of my good friends from high school got hitched today! this is kind of a bittersweet top five. i am so so happy for shandi and her beau, but boy would i give anything to be with them on this special day. they are basically a match made in heaven. they dated throughout high school, he left on an lds mission and they kept in contact and then she left on a mission too and when she came home, they got engaged within weeks. such a cute couple and i'm sure she made a beautiful bride today. congrats shandi. love ya girl!

#3. these boots. they will most definitely be a near-future purchase.

#4. this photo found on ellen degeneres's facebook page:

she posted it and said, "people need to realize that a diamond isn't the only thing that's forever." *laughs* seriously though...who would make something so pointless into a tattoo? if you're going to get one and especially that big, at least make it worth it!

and coming in at #5, {last the best of all the game} was the greatest, most wonderful thing that happened to me this week - being able to celebrate my one year anniversary with my honey!

we went to san fran and oh. my. gosh. it was one of the best vacations i've ever been on. it was like a second honeymoon! there will be more pictures and stories to come soon. i promise.

i hope you all have a wonderful and happy new year and that you get lots of treats from the new year's fairy. over and out.

-the wife

merry christmas.

hope you had a fabulous day!
we sure did.
it was filled with sunshine, good friends, lots of food, and sandy toes.

wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season from the west coast.

love,
the averetts

top five friday.

i'm going to try something a little different here on the blog.
this is my introduction to "top five friday"; a weekly post where i will share five things that i love.

here are this week's:

#1. zachary and i both didn't have to work today. {and don't have to for two weeks. holla!}

#2. this video from david archuleta:

isn't that just the sweetest thing ever? i may or may not have cried a little with him the first time i saw it.

#3. these super easy christmas tags:

after using up our entire christmas budget, i realized we forgot to buy present tags. what's cheaper AND cuter than some kraft paper already on hand and stamps?

#4. this photo found on pinerest, captioned "this is why you marry your best friend."

pretty much sums it up. i'm so glad i married my best friend that makes me laugh everyday.

#5. new jammies. we do a christmas pj swap every year and i've dubbed these as the ones i want. think this is a big enough hint to the hubs to let him know which ones to get?

{found at target.com}

what are your favorite things this friday?

-the wife

27.

someone had a birthday yesterday.
and i'm not talking just any someone, but a very special someone.
my handsome husband turned a whopping 27!
we've kind of made it a tradition that the birthday boy or girl gets breakfast in bed on their big day.
german pancakes to be exact.
sad story though - i set my alarm to wake up with enough time to make everything and catch him before he got up and in the middle of the night....my phone died. {if only i had a dollar for everytime that happened.}
i guess whether it's breakfast in bed or breakfast at the table, it all tastes the same right?

i gave it my best shot in trying to be creative this year. and by creative, i actually mean snagging an idea from 'the dating divas' and customizing it. his present consisted of a flow of presents all day long in the form of envelopes.



there was one envelope for each hour of the day, that he got to open on that hour.
the envelopes consisted of an iTunes gift card, coupons for a "man night" or dinner date, etc., a "choose a gift" card, and letters from nearly our entire family!
i really couldn't thank both our families enough for helping me.
it meant so much to hear from all of them and will definitely be something he will remember.

since we both had to work all day, it was nice to be able to send him on his way with a few envelopes, so he could still open presents when i wasn't with him!

the moment he got home though, we went to dinner at Yanagi Sushi and Grill.

fun fact about zachary: he love love LOVES sushi.

fun fact about me: i don't.

and yet, it was still incredibly delicious.

{zachary drinking his miso soup aka tofu and dirt.}

{yes, vegetable sushi is still sushi.}

to top it all off, we had some friends over tonight to eat cake and ice cream. {while watching the biggest loser. oxymoron?}

{can you believe he was able to actually blow all of those out? sheesh.}

after all was said and done, i think my favorite present was the remote control helicopter:

we played with it for hours after opening it. {we're children at heart.}

it wasn't even my birthday and i had a fabulous day.

i am so grateful for my charming man and for the things he does for me everyday.

he really is the best thing that's ever happened to me.

happy birthday, babe.

i can't wait to spend many more together!

-the wife

o christmas tree, o christmas tree...

we've tried super hard to make it feel like christmas here. it feels so different having sunshine and 60 degree weather in december. {i really can't complain} we've tried to decorate and do christmas activites to get us in the mood though and we even got our very first christmas tree! behold:

ain't she a beaut? i got all excited at the beginning of the month thinking it would be cool if i made all of our ornaments. yes, those are homemade, but as you can see, there is a serious lack in the number of them.i got so burned out in making things these last couple weeks that i don't even care how shabby it looks anymore. all that matters is that it is a real tree and nothing less. {i joke, i joke. fake trees are cool too...kind of.} although i am mighty proud of that tree skirt. lots of fabric and multiple hot glue burns later gives you this:

i followed this pattern and thought it didn't turn out half bad. i've seen it in burlap and red too and it's super cute.

i'd be lying if i said the holidays aren't making me a bit homesick. we agreed on going home for thanksgiving and staying here for christmas, since the air force wasn't going to give zachary much time off. so i was sad not to be with our family, but at the same time i was super excited to have our very first {married} christmas together and be able to start our own traditions. now i just want to bag the whole idea and drive to utah tomorrow. good thing zachary is planning us a sa-weet anniversary trip three days later, or i might do just that.

anyway, happy sunday.
i hope it was merry and bright.

-the wife.

i believe...

...people wearing santa hats around town is adorable.

...money creates way too much stress for a person to handle.

...i should never have been introduced to jack in the box. i'm now an addict.

...in kissing hello and goodbye.

...decorating for christmas has exhausted my creativity fund. and my bank account.

...car shopping is a pain in the #$%.

...scentsy is a dream in a warmer dish. i'm obssessed.

...this {almost} one year of marriage has been the best and craziest year of my life.

...ellen degeneres is one of the funniest people i've ever seen. seriously. how does she come up with this stuff?

...a trip to europe is in order next year.

...talking with meg clifford at work makes the day go by much faster.

...back tickling from the hubs in the middle of the night because of a bad dream is like heaven.

...the soundtrack to breaking dawn part one is a much needed future purchase.

...cake and ice cream for dinner is okay.

...shopping for gifts is hard.

...watching movies and snuggling are necessary to maintaining sanity.

...pinterest could possibly be the greatest invention ever.

...everyone has a hard life. be kind.

what do you believe in?

i'm a working girl.

i start my new job today.

wish me luck!

"jetta"

do you remember a few months back when we got a dog? no? oh, that's right. that's because we bought her and sold her before i even had time to blog about her. here's jetta:

cute right? don't be fooled. after chewing on everything i owned and peeing every time she looked at zachary, we just couldn't keep her. she had to have been the most independent dog in the world and could care less that we took care of her. i think we just jumped into things too fast and didn't take time to actually think about the consequences. she has kind of ruined us for the time being for ever wanting a dog. i hope and pray that changes someday!

-sarah

just a mushy love shpeel.

my boy started his first day of school today.
i made sure to buy him some brown paper bags to carry his lunch in along with a baggie full of keebler cookies - one of his favs.
i can't believe how grown up he is! *tear*

but, in all seriousness, i am so stinkin' proud of that man that it really does almost bring me to tears.
i won't turn this into a "my-husband-is-better-than-your-husband" story, but i will say this: he is one hard workin' dude.
he's woken up at the crack of dawn every day this week and still comes home happy.
i'm grateful for everything he provides for us and his unconditional love.
he's definitely got this husband thing down to a t.
that's all.

-the wife