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

in recent news...

we have had an eventful couple of weeks. so eventful, that this post is probably going
to be way too long to keep you entertained. in attempts to avoid boring you to death,
i will just tell you about the highlights of our experience!

you are welcome.

1. we were able to go to utah to attend alex and jodi's wedding! oh my goodness, this
wedding was so beautiful! don't ask me why, but i didn't take any pictures.
i am sure kickin' myself now! here are a few though, compliments of my sister-in-law...

don't they just look so in love! i am so happy for them!

our very large family!

 zachary, me, and arika at the luncheon.

my beautiful sister-in-law, arika, and her parade of boys...just kidding!

these are her brothers.

arent they so handsome?

2. all of the averett siblings got together to have a memorial night for their mom.

she passed away 6 years ago almost to this day. they shared stories and memories

about her and everyone made a dish for dinner that reminded them of her.

it was an incredible experience for those of us that never had the chance to know her!

back l to r: arika, alex, jodi, michelle, kelby, me, autumn, and deven.

front l to r: jayden, kloie, papa averett, triston, and brin.

{we skyped/called zachary}

3. i got to go to ephraim and spend time with my family and friends!

 i got to go to lunch with my wonderful parents!

 i helped my brother paint his house.

 and i was reunited with this girl!

 ...and ate way too much junk food. we are really good at that.

4. i was able to see my aunt and cousin when i got back to alabama.

i haven't seen them in almost ten years!

5. my cute boy graduated from asbc!

6. we made the long trek from montgomery to del rio. we stayed at air force bases along
the way and tried to make a vacation out of it. my favorite part was when we stayed in
mississippi. we went to the beach that night and just laid there, cuddling and talking,
while we listened to the ocean waves. i'm so glad i married such a romantacist.

{i could just eat him up!}

this was when we went to the back bay restaurant in gulf port, ms.

story time:

i look at the menu here and decide to get a chicken wrap.

i tell the waitress what i want and she stops and looks at me and says,

"honey, you are at a seafood restaurant.

you have to get some seafood."

{sidenote: i hate seafood.}

i kindly tell her that i am not a fan and i will stick with what i had in mind.

she was very adamant that i had to try some seafood though and wouldn't let it go.

zachary gets after me about being "close minded" when it comes to food.

so after all of her coaxing and persuading and a guarantee to be able to get

something else if i didn't like it, i ordered the special of the day:

mahi mahi topped with shrimp and vegetables.

one bite and i thought, "okay maybe seafood isn't all so bad."

two bites..."this is funny tastin'."

three bites..."i may just hurl."

i can honestly say that i gave it my best shot,

but i just couldn't stomach it.

i didn't want to be rude, so i thought i would just try to bear it.

that is until the lady next to us got up to leave with her husband.

she excused herself and told me almost sternly, that if i didn't like my meal,

i had darn well better get something different because that waitress talked

me into getting what i did.

i don't think i would have done anything about it if she hadn't said something.

zachary found someone and they kindly gave me a different meal.

needless to say, we didn't see our waitress much for the rest of the night.

moral of the story: don't let anyone talk you into getting something that you
know you don't like!

moral two of the story: don't be a push over! it gets you nowhere in life.

7. we are now official texans! we made it to laughlin afb yesterday and so far,

everything is going really well. we took some time to drive around town yesterday and it

is actually a lot better than we were expecting. it feels like we are living in a little mexico!

we can't move into our house for a couple of weeks, but we just found out that we

get a 3 bedroom/2 bath house. we are really excited about all of the room!!

as for now, we will spend our time gorging ourselves with these yummy mexican candies...

and seeing this every night...

-the wife

 p.s. we are looking at getting a puppy. so far, we are leaning most toward one of these

white german shepherds...

your thoughts??

do you believe in magic?

i sure do now!

to me, magic is waiting your entire life for your wedding day
and having it go perfectly.
magic is being able to spend time with more family and friends
than imaginable and relishing every moment of it.
and lastly, magic is leaving the party that was thrown just for
you and your honey and being ten times more in LOVE than
when the day began.

everything was so wonderful all day long.
i've heard so many times that it can be a stressful day and we may
not even have time to think of each other,
but it wasn't like that at all!
i owe it all to my handsomely incredible husband.

{husband}
        that is so fun to say!!

i have an overwhelmingly extreme feeling of love.
it feels like i am going to burst at the seams any minute now.
this boy that i have been in love with for months is
finally mine forever!!

being married is everything i could ever want and more
and our wedding day will most definitely go down in history as
the most magical day of my life!

{more pictures to follow shortly}

-the wife