Our 1 Year Anniversary

       YES, you read the title right! Dave and I are celebrating our 1 year Anniversary. My first thought about this is, how did this year go by SO fast!? I mean really. So much has happened this year! Our first two months of our marriage we spent 5,000 miles away from each other as we did all the paperwork to get me over to Italy. Then a month after moving to Italy he went to a training rotation in Germany for the upcoming deployment for a month. However, we can't complain too much because in the 5 months that we were able to spend with each other we were able to squeeze in MANY trips. We took our Honeymoon (also known as Pre-deployment block leave lol) to Marbella, Spain and Morocco. We flew back to the States for our "Big" wedding. We drove to Switzerland to tour a chocolate factory and finally to France for a Normandy/Paris tour. Then in July we had to say our "see you laters" again for a 9 month tour in Afghanistan. WHAT A YEAR! We've always heard that the first year of marriage is the hardest but I tell you what, we kicked this first years booty! Here's some of my favorite photos from this year:

 

We went skiing in the Dolomites

Marbella, Spain for our Honeymoon

We rode Camels in Morocco

Drove to Montreux, Switzerland for a chocolate factory tour

Flew to France for a Normandy and Paris tour

And spent many HOT summer days at the local rivers

   So most everyone knows our situation at the current moment so it goes without saying that he will not be here to celebrate the "normal" way. What I mean by "normal" is the Civilian way. But we aren't a "normal" couple and that's quite alright! So how are we celebrating? Well over Skype! Unfortunately, we won't get to Skype on our Anniversary so we went  ahead and had our Anniversary Skype date on December 12th.
    Dave and I decided to follow the traditional wedding gifts for our Anniversaries. With that being said the first year's gift is something paper. I made Dave a calendar of our year together and added in important dates but more importantly our family members Birthdays (because he forgets)....But Dave, well he went above and beyond. About a week or so ago I picked up a medium sized cardboard box at our Post office that he sent from Afghanistan. I shook it around and tried to figure out what was in it because truthfully I am like a child when it comes to gifts!

 I waited for about a week with this gift under our Christmas tree. Today I got to open it! What I found inside is the most amazing gift that he could ever think of. Here they are:

 My husband made me origami roses, spray painted them and added stems. I am so impressed with is craftsmanship and his creativity. He is truly amazing and needless to say, they made me cry! He also sent a Kindle along with these beautiful flowers.

 This year has been the most amazing year of my life..Even with the unusual circumstances, there's no one I'd rather go through it with than my very best friend and husband. I am so in love with him and there's no words to describe how much I love this man. All I can say is that I am so extremely blessed to have him in my life and I cannot wait to spend many many more years celebrating our Anniversaries together. 

 I love you Dave, with all my heart.