Happy One Year

So it was a big weekend!  Yes, it’s been a while since my last post, but that’s because I’ve been holding out to write this doozy of a post!

Two awesome moments to celebrate this past weekend!!

Half of the reason I am here to write this blog for you is because of my amazing dad.  My dad and I share a bond that I couldn’t be more thankful for!  I have amazing willpower to do anything I set my mind to thanks to him, a love of any and ALL food, an ability to read so many different personality types, and I am great at managing money!  Aside from these upstanding qualities I have so honestly inherited from him, we have shared rides in the Jeep on the beach, walked the wall at the beach, and walked most of the coastline from Kure Beach to the edge of the Steele Pier in Carolina Beach together, and of course one of the best walks we have taken together was down the aisle on my wedding day- which so conveniently connects this post together! Oh… And I may have also inherited a love of ice cream from him…. (Big fan of that love!)

So… Happy Father’s Day, Dad! Love ya!

  

Will and I have officially earned the “one-year married” title… And we have an infinite number of those titles to continue earning- something I CANNOT wait to do.  Last year at this time we enjoyed one of the best weekes of our lives together- we got married!  But aside from that mile marker in our lives, we did it with family and friends by our sides.  Before I update our one-year anniversary weekend together… I want to reminisce about that time!

Here are my parents-

  

Mom- this truly will remain one of my favorite pictures of us.  I clearly get my creativeness, kind-heart, and persistence from you- three things that Will has complimented me on time and time again… So he and I BOTH thank you for that!  I’m glad that my something old and something blue could be a nod to your garter! =)

Dad- what a great picture of our dancing! Music is definitely a big part of our relationship and sharing our favorite songs, bands, and more- so I am so glad we were able to have a dance together!

Here are Will’s parents:

Ann- Will most certainly got his sweet, patient personality from you, and I LOVE it! It certainly is a great balance to my personality that can be high-strung at times!

Ted- Will’s personality, expressions, and mannerisms are SO much like yours!  It certainly makes for an entertaining husband who doesn’t mind bein goofy at times… Or really anytime!

Both sets of our parents have left a tremendous example of a great marriage for us both!  The fact that we both come from parents who have seen several anniversaries and share in the good and bad times is amazing! Marriage is work, but it’s also a blessing and an incredible experience that we have witnessed first hand from you!

We were also joined by my Nana, Grandma and Grandpa, and Will’s grandparents John and Ann King- all of which also have amazing marriages to admire and learn from!!

Our siblings, aunts and uncles, cousins, best friends, and friends that are chosen family also joined in on the fun!  This might be one of my favorite pictures from the night-

So now that we have relived the night together, read on to see what we did this past weekend to celebrate!

We decided that since we are on the “roller coaster ride of life” together, we may as well go ride roller coasters to celebrate! Fitting, right?!

Soooo of course we had to video part of one of the roller coaster rides! (Don’t worry, it wasn’t an upside down one!)

 

Really, we just laughed a lot, and how great is Will’s laugh?!

Here are some pictures…

  

(The amusement park we went to by the way was Magic Springs is Hot Springs, AR.  It is a smaller park, but being used to large parks made the lines seem so short!)

I had the bright idea while we were there to attempt to climb the rope ladder.  Apparently I was going to have the skills to do it… I was sadly disappointed… Will also videoed the whole thing, but it’s not the most flattering view, so you just get the picture version:

I got a sympathy prize though! In my book that’s still a WIN!

Will got stuck in his seat on me of the roller coasters and just looked like a big baby.  They attendant actually had to come unlock his seat for him!

 

SOOO that’s not all folks! To complete our Hot Springs Anniversary, we stayed at the historical Arlington!  It really was beautiful!  Check it out:

 It’s found on Bath House Row. (Pictures of our last trip to Hot Springs for a wedding on FaceBook show a lot more of Bath House Row)

The inside of the hotel was really pretty as well! The elevators had the turning dials to signify the floor, there were natural springs to supply the water fountains, live music and pretty walking trails behind the hotel!

 

 We had dinner at Ronaldo’s! (Our first restaurant called and cancelled our reservations and closed for the night!)

  (The guacamole was fantastic! Favorite part of the meal!  The salsa in the background would be a close second!)

Of course we found ice cream for dessert!  The dessert of champions!  It came from a place came Kilwins that makes their own ice cream; something I can appreciate!  It’s based out of Michigan which was right up Will’s alley!  They had his childhood favorite- Blue Moon.  To me it tasted like sprite flavored ice cream.  I had Makinac Island Fudge, which was great!

 The next morning we got up and had breakfast at the Pancake Shop.  I got an omlet, Will actually got pancakes.  The video is just funny because of Will’s expressions! (He had no clue I was videoing.).  Anddddd the picture is great because of the random guy in the background!

We also had a cupcake from Fat-Bottomed Girls which has been featured on Foot Network’s “Cupcake Wars.”

Of course we took some old western saloon photos!  It was actually a lot of fun!

We completed the trip when we got home by going to Kathryn’s on Moon Lake for dinner.  We had a slice of cake from our top tier, wine from one of the bottles left over from our rehearsal dinner, and we dressed up!  So as I say farewell and thanks for reading pictures from dinner! And one of a coke I found for Will!

    

  Happy Anniversary to us!!