One year ago today we stood on the Oregon Coast and said, “I do.” It’s crazy how time flies. It was an eventful year, even if it feels like it passed in the blink of an eye.
We’ve decided (or I’ve decreed) that we will have two annual traditions. The first is a yearly photo and each year we will hold last year’s photo. I stole the idea from Pinterest. Dennis thinks it might be “over done” but it’s still a cute idea. So this morning we headed to the backyard, set the selfie timer, and snapped a shot, while holding an 8×10 of a photo from the wedding. 
The second tradition is an annual “State of the Union” where we talk about what went well, what we need to work on, and make sure we’re both still feeling good about us. The first part of our summit was remembering what significant and/or particularly memorable things happened since this time last year.
At first it seemed liked a cheesy idea to have a State of the Union but I’m really glad we did. It’s amazing how much cool stuff happened that we had forgotten about! I’m glad we took the time to think about what happened last year. There were a lot of highlights but here are some:
- We traveled (a lot!) to:
- Hood River, OR
- Philly, PA
- Dallas, TX
- Hershey, PA
- Asheville, NC
- West Virginia
- Michigan
- The Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam (AZ)
- Bearizona!
- and Las Vegas, NV (to name a few)
- We got a new kitten (Eleanor!)
- We moved from Mt. Pleasant to the 11th Street Corridor
- We bought an absurdly expensive and absolutely worth it king-size, memory foam bed
- Our little sister, Andrea, (she’s my sister now, too!) joined the Peace Corps and left for Ethiopia
- Dennis started his manuscript
It’s funny because we totally meant to travel less last year and focus on saving up a downpayment for a house, but we both get the bug to get out of DC and find ourselves planning trips to random spots. This coming year we are doing automatic withdraws from checking to saving in order to focus more on that down payment, but I’m sure we’ll still have to figure out a way to finance some travel. And we need to visit Andrea in Ethiopia, of course!
After spending some quality “couple time” together and checking off our annual traditions, we ended up spending most of the day with friends. I suppose that’s what happens when your anniversary falls on a Saturday, and one of the last nice ones of the year. We went to a barbecue and then met a different group of friends at a bar off U Street for drinks and yelling. I think I’m getting too old for the bar scene. I felt like an old man, bellowing, “what?!” every 4th or 5th word. But it was great to get out and celebrate our friend, Mieke’s, birthday, even if it did mean coming home smelling of smoke.
I feel really lucky, when I take the time to stop and smell the roses. So often, we’re focused on where we’re headed and what’s coming next, and how to get to the next big thing (a house, a new job, Portland, etc.). I forget, sometimes, to just stop and take stock of the great things in life. I won’t list them here (although I am going through them in my head) because I don’t want to sound like one of those annoying Christmas letters that you receive once a year from some relative you hardly know, where they list out all the awesome things they’ve been doing and conveniently leave out all the bad stuff.
There have certainly been bumps in this road. There will always be bumps. And potholes. And the occasional dead end. But so far, as I get ready to enter my 33rd year of life, I can’t help but think what a wonderful journey it has been so far, and how lucky I am to have Dennis by my side for the rest of it. Happy Anniversary, Osito!