Tuesday Thoughts

I can’t believe how quickly our first year of marriage went by. People always warned me about the wedding day being a blur, but never did I hear anything about how fast the first year of marriage is, aside from the good ole’ “the first year is always the hardest,” saying.

I definitely cannot relate to that statement, but at the same time it wasn’t an easy year either. We got most of our kinks out during our year of engagement/living together, so our first year as newlyweds was definitely not a surprise and definitely not the hardest.

However, we did have new lessons to learn and new challenges to face. It wasn’t always pretty, in fact, I think around May of this year – it was WW3 in the Dubs’ household. Sorry to take the rainbows and butterflies out of the picture, but face it, that’s reality.

Above all else, through our marriage fights, we’ve learned to come out of it stronger, better, and more mature both as individuals and together as a couple. The same thing we’ve always done in our relationship, just on a whole new level of commitment. A marriage is a constant dynamic of change and growth; we’re both lucky enough to have found each other and found that our moments of marriage bliss far outweigh anything else.

49 more ’til our 50th anniversary!

Mute Monday

Cabo!

We’re here! Finally, we are here! Long story short, Mr.DJW and I missed our original flight due to an underestimate of driving time to the airport through an unexpected thunderstorm. (I HATE MI WEATHER! & MI CONSTRUCTION!)

But, we finally made it. And this is our beautiful view.

I’m going to lay out and read all day and eat ’til I can’t breathe.

HAVE A GOOD WEEK Y’ALL!

My Favorite Time of Year

I don’t know about y’all, but Mr.DJW and my favorite season in Michigan is FALL! We only get to enjoy it for a few months, as the snowy winter season comes rather quickly up here, but I am so excited for it this year!

What do I love about fall? Well, I have several reasons:

1.)    WEATHER! Michigan summers tend to be muggy, hot, and sticky. It’s the complete OPPOSITE of our long winter months that are brutally cold and full of endless amounts of snow. However, the fall season (usually September – Early part of November), is crisp and mildly warm. I mean, who doesn’t love sweatshirt weather?!

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2.)    PSL! Oh yes, I am a year-round Starbucks addict, but come September every year, we get to enjoy the fragrant and tasty Pumpkin Spice Latte! I am actually drinking my second cup of the season as I write, right now!

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3.)    FOOTBALL! When Mr.DJW and I met four years ago, I was blessed with a wealth of knowledge about the NFL and everything associated with it, including Fantasy Football. Yes – hubby is a diehard addict and through my association, I’ve become very well versed about the entire subject. Mr.DJW usually has 3 or 4 leagues that he’s a part of each year. This year, I decided to join an all girls ff league with 11 other ladies who are also married to FF addicts. I figured this will be a good way for me to enjoy watching the hours and hours of football that is to ensue in our household come Thursday!

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4.)    ANNIVERSARY! Oh yes, as I said, the fall weather is ideal for weddings. When Mr.DJW proposed in late August of 2009, we both knew right away that we wanted a Fall wedding. Last September we tied the knot and our wedding day was a breezy, sunny 70 degree day. PERFECTION! I can’t wait for future vow renewals and anniversary trips!

5.)    CIDER MILL! Oh how I love fresh donuts and cider! We are lucky enough to live close to several nice cider mills, apple orchards, haunted houses, farmhouses, etc. We’ve always made at least one stop at the cider mill each year, but this fall, we’re planning on going to multiple different ones with the furbabies, our best friends, and our parents. I can’t wait for all of our trips for candied apples, pumpkins, donuts, & cider!

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6.)    HALLOWEEN! Ever since we became home owners a few years back, this holiday has a completely different meaning for us. In addition to the costume parties with friends (always a good time!), we have become addicted to shopping for tons of candy and dressing up our furbabies (yes, we’re THOSE owners) to pass out candy to our neighborhood kids! We both dress up (usually something homemade) after spending hours purchasing last minute bags of candy at Target. (Mr.DJW turns into a kid in the Halloween section.) And we spend the afternoon/evening passing out candy to the lil’ kiddies in our neighborhood. And hopefully sometime in the near future, we will be able to take our kids trick-or-treating too! Now that I recall, I think we bought several different costumes on clearance in November last year! Eek, so excited to laugh at our costume choices!

7.)    HOLIDAY SEASON! I LOVE LOVE LOVE that after the sacred months of fall, Mr.DJW and I get to look forward to spending the holidays with friends and family. We each have ½ week off of work during Thanksgiving and usually we are lucky enough to have the week between Christmas and New Year’s off too!

8.)    HUBBY’S BIRTHDAY! I get more excited for Mr.DJW’s birthday than my own. I like relishing in the fact that he is always going to be two years older than me! J In all honesty though, I am a “giver” and enjoy shopping/thinking of gift ideas for him rather than having to think of things I’d want for my birthday. This year, Mr.DJW turns the big “3-0!” We were originally going to go to Vegas with his best friend’s family, but due to an unexpected pregnancy, that trip has since been cancelled. So, we have a tentative 3 day weekend during which I plan to surprise Mr.DJW with tickets to the first Monday night football game that the Detroit Lions have played since FOREVER!

I could probably think of a dozen more reasons why I love these fall months in MI, but I’ll leave you here for now. Wherever you are, I hope you are enjoying this time of year, too!

–What’s your favorite season? What do you love about it?