Fall 2012 - highlights

This past August we celebrated our 2nd anniversary! yay!  We decided to keep it low key since I was so busy at work still and just had a quiet fun night at home.  In keeping with the traditional "cotton", Danny got me pajama pants with army on them and a "I love my soldier" tee.  He got some new army clothes he's been wanting (sense a theme? lol).

Danny also surprised me with these gorgeous flowers!

In September, Danny was full swing into school while I stayed home catching up on some projects around the house and helping him with school (and still working on some health issues).  We were able to spare a long weekend to go up to Allen and visit my parents for my mom's birthday.  It was a nice little break and enjoyed our visit.  I was even able to go shopping and find a gorgeous formal gown! very rare for me.  We also visited the Dallas Arboretum that had lots of things to see:

... some very beautiful gardens;

... a pumpkin village with fairytale homes; ... some neat houses that represented famouse artists (including Van Gogh, Monet, and O'Keeffe);

... and some cool but kinda bizzare glass art installations.

At our friends' annual halloween party - I had been working on a different set of costumes for weeks, but I just couldn't finish in time (perhaps for next year), so we rumaged through the closet and found these.  We went as 50s poodle skirt girl and nerd.  It worked out nicely in a pinch (esp. considering the skirt was part of my costume when I was in third grade!), and we had a lot of fun at the party, meeting new people and helping pass out candy to our friends' neighbors.  We'll really miss these parties.

I also wanted to decorate for the holiday, but given our tight budgets and even tighter storage space (esp. with all the moving we'll be doing), I decided to try a homemade route with flatter decorations (pinterest ideas, of course, lol).  I must admit, I'm really happy with how it turned out.  It was really easy and simplistic but had a great effect and got lots of compliments.  And it was a lot of fun just cutting out paper freehand.

Thanksgiving we got to spend with my parents again (but sorry, I didn't get any pictures... we're not exactly a shutterbug family).  It was nice to get a break from Danny's busy schedule and have time to just relax.  Black Friday sales were a bust this year, but that's probably for the best anyway, lol, and it was still fun going out with everyone.  I did get some really cute argyle socks though. :)

Danny's semester was super busy and crazy, getting his last few classes in.  ROTC actually took most of his time.  While he wasn't stressing out as much about passing LDAC anymore, the seniors take on a more administrative role in ROTC.  Danny's job was supplies, which meant he was up at school all day long and then working on spreadsheets and calling people all evening.  It kept him really busy but he enjoyed it too and did a really good job (the following semester, when they get different assignments, they had two guys in charge of supplies, just to be able to handle all the work).  Plus, of course, term papers and finals.  It was definitely nice when winter break finally rolled around.

The Wilde's annual Christmas party, complete with the traditional white elephant gift exhange.  Last year we ended up with an old physics textbook, some chocolate, and a snuggie with monkeys on it.  This year we got a mug from the highway patrol with a huge box of hot cocoa, and Danny got a dreamie (which is like the snuggie, except it's like a blanket/sleeping bag... um, yeah).  It was fun to see what people brought.  One really funny thing, we brought an old 3D puzzle, and another guy did too (luckily a different one), but then he actually ended up with ours! lol.  All in all, it was a nice night, and we'll miss our friends in San Marcos.

Our First Anniversary

Hard to believe it's already been a year since the wedding!  But we made it! yay!  For our anniversary, neither of us had that big of expectations, and with it falling on a Sunday too, planning got a little tricky.  Danny wanted to take me out to dinner, but work was getting really busy and he was getting ready for school to start and I was sick most of the time, and on top of all that we were asked a week before to give talks in church on August 14th (*ugh* ... of all the Sundays they could've picked, it had to be that one) so I spent the whole day before prepping my talk.

So, we kept it pretty simple.  I made a nice dinner with chicken cordon bleu, since we both really like it and it feels fancy, and we exchanged cards and he got me flowers (now that I think about it, it was really similar to our Valentine's Day, haha... guess I know what I like ... though we have since bought actual candle holders so we don't have to use plastic cups, lol).  Oh, and of course, we ate cake! :)  Danny was a bit skeptical of eating year old cake, but it's tradition and it was such a good cake.  And he'll admit, it was still pretty good ... though the frosting roses were still sickeningly sweet... and after a day or two in the fridge after we cut the cake, it got kinda stale, but at least we had some for our anniversary.  ... maybe next year we'll actually go out and do something ... or maybe not, lol.

our cards and my lovely red roses :)

unwrapping the cake ... getting wrapped up, frozen and moving a couple times kinda left it squished compared to the first day, but the cake part was still good

... dramatic first bite

yum! (... I think I even wore red in the photos for Valentines Day too... though it's a different red shirt, haha)

Congratulations Danny on making it a year with me.  We've had our ups and downs, our laughs and tears, our blessings and trials, our struggles and triumphs.  And I wouldn't have traded any of it because through it all we've grown so much.  I'm more in love with you every day, for the way you make me laugh with your silly jokes or smile when you tell me I'm beautiful, for your caring heart and listening ear and warm hugs, for your devotion to your family and the gospel, for your willingness to serve and to do so much for me and for us and for anyone who needs anything, and for just putting up with me.  I can't wait for all the years to come and being able to spend them with you, my best friend.  Happy Anniversary!