"The Carrier Of All The Things" Marriage Series

Calling all engaged and newlywed gals! 

What would you say if I told you 10 newlywed bloggers are linking up to bring you an entire year's worth of marital advice for a one time only June series!? Whelp, get excited! 

Meet the forever newly wedded Brides!

Ashley @ It Is What You Make It // Kalyn @ Love.Laughter.HappilyEverAfter  // Mallory @ From California to Kansas // Karla @ Forever Newly Wedded // Maggie @ A Weaving of Grace 

Samantha @ Designer in Teal // Veronica @ Passion.Pink.Pearls // Kaitlyn @ Wifessionals // Emily @ Newlywed Moments // Callie @ My Something New With You

Each of the 10 Brides shown above have been married exactly one year as of June 2013. We will be posting each Wednesday during the month of June on 4 topics of marriage, while including our trials, triumphs, and all that fell in-between. The goal of this link-up series is to encourage the pursuit of love, joy, and hardships within a sacred marriage, all of which are completely worth each minute the Lord provides with our better half. 

If you are engaged, or married, we invite you to write on the topics with us and link up your posts. It doesn't matter if you are engaged and planning your big day, are a newlywed, or if you have been married 25 years... All the marital advice contributed, all the better for everyone involved! 

Visit our blogs today to meet our spouses and learn about our weddings! 

The Topics: 

June 5- Funny Moments From The First Year

June 12- Hardest Moments From The First Year

June 19- What Have You Learned From The Unexpected and How Have You Grown as a Couple During The First Year

June 26- Anniversary Celebration Recap 

We look forward to reading about your engaged, newlywed, and marriage journeys! If you have any questions feel free to email Kalyn here. 

_______________________________________________________

Boom. Monogram. 

That has nothing to do with anything. 

I just found it in my photo files.

What have I learned in my first year of marriage?

1. That when we were dating, my husband smiled in pictures. Now every picture he is making a ri.dic.cu.lous. face.

2. I am now "The Carrier Of All The Things." Usually this applies to sunblock, bandaids, hand sanitizer, a phone charger, extra chapstick, snacks, all of which I carry in my purse.

I used to just carry extra lipgloss.

On our wedding day, I carried his sunglasses.

Proof that a woman's work is never done.

3. That we still have fun together.

On a tropical island.

In December.

Sometimes we have fun when not on a tropical island.

4. That I finally made it through a Bad Religion concert without loosing my cookies. 

Or Blue Moon as the case was when we tried to see them in 2010.

5. That I still love him and think the sun shines out his ass. (Name that movie.)

Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer...

Source: teachingliteracy.tumblr.com via Mallory on Pinterest

I love that quote ^

I am a huge advocate(proponent?) for traveling at any and all times.
Had I made better educational decisions, I might just have become a travel writer.
Apparently one needs an English or Journalism degree for that? 
No one told 19 year old me that.

Anyways. As you may(or may not) know, I have traveled up and down, left and right across this beautiful continent. 
I count the big cities, the small landmarks, the National Parks, the small trips, the big trips, if it involves a car, plane or boat, it is on my list.

One day I will put together a comprehensive list(it is obviously a Monday if I am using the word comprehensive!) of all the places I have visited, but that's a story for another day!

My point today:

We leave for Key West on Friday!

I've actually never been in the south. Or Florida, although B has been there 3 or 4 times. Scandalous, I know!

I am often asked, either casually or  quite blatantly, how we can afford to travel as much as we do. 

It's easy really. We make travel a priority. 
Just like someone might make having a brand new car, a bigger apartment, or even (gasp!) children; our priority is to enjoy this life & to see as much of the world as we possibly can!
We don't exchange birthday presents, anniversary presents, or Christmas gifts. We have a mutual understanding that we take one or two big trips per year instead!
So this is our big trip of the year! We are so excited, not just for a vacation(holla!) but to celebrate our BFFs wedding! 

I should mention that: our trips to California don't count as big trips, we go back to California because our family is there so it's a need-to-do-it-trip and well...they don't think that one can celebrate Thanksgiving or Christmas in a new city, although in a few years I want to ease the whole family into going somewhere rather than us having to travel back to Southern California(we are the only ones who have moved, everyone else lives within a 30-40 mile or less radius). 
Seriously, how fun would it be to rent a cabin or lodge in Colorado for a long weekend with the whole family for a yearly trip?

So go forth and travel! 
You could:
Visit a new city in your home state. 
Plan an all-inclusive Caribbean trip in December(cheap! Seriously, a 7 night stay can run you as little as $700.00 depending on your destination!)
Get a package trip to Vegas(also cheap!)

Go see the world! And don't use kids or lack of funds as an excuse. Those are awful excuses. You can make it happen.

Source: googledrive.com via Tessa on Pinterest

Where would you visit?

Marriage Series - The Tough Days

Calling all engaged and newlywed gals! 

What would you say if I told you 10 newlywed bloggers are linking up to bring you an entire year's worth of marital advice for a one time only June series!? Whelp, get excited! 

Meet the forever newly wedded Brides!

Ashley @ It Is What You Make It // Kalyn @ Love.Laughter.HappilyEverAfter  // Mallory @ From California to Kansas // Karla @ Forever Newly Wedded // Maggie @ A Weaving of Grace 

Samantha @ Designer in Teal // Veronica @ Passion.Pink.Pearls // Kaitlyn @ Wifessionals // Emily @ Newlywed Moments // Callie @ My Something New With You

Each of the 10 Brides shown above have been married exactly one year as of June 2013. We will be posting each Wednesday during the month of June on 4 topics of marriage, while including our trials, triumphs, and all that fell in-between. The goal of this link-up series is to encourage the pursuit of love, joy, and hardships within a sacred marriage, all of which are completely worth each minute the Lord provides with our better half. 

If you are engaged, or married, we invite you to write on the topics with us and link up your posts. It doesn't matter if you are engaged and planning your big day, are a newlywed, or if you have been married 25 years... All the marital advice contributed, all the better for everyone involved! 

Visit our blogs today to meet our spouses and learn about our weddings! 

The Topics: 

June 5- Funny Moments From The First Year

June 12- Hardest Moments From The First Year

June 19- What Have You Learned From The Unexpected and How Have You Grown as a Couple During The First Year

June 26- Anniversary Celebration Recap 

We look forward to reading about your engaged, newlywed, and marriage journeys! If you have any questions feel free to email Kalyn here. 

___________________________

I think I've said this before, but if you're new here, I'll say it again ;)

My husband and I are that couple that never fight.

I know, I know.

We don't bicker, we don't disagree, we don't yell. In fact, we have never had a single fight. 

How is that even possible? 

To be completely honest, I don't know. What I do know is: we have a very balanced and calm relationship. 

Now, that's not to say we haven't had tough times in the course of our nearly five year relationship. We have, like anyone does, but our world gets crazy, stressful, and downright awful, we just come together more. We don't turn on one another, we just get through it.

In this first year of marriage, it's been relatively calm. No money issues, no job changes, no giant moves across the country! So very unlike our year of engagement! ;)

I will say, it was not without one huge let down. 

As you may or may not know, my husband is 6 years older than me(I know, what a cougar) and he graduated high school in 2001, received his Associates Degree in 2004, and started his first career directly after that!

We met in 2008 and moved in 2011 so that Brent could return to college to receive his Bachelors Degree. We originally assumed that with an Associates degree(2 year degree) that to complete a Bachelors would be an additional two years(to graduate in May 2013). After arriving in Kansas, seeing the course study for his degree, we readjusted our thoughts to a 2.5 or 3 years to complete. 

In January, it became obvious that it would take four years to complete his Bachelors(Graduate in May 2015). 

Now, you might be wondering(as I do most days) how in the heck is it possible for someone who already has an Associates to need another four years to get a Bachelors(six years total)?

Brent is a Computer Science major. Here, that is traditionally a 5 year degree because the Computer Science majors department is "under" the College of Engineering(more classes, more difficult, ect, ect.)

Also, after 7 years of time passing between degrees, standards change, so only about 1.5 of Brent's credits from his Associates degree transferred. 

I've had to readjust what I envision our "someday soon" life to be. To know that we are only halfway there? It is so much more difficult than imagining only one semester left, you know?

And yet I am thankful. That we can afford for him to continue school for two more years. That in the grand scheme of life, these two years are small and inconsequential.

Year 1 Marriage Series - The Fun Moments!

Calling all engaged and newlywed gals! 

What would you say if I told you 10 newlywed bloggers are linking up to bring you an entire year's worth of marital advice for a one time only June series!? Whelp, get excited! 

Meet the forever newly wedded Brides!

Ashley @ It Is What You Make It // Kalyn @ Love.Laughter.HappilyEverAfter  // Mallory @ From California to Kansas // Karla @ Forever Newly Wedded // Maggie @ A Weaving of Grace 

Samantha @ Designer in Teal // Veronica @ Passion.Pink.Pearls // Kaitlyn @ Wifessionals // Emily @ Newlywed Moments // Callie @ My Something New With You

Each of the 10 Brides shown above have been married exactly one year as of June 2013. We will be posting each Wednesday during the month of June on 4 topics of marriage, while including our trials, triumphs, and all that fell in-between. The goal of this link-up series is to encourage the pursuit of love, joy, and hardships within a sacred marriage, all of which are completely worth each minute the Lord provides with our better half. 

If you are engaged, or married, we invite you to write on the topics with us and link up your posts. It doesn't matter if you are engaged and planning your big day, are a newlywed, or if you have been married 25 years... All the marital advice contributed, all the better for everyone involved! 

Visit our blogs today to meet our spouses and learn about our weddings! 

The Topics: 

June 5- Funny Moments From The First Year

June 12- Hardest Moments From The First Year

June 19- What Have You Learned From The Unexpected and How Have You Grown as a Couple During The First Year

June 26- Anniversary Celebration Recap 

We look forward to reading about your engaged, newlywed, and marriage journeys! If you have any questions feel free to email Kalyn here. 

---------------------

Ahhh. Year 1 of Marriage.

Or Year 5 of Relationshiping it, depending on how you count ;)

Ok, really, year 1 was a piece of cake for the newest Mr & Mrs Brent Thibodeaux(any long time readers might realize this is the first time I've ever publicly written my last name here. Cue identity stealing...NOW! ;)

Our first year has been fun.

In fact, every year is fun for us, because although we aren't "goofy" people, Brent has this wacky sense of humor and I just laugh a lot.

There was this one week a couple months ago, when winter weather was really starting to push it's tolerance level with us, and there was a run of about 4 days when I thought we might die of laughter because every. single. thing. was. hysterical. We weren't even doing anything and I couldn't tell you what exactly was so funny, I just remember it being one of my favorite times in our relationship!

I'm sharing some of my favorite photos over the past year, among them, some funny wedding photos, a trip to Colorado, a trip to Jamaica, multiple golf outings, a Bad Religion concert, and a few fishing trips. 

And stay tuned, because in a couple weeks we'll be off to Key West!

What have been some of the fun moments of your first year? Or years? 
xoxo

Fresh Perspective

Source: backonpointe.tumblr.com via Mallory on Pinterest

Why do I blog?

It's a question I am continually asking myself, particularly these days, as I have been noticeably absent from this little corner of the internet.

I blog because I think I have something to say. Something that needs to be heard.

I blog because for as long as I can remember, I've had this feeling that my life will have a meaning. Not just a day to day meaning, but a real, honest meaning. That somewhere along the way, I will stumble upon something great. I'm not sure how that translates to blogging, but I can feel that it does somehow.

I blog because I see so much beauty, peace, and love in the world that often I feel filled to the brim with it all, and fear that if I don't get my thoughts and feelings out into the world, I may lose it all in an instant.

Source: foxontherun.tumblr.com via Mallory on Pinterest

I blog because I am by nature a very private and quiet person. And yet, I share everything on the Internet. Blogging is about being real and yet it's very anonymous. It's part of what I love here.

I subscribe to the belief that everything

happens for a reason.

That when one door closes, a window 

will open. 

I hope that my absence from this internet corner has had some effect upon myself, my writing, and my creativity. 

Just know that my heart is full and I see nothing but good times, hope, and joy in the coming days, weeks and months.


Life is beautiful folks, let us all go out and enjoy it.

xo,
Mal