While it doesn't always show itself, I have a very cheesy side, and I don't feel bad about sharing how much I love those around me - I'm sure there are worse faults! For our anniversary, I couldn't decide what to get Kyle. Men are really hard to buy "romantic" gifts for! Year one is paper, and Kyle hit the nail on the head; I got personalized stationary that is an exact replica of our wedding invitations, down to the color changes I made, and I know it took him a lot of time to figure that all out! He's got a sweet side, too :)

I decided to give the gift of time...kind of. I wrote a note for each month of the next year (paper), and each note describes a date that's all set to take. Additionally, each envelope contains what we'll need for our date, whether that's gift cards, cash, instructions, or a recipe. Now, Kyle doesn't know what's coming his way - he has to wait until the new month to open each date, but we've taken a few fun dates already, and September's date was to make our own sushi at home. We've always loved sushi, and in fact, that's where we took our first date. He won me over early!

In September's envelope were chopsticks, sushi-making directions, and a sushi mat. We tried our best to track down the ingredients we could locally, and we decided in small-town, USA, smoked fish was going to be our safest bet. It was delicious for a couple rookies, and we had a lot of fun researching how to do this! Kyle is a lover of Alton Brown, so with Alton's expertise, I would say we didn't do too bad! Here's to a year of dates.

Kyle and I celebrated our first anniversary this weekend, and we loved just spending time together, checking out a new area. We never dreamed a year ago that Sioux Falls, South Dakota would be close enough to us that it would warrant a weekend away (and the closest Costco run), but here we are, and our first year was full of fun, new adventures, and yes...adjusting to married life! Here's a few highlights of our first year.

Last week was my spring break, and to say I loved it would be an understatement. Kyle needed to attend a conference in Vegas to get all his continuing ed hours done at once for his license (last-minute life), and my break lined up with his travel dates. His conference isn't something that would warrant me taking off a week and writing a week's worth of sub plans normally, but because I had the time off, we figured this opportunity of necessary travel and spring break would surely not line up again in the near future, and we seized the opportunity! So, I got to spend my break sleeping in, drinking my coffee over a good book, and continuing my book poolside before having a daiquiri while I got ready for the night - don't tell Kyle I was having more fun than he was! I also took in some shopping, got my steps in people-watching, and had some time to work on my resume. Oh yeah, my resume.

In case you hadn't heard, this clan is on the move! We knew before we got married that we didn't feel our current home is our permanent home, but we weren't sure what that timeline would look like, or where life would take us for sure. We've had great opportunities here, and we've made friends who will be so hard to leave. However, the right fit came up for Kyle, and we're pretty excited for this next step in our journey! I'll be staying behind like the poky puppy as I finish the school-year because frankly, what the heck would I do for five months?! I also hate to be this close to the end of the year and cause a fruit-basket-upset for my students and colleagues, and I'd feel like a big jerk if I left in the middle of the year without a pressing reason. Kyle starts his new gig after Easter, and that means we'll be spending a couple months apart once again, which we hate, but we know in the long-run it's the right move for us.

Because of all these new changes, we also made a trek north to our soon-to-be home after we got back from Vegas. We'll be four hours from where we are now, so even though we've both visited town, it's not somewhere we have the luxury of hopping to quickly to house-hunt and sort out details. My parents joined us to check it out, we found Kyle a temporary home, and we got to meet a few locals, all of whom are super kind whenever we're there. Because we'll be living a little too close to the Ice Cream Capital of the World (honestly, the gym membership has to exist), we made a visit, and we happened to take the ONLY picture we got the whole week of vacation. We're hoping that's a sign that we're not like all the other millennials :) We'll keep you posted on our new adventure, but for now, I have a boatload of laundry calling my name since real life lies ahead!