One Year

This 4th of July Collin & I celebrated one year of marriage. I think I speak for both of us when I say it's been unpredictable, crazy, funny, sweet, sanctifying, and just good. I can say there's no one else I'd rather go through this crazy life with. ~ Cassie

I (Collin) can say that I am also glad to be on this side of one year of marriage. I have learned a lot about what love means, and how to die to myself over preferences that are trivial and non-essential. I have realized that leadership is much harder than I imagined, but is very sweet when the one you are leading is gracious and eager to be led. Cassie has shown me time and time again what Godliness looks like by her humble submission to my leadership, even when it isn't always the best leadership.

I don't know that I will ever get tired of having someone next to me when I wake up in the morning, or having someone that I love there when I come home from work. I enjoy making dinner together and cleaning the apartment together. Although sometimes I get frustrated by things not happening exactly the way I imagined them, it is good to have a woman's touch in my home and in my life. Cassie continues to amaze me with her ability to manage our home while having a full-time job. I look forward to the day that she will not be working and will get to dedicate her full attention to the things that she loves.

To celebrate our 1 year anniversary, we opted for a "staycation" at our apartment. We were in Houston on July 3rd for a close friend's wedding and luckily were not carried away by a hurricane. The wedding lasted until 11:15 at night so we were not back to the hotel and in bed until midnight. Our flight on the morning of our anniversary was at 9 am so we didn't get to sleep very long since we had to return a rental car at the airport before our flight left.

When we got back to Lubbock on the Sunday morning of our anniversary we opted to open gifts first. Cassie got me two things: A Worst Case Scenario survival book, and a World Cup t-shirt. I also got Cassie two gifts: the Back to the Future Trilogy and I made her a video of our relationship to this point. I think she liked the video more than the Trilogy. I am going to try to make a video like that every year, as it is not too time consuming due to the technology that now exists. After we watched the video we started preparing for lunch.

We went to the grocery store together to get lots of really good food to eat for the weekend, and to get smoothies for lunch. It had been raining most of the weekend and I think most of Lubbock expected it to continue. When we got to United, there was still a light drizzle but after 30 minutes, the sun was out and shining again and half of Lubbock was buying groceries for the 4th of July parties they were tentatively planning. I think we waited in line to check out for 20 minutes, which is quite a long time in Lubbock. During our time in line I made an executive decision that my wife needed pretty flowers for her first anniversary, so I ran to get some. You can see her with the flowers on the left.

Cassie set to work making an apple pie crust while I helped prepare the apples and clean up the kitchen as she worked her cooking magic. She decided that we should christen her alphabet cookie cutters to spell something on our apple pie. You can see the result in the pictures to the right.
We also bought chicken sausage and buffalo burgers to enjoy for dinner. I set to work on the grill while Cassie made mashed potatoes and steamed veggies. After the preparations were finished and the meal was ready, we sat down to watch the first movie in the Back to the Future trilogy. I had never seen the movies in their entirety so it was fun to finally watch a piece of real Americana.

The next day was more of the same, especially since most businesses were closed for the holiday. We did go bowling however, only to find that 150 kids were there with a youth group at the same time. We literally could not find a bowling ball that was not 15 pounds or heavier. It was not the most fun day of bowling I have ever had for sure, but it was fun to be out doing something. That night we ate leftovers, of which there are still plenty, and watched the 2nd movie in the trilogy. It was a very restful weekend and a good 1st Anniversary.

I love my wife more now than I did on the day we were married and I pray that it continues to increase as the years go on.