If our marriage was a baby, it would turn 1 today.  It’s really incredible to think how much has changed in just one year!!  Some changes were expected, some were VERY unexpected (like this house), but overall I think we came out on top in this first year.

We got married in Sanford, NC at my home church at 6 pm on July 28, 2012.  It was the best day of our lives!  [side note: 7/28/2012 would also have been Charles’ grandmother Mildred’s 100th birthday…that fact was mesmerizing to me at the time, but even more so now that we bought her house!]

We went on a fabulous honeymoon at Jalousie Plantation in St. Lucia.  We did a few things here and there (like zip-lining), but mainly we just laid on the beach and relaxed…finally!  Oh what I would give to be there again!!

After the honeymoon, we officially moved in together.  This was a first for us (after almost 6 years of dating), but we’ve had so much fun! And I’ve learned that Charles is quite the cook! In the fall, we continued to cheer on our Wolfpack like we do every year.

We even took a trip to New York City, and went to Coney Island for the first time.

We celebrated our first Christmas as a married couple (in classic silly Powers/Archer fashion).

Then, out of nowhere, we decided to buy this house.  You can read the full story about how it all came to be here.  My last day at my old job was a Wednesday, Charles finished exams on that Thursday, we closed on that Friday, moved on that Saturday, and I started my new job on Monday.  Whew!  Makes me tired just talking about it.

In May, I took a new job at The ECU Foundation in Greenville, and Charles graduated law school!

After graduation, Charles moved to campus to study for the bar all summer and I moved to Goldsboro to start my new job and our new old house.  I’d be lying if I said this summer hasn’t been a grueling one.  Living apart while all of this is going on has been tough, but we’ve definitely learned that absence makes the heart grow fonder.  But now I’m about fond enough!!

So what, you ask, are we doing for our anniversary?  Well Charles takes the NC bar exam on July 30-31 (this week!!), and he will be doing some last minute cramming/stressing, so we are postponing our celebration until next weekend.  He will be free of the bar and we plan to spend 3 days at the beach just relaxing…and eating wedding cake, drinking wedding wine, and watching our wedding video!

Happy Anniversary, baby!  I love you so very much!!