Anniversary Tribute

This post is going to be a tribute to my husband and our first year of marriage, the anniversary of which we celebrated yesterday!
First of all, let me tell you the story behind the best present he could have possibly given me! All week (and probably most of April, in fact) I had been preparing myself for the fact that Matt had to work the weekend of our anniversary. He did work Saturday, and got home really late on top of that due to hospital craziness. I was hoping to get to celebrate a little Saturday night since he would be off to work again on Sunday, so I was bummed about the late hour when he finally got home.
We did get to celebrate one anniversary tradition on Saturday…I tried to re-create our wedding cake (and didn’t even come close!) because we didn’t save any of the original cake since we moved across states and didn’t have a freezer for 3 days. Anyhow, the point is that we did have cake when Matt got home. That was fun.
Wow, I am really dragging out this story. Anyhow, around 1:00 Sunday, Matt started getting ready to head for work. He did everything exactly as he always does…shower, get dressed in scrubs, pack his bag…we even discussed which flavor bagel he was going to take for a snack. He left at his normal time, and called me from the road like he always does.
Matt had been telling me all day that a surprise would be delivered to the house. I even asked him if he was really going to work, but he looked really sad and apologetic when he said he still had to work, so I believed him and thought he was having flowers delivered. While we were talking on the phone as he drove to work, I asked him what time the surprise was coming because I wanted to go running and didn’t want to miss it. Pretty soon after that, the doorbell rang and there was Matt holding a bouquet of lilies!
I was so surprised! And after it sank in that I really had the whole day with him, I cried my eyes out of course. We ended up going out to dinner at Magianno’s, a nice Italian restaurant. We also planned to go see a movie, but we ended up renting one and watching it at home. We were both pretty tired. Anyway, that is the story of the awesome gift Matt gave me. After this year and all of the time we have spent apart with our work schedules, the gift of time together was absolutely perfect!

So let me just finish this tribute by saying some of the things that I appreciate about my husband. First of all, he encourages me in everything I do, from grad school and work, to little everyday things like going out with my friends in the evening, even when he doesn't get the chance to do much of that with his friends. (Many of them work days.)
I love that he likes to do adventurous and crazy things with me, like camping, rafting, skiing and driving all night, even though he may have to miss that big game on TV that he really wants to watch. He makes me laugh with his jokes and doesn't get too upset when I make fun of his hip/hop music. :) Matt gives the BEST back massages and makes an awesome chicken burger.
Matt puts up with all of my moods and rarely gets mad or tries to "push my buttons" when he knows I'm upset. I really admire how much patience he has! But most of all, I love that throughout our entire relationship, he has always been my best friend through everything. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, MATT!

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I also have to say Happy Birthday to my cousin, Jaime! Matt and I now share her birthday with our anniversary, so I couldn't go without mentioning her in this post. Jaime, I hope you have an excellent month of May, as you noted in your last blog post!