Anniversary Surprises Part I

Hey all!

I promised a minimum of one post per month, so here it is :)  Perhaps I was a little hard on Facebook in my last post.  It has some nice features to it, but I was just tired of it and upset with myself for spending so much time on it.  It has good uses but just not for me (so sorry if I was a bit harsh overall about Facebook).  However, I am surprised by how much I don't miss it.  In fact I felt a little duped immediately after deleting it as it seemed it really didn't matter to very many of my "friends" that I'm gone from Facebook.  Oh well.  Now I have much more time to invest in the friends, neighbors and family that surround me. In fact I am not really sure how I had time to be on Facebook in the first place.

Here's what we've been up to....

This last Sunday, as in 5 days ago, Sam and I celebrated one year of marriage.

We both LOVE surprises, and I had ideas for a great anniversary surprise.  Starting several months ago we agreed I could plan Sunday from morning until 2pm and then Sam would plan from 2pm onward through Monday night.  I woke up at 6:30am on Sunday to get the final preparations ready and at 8:15 Sam and I headed from our house along a VERY windy road to Sarah Helmick State Park, where our first look pictures were taken before the wedding.  In my months of planning, I had always assumed nice weather was in store for July 13th, 2014.  It wasn't, but the thunder and lightning storm proved to be very exciting to watch throughout the day.  We ate Bavarian cream doughnuts (Sam's favorite), walked around the park to find the various places pictures had been taken, then, due to the weather we sat in the car and chatted for a bit.  Then at 10:15 we left the park and headed North... straight to church it appeared.  We would get there just in time.  We were definitely going to church, Sam was certain.  Couldn't be anything else. Sure, we're going to church, just in time for church.  Definitely.

About a minute from church I demanded that Sam close his eyes.  With some protest he did.  And we pulled into the lovely Victorian house that sits next to the church and served as the reception venue for our wedding just one year before.  "Keep your eyes closed, I'll be back in 15-20 minutes".  Sam was VERY confused at this point, as he was certain he MUST be parked in front of the church.  The next 15 minutes Jenna and Ben and the wonderful homeowners hurriedly helped put the finishing touches on the lunch that had been in the works for months.  I arrived back at the car in my wedding dress (thanks Jenna!) and led Sam to the steaming plates of Thai food inside the beautifully decorated gazebo that held our cake just the year before.

Sam still has his eyes closed and is patiently waiting for me to come back

When I got Sam to the gazebo he was not only surprised but rather jumpy.  And suddenly very inquisitive.  "Do you do all this?" "Is someone hiding in the bushes?" "How'd you get your dress on by yourself?  Isn't it hard to get on?"  I gave very little information in response to all this, and he continued peering about suspiciously.  Just as he was almost convinced that it was just lunch for us, Ben and Jenna arrived at the scene.  They "just happened" to be in the neighborhood and wondered if they could join us for lunch.  As it turned out, there were some dishes and chairs stashed conveniently nearby.  And it seemed there was enough food for four ...

Including a fresh "anniversary cake" made by our lovely friend Kay.

Yay, fresh tasty cake from Kay!

Which we of course enjoyed.... 

The first dance happened here a year ago

                                       

And there were some great wedding photos on this balcony a year
ago as well.

After all the Thai food, "wedding" cake, and reminiscing Ben and Jenna came back to our home in Salem for a round of tea and board games.  Originally Sam's surprise was planned to start at 2pm, but the shocking weather forced a small delay.  We rescheduled his portion of the surprise for the following day and spent the rest of the day watching our wedding video, thinking back over the entire year, and walking around at Corban remembering out time there.

Huge thanks to the homeowners for allowing us to come back for lunch, and for decorating the gazebo so beautifully!  And to Ben and Jenna for the work sneaking all the supplies from my house to the gazebo, and taking pictures, and warming up food.  And Kay, for the WONDERFUL (and now completely demolished) anniversary cake.  We owe a debt of gratitude to the many that helped us on our wedding day as well.  As we reminisced we remembered each of you and very sincerely felt overwhelmed with everything that everyone did to help us.  Thank YOU!  We haven't forgotten.

Part two will be Sam's Surprise...