Anniversay #1

It has been a year since our wedding! I can't believe it! Time really does fly when you're having fun, I guess :)
Kristin and I decided to spend our first anniversary in Duluth. She researched hotels and made a reservation at The Inn on Lake Superior. We arrived on Sunday afternoon and after taking in some of the sights...

We got ready and headed for dinner. Along the way we discovered that Duluth was a Christian town proudly displaying the 10 commandments.
Kristin also met a new friend.
We finally made it to Bellisio's - a little Italian restaurant we chose in honor of our favorite restaurant in Carmel (where we spent our honeymoon) La Dolce Vita.
After eating (the food was fantastic!) we had the waiter take a photo of us to put in our anniversary book (fantastic wedding gift we received from the Klombies'). Unfortunately it turned out blurry, but I'll post it anyway.After dinner we headed back to the hotel to make s'mores (I think it's a perk all hotels should offer). Then we headed out to a bench by the lake to look at photos from the wedding we hadn't seen yet, reread our wedding wishes that people wrote for us, and Kristin gave me what may be the best gift ever. Since the first anniversary gift is paper she filled a jar with quotes and thoughts for me to read every day for the next year. It looks awesome and I'm excited to read a new thought each day. She spent a ton of time making this, and I love it!

On Monday we spent the day relaxing, shopping, and eating more yummy food! We ended the day once again with s'mores and a dip in the heated pool on the roof of the hotel.

(Anyone know why they are selling
Sand Point, ID shirts in Duluth?)

Tuesday we slept in before getting ready to head home. We headed down to the the lake one last time. This time we took the wedding bouquet we had from our wedding (it's been riding in the back window of my car for the past year) and threw it into the lake.

We also headed over to buy a wind chime we had seen on Monday. It's now happily hanging on our deck.We finally said goodbye to Duluth and headed home only to discover we had left a gift bag with our pictures, wedding wishes, and Kristin's gift to me at the hotel! Thankfully we realized it was missing only 10 miles down the road. I would have cried if we had lost all of those things!!

Anyway, all in all it was a great trip and a wonderful anniversary. Neither of us had been to Duluth for an extended period of time and we loved it! We're already planning what we'll do on our next trip!! Now we're home again and the unpacking and returning to real life will begin...as will the second year of our marriage.
And now, excuse me while I get a little mushy. I love this woman. With everything in me, I love her! She makes me laugh every single day and reminds me that life isn't always supposed to be as serious as I tend to make it. Although this year has had its ups and downs, she has stood by my side and supported me through it all. Here's to many more spectacular years together.

(Click here for more pictures)