1 Year Reflections

We celebrated our 1 year anniversary on October 6th. This past year has been so many things, and difficult is not one of them. I had lots of people tell me that marriage was tough, especially the first year. But for us, it wasn't hard. Here is what I learned in our first year:

1. Men change when you get married
- What I mean by this statement is that men tend to revert to children-like behavior. They want you to take care of them, to coddle them, to cook and clean for them. Kyle used to be really competent and then we got married and now he can barely find his shoes before work in the morning.

2. Living together is so much fun
- Since I didn't live with Kyle until we got engaged, I was very excited to move in with him. Driving home late at night during the work week had become really annoying. It is really comforting to share a home with the person that you love.

3. Boys are gross
- Boys do not clean up after themselves like girls do. And they like to dry all the clothes on hot so it might be better to do all the laundry if you don't want your shirts to shrink.

4. Golf only gets more annoying
- I would say that Kyle and I fight over golf more than anything else. Mainly because he always wants to golf, it takes forever, and they always drink too much while they do it. Also, his friends don't care if you don't want him to play golf, they will call him over and over and over and wear him down until he feels like a chump if he doesn't go.

5. Being married is the best thing I have done
- I feel like, for me, I got engaged and married at the perfect time in my life. We knew each other well, loved each other, loved our families, and most importantly, enjoy time with each other. Genuinely enjoying time with your spouse makes things much easier.


We enjoyed so many things this year and I know we have so many wonderful things ahead. We have parents and siblings that are a wonderful example of marriage.

My life is infinitely better with Kyle by my side. He is kind, thoughtful, funny, crazy, sassy, determined, hard working, and sweet. He loves me with as much passion as he has and would do anything to make me happy. He also is a hot mess that drives me crazy daily.

I love him more than cheesecake and do not know what I would do without him. He has made my life more interesting and has brought more joy than I could have imagined. I am so lucky to have someone to share my life with who allows me to be myself, has the same values and makes me laugh every day.

NYC: Day 4

This was my last day in the big city :( I was so sad. I was not at all ready to leave. We didn't have to leave until 2 so we could squeeze a few more things. Kyle really wanted to eat at a New York deli, so I found us a place called Artie's Delicatessen. Kyle ordered some type of 3 meat sandwich with the Jewish fries. They were unbelievable. They had pieces of pastrami, onions, and melted cheese mixed with ranch dressing.

We walked to the subway station and took a quick ride to Times Square to get the girls and Henry some presents. I took one last look at the lights and people and action before taking the subway back to get our bags.

We grabbed a cab and took the ride to the airport. I almost cried when we had to leave. It was such a wonderful trip with my husband. We hadn't been on a trip just the 2 of us since we started dating in 2010.

It was the most wonderful time. Kyle put so much effort into this trip and I couldn't be more grateful for him and his kind heart and thoughtfulness.

NYC: Day 3

Ok, I am officially exhausted. NYC can really take it out of you, but we have to keep going. We did not go for a run this morning! We headed down to Ground Zero and made a stop into St. Paul's Cathedral. It is right across the street and only a tree suffered damage. It is a very small church and it served as a staging ground for the first responders. Here is the story of the church. The pews were all scratched up from the firefighters that would sleep on the benches and their tools would scratch the pews. They had a banner hanging up that came from Oklahoma!

After Ground Zero, we took the long to the Brooklyn Bridge. I thought Kyle was going to kill me for making him do all this walking but he sucked it up and followed me. Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge is something we always see in movies, so of course we should do it. The bridge is a little over a mile long. Kyle did a little heel kick as we reached the other side.

Our feet were screaming at this point so we stopped at this cute little bar and got a cocktail before we took the subway to Soho. In Soho, we hit up the H&M. I have never been shopping at H&M so I was thrilled. I found out that there was a Piperlime store in Soho that I missed. I guess I will have to go back.

That night we sat around in another sports bar and once again watched the Cardinals beat the Pirates.

NYC: Day 2

We woke up Tuesday morning exhausted but I had plans to exercise. I have always wanted to run in Central Park and I was going to do just that. Kyle NEVER runs with me but he wanted to do this with me for 2 reasons: 1) we were on our anniversary trip and 2) he didn't want me to get mugged. Kyle had been smart in telling me to pack my running clothes since I never run on vacation. We had such a great time running through Central Park, I will never forget that wonderful memory.

After we showered, we headed out for a full day. We took the subway to Times Square. And the crowds of people are exactly what you would expect.

Then we went to the Empire State Building. Of course, we picked the day that was "unusually busy". It was so crowded that I could barely get the edge to take pictures. Luckily I am not afraid to push my way into a small spot the minute that someone walks away. 

We grabbed a late lunch at Gramercy Tavern after the Empire State Building. I ordered some type of tasty pasta and Kyle had their special, a burger. He said it was delicious, but it was not as good as the burger at The Tavern in Tulsa. So go eat there if you haven't. 

That evening, we went to see the Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic Theater. It opened there in 1988, and is the longest running show in Broadway show in history. I loved that we walked through Times Square in our fancy theater clothes. 

NYC: Day 1

After researching where to eat for brunch, we decided on Sarabeth's near Central Park. We took a leisurely stroll through Central Park (pinch me) to get there. I loved seeing the kids in the park with their teachers and class, the nannies pushing the babies in the strollers and the runners.

We sat down for brunch and chose an outside table so that I could take in all the hustle and bustle of the city streets. I ordered the jalapeno and cheddar omelet with an English muffin. Which was the best English muffin I have ever eaten in my life.

I really wanted the lemon and ricotta pancakes and I am still pissed I didn't get them. I definitely could have walked them off on our way back through Central Park. It began to rain and we didn't have an umbrella, so we had to go back to the room to dry out. That afternoon we found a sports bar so we could watch the Cardinals beat the Pirates. After the game I wanted to do some shopping, so we hit DSW. Yes, a real New York gem. Haha..actually Kyle's feet hurt so much that he needed new shoes. It was 3 stories and magnificent. Then we walked over to Loehmann's where I scored some designer duds for cheap. It was probably good that the store was close to closing or I could have done more damage. Kyle has the patience of a 2 year when I am shopping. We walked to Coppola's West to have dinner. I really wanted authentic Italian food while we there. They had a framed picture of Britney Spears eating there so I knew I had to be in the right place.

We ordered the meatballs as an app, followed by eggplant parmesan for me and pepperoni pizza for Kyle. He said it was the best pizza he has ever eaten.

We ended the night sitting on our hotel rooftop looking over the NYC skyline.

1 Year...NYC Trip!

After we left our hotel in Baltimore, we grabbed a cab and headed to Penn Station. Kyle was in charge of planning our entire anniversary trip. And he nailed it. He hands me an Amtrack ticket that will take me to the one place in the US I desperately wanted to go....NYC!

I was beyond thrilled. I have been begging to go to NYC for quite some time now. And this was so great because I plan 99% of our travel. From the flight booking to hotel to rental car, I do it all. I didn't have to do any research. (Until I got there and practically lived on my Yelp app).

We loaded our luggage onto the train and began our journey. Everything was going very smoothly until our train hit and killed a person. Yes, you read that right. Our Amtrack train was involved in a suicide and we became a crime scene. We were delayed about 2 hours but luckily we didn't have to switch trains.

We got into NYC around 6:30, grabbed a cab and headed to our hotel. Kyle said he searched hundreds of hotels and finally decided on NYLO in Manhattan, the Upper West Side. We were about 4 blocks west of Central Park. Our room was so cute! It was definitely smaller than the room in Baltimore, but I can easily handle a cozy room when I am in NYC.

We freshened up and headed our for our anniversary dinner. Kyle picked Telepan for dinner, based on a blog he read listing the top 10 restaurants in the Upper West Side. We shared dry-aged grass-fed ribeye for 2, which was unbelievably huge. And they brought out the marrow with it, and Kyle died and went to delicious butter/bone marrow heaven.

And then he told me how wonderful our first year of marriage was, and I cried at the table.

We walked home from dinner (one of my absolute favorite parts of NYC) and stopped at a little store and bought hydrangeas for our hotel room, which was the flower we used in our wedding.

Despite the Amtrack delay, our anniversary day was fantastic. Now, we needed to sleep to prepare for the next 4 days in NYC!

Baltimore

Kyle and I recently took a trip to Baltimore to see his good friend "Fleck" get married. The day after their wedding was our 1 year anniversary. We left Tulsa on Friday, Oct 4th and arrived in Baltimore late that night. We stayed in the Inner Harbor, which has a beautiful view. I finally got the meet the groomsman, Jake, that was hospitalized during our wedding and unable to come to Tulsa. Saturday morning, we took a stroll around the Inner Harbor while we waited on Dante and Erin to arrive from Pittsburgh.

Also, let me mention that it was 92 in Baltimore that day. Everyone kept saying how unusually hot it was. Meanwhile, in Tulsa, it was a cold 40-something degrees. Exactly the weather that greeted us 1 year prior.

After a leisurely and not very tasty lunch and Phillips, we freshened up at the hotel and left for the wedding. 4pm full Catholic mass, this was a first for me. The church was beautiful! We headed back to the hotel for cocktail hour followed by a beautiful reception in a ballroom. The invitation said black tie optional, and since I don't own any long dresses, I decided to purchase one for this occasion. I found this beautiful emerald green dress on sale at Dillard's and I am in love. I want to wear it everyday.

The morning after, we grabbed brunch at Miss Shirley's where I ate delicious chicken and waffles with the best jalapeno butter. We returned to the hotel, packed our bags and headed out for our anniversary trip...