Celebrating 19 Months of Love

This post should have been written on November 23, 2012 

but mommy brain took over...yet again.

  

On that day Team Pancakes celebrated 19 months of Love...

I can't believe we are nearing two years of marriage next year.  

Time really flies while we are having fun.

  

In two days we are going to have a three month old...

that's mind boggling to me but it's true.  

So much has happened since we got married and life continues to be and feel good.

We are beyond blessed everyday.

This time last year...we were going through some issues that

 I truly believe has strengthened our friendship and marriage. 

 It has made us stronger as a unit and for this I am thankful.  

I love my husband more today than I did last year 

and I hope our love continues to grow and develop

 stronger and better and bigger as the years pass by.  

Happy 19 Months of Love Mr. Pancakes...

with you the world is exactly as it should be!!!

Longlazysunday: 17months of Love!

Dear Mr. Pancakes, I can't believe just a month ago I was praying for little man to come on our anniversary and here we are with him celebrating 17months of love!! I feel so blessed to be your wife. Experiencing you as a father has been the best thing ever! You holding, talking and playing with our son is such a breathe of fresh air. Both of you together melt my heart! I continue to celebrate you, our son and our marriage every single day! May we continue to love each other always and forever!! --love your wifey!

Celebrating 16 Months of Love

Dear Baby Pancakes,

I would love if you came into the world today 

because your dad and i celebrate 16 months of love.

I cannot believe in less than a week, 

we will have the best gift God could ever give us, 

You!

We are honored to be your parents and as we celebrate today, 

we are excitedly awaiting your arrival.

We continue to wonder in amazement who you will look like?

What kind of personality you will have? 

Your dad thinks you will be cool as cucumber!
I think you will be cool with a side of lots and lots of movement!

We pray everyday you are healthy, strong 

and blessed by God the first second of your breathe/birth and always.

Although i want you here today, your dad is fine if you make arrival 

before September 1st because this is the start of College Football Season. 

 He is excited to share this special day with you.

It's pretty exciting to listen to him to talk about this.

He continues to make us feel comfortable while we are awaiting your arrival...

massaging my feet/ankles which i think you

 like a lot because you move and wiggle around when he does.

I can't wait to see you interact with him.

More than anything, we cannot wait to

 kiss, hug, squeeze, stare, admire, and just love on you.

We hope you love both of us as much as we already love you.

And if we kiss, hug, stare and admire too much...forgive us...

it's only because we are already enamored with you.  

We have fallen in love even before we met you.

Today, to celebrate our love, we will pray for your safe arrival 

and praise God for all He has done for us and will continue to do

 including giving us the best gift of all...

You, sweet Baby Pancakes!

Love, 

Your Mama and Daddy Pancakes!!  

P.S: 

i recently went for a mani/pedi 

and got my nails painted blue in anticipation of your arrival!

52 Weeks of Love: 2 Pink Lines!

Dear Mr. Pancakes,

Today we celebrate 365 days, 52 Weeks  and 1 year of Love !

This year has definitely been a year of many firsts 

and it has been more than amazing!

Life is a series of moments 

and you are who i want to share these moments with!

On April 23, 2011, we jumped the broom 

and on the other side was our new lives waiting for us.

We celebrated 5 glorious days in paradise (Barbados).

We set up a new home in our apartment.

We beat thyroid cancer successfully (with lots of prayer)!

We celebrated our first summer and birthdays as husband and wife.

We enjoyed my first college football game.

We celebrated our first Thanksgiving, Christmas,

New Year's Eve and Valentine's as husband and wife.

You became a trustee at the Church.

I trained and ran my first half-marathon.

I continued to enjoy blogging--initiated Living Our Vows.

You grew the family business.

We ate a fair amount of pancakes.

We filed our taxes together as a married couple.

At moments throughout the year, we laughed, we cried, we fought,

 we made up and most of all, we continued to love 

and look to God for guidance and direction at all times!

And the best blessing in the 52 Weeks of Celebrating Love are the two pink lines....

that announced we would become parents to our Future Baby Pancakes!!!

Words cannot begin to express how these new moments

 in our lives are shaping us as individuals and a married couple.  

There is so much emotion rolling up inside of me right now 

but the best one is the little heart that beats inside of me!  

A heart that reveals to me God continues to bless us abundantly and beyond measure!

I know we are both humbled by this new part of our journey...

Here is to all the amazing experiences that will occur after today--

our first 365 days, 52 weeks and 1 year of Celebrating Love!

I LOVE you and Baby Pancakes to the moon and back

 again and again and again and again...

Love Always, 

Your Wife &

Soon-2-Be: Mama Pancakes!

52 Weeks of Love: Wedding Ambience!

Great evening ladies...it's been another awesome day 

and i hope you are enjoying all that life has to offer.

I have another installment of 52 Weeks of Love!

Another important part of Team Pancakes was the wedding ambience!

We wanted everything to feel like us: warm and fun!

The church and reception locations were very important 

because it had to be places that spoke to us on many many levels.  

 Our church is definitely an institution in our area and it will celebrate it's 100th year anniversary.

The reception site was warm, cozy and had touches of yellow--perfect for our wedding colors.

Today, I thought i would share some pictures from our wedding ambience.

Regardless of where you get married...

the ambience should be meaningful to the bride and groom as it was for Team Pancakes.

Just ask this couple who got married at Ikea...

where they first met. Kudos to the happy couple!

Via

Question of the Day:

What's the most different wedding location you've heard of?

52 Weeks of Celebration: The Dress

Good Morning Ladies...it's another awesome and blessed Tuesday!

I am talking about my wedding dress today...

I fell in LOVE with my wedding dress the moment i saw it.

I knew exactly what i wanted in a dress.

Mermaid dress, fitted to my body, long train, a stunning back

 and of course a dress that made me feel like a princess!

I went for three fittings and by the last fitting...the dress fit me like a glove!

PRE-WEDDING PICTURES!

LOVED THIS PICTURE OF MY DRESS!

WEDDING DAY

the dress fit much better than i remembered it.

There is something about the wedding day morning that brings everything together!

And as soon as i put the dress on....i felt and looked like a princess!

WEDDING NIGHT....

yes i had to take a picture of my dress!

It had done such a fabulous job!

And i can't wait to try it on again someday soon...perhaps on my wedding anniversary!

52 Weeks of Love: Bachelorette Party

I wanted to celebrate 52 Weeks of Love by revisiting some of my favorite moments from last year, pre-wedding moments like the bachelorette party, the wedding, honeymoon, all culminating into April 23, 2012.

I can't believe it's going to be almost a year of being Mrs. Pancakes, a married woman, a wife!

Today i wanted to share moments from the Bachelorette Party....

***************************************************** 

This time last year, my girls and i went to Toronto

for my bachelorette party and i must say it was one of the best nights ever!

I can't believe how quickly a year passes by so i wanted to reminisce a little.

There were the battling BFF's who managed to come together to throw an awesome party.

There was a road trip.

There were old and new friends.

There were blue and yellow dresses (per my request since it was my wedding colours).

There were matching T-Shirts (which were so creative).

There were games...yes those kinds of games.

There were kissing of random guys (on the cheek of course).

There were drinks and lots of drinking.

There was music and lots of dancing!

There were Bachelorette Crowns and huge diamond rings that sparkled.

There were high heels that were fierce that hurt the feet.

It was a night my girls allowed me to indulge and ask

and do anything i wanted because "i was the bride!"

There were people surrounding me who loved and cherished me.

It was a night that i will never forget!!

Thank you girls!!

SERIOUSLY IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST WEEKENDS EVER!

52 Weeks of Love: Jen and Micah

Thank you Jen and Micah for celebrating 52 Weeks of Love with Team Pancakes!!!

______________________________________________________

Hi y'all! I'm Jen and I blog over at The Arizona Russums. 

Two days after returning from our honeymoon, my husband 

and I packed up a moving truck and headed down to Phoenix {from Seattle}

 to start a new adventure as newlyweds. 

I began our blog to document our life in a new city and keep in touch with people back home. 

Now we have been married for a year and half 

and I can hardly believe our two year anniversary is quickly approaching this summer

 {our wedding date was July 11th and, yes, we had a Slurpee machine at our wedding!}.

{4th of July in Arizona!}

Favorite memory from the first year of marriage...

Well besides having an amazing wedding, going on an awesome honeymoon to Hawaii, going on a wild adventure and moving to Arizona two days after getting back from said honeymoon, getting our first apartment, and finding a new church and making new friends, I just don't know... probably making up our own songs when we are hanging around the house or driving in the car.

 Micah is always making up little songs (and a rap every now and then...he will want a disclaimer), and sometimes I surprise him by joining in and making up my own words.

{c/o Chrystabel Photography}

Hardest thing about being married...

I've said it once and I'll say it again (probably countless times), 

the hardest thing about being married is I Peter 3:1. 

{Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, 

so that even if some do not obey the word, 

they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 

when they see your respectful and pure conduct.} 

This verse is full of hard, good words. Not only am I called to submit to my husband,

 but I'm called to respect him no matter what. 

No matter how he is acting. Even if he is sinning, 

my conduct toward him should be respectful and pure according to the Lord, 

since God requires wives to treat even non-believing husbands in this same way. 

This means no uncontrollable fits of anger, name calling, revenge-seeking, 

or bitterness-harboring behavior on my part. None. 

That doesn't mean I can't tell Micah when he is wrong.

 It means that whether he is wrong or whether I think I am right, 

I am called to respect him as my leader and the head of my home. Eek.

 This verse hangs on the mirror on my bathroom,

 so I am reminded daily of what it means to be a godly wife.

{Heading down to Phoenix!}

Best thing about being married...

The best thing about being married is getting to show the world that marriage is good. 

I was struck recently by the negative view of marriage most of our society holds. 

I constantly hear jokes about splitting property in half and lots of sarcasm about divorce. 

I guess it makes sense that a lot of people have this jaded view considering that about half of the marriages today end in divorce, but that viewpoint is not right. The negative view of marriage held by a lot (even most?) of our society is not God’s point of view on marriage at all.

Sometimes marriage is very hard. 

Sometimes it is difficult to serve Micah and to submit to his plan, 

much less to do so with a smile on my face and joy in my heart. 

But I know that in the end, marriage is good. It’s God creation. 

It’s God’s plan for me and for so many others to be shaped, transformed and refined through marriage. 

So despite what the world says about marriage today, regardless of the bitterness and the sarcasm about marriage that seeps throughout our society, I urge you to believe differently. 

Marriage is worth working for, sacrificing for, fighting for. 

Just as God has said from the beginning with Adam and Eve, marriage is very good (Genesis 1:31).

The Arizona Russums

Married 556 days!

{c/o Chrystabel Photography}

Come say HI! I'd love to meet you...

Blog // Facebook // Twitter

52 Weeks of Love: Jordy

My name is Jordy and I write about my life as a newlywed over at my blog, Jordy Liz Blogs.

If I'm being honest (and I've learned to be honest) about our first year of married bliss, 

it was pretty non-blissful. 

Nearing the end of our second year of marriage (celebrating two years in March),

 I have been doing a lot of reflecting on how far we've come and where we are going.

 As I reflect, the first year and a half make me twinge. It was hard, revealing and sometimes painful. 

Yes, there were wonderful moments and days, but it seemed that we just couldn't get our act together.

I expected it to be easy, fun, exciting and spontaneously romantic - all the time. 

I talked to friends who were also married and they gave me no reason to think that it shouldn't be,

 so what was wrong with our marriage? Why was it kind of hard some days and next to impossible the next? Why was it easy mid-afternoon and then World War III by dinner? There were Saturday afternoons of slammed doors. There were nights where I got in my car and made the loop around Phoenix, not wanting to go back. There was the doubt, regret and worry about what the heck I had gotten myself into.

Four months in, I wrote this post. I was crying out, seeking for affirmation that I wasn't going crazy. 

The encouragement I received from this post still rings in my ears today.

The thing I've learned about marriage is that it's hard work. We have to take it moment by moment, and if there's one bad moment, it doesn't mean the entire marriage has to be sacked. I've learned to pick my battles and let things go. I've learned to treat my husband with the same respect I expect in return. I've learned to let the dishes sit in the sink if it means sitting by my husband on the couch for ten extra minutes. I've learned that sometimes we just need to get out of the house. I've learned that we are two very different people, but if we were the same, we'd be in trouble.

Through blogging our story, I've learned to be honest. And if I'm being honest, there is no one I'd rather go to sleep with at night and wake up to in the morning. If I'm being honest, my husband has way too much patience with me. If I'm being honest, the really great moments tend to overshadow the sticky ones, regardless. I never want to paint a picture of pure bliss, because I never want a newly married couple to feel like they're doing something wrong. I felt like I was doing something wrong for four months. That's a lot of wasted time. These days, I'm not wasting time. I'm enjoying it.

And you know what? It's good. It's a one-of-a-kind experience if you're willing to fight for it. It's the greatest life lesson if you're willing to learn from it. It's the most clear picture of what selflessness and pure love looks like if you're willing to let it shine through you.

Make sure to read our unique story over at my blog and be encouraged in your own story. It's worth it.

****************************************************

Thank you Jordy for sharing how you celebrated 52 Weeks of Love!

It looks like you've learned a lot over the last two years of marriage.

Many more years to you!

52 Weeks of Love : Danielle & Jonathan

This is perhaps one of the most creative 52 Weeks of Love post ever...

read below to see why!

Thank you Danielle for participating and sharing how you enjoyed your first year of marriage!

Take it away...

______________________________________________________

Well hey y’all! 
I’m Danielle from Happily Ever After!

Jonathan (he’s known as Big Jon in the blog world) and I were married on October 2, 2010!
 It was my FAVORITE day of my life!!!

We have been married a little over a year,
and I have learned a LOT about myself and the art of marriage over the past 14 months.
 I have heard many people say the first year is the most difficult,
but I really don’t consider the past year to be “difficult.” 
Sure, we had our ups and downs like anyone else, but we really enjoyed our first year of marriage.

 I was thrilled when Mrs. Pancakes asked me to share some of what I’ve learned as a newlywed,
but I went a little further and recruited Big Jon to share some if his insights too.
(He has a much tougher job than me- I’m definitely tougher to deal with. 
What can I say, women can be complicated.) 
So, here is some of our marital advice to other newlyweds
to help make the first year of marriage true marital bliss!! 

(P.S. The insights from Big Jon are in his own words….you’ll see why I love him so much!)

Danielle: Keep God first, and your spouse second. 
Those priorities sound so obvious and we hear them all the time, but I know it’s often a struggle to TRULY put this into practice (and we often don’t even realize we’re not doing it). Once you get married, you become ONE with your husband, which means he comes before your parents, family, work, kids, friends, etc. A lot of times our choices don’t reflect that.  Also, if we keep God first, that means we are submissive to our husbands (as He calls us to be in the Word). There is a negative connotation in today’s society to the word “submission,” but it’s actually a positive thing when you truly understand it in a Biblical sense. 
There’s definitely a freedom in understanding submission and God’s design for marriage. 
Women are not equipped to be the leader of the home, so when we try
to “wear the pants” it often leads to issues.

Big Jon: Learn to communicate. 
Yea, it sucks to have to “talk about your feelings,” 
but your wife needs to know what’s going on with you. 
Talk about your problems to keep the relationship healthy.

Danielle: Marriage takes lots of preparation and work. 
We talked about and agreed on how to handle many of life’s issues…..finances, children,
 how we wanted to raise them, how holidays would be spent, household chores, sex, etc. 
Now I’m not saying we have specific ideas for each of these things and stick to them like glue,
but it IS important to be on the same page as your spouse (preferably before you get married)
concerning the big stuff.  There are going to be many little things in life you disagree about,
so the “big issues” should be dealt with and agreed upon early.

Big Jon: Making your marriage work takes compromise. 
Your life isn’t only about you anymore and making yourself happy. 
It’s about being a man and taking care of your family. 
Sometimes that takes sacrifice.

Danielle: Choose your words wisely. 
You married this person with the intentions of spending the rest of your life with them,
so treat them that way. 
You can’t take away the things you’ve said in the past,
so make sure everything you say in the present and future
 is not something you will regret down the road. 
Also, be very careful with whom you vent to about your spouse. 
It is healthy to have someone to talk to,
but make sure it’s someone whose opinion won’t change about him and won’t judge him. 
(Parents have a tough time forgetting and forgiving when someone has done something to hurt their child.)  Also, avoid spouse bashing. 
Women tend to be notorious for this….
getting together and complaining about all the things their hubbies do wrong or don’t do right. 
STAY AWAY, and speak edifying words to and about your husband.

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”- Ephesians 4:29

Big Jon: Choose your battles. 
Most things are not worth arguing about. 
Your wife will be right 99% of the time anyway (at least mine is).

Danielle: Take care of yourself!! 
It’s not okay to “let yourself go” once you get married. 
You should do the same things you did when y’all were dating. 
Work out, eat healthy, dress nice, fix your hair, put on makeup, leave him sweet notes, cook his favorite meal, tell him what you love about him, and speak highly of him to others. 
You should never stop trying to impress your man. 
And vice versa. I think that helps keep the “magic” alive and keeps you from getting bored. 
There’s often resentment when one spouse totally changes after getting married, and rightfully so.
 Be the husband/wife your spouse fell in love with!!

Big Jon: Appreciate her and let her know how much you do.  
Small things, big things, all things…It’s important to not let the things she does go unnoticed.  
Tell her she looks pretty, that she’s a great cook, that you think she’s smart, or that you love when she texts you while she’s at work. It means a lot to her for you to notice that kind of stuff.

Well, I hope you enjoyed our little post and took away a little something useful. 
Marriage is truly life’s greatest blessing and such a precious gift from the Lord. 
It’s so sad to see what our society has turned marriage into,
 but I believe this generation of newlyweds can change that and get back to the foundations of marriage.

Swing by and see us at Happily Ever After sometime…..
we just love visitors and would love to show you some of our southern hospitality!! 
You can also feel free to shoot me an e-mail if you have any questions about anything we’ve talked about here…

May the Lord bless you in your marriage….

and may you live HAPPILY EVER AFTER!!!

“And the greatest of these is LOVE.” –1 Corinthians 13:13

300 Days of Love

Dear Mr. Pancakes,

I can't believe we are at 300 days of love!

Time just seems to fly while having having fun.

This month we celebrate 4 years of knowing each other.

Since the first day we talked, we haven't stopped talking and i hope we never do!

This is what i wrote almost 4 years ago in my journal:

2/25/2008

"I met a guy last week and i must say i am smitten. 

We spoke for about 3.5 hours closer to 4 hours 

and the whole entire time we were laughing and just having a good time!"

I cannot believe that "the guy" who had me "smitten" has become my husband and future!

Life sure has a way of happening to us in the best kind of ways...

Here's to many many more days!!

Love,  Mrs. Pancakes!

52 Weeks of Love: Nini & Chris

I am over the moon that Janine agreed to help celebrate 52 Weeks of Love with us today.  

As Team Pancakes' anniversary draws near, II continue to learn from all of you ladies and it warms my heart to be able to share this time in my life and marriage with you all.

So thank you Janine for celebrating your first 52 weeks of love with us!

________________________________________________________

Hi my name is Janine and I blog over at Life As Mrs. H.

I was immensely thrilled when Mrs. Pancakes asked me to be a part of her 52 weeks of love series.

(thank you Mrs. Pancakes I look forward to connecting 

with other happily married newlyweds and thank you for this wonderful series).

Ahem, so let's get to my post shall we.

My wonderful hubby Chris and I have been happily married and in love since Nov. 13th 2010. 

Hmmm, what can I say about our first year of marriage, our 52 weeks in love?

It all went by so fast, it was quite a whirlwind. 

But I definitely mean that in a good way.

I've heard alot of couples say their first year was difficult but for us it was a breeze. 

Actually we laughed and acted a fool through so much of it, it seems like it was too easy.

My husband's practice grew tremendously (thank God), so he was always away on trips. 

That was a bit trying at times but thank goodness for skype!

As a couple we really kept alot of the laughter around in our relationship, 

we've realized (or at least I have) that because of our hectic schedules 

its best to treasure the moments we spend together rather 

than nit picking about something that didn't get done.

We takes turns pretty much finding the lighter side of most situations 

we're placed in...and when all else fails we just pure act a fool and goofy!

That's sure to make the other laugh.

Don't get me wrong it hasn't all been peonies and roses.

We've had some rough patches in there: like the days I miss him so badly 

and I can't stand him being gone, or he walks into one of 

my self inflicted war paths of beating myself down over school work.

But we get through it. The beauty of our relationship that I've always like is that 

he is the complete balance to every piece of me.

He knows how to manage my tantrums, how to comfort me and how to be silly and play with me.

It's the reason I knew he was meant for me. 

We've always been an adventurous couple but we really didn't do anything 

crazy and daring this year as we would normally engage in 

(one of our first dates was skydiving together and on our honeymoon we dived with sharks!).

That doesn't mean life didn't throw an adventure our way though.

During our first year of marriage we were diagnosed with unexplained infertility. 

We are both immensely strong in our faith, and our commitment to one day have a family, 

so we have seen this not so much as an obstacle but more as a tool to make use stronger.

I've found a great community of IFer's through blogging and my readers have kept me sane, 

allowed me to vent or be emotional and been a great guidance and support.

And of course there is my husband. He is like my earthly rock. He has been there every step of the way reinforcing his love and support and promising to never give up until we have the family we desire. 

There are a few things that I have gotten used to after a year of being married. 

Things that bring me tons of comfort and put a smile on my face, 

a few lessons that I've learned and things I know:

1. Every morning without fail he kisses me before he leaves the house for work and whispers 

how much I mean to him, and even though I'm asleep cause it's 5am 

I look forward to feeling those kisses and hearing the mumbling, 

even though I can't wake up to answer. 

2. No matter how many times I try to cut back the amount of chocolate 

he eats I'll always find stashes in the freezer.

3. It never fails that 15 minutes after laying down, while I'm still talking about the day he is fast asleep.

4. We've cooked Sunday lunch together every Sunday

 since we've been dating and I hope that never changes (except when we're travelling). 

5. I've learned that forgiving each other and moving on is key. 

We rarely argue but when we do we make sure to talk it through 

till both people are happy to put it to rest.

6. If we're going somewhere its best to let me drive, 

my husband like most men has no sense of direction, 

and it saves me from being in the passenger seat handing out instructions. 

"Turn here, slow down, move over to that lane". 

I admit I'm horrible at being a passenger. His dad said its like having Tom Tom and Jan Jan! lol!

7. I can't fall asleep unless my husband is right beside me....

it's true I have to back my butt up on to him every night 

and no matter how many times he moves my butt follows.

8. I still get weak in the knees when he takes off his shirt 

and I find him just as irresistible today as when we were dating. 

We are still hot for each other and I certainly hope that never changes. 

9. Don't try to tell him how to run his business. 

I can sometimes butt my little nose in where 

it doesn't belong and I've learned when it comes to his business 

and his employees its best to listen until my advice is asked for. 

Sometimes he just needs to vent and for me to listen. 

He isn't always looking for me to fix things. 

10. We will never agree on the thermostat cause Chris really grew up on a set of Happy Feet 

and I undoubtedly must have lived on the Sun. 

So we compromise by keeping it cold and I get to put on his favorite sweatshirt and socks. 

11. He talks in his sleep and I walk in mine.

12. We both have great taste but are horrible at decorating ourselves. 

13. We are truly each other's best friend and this past year has solidified that fact. 

So that's us in a nutshell. Not really! But it's as much as I can share. 

I'm looking forward to my life with Chris and many many more weeks in love with him. 

Thanks for letting me share with you today and I look forward to hearing from others on their life in love!

_______________________________________________________

Janine, thank you for your candor and honesty! 

You and Chris are such a fun and loving couple 

and i cannot wait to see how your beautiful love story enfolds.

Question of the Day:

Janine and her husband are definitely an adventurous couple, 

What's your most adventurous date?