Fairytale, Chapter 14: Year 2
Kels thinks the fairytale series is getting boring. She says that last week I didn't talk enough about the feelings we had in our first year of marriage. She's right (sort of). I guess we reached the climax of this story after the honeymoon. It is a happily-ever-after story. At this point we were just looking forward to living our lives together. I think that's pretty cool and after all of the chasing I did in the early part of our relationship, I was ready to settle down. So, this is kind of a recap of what we did during our second year of marriage. If I can recall any sappy love stories along the way, I'll be sure to include them.
Year 2
Fall 2007
Kelsey joined a bowling league with two friends from work. Emily, Keisha and Kelsey made up the QueenPins. Love that name...
We served at Ignition (high school ministry at our church) again and agreed that we would see our group of kids through all four years of high school. A big commitment, but well worth it. How can you say no to these crazy faces?
Winter 2007-2008
I was having trouble seeing after work so in January I swallowed my pride, extinguished all hopes of ever becoming a fighter pilot and went to the eye doctor. I was sad that I no longer had perfect 20/20 vision. I had to get glasses to wear at work because the computer had strained my eyes. Boo!
Spring 2008
I turned 24 in March and we celebrated with supper at Legends and watched Waukee play in the boys' state basketball tournament.
In April and May, we took the Marriage Course at church. This was monumental in shaping our marriage and has set a foundation of willingness to always improve our marriage. We learned a lot about each other through this class. It was like opening Pandora's box, but in a good way. It forced us to talk about things we hadn't talked about before.
We walked in our annual MS Walk with Team Plain Jane.
Summer 2008
In June I interviewed for and accepted a production coordinator position at the company that Kelsey had been working for two years. We were super pumped to get to work together and see each other on our lunch break. I can't describe the emotions I went through as I finally found a new job and for that job to be working with Kelsey. Dreamy.
We spent the fourth of July in Okoboji. One day I got water in my ear. Worst. Day. Ever.
Two weeks later we saddled up for an epic journey west. Kelsey's grandpa had a dream to take the whole family through the Black Hills, Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. On his dime, nonetheless. And who are we to crush his dreams? Kelsey and I formed the marketing committee and designed and made T-shirts for the group.
How would you travel with 26 family members through the Black Hills, Yellowstone and Grand Tetons? We rented a charter bus. It was freaking awesome. No driving, and better yet, no jet lag from driving when we arrived at our destinations. A great time was had by all. This may have to be a detailed post later, but here is a slew of pictures from our adventure.
Kelsey's Birthday
Kelsey's birthday is exactly one week before our anniversary. And in the second year of our marriage, she turned 25. It was a big one and I tried to make it special. So I had flowers sent to work. And I threw together a surprise party for her to go out to eat with her girlfriends. We had planned to spend that Friday night cleaning our house because we had company coming the next day. Welp, we know how Kelsey feels about cleaning from our Duty Roster. So I thought that was the best thing I could give her.
Kels also went through a quarter life crisis. She got her ears pierced and went skydiving. She pretty crazy, but I love her.
Anniversary
One week after KW's birthday, I sent her flowers at work again. (Don't think too highly of me, I haven't done this since.)
We ate at Centro in downtown Des Moines and spent a quiet evening painting. I painted this peacock for Kelsey, and she painted this gift for her friend Jill.
Other Highlights From Our Second Year of Marriage
- We went to two weddings
- Went saw our favorite band, Needtobreathe, play a concert at People’s Court
- We bought DVR specifically so we could watch almost all of the 2008 Olympics
- We played coed sand volleyball in the summer
- We suck at life weekend happened in Kansas City
- We saw Relient K, Ludo and House of Heroes play a show at Val Air