It was a big weekend...

Pardon these people, if you will. It looks as though they may have been drinking.

Please excuse the bloggy absence of late,but the hubby and I have been livin' it up this weekend, and I'm still in recovery mode. Friday was our first anniversary, and we celebrated with a fancy shmancy dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. I love this restaurant building, just shy of downtown, right on the edge of the Tennessee River, with big glass windows looking out on the city lights and the Gay Street Bridge--I would have eaten here no matter what the restaurant it housed was serving, but it certainly didn't hurt that the food was outrageously good as well. And, you know, any excuse to dress up a bit ;) We had agreed to no presents, and I thought I was being extra sneaky when I decided to order a cake to surprise Matt with (because we got married in California and flew directly to Hawaii, we didn't get to save our top tier for our anniversary, so I had one made that was as similar as I could get without flying to Monterey again). Little did I know he was far sneakier than I, and he showed up Friday from work with his own surprise--a dozen roses and the most beautiful pendant. It's the first grown up, big-girl, totally-married-lady piece of jewelry I've owned, a gorgeous aquamarine surrounded by tiny blue diamonds (my engagement ring has blue diamonds as well). Exceptionally sneaky, that man-o-mine.

Saturday we drove down to Market Square to wander through the farmer's market for a while, and while it's still too early for any really good veggies, we did stumble on some great finds like the poster from Yee Haw Industries (we got one with an ear of corn, but I couldn't find a picture of that and I fully intend to go back and buy the Tomato one too, so, whatever) and some AMAZING cheese from a local place (seriously, like just down the street from us here) called Locust Grove that raises it's own sheep and makes several varieties of sheep's milk cheese (we bought the Appalachain Spring, and I'm picking up the La Mancha next). I tucked the cheese in my purse (yes, I am a crazy bag lady) and we headed down Gay Street to Nama for lunch, because nothing says "I Love You" to Matt and I like Sushi. And half-off coupons for sushi. Twice the love, half the bill, throw in some iced Jasmine green tea and it's shaping up to be a VERY good lunch. We came back late in the afternoon, crashed on the couch into a fish-and-rice induced coma and napped until my darling brother called to invite us out for a little Indiana Jones. Crazy bag lady smuggled in M&M's, Tropical Dots, and a 20 oz Coke Zero. Katie, if this keeps up I'm going to need to commission a special Market Bag from TexasNorth that has a false bottom and secret compartments.

We rounded out the long weekend with a nice little cookout with my brother and our friends, Quincy and Aimee. We haven't had the opportunity to hang out with them in a while, and it was great to see them again. We cooked a brisket and some corn out on the grill, made a huge batch of pasta salad and fresh hummus, and had big loaf of fresh baked bread (the No-Knead recipe with a little of the water replaced with beer and some fresh chopped rosemary folded in before the second rise--yum!). For dessert we had an icebox Hawaiian pie (to celebrate the anniversary of our Hawaiian honeymoon :)). Much chatting and laughing and eating and reggae music was had by all. All in all, a beautiful weekend, and a wonderful way to celebrate a year of marriage.

The past year is a blur of photos and memories and blog posts and milestones so huge they hurt my brain, and I am truly honored to have spent the year celebrating each of these milestones with my best friend by my side as my partner, my confidant, my support system--my husband. I love this man more than I could have ever dreamed possible, and every day I am excited to face our future, because I know we will be together. I'm amazed to have found a person who totally *gets* me, and is as totally amazed that I get him, too.

I also feel really fortunate that I have been able to share all these things--the excitement, the anticipation, and the fear of everything that goes into making our lives what they are--with you, my friends. The Blog World has opened up the boundaries of our friendships beyond our inconvenient distances, and they are only limited now by what we choose to share with each other. I will continue to love you all and share my life with you here, and I hope you all do the same. Being allowed to be part of your lives has meant the world to me, and I hope you all will be with me as Matt and I take each new step in our continued life together.

I love *all* y'all. I really do.