Our First Anniversary (Whoop!)

Howdy!

As many of you know, Darren and I celebrated our first anniversary last weekend (April 14th).  We decided to take a four day weekend to visit College Station and Houston, squeezing in as many hugs and "howdies" as possible.

Last Christmas when Darren's sister, Svenja, asked him to present her Texas Aggie ring to her this spring, we knew we would be making a trip to one of our favorite places. Fortunately, her ring day lined up on the same weekend as our one year anniversary, so we were able to celebrate two events in one trip.

As you may imagine, a trip back to College Station is quite exciting for us...I personally haven't been back since Darren graduated in December 2011. Immediately following our flight/hotel/rental car booking, I proceeded to draw up a list of places I wanted to visit while in the great state of Texas. I included our Texas to-do list at the end of this entry :)

We decided to fly out of St. Louis on Thursday morning in order to make it to CS in time for AFC devo (this is the Aggies for Christ on-campus worship at night that I've written about before). Weekly Thursday night devo was a huge part of our lives while at A&M, and I hadn't been to one since my last devo prior to graduation in May 2011.  Needless to say, it was extremely powerful to be sitting under the stars, singing 4-part harmony with 100+ Aggie students. I am so proud of AFC for continuing to be a place of love, support, encouragement, and family for students during their time at A&M. It was a huge blessing to witness it again, not to mention all of the much-needed hugs from faraway friends that I haven't seen in so long (you know who you are!).

Friday morning brought some free time during which Darren and I visited the newly-renovated Memorial Student Center (MSC). I was very impressed by how they maintained the general spirit of the original building (untouched flagroom) while updating it to meet the needs of today's students (more food options, game room downstairs, etc). While we were there, we visited the Aggie Moms' Boutique. Of course, we had to pick out a few items for our home (we decorate in A&M things for fall football season).

After our morning adventures, it was time for the ring day festivities. Svenja is earning her bachelor's degree in education and will graduate next May. However, when an Aggie has earned 90 credit hours toward their degree, they are deemed a "senior" and presented with the most desirable object in Aggieland: an Aggie ring. It is tradition to have a family member or someone who inspired or helped you achieve this goal present your ring to you, and Darren was honored to do so for Svenja. We are so proud of her for all of her hard work and can't wait to watch her walk the stage when she earns her diploma next spring!

Here are a few snapshots from the ring ceremony:

Darren's family came to support her, and it was great to see and catch up with them as well. We haven't been in Texas since Christmas, so getting some hugs and spending quality time with family was a pleasure.

Svenja's roommates, Lauren and Erin, also earned their rings and decided to throw a Ring Dunk at the church together with some other friends. Congratulations goes to each of you!! Darren and I were glad to be back in the land of A&M pitchers full of ice tea being gulped down by hopeful seniors... And of course, since we were in the land of college students where nobody goes to bed before 11pm, following the ring dunk, we visited with Alex and Kelsey (college friends) at one of my favorite coffee shops in CS: Sweet Eugene's!

On Saturday morning, Darren and I hit the road to start our adventure in Houston. Before leaving town, however, we stopped into Shipley's to get our favorite donuts (donut holes for me and Bavarian creme-filled for him) since STL doesn't have donut shops.  Well, let me clarify, STL has Dunkin Donuts but no little mom & pop donut shops that are fresh and super cheap. We also stopped during the drive to take some pictures in the beautiful Texas bluebonnets (and even caught some Indian Paintbrushes) before hitting the outlet mall in Cypress.

Upon arrival in Houston, we met up with Nick and Katie (my college roommate) for lunch & then some fun play in the park time with the newest member of their family, Meeka. It was so lovely to catch up with them and hear about their adventures now that Nick has a position as a Youth Minister and Katie is working as an Occupational Therapist. It's so crazy to think that my friends have real adult jobs and are doing so well!

After briefly checking into the hotel, Darren and I drove down to the NASA Space Center to meet Robert and Tessa (Robert was one of Darren's roommates and my classmate in BMEN). We explored NASA for a while and then took the world's longest tour of some of the facilities. After taking twice as long as it should have, we were all hungry and decided to eat at a hole in the wall Italian place after a failed attempt at trying to find parking at Kemah.

On Sunday, we slept in before checking out of the hotel and visiting the Water Wall near the Galleria. Then we decided to shop at one of our most favorite places: Ikea!! Although we couldn't bring back any furniture with us (our suitcases were already full to the brim and, last I checked, lamps aren't allowed as carry-ons), we enjoyed playing house as we explored the store. We had an Ikea up in Dallas that would serve as a great cheap date location (typically walk away with <$20 in purchases and normally spend ~2 hours wandering around). STL has not built an Ikea yet, and so far the closest one is in Chicago.  We look forward to a Chicago weekend trip during which we will visit Ikea, but that one's not planned yet so we decided to check out the Swedish playground while we could.

Finally, we had our official anniversary meal at the Cheesecake Factory and celebrated with a red velvet cheesecake (our frozen wedding cake is still in Dallas...unless mom fed it to the cat).

All in all, we had a fantastic time.  Our trip was the perfect blend of scheduled outings and free time to explore some places we'd always talked about going but never had.  We are extremely grateful to everyone who made the effort to visit with us, whether just meeting at devo or planning a get together.  Although we are very happy in STL, we still occasionally get homesick for the places where we grew up and the people that love us.  Trips like this make it easier on those days where it's tempting to get lonely.

Here's the promised list of what we wanted to accomplish (and did!):

Texas To-Do List:
1. Whataburger (on the road to CS)
2. See the new MSC
3. Buy Aggie decor at the Aggie Mom's Boutique
4. Blue Baker (with the Cannons before the Ring Dunk)
5. Drink a mocha at Sweet Eugene's
6. Shipley's
7. Take bluebonnet pictures
8. Shop in the Cypress Outlet mall
9. See NASA
10. Visit the Water Wall
11. Shop at IKEA

Thanks to everyone who helped encourage us during this last year, our first year of marriage. It surely hasn't been easy, starting with Darren's move to STL and us learning how to live together. Then we began to realize how much we needed each other, and have been adjusting to jobs and the city all at once. I had no idea how much getting married would change our relationship and I didn't expect to come to need and rely on another person like I do with Darren.  God truly blessed me with a loving husband, and He continues to show us what true love and marriage means. One year down, decades to go!