Day Three Hundred and Sixty-Six

The First Anniversary

On our Conley Bucket List, right at the very top, we've decided that Celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary is our greatest desire. Good news: it's up to us to see that day through! And today, we got a little bit closer to our goal! ONE YEAR down! Already. I can't believe how fast 52 weeks have gone by. 

9.10.11 is now 9.10.12

The current date may not have the same appeal, but I'm certain that today was even better than today was a year ago. I get to wake up, every morning, next to my best friend. The same sweet man who swept me off my feet on that hot Fourth of July night, married me, and whisked me away to a land far, far away. And every day since, I've found a way to love him even more than I did the day before. They say, "It just keeps getting better." Well, whoever they are, I think they're right. I really do. Because that's all it's been for us: better.

To keep the Bucket List 50 years fresh on his mind, I blew up 49 gray balloons and 1 teal balloon. Every year, one gray balloon will become 1 teal balloon until they're all teal. After that, Adam's going to have to figure out a new game plan...! Maybe for our 51st we'll just start in the opposite direction? In any case, until then, this will be our little tradition. I snuck the balloons into our hotel room this morning and he woke up just as happy as ever. Well, minus the fact that we're staying in the nastiest hotel in Lakeland. That didn't dampen the mood or anything. <----Sarcasm. HAHA. And literally, dampen. The hotel can best be described as "damp." The floor. The sheets. The air. Everything. Even the paper I was wrapping Adam's gifts in was damp. And after tonight's unexpected ending, we're happily situated in a non-damp, very dry, clean and fresh hotel. More on that later.  

While Adam slept this morning, I was up and making things happen! I knew he'd be asleep for a while...he was scheduled to pitch today and needed his rest. So after I finished with the balloons, I went down to the truck. I've been working on this project for 4 days and it finally all came together.

In 365 days, Adam and I have visited 13 states, driven 17 thousand miles, lived at 4 addresses, played 144 games, taken over 10 thousand pictures, and between it all, have said the words, "I love you" more than we could probably count. Those words don't get lost on either of us, but today, I wanted Adam to know exactly why. 

So, with 365 sticky notes, I told him.

It looked like Starburst candy attacked his truck. Every single window, even the ones in the back...covered in colorful words of praise.

Every note was numbered...ensuring there were, in fact, 365 total.

And when we finally got them all down, the stack was overwhelming. That's a lot of reasons, Babe! ;)

Together, we read the notes. We laughed. We smiled. We kissed. And flirted. He's my everything and I can't imagine life without him. I am blessed beyond my wildest dreams (and trust me, I dream big), and every day, I still can't get passed how it all came to be. The Lord is so good. And I am so grateful for His provision and Adam's heart. 

This is where I'm supposed to CAPS LOCK that Adam won the game, brought home the ring, and celebrated his first championship title. All on our anniversary. Well, clearly, caps lock isn't in use at the moment. Because tonight's game was stinkin cancelled! Deep breath. So yes, that stadium board lied! The game, was in fact, NOT tonight at 6:30. Booo. Adam and I planned to celebrate our anniversary tomorrow night because he was supposed to pitch today...and romantic doesn't happen on championship nights in cheap hotels. So, we made zero plans for tonight. Other than winning and celebrating. SO, when the game was finally cancelled after an hour and a half of delay, we were stuck on what to do! We went out for a nice dinner and then headed back to the dreaded Imperial Swan Hotel. We sat in the room for a little over an hour until the dead bug on the carpet got Adam's last nerve. The damp carpet was enough. The lid-less toilet seat and broken bathroom light just added to the experience. But the cockroach. Yeah, after seeing that thing, we were out. We packed up our bags and left the team hotel. There was no way we could spend our anniversary night in a room like that and actually feel ok about it. We drove 15 miles to the Holiday Inn, where the sheets are dry, the bed is twice the size, and the sink isn't cracked in half. The towels are also all one color of white and not brown. Haha. This, my friends, is married life in the minor leagues. Adam promised me he'd never make me stay in a place like that again...and I'm holding him to it. One of the sticky notes I wrote him, said, "You make promises and keep them..." so I know he's telling the truth :) We're comfortable, happy, and totally, completely, madly in love. 

Thank you for the best year of my life, Adam.

I love you.