Live Love Laugh

It’s been long overdue, but I can finally share a photo of the actual gift I got my Significant Other for our one year wedding anniversary.

You may remember how I made a word cloud outlining our first year of marriage, or how I stuck about forty “I love…” post-it notes on a cupboard door in the shape of a heart. To stick with the traditional paper gifts, I bought a large frame, selected some photos of us from the past year, and printed them on photo paper… which I could only do after we received the new printer nozzle tingy because the old one wasn’t working… but it all worked out in the end.

[Note: I’ll apologize in advance for  both the quality of the photo and the angle at which it was taken – it was late in the afternoon, and the corridor doesn’t get much light, so I had to use the flash on my cell phone. Better pic to follow soon!]

I know some of you may think the ‘Live Love Laugh’ thing is a bit cheesy and overused, yet I suppose it epitomizes what one can do and hope for to have a happy life. Nobody ever said life was going to be easy (cue more clichés!) All we can do is live as best we can, love and care for others (and ourselves!) and try to look on the lighter side of things, as well… Besides, my Significant Other and I laugh at ourselves a lot because we’re so silly, and that makes the frame’s sentiments even more fitting…

…that, and the fact that Smudgy doesn’t look overly impressed in the photo directly underneath the word ‘Laugh’, making me want to have a small chuckle even more 😉

Okay, enough with the seriousness and pseudo-lecturing and back to my madcap, obsessive-compulsive, cat-loving and slightly pessimistic self *mumble mumble*

Have a tremendously terrific Tuesday, everyone!

A day (and year) to remember

Happy Monday, blog readers!

Even if it’s not a happy one for you, at least it’s happy for me, because a year ago today (in approximately half an hour’s time, if you want to get technical), this happened:

That’s right – I got married.

There were a lot of things that weren’t perfect (with weddings, are they ever?) Naming but only a few: the sidepath of my hair was on the wrong side; the flowers weren’t 100% what I expected; it was an incredibly windy day; and I was 20 minutes late! I know the bride is allowed to be late, but I’m a punctual person, and I don’t really do late. I just comfort myself in the fact that I was actually ready to go, and that the other people in the bridal party were still busy doing their hair/make-up and having their pictures taken… 😉

It’s been a great year filled with love, laughter, happiness and all the other things that couples go through (it’s not always sparkly nyancat rainbows and the like, after all). And yes, I’m thankful. It’s wonderful being married to someone I can be silly with, who genuinely wants to know how my day’s been, who won’t let me get out of the car until we’ve shared a kiss, who playfully teases me when I cry during movies or tv shows (believe me, I can cry at the smallest thing!), who “tolerates” my cooking… and who hasn’t murdered the cat yet because he secretely loves her.

We spent the weekend in a guest house just outside Robertson and had a lovely time. We dined at Mo & Rose and had the most amazing food ever!! I might share some photos of our dining experience with you tomorrow. Tonight we’re going to Balducci’s, and I’m really looking forward to trying their cuisine… I’ll probably just have to find something more appealing to wear than my current attire: black jeans & a green jersey.

Although I have yet to complete the gift I bought my Significant Other, I had a little ‘side project’ I was working on, and after he dropped me off at work this morning, he went home to discover this against one of the cupboards in our study:

That’s right: 40 post-it love notes! I started each one with “I love” and took it from there. It’s the thought that counts after all, right? Plus it’s not like I could list everything I love and appreciate about him – the cupboard would have become pretty full, and I might have ended up sounding clichéd. At least I knew that a few of these would ellicit some chuckles – and being able to laugh & reminisce is something wonderful to me.

Thank you for an amazing year, Sweetheart – here’s to many more! I love you ❤

A lifetime of love <3

“Love? Above all things I believe in love. Love is like oxygen. Love is a many-splendored thing. Love lifts us up where we belong – all you need is love!” ~ Moulin Rouge

It’s a beautiful day outside. The sun is shining, there’s a cool yet refreshing bite to the air, and the leaves are starting to cover the pavements in all their autumn splendor. What makes this day even more special, is the fact that my parentals-in-law are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary today!

Since my Significant Other and I started dating over four years ago, they have accepted me into their hearts as a daughter, adding joy both joy and love to my life. They have been caring, supportive, down-to-earth… the list goes on and on. Their marriage is proof that you can live happily ever after – as long as you nurture your love, grow together as a couple through shared experiences (and, yes, hardships), accept that you’ll have your differences, make honesty and communication a priority… In a nutshell: if you love someone so much that you are willing to make mutual sacrifices, don’t take one another for granted, and work to make it last.

Marriage is hard work, dedication and perseverance – just like anything else in life. There are so many people who get divorced nowadays that it’s nice to find a couple (or couples, rather, since my parentals will also have been married for 30 years come the middle of the year) who have stuck together for so long and whose love is evident for those around them. [Okay, soppy little mini-rant over now!!]

So, to ‘celebrate’ what can be deemed as a lifetime of love, here are some quotations about marriage that just might serve as some food for thought…

“A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity. The order varies for any given year.” ~ Paul Sweeney

“A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.” ~ Mignon McLaughlin

“Love is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end.” ~Author Unknown

“Love one another and you will be happy. It’s as simple and as difficult as that.” ~Michael Leunig

“An anniversary is a time to celebrate the joys of today, the memories of yesterday, and the hopes of tomorrow.” ~ Author Unknown

“The highest happiness on earth is marriage.” ~ William Lyon Phelps

“Are we not like two volumes of one book?” ~ Marceline Desbordes-Valmore

“Love is not singular except in syllable.” ~ Marvin Taylor

“A happy marriage is a long conversation that always seems too short.” ~Andre Maurois

“There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage”. ~ Martin Luther

“Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads, which sew people together through the years”. ~ Simone Signoret

“One man by himself is nothing. Two people who belong together make a world”. ~ Han Margolius

“The secret of a happy marriage remains a secret”. ~ Henry Youngman

“The secret to having a good marriage is to understand that marriage must be total, it must be permanent and it must be equal”. ~ Frank Pittman

“Married couples who love each other tell each other a thousand things without talking.” ~ Chinese Proverb

“Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away.” ~ Dinah Craik