The Sunset of the First Year

Yep, it's already been one year since Natalie and I said "I Do." This year has probably been the fastest I have ever experienced. So much has happened, and it happened very fast. After being married we got a relaxing summer to spend together, just sleeping in and enjoying each other's company. Then school started for both of us. My first quarter was really hard and it was an hour away from where we lived. A few months later, Natalie changed schools, and we had to move off campus. So in December we moved into a 3-story townhome. Very exciting. Natalie was especially excited because it finally felt like a home to her...I guess on-campus apartments at GCU doesn't exactly count as a cute place to live. I continued going to school and she started at her new college a couple months later. Since we got married we worked at the same place on the weekends, Fox Sports Grill in Glendale. I bartend and she serves. Just over a month ago she decided to transfer back to the Fox Sports Grill in Scottsdale because it has much better management and clientele. We also wenth through a change in churches. We irregularly attended a college/post-grad service called Element up at Highland Church, but we began to feel...I can't believe I'm saying this...too old for it. It didn't feel like a place where we could continue to grow and have fellowship. We tried a few other places, but didn't feel anything for any of them. Then we went to Palm Valley Church, where my brother and his wife attend. After the first sermon, we both got in the car, looked at each other, and said that this is the place for us right now. We've been there for a couple months, and we still feel the same way.
In psychology there's a stress scale where it maps out serious events that could take place in a person's life and it tells how much stress you've been under and from that they can predict your possibility of having a serious illness in the next few years because stress has eaten away at your immune system. We found that we have a very high rating on that test...and a high number of points is not good. Getting married is worth a lot, job change is worth a lot, school change (2) is worth a lot, church change is worth some points, and moving is worth a lot. All things we've done in one year. Despite all of this, we're as happy as can be. God has blessed us and truly taken care of us during our first year.
It's great to go through life with your best friend, knowing that you always have someone to talk to and listen to, and that person will still love you at the end of the day no matter how little you made at work that day or how you did on that test you didn't study for. Whatever has happened throughout the year we've done it while holding each other's hand and laughing together the whole way. God blessed me with an incredible and beautiful woman. We've had so much fun together, and we've learned so much together. I'm so glad that I have the rest of my life to love, learn, and live with her.