Lanza Letters: Our First Year of Marriage! (recap)

We were hardly settled into the married life when our year took off! Time flew by, and all we could seem to tell people was that we were BUSY, BUT BEYOND BLESSED!

Here is a recap of a few (well, quite a few) highlights from our first year as husband and wife:

Paul worked hard as the sole provider for awhile, and after 8 months of unemployment (talk about a test of patience), I finally accepted the perfect job, teaching reading and English to middle school children at Central School! God truly knew what he was doing, and thank goodness he gave me a supportive husband through it all! The good news is that they kept me, and I will be back again in the fall! I just LOVE it!!

Paul finished his Masters degree at the beginning of August last year and is currently working on his Doctorate! (He’s a smarty!) He is also working on publishing some articles with professors from UAH and already has a pile of projects that he wants to complete. I admire his hard work so much and am so blessed to be his wife!

I began my masters program through Liberty University pursuing a Master of Arts in Human Services with a specialization in Family and Marriage Therapy! Paul’s company pays for his schooling, and we didn’t have to take out a loan for mine. Did I mention that God is good?!

We sold the faithful ’03 Honda Accord when we found a GREAT deal on a 2012 Nissan Rogue! Paul and I made a trip to Memphis, TN to AutoNation to get it. Our salesman, Reggie Hill, was awesome! In fact, he finished up with us, got a call, and headed straight to the hospital to see his baby son be born. He even sent us a picture of the little bundle of joy later that night. Talk about some genuine customer service!

We prayed from day one that God would use our marriage for His glory, and we very quickly began to see those blessings unfold! We jumped at the chance to teach Bible class to kindergarten children at the Inner City on Tuesday nights. There is no better way to spend a Tuesday night than sharing the love of God with 8-12 lively, entertaining, and lovely five-year olds. We also began tutoring one hour on Wednesdays at the Inner City after-school program. Then, as the school year came to a close, we helped kick-start the summer program at Inner City. Throughout the summer, Paul helped with math in the afternoon, and I did reading in the mornings. If there is one thing we have learned, it’s that you can’t out-give God!! I found that out very quickly. Never in my life have I been more humbled than when one of our senior girls at Inner City found us in our big church on senior Sunday to give us a rose. She was supposed to give it to a special person in her life, and when she handed it to us and said Thank You, I just about lost it. The little things you do for people really matter more than you realize. Amen!

We went on vacation trips with our families to Atlanta, Panama City Beach, and Gulf Shores and have had so much fun bringing both of our families into our new marriage!

We were blessed to watch my younger sister on Homecoming Court, at prom, and watch her give her Valedictorian speech at graduation!! She’s a smart cookie, and beautiful, too! That little sister that I prayed so hard for is about to start her college years. I just can’t believe it!!! Paul also "enjoyed" attending tea parties with his nieces! (He is going to a GREAT father one day!)

We had lots of fun decorating the house for Halloween and Christmas, as well as sharing yummy treats with our neighbors and all the costumed kiddos! I just love our little neighborhood, and we truly have the BEST neighbors! They always keep a watch on the house when we are gone!

Instead of presents, we decided to take a birthday getaway to Pigeon Forge and stayed in a quaint little cabin called “Kiss the Clouds.” We enjoyed the serene view, the stars at night, and who can forget Christmas at the Dixie Stampede?! Yummy!

I finally got to fulfill my dream – sending my own Christmas cards to loved one!! It was so much fun. Now, I just have to figure out how to top the poem and design from last year. I have been told from some older ladies that they are waiting on it this year. Oh goodness, what did I get myself into?! (We had so much fun taking the pictures for our cards in downtown Huntsville! I am obsessed with older downtown areas.) Enjoying Paul’s business dinner at the Ledge’s for Christmas was, as usual, a real treat, as well!

We have enjoyed so many fun times with our young married Bible class, Servants at Heart! We had a tacky Christmas party (complete with Cousin Eddie, himself, and Si from Duck Dynasty), a couples’ retreat, a canoe trip down the Flint River, and more!

We have also had so much fun just hanging out with friends (we refuse to become the old married couple, haha). From movies to dinners to concerts and more, we have had a blast! We also give each other space with guys' nights camping and girls' nights at the Melting Pot!

We made it through 365 Days of Love and loved every minute of it!! We also had so much fun taking our anniversary pictures at Hayes Nature Preserve. I got to use a quilt that my great-grandmother made in her 90’s, a dress that my honey surprised me with, a picnic basket made by my mother-in-law, and our one-year old (perfectly scrumptious) cake!! It was great!