Mrs. Clarkbar (and crew): The Beginning: Part 1

We are celebrating our 1 year anniversary this Saturday. Can you believe it?! One whole year of marriage. One whole year of laundry for two people. One whole year of waking up to your best friend. One whole year of happiness.

Many people say that the first year of marriage is the hardest; if that is the truth then marriage is a breeze! I don't mean to brag or to seem cocky, but seriously our first year of marriage has been easy! I attribute a lot of it to the fact that we dated for 5 years before we became engaged. But let me back up a little bit and start from the beginning...

(I can't believe that this is a blog documenting my life as a newlywed and I have yet to write about the beginning of our relationship. Please accept my apology for this major oversight. But I digress... )

We started dating in 2004 after a senior trip to Florida with friends from my summer job. Josh and I had been working together that summer at an arcade-type place. I always thought he was pretty darn cute; I assumed he didn't know I existed. But during the trip we quickly hit it off and when we returned he asked me out on our first date.

2004-Florida trip

That fall I was beginning my freshman year of college just 30 minutes away from our hometown, so we would take turns visiting each other on the weekends and keeping connected during the week. Being so young (and me trying to live the college life), I'm surprised we didn't have more difficulty than we did. However, the toll of the relationship eventually caught up to us.

After my freshman year was over, I decided to spend 6 weeks in South Africa during the summer of 2005 then I left again during the fall to study abroad in Australia for 3 months. The distance affected our relationship and when I returned from my adventures overseas, it didn't take too long before we broke up: In January of 2006 I confessed to Josh that I didn't know myself without a boyfriend and I needed time to be on my own. During our month-long "breakup", I spent more time with friends and even more time with myself. I realized that I was happy with my life, but that I would be happier if Josh was there to spend it with me. Josh made me complete. He made me light up. He made me happier than I could ever imagine being. Apparently, I just needed a month-breather to realize how special our relationship was. I didn't know if he would eventually be my husband, but I knew I wanted him in my life now.

The next 4 years were full of plenty of laughs, a few adventures, and even a puppy!

2006-Pinnacle Mountain