[i+m] celebrating the last year together

some people celebrated an anniversary today. and that someone was us. 

we both were busy working away but each took some time away from our busy lives to meet up for lunch at one of Ian's favorite restaurants -
the ID aka the Irish Democrat

during lunch we got some bad news that we are going to have to say our goodbyes to our beautiful car. RIP perfect white VW - you were my favorite car I ever half owned (technically - not legally). getting that news really put a damper on lunch but we were able to look at each other and say bad things are going to happen in our lives - accidents and illness and through it all we will always have each other. and it is true - we weren't injured and we have a lot to be thankful for still. 

i am still incredibly guilt ridden and sad. i am mourning the loss of what the car represented. ian and i have both worked incredibly hard to get to where we are. there are lots of difficult things we have overcome in our lives as individuals that strengthened our character and made us a stronger couple together. that car was ian's first large purchase and to me it symbolized his hard work and determination. it also represented our family (future family that is). we had planned to keep that car for YEARS. we had discussed using that as our primary family car. and now it is gone.

 but we will get another one. i think that rebuilding our dreams is a good life lesson to have a few weeks before marriage. while the timing wasn't great and we will have to work through the financial aspects of the accident it gave us a chance to work together as a couple. i think many people make wishes and promises on their wedding day of a bright future filled with promise. WHICH I WHOLE HEARTILY THINK WE WILL HAVE. but i know that there will be difficult times ahead and in the face of hardships i know i have the most dependable and honest person standing next to me. we will make it through anything. 

and now on to the exciting stuff! anniversary celebrations!

we set a limit on the gift purchase for this year's anniversary celebrations but we both did really well i think. 

happy anniversary my love

my gifts to ian: 

I stuck with the same theme as last years gifts 

a photo book showing the last year of our life in pictures

two love birdies <3

ian's gifts to me:

Ian kept with the same gifts as last year too - think our future anniversaries may be somewhat predictable :)
calendar documenting our life in pictures
a "Future Mrs. Flynn" shirt to wear on our wedding day
a coffee mug with matching love birds logo

also. as a disclaimer. now that i'm trying to do this whole "blogging" thing i am committed to trying to take more photographers to incorporate into the blog. so stay tuned.