Five things about marriage on our 5-year anniversary!

Five years ago today, I married the most beautiful man in the world. In honor of this life-changing event, I’d like to share five things I’ve learned about marriage since saying “I do.” (And I’ll sprinkle in a few wedding day photos for good measure.)

Warning: This may get a bit sappy. I just can’t help myself. ;)

This sign in the hall of the Bellagio announced our wedding as one of their events that day. Fun!

1. Few things are better than falling asleep and waking up next to the one you love. Everything from the way Cor’s handsome face looks as he sleeps to the sweet smell of his pillow, make this one of my favorite things about sharing my life with him.

This is the look that was on cute Cory's face when I started walking down the aisle.

2. A happy home is a full home. We live in a modest-sized house that’s rarely clean and often smells like doggie (ick), but when Cory and I are both here with our two pups, it’s the best place in the world.

Here I am moments before the big event. The necklace I'm wearing was a wedding gift from Cor. Pretty!

3. I hit the husband lottery. Did you know Cory makes me dinner every night? (He's downstairs making breakfast right now.) I can’t cook and he likes to (plus, he’s great at it), so it works for us. He also buys our groceries 9 times out of 10, helps me clean the house (when we get to it), takes amazing care of our dogs (they love him so), and supports my crafting hobby 100% even though it’s pretty much taking over our home. I'd say I'm a lucky girl.

Cor and I opted to include a unity candle in our ceremony. We each took a lit candle and used them to light a bigger and better candle.

4. Marriage is definitely about strength in numbers. The past couple of years forced Cory and me to grow up rather quickly. With things like disease and illness, death, rehab, and miscarriage, we’ve been through a lot, and it seemed to come in a short period of time. This may have been enough to break me, but it didn’t, and I know that’s because I have the strength of two people. Cory is a rock of support, stability, and love, and I couldn’t have done it without him.

With this ring, I thee wed.

5. Marriage may not always be easy, but it sure is fun. Last night after dinner, Cor pulled out our surprise dessert, a package of Halloween Peeps. He knows I love ‘em, so he decided to buy us a bag full to enjoy. Yay! We give each other little surprises like this all the time. We play games (Yahtzee is a favorite), walk the dogs, watch movies (we’re currently into The X Files series--so cool!), joke and laugh, travel, and basically just enjoy our time together. It’s like one big sleepover with your very best friend! Does it get better than that?

You may kiss the super happy bride!

I knew the events that took place five years ago would change my life, but I didn’t realize how much. I thank God for blessing me with such a brilliant, caring, strong, sensitive, funny, and down right hot partner. ;) Here's to five more amazing years!

Happy anniversary, Cory. I love!

Gift-Card Holder Card

If you’re super computer savvy, you likely know that 100110 is the binary code for the ampersand (&). I don’t speak computer, but my coworker and her new hubby do. They selected 10-01-10 as their wedding date partially because of its binary meaning. Isn’t that romantic? It was my fun job to make the happy couple a wedding card from our entire magazine staff, which meant there needed to be plenty of room for signatures, as well as for a gift card. And I naturally needed to make the ampersand a significant feature on the card. This project is the result. Whether you need a group card or not, this idea is a creative way to give a gift card and show someone you care.

Here’s how it’s done:

Step 1: Fold 6x6 cardstock base and cut a small slit in the center of the card’s spine.

Note: The slit should be long enough that you can fit a strand of tulle through it.

Step 2: Punch a decorative border along top and bottom of card front. Then stamp the front of the card with a giant ampersand stamp like this one from Stampin’ Up!. I used Jenni Bowlin paint from Ranger to ink my stamp.

Step 3: Once the stamped image is dry, feed a strip of tulle through the slit in the spine of the card.

Step 4: Tie a knot in the center of the tulle and position the knot in the center of the card.

Step 5: Secure the tulle in place by adhering to the back front cover of the card.

Step 6: Conceal glued tulle by adhering a slightly smaller card base to the inside front cover, leaving the back flap of the base free. This creates a page in your card, which is great when you have a long message to leave or plenty of people who need to sign your card.

Step 7: Stamp a butterfly to complement the colors of your project. I also added a little color using my Copic markers and some more Ranger paint, and some texture with BasicGrey pearls. Adhere the butterfly to the center of your tulle bow.

Step 8: On the inside back cover, paint a smear of color using the same color of paint you used to stamp your ampersand.

Step 8: Spell “enjoy” over the painted area using letter stickers like these from BasicGrey.

Step 9: Stitch tulle pocket over the painted area of the inside back cover, and insert a gift card. Now, when your recipients removes the card they’ll see the little message waiting for them.

There you have it, a wedding card complete with a slot for that gift card. Ampersand day may be over, but this style will still make any couple happy you thought of them on any day of the year.

Cheers!