6 months of wonderful newly wedded bliss. And it just keeps getting better with each day.

We are quite aware that everything in life will not be handed to us on a platter and life is not all sunshine and happiness. But our married life together has been one triumph after another. One helping handful of mercy after another. God has truly blessed us for which we are forever thankful. We couldn't have asked for a better first 6 months. It as been so rewarding going through the ups and downs of marriage and life together. We have learned so much about each other, the world, lifestyles, people, God, family, and commitment in the past 6 months. We have both grown and risen to the challenges each day brings. Something new is always bound to pop up and disrupt what should be a peaceful afternoon, but we just take it as it comes. I love our life. I love our jobs. I love our home. I love our kitty. I love cooking and cleaning and keeping house for Matthew. I love paying the bills and knowing we are on top of everything each month. I love discovering new places for dates and adventures. I love evening in or evening out. I love the openness and honesty in our marriage. Everything is going about as well as can be and I couldn't be happier or more content. It has been a great first 6 months. I am so excited to see what lies ahead for us in the next 6 months.

Last night I insisted we finally take the picture for our Christmas card. I got myself ready then set up the camera on the tripod. It was a lot of fun fooling with the different camera settings and moving around the furniture to get the best lighting and angles. I had it all set up and all Matt had to do was change his shirt and sit down. After only four attempts we have two good alternatives.

Option number 1: with kitten



Option number 2: without kitten


I haven't decided for sure which one I'm going to print up and send out to our family and friends. They are both super cute, in my opinion. I tried to make the picture larger on the side bar, but because of the resolution it will only be that size. Oh well, that's the price I pay for high quality photos. I could alter it to make it larger but it wouldn't be as clear. Oh well. It gives the basic idea of the picture. And now it's larger for all to see. I'm probably going with option 2 for the real Christmas card, but I would like everyone to see our beautiful kitten. I was hoping she's notice the blinking red light on the camera and look, but she was more interested in the lights on the tree! Oh well, since she's a green-eyed black cat her eyes would have glowed something fierce anyways. But we love her.

For our anniversary I'm cooking a nice dinner. We'll probably go out later this week to a nice restaurant. Or maybe just one of our faves like Panera or Quiznos. We can never get enough of those two!

An early Merry Christmas from the Ivesons!