Marriage: Year 1

One Year Later

Mr. & Mrs. Diondray Sanders 

EST. 10.5.12

Well, technically Dion and I will celebrate our first year anniversary on October 5th, but I figured I will go ahead & write this blog post since we will be in and out out town the next few weeks.


Wow. One year. Seriously, where does the time go? First I'm engaged, and those 10 months of engagement just drag by because I was so excited to be Mrs. Dion Sanders, and then our perfect wedding day flies by and here we are with one year of marriage under our belts.

I can't and won't say that marriage has been easy, but marriage also is an amazing, crazy ride that you get to take with someone who chose to take it with you. Dion and I have been "together" for 3 years now. Dion and I always knew we'd get married, and half of my friends joked that we were pretty much married before the day we got married. We've always been glued to the hip, and honestly has always been our policy. My advice for future married couples, those dating, and those engaged is to get honest. You seriously cannot live a life with someone if you keep things from them. Dion and I know each other deepest and darkest secrets, and although our pasts are not pretty, we both accept them as they are. We still choose to love each other because we both know we wouldn't be who we are without them. So again, my advice is get honest with yourself and get honest with your spouse.

Marriage is can be hard, because even though it's just you and your spouse, it's also you, your family, your spouse and his family. It's definitely hard to make everyone happy, but we've learned that what comes first is us, and what we decides together determines what we do. The best advice my sister and my dad gave me on my wedding day was that Dion and I are now a family and our family comes first, and that nothing comes before or above us. Dion and I have learned that we can not always make everyone happy, and we will never be able to make everyone happy, but as long as we're doing what we decide as a family, the rest will fall in place. So some more advice, make your decisions as a couple.

Now, let's get to the fun of marriage. I absolutely love getting to come home every day to Dion. I love the way he can crack me up after an awful day, and how he reminds me not to take life so seriously. And how I remind him, he sometimes needs to take life a little more seriously. I cannot even express in words how opposite Dion and I are. He is loud, outgoing, funny, and loves to dance and just be silly. I am quiet unless I know you, I loathe dancing, and I am way to serious for my own good. I love good food, Dion would stick to McDonald's if I would let him. I will say that we both love a clean house. I sometimes joke to him, that the only reason he married me is because I scrub clean way too often. Then there are the few areas we are the same. We LOVE Vampire Diaries, he's probably embarrassed I'm saying that, we love going to the movies, and we love not leaving our couch on our days off together.

Marriage is not easy, it's work but it is so worth it. We both work at it, daily. That why I feel so many people get married and divorce. Their idea of marriage is roses and happiness, which IT IS, but it is also a choice. You have to choose to love, serve, and respect your spouse everyday. Dion and I have been through some trying times this year, but I wouldn't change it and I wouldn't go back in time and not be married to him. God brought us together, and with God and our work we will stay together. I am so grateful to have spent an entire year with the most amazing man and I am so grateful that God blessed me with this man. Happy 1 Year Sweet Man!

And I added a few wedding pics for the heck of it. :)

If I could write a letter to me.

Dear 16 year old self,

It's 23, almost 24 you! I'll start with telling you what you're doing and where you're at in life. You're a student at EKU majoring in Middle Grade Education and you are almost done! Yes, you're 23 and no you have not graduated yet, you just took a long route through. You went to 3 different colleges and changed your major 3 different times, and took off some semesters here and there to live in Haiti and some short term trips there as well. That trip your dad dragged you on to Haiti after your senior year changed your life forever! You also married a very handsome and wonderful man last October. He is great! So don't waste your time with any of those boys and remember that God has got Dion waiting for you! Surprisingly, you own a dog! I know you can't believe that! Your passion is kids, which you already know that because you've had a passion for kids since the moment your little sister was born. If I could tell you anything, it's that you need to realize who is most important to you. All those fights you've had and will have with your sister, Janelle, won't matter because we are BEST friends now and have been since the big move to Michigan. Michigan will be the hardest thing in your high school career, but I am here to tell you, that you made it through! Just know that everything falls into place in ways you didn't think God could do. Your parents will mean more to you than you ever know, so quit being so hateful to your parents. Your siblings will become your best friends, so stop arguing. You'll meet the man of your dreams when you're 20, so hold on! And although, at times you've been thinking God has left you, He didn't, He won't, and He hasn't yet.

LOVE,
Your 23 year old self

Dion's SURPRISE 21st!

So my awesome husband turned 21 last week, and Saturday night I threw him a surprise party. I know what you're all thinking..."he just turned 21?" "Wait, how old are you?" "Why'd you all get married so young?"

I will quickly address all those questions. Yes, I'm 23 and he just turned 21. Yes, I realize I "robbed the cradle." We got married because we love each other, and hey why wait? And no we do not have any children.

So now that is behind us, we can talk about Dion's awesome party- I had it at my parents house, where I got him to come to because I said we were dog-sitting while my parents went out of town. He said when he got there he knew something was up because I kept asking him when he was going to be there.

I was just impressed I lasted a whole 12 days before the party without telling him. I love surprising people but I also love telling them too early because I love to make people happy! One of my favorite things to do is make people feel important on their birthdays and I am so happy I was able to make Dion so happy!

We had a big cookie cake (which he only eats cookie cake) and THREE dozen Spalding donuts. Because he loves them and so does the rest of the state. (If you haven't had Spadling donuts you haven't lived.) And we also had 200 chicken wings from Indie's and if you haven't had chicken from Indie's, you also haven't lived.

Parties are awesome & I love hosting them! We had a great turn out and I had a lot of help from some awesome people. The next day, Dion even told me he had always wished for a surprise party & I'm glad we could all make that happen.

Questioning God

Lately I have been going through some really hard times in a certain area of my life. Dion and most of my family know exactly what it is, but for my blog, I'll just leave it un-spoken. During this time, I really have been so angry at God and really questioning God. I have gone through many stages during this time and thought I'd share.

At first I was so angry at God. I did not want to talk to Him, I did not want to even put Christian music on. In my opinion, I don't think there is anything wrong with being angry with God or questioning Him. We get angry with every relationship in our lives, why would our relationship with God be any different? We get angry with our spouses, families, and friends, and then we grow from that. If I never got angry with God or I never questioned Him, I honestly feel my relationship with Him would not grow.

I recently have been reading a lot of the book of Job. If there is one Bible character I can relate with lately, it's definitely Job. Job was pushed to the limit, at the hand of Satan, but at the time he blamed God. Which is exactly what I have been doing lately, and which is exactly what Satan wants. In chapter 7 of Job this verse has been me lately:

"I cannot keep from speaking. I must express my anguish. My bitter soul must complain." (Job 7:11)

All I have been wanting to do is blame someone, cry about it, or just shut God out. 

I need to realize that the circumstances in my life are not because God is punishing me or because God is cruel, I need to realize it's not God at all. It's not easy, and it won't be easy. There are going to be days when I question God and get angry with Him because of this trial. But I still need Him, because without Him, this certain circumstance will over take me. 

So for now, I'll just rest in this verse:

Isaiah 55:8-9

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says theLord.
    “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
⁹ For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so my ways are higher than your ways
    and my thoughts higher than your thoughts."

This song has been me lately! Thanks to my sis, Ciaara, for sending it to me!! (Just click the link)

Take Me to the King