Sweet Home McCormick: Happy Anniversary!

Today is a very special day in the McCormick house. It is our first wedding anniversary! In some ways, it feels like this year has flown by! It seems like just yesterday we were in Louisiana with our friends and family getting hitched. In another way, it feels like we have been married for forever. I just don't remember my life before Ryan was in it. We had a great weekend together. We were actually quite productive with house projects...and of course I have pictures:)

We finished our grapevine swag for the front door! I'm not sure if there is some magical grapevine store to buy these things already made....we made it ourselves. I bought some wound up grapevine from Hobby Lobby to make ours. We let in soak in water for 2 days in an ice chest. Most people recommend soaking it in a bathtub, but real grapevine comes with real broken bits of twigs and dried leaves that I did not want in my bathtub...hence the ice chest. Once it had soaked and was easier to manipulate, we unwound the grapevine and shaped it around our patio table so it would dry in the shape of our front door. We left it like this for a few more days. Ryan put small hooks all around our front door and we attached the swag to the hooks with twine. We added white lights today for the holidays. I love the final outcome! This swag is definitely the most involved project I have come up with.

Our framed fabric is done! It was far easier to finish and the swag:)

Here is a close-up of the fun design on the fabric.

Back to anniversary fun! I thought this would be a good post to tell "The Proposal" story. It was March 1st, 2009...a Sunday:) I had a meeting that day and when I was done, Ryan and I were discussing our dinner plans. While I was at my meeting, Ryan had called my parents to ask permission! We were planning on making gumbo that night, which is a pretty involved dish. After my meeting, I really didn't feel like cooking. I was trying to convince Ryan to order a pizza and he was not having it. Soon he started saying all kinds of sweet things to me. He was telling me that he loved me more than anything and he had never been more sure of a decision in his life. I was thinking, "wow, he really wants to make gumbo tonight." So I finally told him we could make gumbo if it was that important to him. Before I knew it, he was on one knee and asking me to marry him. I was so shocked that I believe my first response was "now?" Then I realized what was happening and I said yes, obviously:) Soon we are going to cut into our cake topper made by the fabulous Melanie Fuglaar!