Wifery Tales #3: Uniquely Garrison

Today is a special day.
It's Lance and I's first anniversary-
We survived our first year of marriage! Whoop whoop!
It's been full of adventure, full of both joy and hard, change, more change, major decisions and more weird then I EVER thought possible. (Ever.)

In a world of filtered social media pictures and articles that portray the 'perfect' image of marriage, it can be a major temptation to compare your own marriage to other people's.

"They do WAY more than we do.
They look way happier than we do.
They have more fun than we do.
They're more romantic than we are.
They have way less problems than we do."
Blah...Blah...Blah.

Comparison is ugly. It fails to look through the lens of reality and tears down one's joy faster than anything else.
As Ann Voskamp says, "Comparison is a thug that steals your joy."

But I think that the antidote to comparison is celebration.
Because celebration is a form of thanksgiving, and thanksgiving brings to light the truth of God's goodness and provision in your life. Comparison drains and disheartens the soul, but celebration fills it back up to the point of overflow.

The truth is, EVERY marriage is different. Because *duh* every ONE is different.
Then why in the world do we expect them to look, work and function in the same way as everyone else's?
Just as God created each person uniquely, each marriage is unique and quirky in its own way.
That's how it should be!
With this being said, I just want to take a minute to celebrate 7 things I love about our 'Uniquely Garrison' marriage.

1. Jesus. So cliche. Yet so true. He is Lance's shelter. He is my shelter. What a beautiful thing it is to hide in Jesus when the world doesn't make sense; when we don't understand each other; when we can't agree ;when there is no resolution to an argument other than to just pray that God would fix it- fix us. And He is faithful every single time to bring peace to disorder, to bind what was separated and to unite us through struggle. I can't say this with enough confidence :to agree on Him is the best thing.
2. Laughter. It's the greatest medicine! Lance is made up of about 89.99% humor (and corny jokes. Ha!) and that just makes life fun. We accept and embrace each other's weirdness. It feels so GOOD to be free to be quirky.. and to feed off one another's strangeness. I friggin love it.
3. Extroverts. We are both extroverts! I love that we both like to be around people a lot, have people over a lot, and hang out with people until the wee hours of the morning. It is a lot of fun to always be around friends while being with each other.
4. Sleepovers. This sort of is my favorite. We still have sleepovers. (And yes, we are adults). Every once and awhile, I get together with all my girlfriends and have a sleepover at their house while he invites all the guys over for games and grub to stay at our house. Its stinkin' the best. Guys need guy time, and girls need girl time = This is the perfect solution! 
5. I test the waters, and Lance cannonballs right into it. In almost any situation, I have to think, overthink and re-think about it before I make any kind of decision. And half the time I overthink because I'm afraid. Lance, however, sees an opportunity and in full confidence just goes for it-- Cannonballs right into opportunity. He helps me to "Go For It" and I help him " think about this for just a second.."
6. Either Lance is a great 'gift' detective - or I'm horrible at surprises. Y'all. Nearly every single gift I've ever gotten the man-- He FINDS IT. Or he 'accidentally' looks on our Amazon to see recent purchases. Or I forget where I hid the gift and mistakenly tell him to get me something from the place I STASHED IT. (Sorry about ruining your anniversary present, btw) BAH. Good thing he doesn't like surprises that much. *or so he says*
7. He cooks. He cleans. He launders. He does dishes. Sometimes I come home to warm cookies- GOSH-- So hot. This man. I used to feel so un-domestic because I thought I was supposed to do this stuff all the time, but why would I even complain!? It's so nice to have someone else help you out with all that house stuff. Even if he did one time mop the whole floor with half a bottle of undiluted-straight-up-bleach. *coughing/wheezing/dying for days*

The great thing is, that every marriage is unique. There are qualities in every marriage that are admirable and awesome because they are a reflection of two people making it work together. It's easy to lose sight of what you love in the lens of comparison. Yet, celebration can bring them back to life.

What are 7 things that make you "Uniquely ____________"?