Dear Friday, I am so happy to see you. Every week feels like an eternity, at this point, and I feel like last weekend was forever ago. I only have twelve more days to report to the office and I'm marking them off with a big X, every chance I get. Dear Anniversary, It's crazy to think that I've been married for sixteen years. SIXTEEN YEARS?! We were such babies then and while so many things have changed, so many things are exactly the same. Dear Blog Friends, Did you even notice that I pressed publish five times this week? It's been a really long time since I managed to share a post with you every single day. It might not happen again for awhile, so I really hope you enjoyed it. Dear Ella, You were such a champ this week. I know that transitioning to a new school and learning ...
anniversary
Rivers + Roads | Part One
Today is our fifteenth wedding anniversary, so it seems fitting that I dive right into the mini-vacay we took last week to celebrate! There are way too many photos to share, so I'm planning to break our adventure into several posts. Have you ever had a song that you loved, that once played on a trip or at a defining moment, became your unofficial anthem? Josh and I joked that although we've listened to the three albums by The Head and the Heart for years and years, those songs will forever remind us of this trip. We were so excited to get to the show on Wednesday, that we listened to them in the car that entire day. Then after the show, we were so giddy that we continued playing them on repeat all week. On Monday afternoon, when I got home from work, Josh had that same Spotify ...
Fourteen
To my favorite boy, I'm not sure what I can say today that I haven't already said in the last fourteen years. Thank you for being persistent nineteen years ago when I was too young to know how perfect you were. Thank you for teaching me to drive on the interstate and to pump my own gas. Thank for you spending countless nights in the printmaking studio when I was panicking about advanced critique and for carrying my backpack the 10+ miles out of the Grand Canyon when I didn't think I could make it. Thank you for insisting we get married a year early, for indulging every silly wedding request I made and for taking such good care of me in those early days. Thank you for renovating the same two houses over and over again. Thank for holding my hand every time the pregnancy tests said no and ...
i don’t have a choice, but i’d still choose you.
I tried to narrow it down to eleven images, but I just couldn't do it. Happy 11th Anniversary to my favorite. Every year is the best with you. 7 year post // 8 year post // 9 year post // 10 year post Just case you aren't Facebook friends with my sweet husband, this was his status this morning: I admit. I have a secret smile. Eleven years ago today we said “I do” and I had a secret smile. I smiled because I knew she was the one for me. The one that would make me happy and the one that I could make happy. I smiled because she was fun. I smiled because she was true. I smiled because she knew me. We started our lives together and we laughed and we cried. And I smiled because no matter what we went through, she was there and that’s all I needed. We had children together and I smiled. ...
Best Date Ever
I guess it's a given that your 10 year anniversary date should rock, right? After we got in bed on Saturday night, I looked at Josh and said "this was seriously the best 24 hours I've ever had". It started on Friday night. Josh was in Iowa all week for work (they acquired four new facilities and he was training staff and enjoying the corn fields in the mid-west). He told me on Sunday before we headed out for the airport that my gift was wrapped and ready and that he completely out-gifted me this year. Of course, that got my wheels turning and I asked him where he was hiding my gift! I had no intentions of looking for it (I love surprises too much), but it was fun to think about where it might be hidden. He assured me that I would NEVER find it. He was right. On Thursday afternoon he ...
Our Tenth Year
Ten years ago this summer, I was in a tiny house where no one lived. Spending every extra minute and spare dime making that house a home. Ten years ago yesterday, we pulled into my parents' driveway in a little red truck, giddy about 'tomorrow'. Ten years ago this morning, I woke up in my sister's bed for the last time. Ten years ago tonight, I married my very best friend. We might have been married for ten years, but we've been sharing life for almost sixteen. That's one hundred and ninety months of hand massages. Five thousand eight hundred and forty days of I love yous. Over one hundred and forty thousand hours since I've been right about anything. And I wouldn't trade one single second for anything else. basketball games / the wisdom teeth Valentine's Day / the escort / combat boots ...
Thirteen Years
Today, I've been married for eight years, but I've been in love with Josh for the better part of thirteen. I have "known" my husband since I was in the second grade. When I was seventeen and dating someone else, his best friend told me he wanted to go out with me. He says the combat boots did it for him. I have to admit... for me, it was the baseball pants. Panama City Beach, Florida, 1997 We started dating in February of 1997. I went to his senior prom. I watched him graduate and went to the beach with him the morning after. We fell asleep in the sand and got a terrible sunburn. He and our best friend Chris wore satin pajama pants and harassed beach goers on the strip. His dad made up new lyrics to popular songs and we road home happy in the back seat of the Buick. Senior Prom, ...
Seven Year Itch
We made it seven whole years. Well, really twelve and a half if you count the near six years we dated before getting married. SD & I started dating in February of my junior year of highschool, after much prodding and convincing from a certain friend who will remain nameless (ahem, Chris). He was absolutely not my type. He was the jock, Homecoming King, Mr. VHS. I, on the other hand, was sporting combat boots, listening to the Grateful Dead and dreaming of art school. On our first date (which was supposed to be a friend evening, but the above-mentioned-friend backed out at the last minute) we had dinner and saw Star Wars at the movie theatre. My mom bought me a new outfit and was furious that I wore my Doc Martens anyway. SD wore a flannel button down shirt, baggy Levi's and black ...