Four years ago today, we were wed on a perfect October day.
I know I just started a new series, but today is a very special day. I plan to blog more about “finding self”, so you might think that it would be all about me and my life this month. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. My husband has helped me see and understand things about myself that I lacked the confidence to realize on my own. My failures and shortcomings, my potential and capabilities. One of the biggest defining things in my life is that I am his wife. It’s part of who I am now and will always be. During the past four years of marriage I’ve learned more than I would have ever imagined. I’ve learned how hard it is to love, how easy it is to fight, how important it is to communicate and how much we need each other to make it through life.
This week, y’all…this week has been so much fun. It’s had its ups and downs like any week, but something about this week has had a fresh air about it. Maybe I’ve had too much pumpkin flavored everything, or I have just found some good people in the world. Either way, glad to have had such a great week.
1. Weddings are some of my favorite pastimes. This past weekend both the hubby and I were in a wedding on the beach, and it was AMAZING. The year we got married we somehow managed to attend something like 13 other weddings the same year and that got a little exhausting. But this year, we’ve only been to three and each have been so much fun that I wish I had another one in the books. Invite me to your wedding, people! No but really, this weekend we had the most wonderful time as bridesmaid and groomsman. I think we both just love the opportunity to really serve our friends at such a monumental time in their lives. Plus, we got to hang out with a few great people and always seem to make friends with the photographer (who was adorable, by the way…can’t wait to see her pictures from the day but until then, here’s a few others).
Photo by Molly StillmanPhoto by Marc Killian
2. The blog is growing. Like a total nerd I sat and watched google analytics realtime tracking on Monday night. Every couple of minutes I would yell out the current number of readers and their locations to the hubby while he worked on a song. I’m learning a lot in a short time but also feeling like I have SO much to learn and catch up on. That said, thank you so much for reading along with me so far as I try different things and tweak different sections of the blog. Any and all feedback is most appreciated!
3. It’s a good thing my voice is back because it’s been all over the microphone. This week the hubby decided we were doing an open mic night. While not new to him, it was a first for me. After months of working on songs together we went ahead and shared them with the world. While I didn’t really tell anyone we were doing it beforehand, please allow these poorly lit phone pictures to say it all. It was really great, and I ended up being more comfortable than I thought I would be. I’m ready for our next gig! In addition to my singing debut, I got to do some voiceovers this week for some freelance work which was really fun and completely new to me. Apparently they loved it! So, moral of the story…prepare to hear me on the radio some day, one way or another.
What’s a vacation without coming home to a camera full of photos that won’t be printed for years, an overstuffed suitcase of dirty clothes and a happy heart bursting with fond memories?
Seriously, the last week has been so great. And then sadly came to an abrupt end as soon as we got home. Apparently between the time change, day of travel, lack of food with substance and the start of a cold, everything in me decided to fall apart and be quite sick for a bit. But was it all worth it in the end? Absolutely.
I don’t even know how to put it all down in a Thursday Three. (Don’t I say that every week? Clearly I should blog more…) Here’s my best attempt at the rest of the week after we left Portland. Believe it or not, the good photos off the camera have yet to be sorted so these are just what we’ve got from our phones.
1. Having family in cool parts of the country has its benefits. Obviously if they live somewhere cool, yet far, that can be a bummer, too. After Portland we drove through the gorge and up and down the Oregon landscapes to visit the hubby’s brother and his family. We had so much fun playing with our little loves (our four-year-old niece and two-year-old nephew). They have grown and changed so much since we last saw them in May. I love being an aunt! Plus, it was great to spend time with his brother and sister-in-law…a bit like old times before we all moved different directions.
2. Weddings bring the happy couple’s favorite people all into one room.When we got married we thought it was so fun to see people we loved getting to know each other for the first time. Part of our reason for heading out west was to attend the wedding of a good friend of mine. When I studied abroad in Greece, we traveled together every weekend and she was my closest friend there. I was so glad to get to see her again and attend her wedding. But what ended up being an unexpected bonus was meeting all of her other friends. These are the friends I heard all about while we hiked mountains and ate crepes. It was as if I was meeting long-lost friends for the first time and we hugged as our friendship came full circle.
3. Driving the coast and exploring was unbelievable. There are so many different parts of Oregon and changes in scenery within a few miles. We went to a tulip farm, drove through mountains, played on Cannon Beach, visited a cheese factory and even spent a day hanging out in Seattle, WA to see the hubby’s uncle and the gum wall. This is clearly the catch-all of the three so I can throw a bunch of photos up here. At least I’m honest.
What is it about Thursdays? You look back at the week and think it was ages since the weekend. What did you even do last weekend? Gosh. Yet it’s marks the beginning of an end (or vice versa I suppose) to the week that has something great about it. Besides, who knew I could start so many blog posts just talking about Thursday? I sure didn’t.
1. We said YES. This past week, friends of ours asked us to be in their wedding this September. Friends we met here, in North Carolina. Something about that is crazy to me. We were both really honored to be chosen for these roles and especially after only knowing them for the past year or so. When we moved we really hoped and prayed we could both make close friends and be close friends. While being in someone’s wedding is far from the deciding factor on your friendship status (please, don’t even get me started about how weddings weirdly make you rank your friends), we are really excited to be a part of their big day and their lives.
2. Shut the front door, there’s snow outside. I know I went on a mini-rant/lecture on what is and is not cold last week. This time, it actually is. I wouldn’t say all of the snow days the kids got away with were totally justified but hope they had a good mini-vacay anyway. I decided to embrace a new-to-me Southern recipe by putting a bowl out on the porch to catch some flakes for snow cream. It tastes about as exciting as it sounds: milky sugar snow. As long as there’s sugar involved, it’s a bona fide Southern dish. And alright already. There’s something really pretty and even kinda fun about snow. I said it.
3. There’s a lot of people in the world. Yep, I’m going big with this last one. But it’s true. People are everywhere and I keep being reminded we have to work at things together. People can challenge you and frustrate you but they also strengthen you. It’s worthwhile to come together, even if it’s sorta inconvenient or outside your comfort zone. They’ll rub you the wrong way and sometimes you want to say, “I can do it all without them!” But there will always be someone else that will annoy you in almost the same way. Might as well figure out how to bring out each other’s strengths and work as a team.
