Our Love Story: Part 1

A couple weekends ago, we celebrated our 5th anniversary. I can't believe we have been married for 5 years! But really, it does feel like we've been together for a long, long time. I can't remember what it feels like to NOT be married. Our lives are so intertwined now, and I love that comfortable familiar feeling of sharing my life with my best friend. I know it's mushy but it's true, and I think I'm allowed some sap once a year! So, in honor of our anniversary, I decided to finally share the story of how and when we met. It is unnecessarily long and detailed, so much so that it's divided into 2 posts. So read at your own leisure :)

A weekend at the beach

I've been quiet here on the blog front lately. Not really sure why, but I felt like I needed the time off so I took it. And it was great. I'm excited to jump back on board!

This past weekend we spent down at Ocean Isle Beach. For the first time, Michael and I had his parents' condo all to ourselves, and it was incredible. Just what we needed, in fact. I certainly do wish that weekends were longer than 2 days! Friday night started off a little rough. First with not knowing where we put our keys to the condo, and then my little Prius had some car trouble just after we had really gotten going on our drive. So we turned around, drove home, re-packed all of our stuff into Michael's car and set out a little bit later than we intended. We decided to make the best of it and not let it ruin our weekend. It didn't really. We missed out on maybe a couple hours of hanging out at the condo on Friday night, since we didn't arrive until 1 am (!!) but we were so glad we decided to go anyway. We spent the weekend sleeping in, eating delicious brunch, walking on the beach, bike riding around the island, reading, eating pizza on the couch and watching a movie, and of course more beach walking. The weather was GORGEOUS - 70s and sunny, with some strong gusts of wind here and there. It was relaxing, refreshing, and I got some much needed quality time with my man. Seriously, the perfect weekend. We finished it off with lunch in Wilmington on our drive back, at the cutest ever cafe right on the water. Sometimes weekends are packed full of fun activities, sometimes they are simple and relaxing, and sometimes we get lucky and they are both. This weekend we got lucky!

Two Years

Today is our anniversary! That's right, 7/11. Go get yourself a free Slurpee to celebrate!

Tonight we'll be celebrating 2 years of marriage and over 5 years of being together. It seems so crazy that it's been that long already. But at the same time I feel like we've always been together, and I really couldn't imagine my life without my sweetie. We are seriously so blessed. Looking forward to a romantic dinner out and reminiscing on one of the most important days of our lives!

photography by Bella Pictures

Dear Husband

Thank you for telling me I look beautiful when I leave for work in the morning. I know you genuinely mean it every time and it truly makes my day.

I'm proud of you for working so hard lately. I know you don't love everything about your job but you care about doing it well and you are so good at what you do. It makes me so happy to see you reach your goals and succeed!

Thank you for apologizing first and loving me even when I'm not so loving. You remind me that we are on the same team, and I'm thankful for that.

All this to say that I love you & you're the best husband ever!

Pinterest-inspired Birthday Cheesecake

Pinterest is an amazing thing. When I asked Michael what kind of cake he'd like for his birthday this year, he came up with the idea of some type of peanut butter-y chocolate-y cheesecake. Most normal people don't really have a recipe on hand for something that specific... cue Pinterest. I searched "peanut butter chocolate cheesecake" and dozens of different recipes came up on the page. I simply scrolled through the pictures and showed them to Michael, and he picked out the one he wanted.

pinned here and the recipe can be found at this blog post

Of course he would pick that one. A little intimidating, huh?

Surprisingly enough, I actually pulled it off! Here is my version:

It was a huge success with the birthday boy, and that makes me happy! It was super creamy and the peanut butter baked really well with the cheesecake flavor (I was a little unsure when tasting the batter). We had Michael's sister and husband over to help us eat it, thank goodness. It was so rich though, that none of us were even able to finish a whole slice. We'll be freezing some of this for sure. Michael would never let a good dessert go to waste.

Seriously though, what did we do before Pinterest?

Happy birthday Michael, I love you!

Lovely things

I've run across a few things today that have just plain warmed my heart. There is a lot of junk on the internet that is not worth our time, nor is it good for our minds. But there is also a lot of wonderful-ness - genuine people with beautiful stories. Here a few of my recent faves:

a soldier's precious welcome home

Some inspiration on loving our husbands. I just met Nicole today on her blog The Neesby Lookbook, and she is just so cute and encouraging! I can't wait to get to know her more as I follow along with her blog. She has a blogger button that she created as a way to commit to loving our husbands and building them up whenever we can. How convicting! I know I do not do this enough so from now on I've decided to join in on some Hubs Lovin'! I am mainly going to work in this in real life (encouraging him and speaking highly of him to my friends), but don't be weirded out if I brag about my hubby on this blog. I'm his wife and I shouldn't be afraid to tell everyone how much I love him! I've also added the button to my blog's sidebar.

Joy the Baker and her adorable, heart-warming personality. I've heard some buzz about her but never checked out her blog until this week, and I'm so glad I did! If you haven't yet, watch her video to get to know her and follow along to see all the wonderful things she bakes! She also recently published her own cookbook and I'm just dying to have it. Too bad my birthday just passed... I like random presents too! hint hint...

Running across the recipe for a beautiful Strawberry Brown Butter Banana Bread. Doesn't it just look delectable? I can't wait to try this.

There you have it! A collection of this week's findings that have warmed my heart and just gotten me excited about life. I feel encouraged and ready for the weekend. I certainly hope you do too. Happy Friday!

P.S. I just added a "pin it" button button to my blog. It's right at the bottom of the post and if you click it, you can "pin" to Pinterest whatever you want from the blog post you are reading. So if you see a recipe or a craft on here that you like, pin it and share the idea! I thought I would also share the link that showed me how to do it so you can add it to your blog too! :)

It's easy

Unfortunately all the family time on our beach trip this past weekend allowed a stomach bug to pass its way around. Michael got sick on our drive home and stayed in bed all day yesterday. I felt so bad for him - he was pale, running a fever, and couldn't keep anything in his stomach. Not to mention he felt miserable. I made up a cozy bed for him on the futon so he didn't pass the bug to me, brought him water, took his temperature, and made sure he had everything he needed. I didn't mind waiting on him when he looked so awful. I wanted to help him get through this horrible sickness!

On my drive into work yesterday I realized something. It's so easy to be patient with my husband when he is sick. I don't expect anything out of him because I know he feels terrible and I want to do whatever I can to help him get better. The true test of patience is when we are both well and able, because that is when I set expectations for him, often too high. When we got home Sunday night, I unpacked his suitcase along with mine, did a few loads of laundry, and cleaned up the apartment, because it was easy to serve him when I knew he needed it. On any normal night, my thoughts usually go like this: "why should I fold his laundry or cook him dinner when he hasn't taken out the smelly trash in 4 days?" or "he can clean up his pile of mail, and I'll just work around it until he notices it's bugging me" (which, by the way, he doesn't ever). I'll get home from work on a Tuesday and have lots of energy and want to get some chores done, expecting him to have the same amount of energy as me even though I know he's worked a long day (and maybe didn't get that afternoon caffeine jolt like I did). If I have something on my to-do list, I expect him to know it's on there and to do something about it.

via



Why do I set these uncommunicated expectations when I know I will only be disappointed? My job as a wife is to serve my husband. Period. Regardless of what I get in return. Keeping score in a marriage will surely start fights, this I have learned. I'm thankful for this little lesson in patience. I'm sure I'll get a good many more over the course of our marriage, as it seems I am so quick to forget!

Photo shoot!

While we were at home for Thanksgiving, we had the opportunity to take some photos with my friend Blythe, who is aspiring to build her brand in photography. I wanted to give her some more experience, and also get some good photos of my husband and me for our 2011 Christmas card. I know this is kind of spoiling our card, but Blythe did such a good job I just had to share! (Be sure to get a good laugh at my model face... yeah definitely don't have "the look" down yet.) I am so happy with these - it will be hard to pick one. I am excited to have some quality photos to frame around the house as well. I never loved the engagement pictures we did back in 2009, so these totally make up for those!! Thank you Blythe, you are wonderful!

Be sure to check out Blythe's blog to see her amazing photography skills!

First day on the job :)

 

Doesn't my hubby look great? This is his first week starting in a pharmaceutical sales position, promoting some new drugs in the Raleigh/Durham area. With so many specialized doctors, incredible facilities, and guaranteed pharmaceutical competition, there is a lot going on in the healthcare industry here. Think about it - Duke, Chapel Hill, WakeMed... talk about intimidating! I know Michael will do just great as he grows this business and promotes his drugs in the new market. He is already working so hard to do his best and put himself out there. I am so proud of him and so excited to see all that he is going to accomplish in this position and in his career! More than anything, we are so grateful God has given him this opportunity. If you think about him, send a little prayer his way as he embarks on this scary and exciting new journey.

I love you, sweetie!

Wildflower fail

I take back roads on my way to work, and the other day I noticed some pretty yellow wildflowers along the road. I love having fresh flowers in the house, and my previous bouquet had gone bad so I had the brilliant idea to pick some and bring them home (they were not in anyone's yard, nor were they planted by the county - they really were flowers growing wild. I promise I didn't steal them from anyone!). Well, when I had cut them and put them in water in a mason jar as a vase, it was obvious they are wildflowers and didn't look quite as nice as the hydrangea and dhalias. I still thought they looked cute though, in a disheveled-daisy-kind-of-way, so I left them on the table next to my pumpkin. I was so proud of myself for finding a fresh bouquet for free! Until last night. That's when I realized that wildflowers may have been a bad choice. It has been two days since I brought them into my house, and now surrounding the mason jar is a circle of bright yellow pollen that is continuing to drop from the flowers, making a mess on my table and fall placemats. I guess these cute little wildflowers are gonna have to go.

This got me thinking about how life in general is imperfect and doesn't always go according to plan. Throughout my apartment this is so obvious - right now my bedroom looks like an explosion of laundry, half of which needs to be washed, the other half is already washed but in a laundry basket so the clothes probably now have permanent wrinkles from sitting in there so long. My bathroom, though now organized, has gotten dirty once again and definitely needs a good scrubbing. My dishdrain and dishwasher are full of dishes that need to be put away. Our kitchen table is covered with bills, magazines, and random mail we needed to take care weeks ago. Oh, and don't forget the wildflower pollen has gotten into that mess as well (I still have yet to clean that up). Yeah, so a lot of imperfections...

To add to all that, last night my husband and I were getting settled in front of the TV to eat dinner and catch up on some of our favorite shows, and I don't even know how it happened but I knocked over my pink Mike's Hard Lemonade and completely doused a good portion of the carpet. Instead of having a peaceful and relaxing night, we ended spending a good 45 minutes trying to figure out how to clean the carpet and get rid of the stain. There may or may not have been a fight somewhere in there, too, with maybe a little bit of yelling, because we are human, and definitely very imperfect.

I could go on to say that everything "doesn't have to be perfect," "life is so much more interesting with the imperfections," and "it's the imperfections that make you you." And yes, life is definitely more interesting because of the imperfections, and my life is so much more full because I am surrounded by so many unique people who are not all just like me. But the truth is there is a part of me that still gets frustrated with my flaws, and while I have a strong desire to do things the right way, I simply just can't all the time. And that is so frustrating. I can't rely on a quote or a mantra to give me to right attitude to just let it go, as the world might tell me to do. No, I have a greater comfort: the fact that my Savior loves me in spite of all my imperfections. Not because I'm going to "try to do better next time," or after I have already cleaned up the mess. But He loves me through it all. So much that He offers it over and over again to me before I'm even ready to apologize.

I guess I just wanted to share a little bit of what's on my heart right now, and remind you that if you're feeling imperfect, know that I am, too. Very much so. But the amazing thing is that we're covered by the grace of a God who loves us so much. I am so thankful for that.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and while it may or may not be perfect, know that you are loved in spite of your imperfections.