two years.

images of our wedding day captured by: Jeff Loves Jessica 

People have asked us in the past couple days, "so what are you two going to do on your wedding anniversary?" to which we reply, "we don't know." Because honestly, there isn't much that you can do on a Tuesday night when you both have to get up the next day for work. So, I am spending the day doing the routine -- gym, errands, walking the dog, lunch together, cleaning, laundry, supper, and TV watching.

There are a few surprises sprinkled in to make the day a little more festive, like anniversary cards in the mail, phone calls and text messages sending well-wishes, putting wedding pictures onto Facebook, a bottle of wine chilling in the fridge waiting for supper, and a bouquet of pink + orange tulips, but mostly, it'll be just like any other day.

And I'm okay with that. I signed up to live every day with Chad, however normal or extraordinary God makes those days. I know a few years down the road we might be celebrating our wedding anniversary at our dining room table with a baby in a highchair, my hair up in a bun with no makeup on, and a few more years might be even more noisy with more kids around that table. I don't need expensive jewelry or chocolates (although I have never said no to a good truffle) to make me remember and appreciate the significance and blessing of our wedding day. I just need my husband.

Always.

So happy anniversary to you, Chad. Because even though it might seem like a normal day, normal is good with me. Because my normal is you.

absent and present.

Let's play pretend for a post, shall we? 

Tonight, you came over to my house. It's been a good three months since we've truly seen and spoke to each other and during the Bachelorette commercials, I begin to tell you all about what I've been up to. While we share a bottle of sweet white wine, of course.

I'll tell you of my overwhelming past couple months. Like how I'm finally done with school and found out that I'll be teaching Kindergarten and 1st grade next fall, and how excited/terrified the idea of being in a classroom full-time makes me.  And I'll tell you how this semester was one of the busiest times of my entire life -- how I regret the lack of attention and time that I gave to Chad, our house + its upkeep, God, our marriage and other people (friends and family) in my life. I'll tell you how I regret being absolutely consumed with school since February and how, I didn't know how to handle everything any other way. How I had to be happy (or at least satisfied) with how I handled myself, because if I wasn't then I would feel like I had let myself down instead of praising my accomplishments, as simple as they might have been.

How I feel bad about how distant I'm been from my blog, a passion of mine, and photography (a blog's partner-in-crime) and how both have been sitting on a shelf so to speak, collecting dust. How at the end of a busy night after spending hours typing a paper, the last thing I had energy for was more computer time. How my therapy was the weekends spent lounging around my house with Chad and Leo, going to the gym and cooking up meals.  And that, even just the simple act of arranging flowers into 3 vases for our church altar on Saturday/bouquets for our mothers sparked the creative part of my personality that had been dormant for the past 4  months, buried under lesson plans and work samples.

And, that's the point of the evening when you'll interrupt my babbling, noting that it's been two hours, the Bachelorette is over and you need to get up early tomorrow. I'll tell you that I'll be in touch, promising to share photos of our wedding with you, our trip from last summer; both of which you haven't seen hardly any of, and other happenings in our (less busy) life here. 

That's where we leave each other, promising we'll make plans, if not daily, than several times during the week, telling each other that we can't let this much time pass between us getting together. Promising each other and ourselves that we will get together, even if it's just a short time during the day.

Now, back to reality...I'm really looking forward to putting myself into my passions once again! :)

P.S. Photo//pin no. 240731542551441628