Safely past the 7-year itch…

8 years ago, on a perfect spring day, I married Brandon… my high school sweet heart, my best friend, the love of my life. Barely finished our bachelor degrees and not quite certain of what would come next – we pledged our love for one another in front of family and friends and vowed to support and stand by one another through all the experiences and moments that life would bring us. At 22, we were essentially still kids. Sure of our committment and our desire to be together, yes, but with much learning and growing to come. With no clue what “all the experiences and moments” would look like… Over the last eight years – we have lived a full life together. We’ve made good decisions and bad decisions (and neutral decisions)… we’ve laughed and played together… we’ve fought and (I’ve) cried together… we’ve grown as individuals and discovered new passions and interests… learned more about who we are and who we want to be… we’ve dreamed together and been so busy we didn’t know how or when to fit in some one-on-one time… we’ve learned (and continue to learn) to be parents… and home-owners… and renovators…

…and through the ups, the downs, the I’m-not-sure-what-you’d-call-them moments, we’ve been blessed to have a love and friendship that has deepened over time.  No – it’s not butterflies and roses all time. It’s not perfect. And it’s not a fairy tale. In fact, I’m not always sure why it works so well when I consider how different we are, how some of the things that I want are nowhere near what he wants… but I am sure of us. I am sure that this is real. That we are real.  That out love is real.

And besides… we’re now officially past the 7 year itch so it can only get better from here on in 🙂

Happy Anniversary my love… you’re still my favorite person.

Time to smell the roses

Making a conscious effort to focus on (remember) the positive…

The subject of this post has been playing around in my mind for a few weeks now. Today in particular, after spending most of my day with my sick two-year old, and after a particularly stress filled week at work, it’s a subject that is close to my heart – and a concept that I need to put into practice. now.

Two-months ago I was still in the middle of my trek to the summit of Kilimanjaro. The high that I felt in completing that feat – and the fundraising project that lead me to Africa – stayed with me for several weeks after my return to “regular” life. 

Now that the stress of work and the everyday has caught back up with me, I’m trying to find a way to grab hold of the positive energy, the confidence and the overall “good” feeling and perspective that I had in January.