summer love

(this gorgeous heart-shaped crystal was gifted to me by Grace's bestie for my anniversary---it's so special and I'll treasure it forever!)

Summer is hands-down my most favorite season.  For us, it is a time to have long, slow days at home, doing nothing much except sharing meals together, reading, and playing video games.  The occasional dip in the pool.  Popsicles for dessert.  Sand all over the floors and wet towels strewn about the house.  It's time on the hockey ice, and time on the softball field.  It's time in the garden and time sipping iced coffees on the deck.  It's cocktails at 2pm and laying down in the AC for early bedtimes.  It's sticky, it's sweaty, it's bickering all day long.  It's dog-eared pages in books and day trips with friends.  It's you take my kids today, and then I'll take yours.  It's please stop over and eat Cheeze-Its with us on the back deck while we get eaten alive by mosquitoes.  It's piles of treasures from the beach and chocolate melting in the sun.  Grocery bills that are through the roof because we keep gathering with friends.  It's feeling like every day together is a good enough reason to celebrate.  It's about feeling good in our skins while we lounge around half-dressed.  It's feet that need pedicures, it's dirty heels and rough edges.  It's pick-up-pizza nights and eat-on-the-fly nights.  It's long days on the beach and never wanting it all to end.  It's dusty, grubby, and beautiful. 

Some people count the days until the kids go back to school but I try to savor each moment (and trust me, lots of them are really annoying moments that make me want to lock myself in my room with a good book) while I have my kids home with me.  August marks the beginning of our true vacation and I can't wait to embrace the true beach bum that I am!

Here's to summer!  xoxo 

14 years and counting

This past week Johnny and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary.  If you asked me when our actual wedding date is, I would say something like "Ummm, I think it's June 28th.  Or it's the 30th.  Wait...how many days are there in June?  Because maybe it's the 31st."  Even as I sit here writing this, I honestly cannot remember the date.  But the date matters less and less as time goes by.  The older we get, the prouder I am of our good solid foundation.  I try not to take it for granted.  Relationships between our friends are crumbling around us.  It's no secret that marriage, or long-term partnerships, are hard.  Like living in the trenches, tear-your-heart-out hard.  So the fact that we are still going strong after all these years...I'll celebrate.  You know, on the 28th.  Or the 30th.  Or somewhere in between.

John and I got married when we were young.  Now, with a preteen at home, it's kind of insane to me when I think that we got engaged in college and then married when we were 22.  We dated way back when----when we were Gray's age...middle school!  And yes, we have the notes to prove it.  (And yes, we've probably shown them to you while we drank cocktails together on our back deck. Sorry for that.)  The picture you see above is our only wedding photo.  Which is why it is so special to me...I would literally grab it off the wall if I had to run out of my house if it was on fire.  John made this photo for me illegally and surprised me with it on one of our anniversaries. (If we were on my deck having more cocktails, I would tell you the story about why we only have one wedding photo, which involves a sad tale about paying a photographer in full, the photographer coming and shooting the wedding, and then that photographer claiming bankruptcy and then running off with everyone's wedding photos.  But I'll spare you!)  The picture captures the essence of us perfectly---and yes, I had cornrows in my hair for my wedding, thank you very much.

I am truly grateful that I enjoy spending time with my husband.  We like each other!  I joke with my friends that we have such a good marriage because we don't get to spend a lot of time together.  (And lots of people in town joke with me that John doesn't even actually exist---he's like Sasquatch!)  When we first got married, he was in the Army and left for Kosovo for ten months.  Then it was various trainings and camps and moves here and there.  And of course I was traveling and doing my own things as well.  Now he's travelling multiple days a week and again, I've always got my own adventures that pull me away from home.  With the kids getting older, we often find ourselves splitting our time between various sporting events and other commitments.  Our time together is precious, so when we get it, we try not to squander it.  Which doesn't mean that sometimes we just crash into bed at 9pm and both look at our phones until we pass out.  There are plenty of times when we just don't have anything left to give each other.  But the key to our success is that we still just love to be around each other.  And we try not to bitch about one another, to ourselves or anyone else. We aren't perfect...far from it.  But we love.  Because love is where it's at.  xo