5 y e a r s

As I waited for the plane to taxi into the Kansas City airport, my stomach dropped as my phone dinged to let me know I had a voicemail.  I quickly dialed and listened as someone in the HR department asked if I would call them back as soon as possible.

2009 : My first Florida picture from my hotel room the night before my interview

I was returning from an interview and knew that this was "the call".  I had either gotten the job or hadn't.  

As I scurried off the plane, I scanned the busy airport for a quiet place to make my phone call.  I stepped aside as my shaky fingers dialed the number.  

After the required formalities, Josh from HR got to the point.  They wanted to hire me for the position.  I couldn't believe it!  It had been a whirlwind.  I had applied to the position, the next day had a phone interview, and here I was only hours gone from the actual interview and they were offering me the job. Was it meant to be?

Christmas 2010 : The first time wearing my winter coat!

I blurted out a yes as fast I could.  Yes, I would take the job.

After I hung up, the reality struck.  What in the world had I just done?  My current job at a museum in Denver was coming to an end.  I needed a job, but Florida?  It was possibly the furthest place I could move from my Colorado home.  Bobby and I had talked about the "what if" but suddenly I worried maybe he wouldn't come with me.  I mean, we had been dating for almost 5 years, but still how could I ask him to move across the country for me to the foreign land of Florida.  

2011 : petting a panther

While waiting for my connecting flight back to Denver, I made the calls to Bobby and my family.  Everyone was overjoyed for me, but I could tell that they were also very sad.  I was moving away.

The next month was busy.  Packing, finding a place to live, getting work things in order, and starting to say our goodbyes.  

The night before my mom, Bobby and I embarked on our 3 day journey to the southern tip of the United States, we had dinner with Bobby's family and spent the rest of the evening with mine.  I could barely look at my sisters as we hugged goodbye.  We slept on the floor of my older sister's living room that night, but we didn't really sleep.  We both had butterflies in our stomach and tears in our eyes.  I remember though, feeling some peace as I realized I wasn't doing this alone--that Bobby would be my side. 

2012: I got married!

I often look back at the journey and can't believe that I did it.  I survived it.  

I jumped full force into my new job and loved it.  It took awhile longer for Bobby to adjust and find his niche, but he did.  The first few months our GPS was a life saver.  We learned which grocery store was better than others and that I would never have straight hair again :) .  

My mom always says that Colorado will always be my home and she is right.  Its where our family is and many of our close friends.  But Florida is our home too.  We are making a life here and after 5 years it feels like our space-- our own tiny world. 

2013: Weeki Wachee Springs

Florida will always be the place where I grew up.  In 5 years, a lot has changed and I still continue to grow, but looking back at my first few weeks here compared to now, I am different.  Good different!

Aurelia: A sweet addition to the family

Remember this? My first blog post!  I started this blog as a ways to document this journey and I love looking back at my posts to see how far I've come amidst the ups and downs.  I love looking back at major life choices and knowing that I made the right one.  I can see how it all fits together like a puzzle and that sometimes it only makes sense looking back years later. 

Life is good here in Florida and I look forward to the next 5 years!

2014: Miami

Sanibel // Part Due

Some more photos of our weekend trip away

Enjoy!

{somebody didn't want us to go}

Sanibel

We had such a nice time last weekend enjoying Sanibel Island.  Weekend getaways are perfect for rejuvenating your soul and heart.  We couldn't believe that just over 2 years ago we were saying "I do" on the shell strewn beach!  Time flies when you're having fun :)

song: Tennis // Marathon

2 Years.

2 years ago today 

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I married my best friend

on a beautiful beach

with our family surrounding us 

as we made life long commitments and vows.

It was a magical day full of so much love.

And...Just in case you want to relive that glorious day with me!
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Sunset : Moonrise : Sunrise

Our mini vacay was short and sweet.

Here are some more photos from our 24 hour trip down the road to Fort Lauderdale.

{Sometimes I am in complete awe of the beauty of where I call home}

I don't like change.

Do you ever just feel like you are doing a bad job at life?  

Recently I've just felt tired and lonely.  Work takes away my patience and "pep" and when I walk in the door at night I'm just left with the tired, worn down, and often times snippy me. 

It doesn't help that I've spent no more than a collective 5 hours with my husband for over a month and a half.

I have a friend who's husband lives out of state.  He is finishing up school and she moved down here for a job at the museum.  We were talking over coffee the other day about which is worse:  Not seeing your husband because you live a thousand miles away---  Or not seeing your husband but still living together under the same roof?    

Bobby's recent work projects have taken a toll on his schedule.  Now instead of two nights off a week and our 30 minutes together when I get home from work, it is 0 days off and he is already gone when I get home.  I usually won't see him until I roll over in the morning to turn my alarm clock off.  Hit repeat for the last 1 1/2 months and this has been our life.  

I long for balance and I long for stability.  I long for the simple act of eating dinner with him. I have never done well with change and I usually go into super grumpy mode and become embarrassingly stubborn.  

Flashback to my early years to when my parents took out our swing set so they could landscape the backyard (which by the way turned out beautiful).  I pouted for weeks, cried, and snuck tiny swing set trinkets i.e. screws and splintered wood, and hid them in my sock drawer so I would always have a piece of them.  Obviously its quite a stretch to see why I am in the museum field...hehe

Anyways, I digress.  To say that I have matured greatly from my 11 year old self would be a lie.  Why am I not able to grow from this and to be a better person when situations like this happen?  Why do I always think things will stay the same forever and never get better? 

The thing is though, I feel like we are having to figure out this recent change in our life by ourselves and not together.  Because we don't see each other it becomes difficult to have those normal conversations over the phone or at 3 am (don't do it! its never a good idea).  Throughout the day a million things run through my head that I make a mental note to tell him.  I panic, not feeling the luxury of having hours to tell him these things, so in our 10 minute conversations throughout the day he gets word vomited all over by me.  

Did you go to the bank? Did you remember to take the trash out? The car is making a weird noise, can we take it in next week? We have to send the rent tomorrow and pay the electric bill.  Aurelia lost 1/2 of a pound!  I can't find my brown slip on shoes, have you seen them?  I went out to lunch today and got a salad, but the cheese tasted weird.  Who sings that song that we heard on the radio the other day when we were driving to the store? When will you be home tonight?  Do you get a day off this week?  My sister is starting to have contractions!  Our niece was asking for you the other night on Skype.  blah blah blah blah

Lets just say boys don't like this and it makes them grumpy too.

Anyways, I don't even know what I'm really trying to say.  Life is a work in progress and so is marriage.  I know we'll figure it out, but for now its just a little bit harder.  And hopefully my 29 year old self will grow from these times and use them as a learning tool.  And hopefully I won't treat my husband like the old swing set in the backyard and start hiding his things in my sock drawer... cause that would be super creepy.

:)

A Servant

Linking up again this week with From One Year and Beyond:

What Have You Learned from the Unexpected and How Have You Grown as a Couple?

I've been mulling this topic over in my head for a few days and I've realized that there wasn't much "unexpected" when it came to our first year of marriage.  There have been challenging times-- merging our new expectations and roles-- and of course wonderful, blissful times--but being together for 8 years prepared us for a lot.  

Although not quite unexpected (thanks to bible school and exemplary parents), the greatest thing I have learned this first year is that when we serve each other we are the happiest.

We tend to be selfish by nature, and I am no exception.  Serving your spouse, or loved ones, neighbors, or complete strangers for that matter, usually requires a little sacrifice and commitment.  But seriously, it is one of the best natural highs!  When we argue or have rough days I look back and can usually pin point it to a single selfish act.  

This is something that has been engrained in my little brain since I can remember and still, its something that I work on daily.  

There is nothing better than a look of pure appreciation from your husband when you did something special for him, or tackled the laundry or picked up dirty dishes without being asked (yay me!), or made a life changing sacrifice because you knew it would make them happy. 

2005

While I tend to struggle with this, my husband leads me by example. He is the kind of guy who will drop everything for a friend, who would give his shirt off his back to a stranger and who will scratch my legs even when I haven't shaved in 4 whole days.  He's the kind of guy who left everything behind to move 2,000 miles just to be with me.  

Being a servant to each other has made us grow.  With growth and sacrifice comes adjustments and change, but oh how the rewards outweigh any slight discomfort.

My parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary last weekend while they were here visiting.  During their anniversary lunch at the Pub I asked them what advice they had.  The one thing they both said that stuck with me was

"Put each other first"

 I think they may be onto something.

2011

Post I: Introduction

Post II: Funny Moments

Post III: Hard Moments

Hard Moments

Hard times.  Its not always easy to write about the difficulties or the times that made you cry or argue.  But it's a reality, in any type of relationship.  

Blending two lives together can be challenging.  Put the strains of daily life on top of that and there are days that are just plain hard.

We've dealt with financial strains, loss of family pets, missing our family back in Colorado on a daily basis, and moving to a new place to live.  But the hardest moments during our first year have come about due to our polar opposite schedules .  We are lucky most days to see each other for 30 minutes.  We pass each other as I am getting home from work and my husband scoots off to work.  30 minutes isn't a long time to talk about our days, to reconnect, or to just enjoy an extra long hug.  There have been some unpleasant moments (mostly from me) of wondering why we can't have "normal" schedules like other husbands and wives.  Getting home at 5:00, eating dinner together, catching up on our favorite TV shows all snuggly on the couch.  I've even wondered how you can even have a relationship when you never see each other.  

We've worked hard to overcome this.  We still have the same work schedules but are constantly coming up with ways to make those 30 minutes count the most.  We e-mail and talk throughout the day and when those "important" conversations need to happen I do my best try my very hardest to wait until we have more time to seriously devote to the topic.  The days we have together I cherish more than anything.  We are still learning how to be creative and to make those few minutes count the most.  I know that it won't always be like this, but I also know that Bobby's work in the music industry will probably always create unusual work hours.  Something that will hopefully get easier as we learn to grow and support each other.

Its true that the hard times make you appreciate the good times even more.

The words we try to live by everyday:

I Kate take you Bobby,

Knowing that you’ll be my constant friend, faithful partner in life and my one true love

I affirm to you in the presence of these witnesses to stay beside you as your wife

I promise to love you without reservation and to comfort you in times of distress

I promise to encourage you to achieve all of your goals.  To laugh with you, to cry with you, to grow with you mind and spirit

I promise to always be open and honest with you

To be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and health, I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.

Linking up with Kaitlyn

Post I: An Introduction
Post II: Funny Moments

Funny Moments

With our recent celebration of our one year anniversary, it has got me thinking of all the ups and downs we've been through.  They're not kidding when they say the first year is the hardest.  I didn't quite expect it, seeing we had been together for almost 8 years, but adjusting to a new way of life can be challenging!  Thank goodness for those moments of comic relief, the ones where you laugh until you cry.  And also for those moments that weren't so funny then, but make you giggle really hard thinking about them now. 

I think our funniest moments of being a newlywed couple seem to center around food (mostly because, ahem, I am a non domestic goddess in the kitchen and my lovely husband knows how to make eggs, cereal, and stir fry) and constantly figuring out how to be grown-ups.

In the past year we have broken 2 of our new, beautiful, and fancy Crate and Barrel plates, at least 4 of our glasses, and one of the cheap-o Target plates I bought as a here use this one instead of our nice plates plate.  Not to mention the countless times we've set off the smoke detector and that one time I surprised Bobby with his favorite breakfast and he immediately spit the eggs out onto his plate with a look of horror on his face (I may have cried out of pure embarrassment and failure). We're kind of a hot mess in the kitchen.  

Exhibit A:

Don't be fooled.  Although it may seem like a simple task, putting the groceries away is kinda hard. 

 Ironic = your husband talking about his crazy ninja skills 5 seconds earlier!

But through all of the silliness and small kitchen fires, I am reminded daily of his love for me.  

Exhibit B: 

I woke up to this just the other day!  At first I thought there was a giant black beetle crawling on his forehead as my eyes adjusted to the morning light (I was only milliseconds away to overreacting and slapping it off his face), but at a second glance, saw my husband's love note :) No hand written letters left on the pillowcase here.  Label-maker all the way!

I was talking to one of my close friends back in Colorado a few weeks ago and we somehow got on the conversation of marriage.  I asked her what her biggest piece of advice is, being married for 5 years now.  She said, "Play and laugh".  

I think this is some of the best advice I've received. 

 Remember when you used to play and have tickle fights?  And you would think everything the other person said was the most hilarious thing?  You would always answer "He makes me laugh" when asked what your favorite quality was about him. But then we get into a routine, get drained from long work days, and somewhere along the way we forget to laugh and just have fun together. This is something I will always make a priority in our marriage because there is nothing better than having a side-cramp, nose snorting, eye watering laugh attack with your best friend!

Linking up with Kaitlyn:
Post 1: An Introduction

Weekend Getaway

I'm back from an amazing and much needed long weekend getaway celebrating our one year anniversary!

Bobby and I had a wonderful time exploring new parts of Florida like Ocala National Forest, Crystal River, and Weeki Wachee State Park.

Here's a little video of our explorations

:)

Song: Waterbirds by Tennis

We spent the days reconnecting and enjoying our time alone.  We saw an unexpected, beautiful part of Florida, drank really strong margaritas, went for a nighttime swim, drank old fashioned root beer, and enjoyed the sun setting over the Gulf of Mexico.  Oh yeah, and we saw mermaids!! A lovely getaway to celebrate a lovely first year!

More photos here or here and here!

One Year Anniversary

From my wonderful husband

Sunflowers (my favorite!)

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a gift card for a massage and facial!

Bobby,

Thank you for being my husband.  

For loving me always, even when I'm grumpy, greasy haired, and don't feel like cooking.

Thank you for asking me to dinner over 8 years ago and making me laugh (a lot).

Thank you for helping me keep things in perspective and calming my anxiety.

Thank you for being you and letting me love you too.

Love

me