three years.

Today marks three years of marriage to the man I love. When I've taken a still moment this week to reflect on these first few years of being married I've been filled with warmth, gratitude, and a safe sense of belonging. I feel proud of the person he is and how faithfully he's lived out his vows. I feel smiley at the hundreds of occasions that exist where he has made me laugh really freaking hard. I feel excitement for the chapters, homes, adventures, growth, and children (Lord willing) that await us in the years ahead.

I can never quite figure out how to do justice in writing to the swollen sense of happiness I have in our marriage. Simply said, I really love doing life with Finn. I'm deeply thankful for the friendship, trust, grace, and home we've built with each other in these first years. It just keeps getting better and better.

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lake tahoe: 3/3

Aside from our drive around the lake, an evening at the movies (seeing Wreck-It Ralph), and a fancy dinner date, not much was planned or scheduled for our time away. We tried to see the sunset every night and other than that, our days were wide open for time on the porch and hanging out by the fire. We spent time talking about all that's come to be since our last anniversary (quite a lot we realized) and wondering what might change by next year. Life with Finn is an unknowable adventure. I love it. I look forward to our anniversary trips down the line and all the changes and refinement that will happen in the years between them.

Sidenotes:

1. Sadly we did not see a bear, though I certainly tried.

2. Is that pinecone impressive or what?

3. The house we stayed in was amazing. A friend of TwitSpark lent us his vacation home for the weekend and it was ballin, for lack of better words. Leather sofas, a huge bathtub, a TV (!!!), and a king sized bed! Their living room and kitchen were easily bigger than our whole apartment. If this house hadn't been lent to us, our trip to Tahoe probably wouldn't have happened so we are very thankful. I hereby declare that if we ever have a vacation home, we will lend it to young couples to pay it forward. 

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lake tahoe: 2/3

We spent one of our days driving the entire way around Lake Tahoe, which takes about 3 hours. My most favorite of all our various stops was the beautiful Emerald Bay. It's known for its vibrant colors and it has the only island in all of Lake Tahoe, in case you were wondering.

We had lunch high above the bay on some sunny boulders and although we just had bread, jam, and BBQ chips, I felt like a king! What a view. After lunch, we hiked down a windy trail to the edge of the water so we could see its "emerald" color up close. I think we stayed down there for an hour and a half, just looking around. It's of the most naturally beautiful places I've ever been. 

Several people warned us about the steep hike back up the trail but it turns out that San Francisco hills have basically made American Gladiators out of our lungs and we strolled up casually and actually had a conversation the whole way up. We felt very proud of ourselves at the top - the grueling SF landscape has apparently paid off.

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lake tahoe: 1/3

Our anniversary trip in Lake Tahoe was the best. We spent 3 nights away in an area called Incline Village on the northeast side of the lake. It was our first California excursion since living here and spending a few days out the city was refreshing and fun. I love nature and miss its presence in our city life. Getting away for weekend trips is more of a challenge since we don't have a car and our generous friend Jeff was kind enough to lend us his for the whole weekend. Thank you Jeff! Our time away was filled with relaxing by the fire, watching sunsets, playing frisbee, napping (that one was mainly me), and generally enjoying the incredible natural beauty by being outside. The whole weekend felt like one giant exhale and I'm so thankful we were able to visit, especially at such a beautiful time of year.

There was a also a very nice frisbee golf course (what providence!) half a mile from our house so we played a few times over the weekend. I wish I could say I totally smoked my competition, but that would be a bold lie.

It turns out my frisbee skills have diminished over the past few years. This kept happening....dang bushes.

On one hole, I temporarily got my act together and we tied. Our reactions are pretty telling.

More photos coming soon!

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back from tahoe.

We are back from Lake Tahoe and man oh man, was it an amazing time. 

It is seriously such a beautiful place. We were not at all ready to leave and the drive back yesterday was full of wistful sighs for the scenery and trees. I loved it all! Our time away was restful and fun, just as we'd hoped it would be. I'll definitely share more photos over the next few days. I hope everyone had a good weekend!

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the anniversary trip.

We're going away to Lake Tahoe this weekend to celebrate our second anniversary. I can't wait! When we got married, we decided that we'd try to take a trip every year for our anniversary, even if it's little.

For last year's anniversary, we biked the Virginia Creeper Trail in Damascus, Virginia. It's one of our favorite trips we've ever taken. We stayed in an old bed and breakfast on the river and had the best time biking down the trail. It's 34 miles long and slightly downhill the whole way. We stopped at different pastures and bridges to explore and ate hotdogs for lunch at a stand along the way. Although the changing leaves make October the most popular month to go, the trail didn't feel too overcrowded. It was all cinematically beautiful. We had such a nice time.

And as real life often goes, there are some funny mishaps to share too:

1) We went to see a play on our non-biking day and it was terrible. 

2) On day 2 I went down the creaky stairs to the kitchen in the middle of the night and there was a man in there. In the dark. That's like a female-imagination-worst-nightmare come true. Turns out it was the owner's hooligan grandson who stops in to take food. Still, it scared me so bad.

3) When we took the shuttle to the top of the mountain to bike, I decided we should sit in the back of the van because "it would be more swervy and fun". I then got super carsick and almost threw up. When we finally got out of the van, I had to lay in the grass for half an hour before we could start biking. Finn loves this story.

I'm really looking forward to this year's trip. Neither of us have been to Lake Tahoe and don't know what to expect. It will all be a surprise! I'm mainly excited to spend a whole weekend with Finn, ride in a car, eat s'mores, and see lots of trees. Everything else will be extra goodness.

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P.S. - This was during my Katniss stage, which explains the second picture down.

this week.

( A little mix of photos from my week )

1. Found this little elephant finger puppet mixed in with my craft stuff. What a cutie!
2. I really want to buy these handsome man boots for Finn.

3. Twinkle lights are up.
4. And pumpkins are out. Everything feels cozy.
5. This pretty jar was a gift from Nicole. Finn & I began using it to collect small and funny memories we might otherwise forget. For example "today our drunken neighbor was stuck in the elevator and was yelling "let me out, let me out". And when his wife let him out, he told her she had a big mouth". Some are funny, some are nice, and we'll read them at New Years. I like to watch it fill up.
6. Anniversary sweetness from our friend Fe. There were two cupcakes but, well, you know.
7. We are a mirror writing family.
8. Best of all, my husband is home.

Have a great weekend everybody! 

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surprise dessert.

Finn was in NYC for work this week so as a little surprise, I had some fancy cheesecake sent up to his hotel room the night of our anniversary. I coordinated with his co-worker/our friend Johnny to get their room number, sneakily called the front desk, picked out his favorite dessert from the menu, and had them write a note too. I wanted to surprise and bless him and felt pretty good about my idea. The hotel they were staying in was pretty nice too, so I envisioned the cheesecake arriving to his room looking something like this: 

I imagined a service cart, a fancy tray, or even just a plate.  Maybe the note 

would be written on some hotel stationery. Not too big of a stretch, right?

Well folks, this was the reality of its presentation:

A crumpled brown paper bag with the cheesecake in a tin to-go box, WHICH was on its side inside the bag so everything was looking pretty rough. And my note? Receipt paper taped to the outside. Crookedly no less!

Being the visual person I am, I wanted to know how they had delivered it and when he texted me a picture, I laughed so hard. We both did. The contrast between what I'd envisioned and what was in front of him was comical. And although it didn't go exactly as I had imagined, he still liked the gesture (and the cheesecake!) nonetheless. And best of all, he was surprised. It was so fun hearing a knock on the door, then him saying "who is it?...who?...oh, one second...hi...thank you!..what is this...?". I was smiling so big into the phone. And to be honest, I think I like this memory more for the fact it went awry. It will be more fun to remember.

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happy anniversary robin & matthew!

Today marks 3 years of marriage for my sister and her husband. And yes, that means I got married on their 1 year anniversary weekend (typical little sister move). Their wedding was incredibly beautiful and took place in a clearing of the woods in the late afternoon. Everyone sat on church pews and hay bales under the giant turning oaks and the sunlight filtered through the leaves perfectly. Since it was tucked away in the woods, the whole ceremony had an exciting feeling, like it was a little secret. It was such a fun day.

I love them for each other. In addition to having the ability to easily propel each other into a hilarious state of silliness, they are each two of the most caring, thoughtful, and serving individuals I know. I look up to them both for their intentionality in life and marriage. They are wise souls and I often fantasize about the day we live within driving distance and can take a walk in the woods or stay up late talking in the kitchen. Those will be rich times. Happy anniversary lovebirds, enjoy your day!

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i am thankful for this marriage.

It was two years ago today that I married my dear husband. We stood in my parents' back yard on a most gorgeous fall day and at 4:30, with a small gathering of our closest family and friends looking on, we promised to stand by each other for the rest of our years. I feel such thankfulness to have been gifted such a wonderful man as my companion and these first two years have been deeply good. Seriously, I love it.  

Finn is in NYC this week for work and although we won't get to spend today together, we have fun plans to celebrate with a weekend away when he returns home. I can't wait! Let it be known that I love my life and I really love that man. Here's to years and years more of sharing life and belonging to each other. It's the best.

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