Time to laugh

This morning my heart's prayer is for perspective. It seems that each Sunday I get in a funk...Church brings up emotions that have been hiding all week, Bran and I argue about stupid stuff and then try to analyze our marriage, and then I get stressed looking at the week ahead. On our walk yesterday, it just kind of hit me how serious we take ourselves. That has always been our virtue to a fault--we try to stay healthy, go deep, and analyze everything--to the point where we can't just enjoy the moment and laugh at ourselves. That is exactly what I want to do right now--laugh. Laugh at our feeble attempts to protect ourselves from the inevitable pain of big life changes. Laugh at the silly things we stress about, when really, there is nothing that should concern us. Laugh at my expectations for a perfect life in Arizona when I've only lived here 6 months! Laugh at the way Bran and I hone in on the tiny bumps in our marriage instead of rejoicing in the wonderful family we have created. Because really, life is good. We get to just be students for 3 years...soaking in exciting knowledge, being in stimulating academic environments, advancing our careers...all while enjoying a quiet family life in the desert. This season of life is a gift. And I want to laugh at myself as I constantly miss what's right in front of me.

True friends

Friendship--the truest kind--is life-giving. That is what we experienced last weekend on our visit to San Diego. Coming home to true friends...where our hearts were free to relax, laugh, stay still, and just be. A weekend experiencing everything that makes us happy...amazing food...the beach...our favorite city...and true friends. And what topped it all off was watching Soren's heart run free too. He was in absolute heaven all weekend playing with his best friends as well. Thank you--Aaron, Christine, Zeke, Drew, Janz, Damien, Kevin, Sonya, Emerson and Quinny--for giving us new life to continue on our difficult journey in Phoenix. It was so nice to be home for a weekend!*The really good photos on this post come from Kevin at go.do.photography*

10 years

10 years ago last Wednesday, Brandon and I started our relationship. February 9, 2011 came and went as a fun "dating anniversary", a perhaps more subdued one due to our lack of finances, time constraints, and logistics of getting a babysitter. Don't get me wrong, we did have fun. Ever since we moved here we've been hearing about how Phoenix is hiding the country's best pizza...so we decided to wait in line (a two-hour wait minimum) and find out. Pizzeria Bianco was truly a treat. We were pleasantly surprised to find that they own a wonderfully cozy wine bar next door in a quaint, old Craftsman-style home. Two hours goes fast when you are snuggled in the corner of this charming house with a glass of delicious wine and your honey by your side. When we finally did make it into the pizzeria we were met with a tiny, brick-covered room lit by a large fire-roasting oven. The pizza was fabulous. And what made it so great was the simplicity of it all. A thin, very fresh crust with a thin layer of fresh tomato sauce, a smattering of authentic mozzarella cheese, and a few large leaves of from-the-garden basil. Nothing about the flavors hit you right away and made you exclaim "Wow!". But it was good, so simply good, as if you had never really tasted pizza before and this was what pizza was supposed to taste like.
Okay, so I'm not normally a food blogger, and it may seem that I've gotten off track. But here's what I realized after an anticlimactic celebration of our 10 years together: The pizza is like our relationship. Most of the time there's no wow factor, no magical romance, no skipping heartbeats. The way we fell in love was slow, subtle, and with careful thought and trepidation. But our relationship is good, so good. We are best friends, partners in life, parents, and lovers. We admire each other, respect each other, help each other, understand each other. With Brandon my heart is at home. With Brandon I am most free to be me. In our purest moments I sense that we are experiencing God's heart for marriage.So here's to 10 more years of diving into the beautiful subtleties of life with Brandon.