Still newlyweds, doing things our own kinda way...

I took a moment to reflect on spending time together and establishing traditions.

Still Newlyweds, but a lot has happened. I took a moment to reflect on spending time together and establishing traditions.

I have learned that there is no guidebook for navigating your first year of marriage. Yes, I still wonder if I am doing it right, but overall, I think I do ok. I didn’t hold my breath and just jump into things. I had no expectations of what the ideal scenario would be as life began to unfold or keep a running tally of things that were supposed to come. I didn’t create a mental timeline of things to accomplish. Nope, never have I ever done that. (Insert Big Smile) Life, however, did happen and it happened fast and aggressively. In a beautiful Mozart Symphony No.25 kind of aggressive way if you can picture that. My wife and I navigated through the holidays effortlessly. That is a lie. There was hella effort! In my mind you only get one first year of marriage, time is funny like that. I laughed. In that year, every month you get a holiday of some kind, that translates to having something to look forward to every single month. Sometimes I think my wife and I model our marriage after a 90’s family sitcom, preferably one that came on Friday nights!

We purchased a portable pool for the backyard and had an epic BBQ weekend the fourth of July in our little backyard, just the two of us. We later realized that we didn’t like the look of it and took it down and stored it in the garage. (it’s very nice, with a filter and pump… currently for sale if anyone is interested). Late summer nights and lots of time enjoying nature. Being new to the area, sometimes it was just nice to go for a drive. The summer would end with hikes, road trips and more BBQ’s... yes... just the two of us.

Fall came around which is the kickoff for the holiday season! Halloween. SAY LESS! We decorated inside and the shared walkways of our townhome with tombstones and spiderwebs, witches and haunting lights. Our decorations were so elaborate that we even got our neighbors kids involved and decorated the other side of the walkway. We also noticed that people from all over our subdivision coming to walk by just to get a glance. In these moments I came to the realization that my dreams were unfolding right before eyes. I am that wife and one day someone’s mom! (I am fully invested and looking at this as training for when I head the PTA, however that’s another blog. GOALS) I casually mentioned on several occasions that we should get a fog machine, but Tina gave me this look that only meant that I should save something for next year. Ok..ok.. sounds good! There was a handmade Halloween wreath that I transition into thanksgiving and then Christmas and eventually spring. I just switch out the details and seasonal flowers. We rolled through thanksgiving which we had at my in-laws. Guys, I made an entire Thanksgiving Dinner!!! What!??! Wife award 2020 goes to me… I nominate myself. Just kidding, Tina would nominate me.

We started a beautiful tradition the year before last of getting our Christmas tree right before thanksgiving so that the holidays would feel longer. We even purchased a mantel and had it installed so that we could display our Christmas cards and hang stockings. We secretly wrapped each other’s gifts in other rooms and every once so often a new brightly colored package would appear under the tree. As our home transitioned into a winter wonderland Christmas music of all genres danced all around us. New and old, but we definitely gravitate towards the older classics. Pumpkin lattes, mulled cider and hot cocoa on various occasions to the sweet sounds of Bing Crosby and Donny Hathaway is MAGIC! The décor didn’t stop inside!! If you think we decorated for Halloween, Christmas blew our neighbors away.

There was a mechanical reindeer that moved and electric icicles that illuminated the trees outside of our front door. The kids next door were elated. It was a friendly competition and suddenly there were bright colored trees and lights and candy canes that trimmed our walkway. Needless to say, every month there is something to look forward to in some kind of way that can lift your spirits. We had no idea what to expect, but we knew that there would be something we could do together that would bring us immense joy. Overall, it’s good for moral. Casually I would sometimes come across people who feel that holidays are retail traps or the occasional “it’s a waste of time”. I always have time for my family. I will always make time to celebrate our blessings and time spent together. I say all of this to say that this first year of marriage, officially March 5th has set a wonderful tone and kicked off some epic traditions.

Hopefully this upcoming year it will not just be the two of us and immediate family. Our love is big and spans over time zones and zip codes. The pandemic will be over, and we can celebrate birthdays, holidays and milestones with our family and friends and all the new people we will meet on this journey of life and marriage. Life isn’t meant to be done alone and love is always in season.