Twelve years of us

Life has felt rather full lately, and so my annual anniversary post is a bit later than I planned. But mid August marked twelve(!) years of marriage, and that is certainly worth celebrating.

The day before our anniversary, my father-in-law came over mid-morning to spend time with the big boys. Nicholas, Arlo, and I headed out to a restaurant near the Lake, one we've frequented on previous anniversaries. It was a very hot day, so we sat inside, enjoying a lunch date. I ordered a burger and fries, with a side of clam chowder. He ordered burger sliders made from an exotic blend of meat (waygu, elk, boar, and bison). We took turn holding Arlo and eating, and enjoyed the joy of (mostly) uninterrupted conversation.

From lunch, we drove to our local arboretum. Although we visit often, it has several miles of hiking trails, most of which we haven't had the opportunity to try, since we tend to do shorter hikes with Cooper and Finn. Nicholas wore Arlo and we walked and talked – at a nice pace on some new-to-us segments of the trails.

As an anniversary gift, Nicholas bought me two puzzles of Loré Pemberton's paintings – my favorite artist and my favorite puzzles. I got him a few little "treat yourself" self-care items. And I cast on a pair of socks for him.

Later that evening, there was a severe thunderstorm with heavy rains and winds that came through our area. We lost power for several hours, and thankfully, a family friend offered her generator for us to borrow. After a tumultuous night which involved multiple bands of severe thunderstorms and heavy rains, a second power outage, and reading picture books to all three wide awake boys at 3AM, we stayed home for a quiet morning. Later that day, after some return to normalcy, I made cinnamon rolls and we had fika with our boys. Our evening (and night) was another opportunity to be flexible, problem solve, and work together in less-than-ideal circumstances.

I love celebrating these occasions – be they anniversaries or birthdays or other "special" days, in a low-fuss way. We don't do loud and flashy, but we do enjoy making an otherwise ordinary day feel special with small, thoughtful gifts, quality time, and good food.

Every year around our anniversary, I write a little love letter to Nicholas. This past year brought the arrival of our little guy, Arlo! We have had beach days, continued with a new rhythm with homeschool, completed house projects (Nicholas finished painting all the rooms in the basement), went on countless family walks, and further settled into our home here.

As I do every year around this time, I like to write a list of some of my favorite things about our life together right now:

Our favorite meals as of late, are sausage risotto, Greek chicken with sourdough naan bread, and (always) breakfast food.
We love sharing meals on the back deck
Nicholas gave me a subscription to Purity coffee for mother's day, and we are greatly enjoying it. Usually just as coffee, sometimes as stovetop lattes (heating and frothing milk in a milk warmer).
Simple Living Alaska is still one of our favorite YouTube channels to watch together. We also enjoyed watching Andor and The Gilded Age each week as new episodes came out.
I am so glad that we can discuss and brainstorm all the challenges and joys of parenthood, together as a team.
I love to make little a little surprise fika tray for him sometimes.

After twelve years of marriage – and fifteen years spent together! – I love the comfort and familiarity in our relationship. The way he catches my eye when one of the boys says something funny. The sweetness of holding hands in the car or on a walk. The way he prefers my cooking to most any other food. The way he is appreciative of all I do to care for the boys and our home. And the comfort he feels in the home we share together.

After a recent stop near Purdue (our alma mater), I was reminded of nineteen-year-old Andrea, who skipped chemistry class one day to instead go to her favorite coffee shop to share a crepe and crossword with a boy she was crazy about. After all these years, it's still hard for me to believe that God had blessed us with a beautiful life together and three precious sons.

Nicholas, thank you for serving us, for working hard outside the home to support us and for taking such good care of our home. Thank you for the way you follow through on your commitments and projects. The way you make regular days special for the boys. What a gift you are to our family, and to me. I am so honored to be your wife.

Forever yours,

Andrea

Here are two photos from our wedding day, still one of my very favorite days ever.

And here are just a few of my favorite pictures of us from the last year of our marriage, a couple of which feature our family of four, since our little companion guys are almost always accompanying us:

P.S.— if you're curious, here are my previous anniversary posts and our love story (the beginning of it, anyway; our story is ongoing, of course!) in two parts:

Subscribe