It has been a while. Over a month - who knew time was gonna fly so fast?
A few weeks ago, we attended our first wedding since ours last year. Being married and attending a wedding is COMPLETELY different than when you attend single/unmarried. Who knew? Instead of sitting and dreaming of a wedding and marriage in the future, you sit and reflect and cherish your own ceremony and relationship.
The other added bonus is that when married and attending weddings, you truly know what the joy you see on their faces feels like. You don't ponder and dream about how it may feel, you KNOW how it feels. You remember the tears you shed while you were standing before family and friends while you exchanged vows and rings. Watching that exchange brings back your own memories and that cheesy hand or knee squeeze happens while you turn to give your spouse that knowing, loving smile - and he returns it to you.
I've always cherished the small things in life. The small moments. The ones that you wouldn't necessarily think would become that monumental, turn out to be the memories that continue to pass through your mind and provide comfort in times of need and true appreciation when all is well. One of my favorite moments is from the day Patrick proposed to me - and while the proposal itself is so beautiful and memorable, the moped ride across the island after is truly grounding for me. When life's stress comes my way (sometimes more frequently than I think necessary) I think back on that day - how I felt in that moment when it was just the two of us on the winding roads - the peaceful calm and sheer excitement - the knowing feeling that this sort of thing just doesn't happen every day - you realize you are part of an elite club, the ones lucky enough to find that person that completes you, makes you feel whole.
The past few months have been months of immense growth for me. And I didn't even realize it was happening. I have gained a new outlook on life in a way. No longer am I making decisions about what I want or what Patrick and I think should be done - I have become more forward thinking. I guess that's the best way to put it. And not that I wasn't thinking about the future with anything that I have done thus far, now this forward thinking is making bigger impacts. When facing opportunity, I'm not thinking about where it will take me personally or us financially, I'm focused on the impact it will have on our future family - and is it a place I ultimately want to deal with? Is it a stepping stone worth stepping on? And in some cases, that answer is no.
