Four Years.

four years &

three cities &

three apartments & 

one house &

one dog (fox?) & 

one perfect baby &

one messy, wonderful life. 

When we got married four years ago today, I would have never imagined our life now. To be fair, I didn't really know that residency was a thing when we got married, and our plan for having kids was to make a plan in five years or so (ha), but still. It would have been tough to imagine where we are today. Two people who have built a life together. That's what marriage is, it's building a life together. 

We were both in a wedding this summer and had been pretty much separated the whole weekend, and the afternoon of getting ready, Chris texted me that he was in the hallway of the girls' hotel and had brought me Chinese food. All of the girls getting ready thought it was so sweet, and said, "I want to marry someone who brings me Chinese takeout, too." I laughed, but I agree. And as silly as this sounds, that's what a good marriage is. It's having someone know that you're going to be hungry after spending six hours getting your hair and makeup done, and not even needing to text you to double check or ask what your order is. It's having someone show up when you didn't ask them to, bearing fried rice. And if that's not just the best thing in the world, I don't know what is. 

Happy anniversary to my partner in crime. Love you always. 

Seven Christmases.

Seven Christmases ago, I spent December 22 both making a scrapbook for a boy I had only dated for six months and worrying that a scrapbook was an inappropriate gift for that early in a relationship. We exchanged gifts on December 23rd, not knowing then that we were unofficially picking a day that would always be special to us. PS: The scrapbook was the perfect gift. 
Six Christmases ago, we spent December 23rd driving around the town we had fallen in love in a year and a half ago. I made a scavenger hunt and gave him cheesy little gifts at each stop. We took pictures and ate ice cream and laughed and watched the sunset and it was perfect.
Five Christmases ago, December 23rd brought me the very best present in the form of a surprise proposal and a shiny diamond ring. With every gift I opened on Christmas morning, the ring caught my eye and reminded me just how perfect life was. 
Four Christmases ago, I was just a little distracted because my wedding was four days after Christmas. After almost a year of wedding planning, my dad put a ban on wedding talk for one day only, but that didn't stop me and my mom from sneaking off to the kitchen to remind each other of last minute things.
Three Christmases ago, I woke up in the same bed as the love of my life, in our first apartment. It was one of the best days of my life, opening gifts and playing with our new puppy fox. My heart was so full and life was so good. 
Two Christmases ago, we did all the fun Christmas things downtown had to offer and celebrated in our little apartment in the sky. Our tree was set up against the window and it looked like our Christmas lights blended right in with the city lights, and it was the perfect place to live. 
Last Christmas, we were right on the cusp on everything changing. We were two weeks out from the baby that had taken us by surprise that year, and it made Christmas feel so full. Everything was uncertain - what would parenthood be like? Where would we be living next Christmas? But as we spent our last Christmas just the two of us, everything felt so precious. On Christmas morning, we exchanged gifts and talked about how next year, there would be three of us. 
This Christmas, absolutely everything is different. It will be our first Christmas in our new city, our first Christmas with a house (that we decorated!), and our first Christmas with Jack. It has been wonderful. 
Jack has brought a whole new meaning to Christmas. The joy and thankfulness and celebration I usually feel this time of year is doubled because of him. Buying him toys and watching Christmas movies with him and dancing around the room to Christmas music while he laughs has made this the best Christmas ever. 
As I always do this time of year, I think about our first Christmas together and all the Christmases we've shared since then. And I look at my life now - my beautiful, messy, perfect, stressful, joyful life - and know that it all started because two teenagers fell in love in a little town by the beach. 
How many Christmases have you been with your significant other?

Happy Birthday, My Love

t w e n t y - f i v e 

Happy birthday to the love of my life!
Your twenty-fourth year was a big one. The last six months alone have been insane. We have: 

• had a baby. 
• gone through match day. 
• gone through the house hunting and house buying process. 
• made it to med-school graduation. 
• moved our tiny little family to a new city and started a new life here.
• started your residency. 

When I look at that list, it looks like something that should make me want to run and hide because of how overwhelming it is. But it doesn't feel like that. It's been a lot, to be sure, but it's been a lot of adventure, a lot of learning, a lot of new beginnings, and a lot of days I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. 

All that to say, there isn't an adventure in the world I wouldn't go on with you. Sometimes I still can't believe this is our life. 

Thanks for choosing to celebrate life with me. I love you beyond anything I could ever find the words to write. Let's make twenty-five a good one. 

seven years (and counting) because sure, why not?

Yesterday marked seven years since Christopher asked me to be his girlfriend. 
Except, that's not really what happened. Instead, he said, "I like you, we should probably go out to dinner." To which I said, "Sure, why not?" 
We celebrated by going to our favorite breakfast place, the same one we used to go to on weekend visits when he lived in Gainesville for undergrad. We ate grits (that are the life-changing kind of delicious) in celebration of the last seven years. 
It's been two-thousand, five-hundred, and fifty-seven days since then. And they've been filled with a lot more instances of "Sure, why not?" 
Should we try dating long distance? 
Sure, why not?
Let's get engaged. And then married. 
Sure, why not? 
Let's move to Orlando and journey through med-school. 
Sure, why not? 
Do you think we can be good parents?
Sure, why not? 
Med-school. Jack. Match day. Graduation. Gainesville. Doctor. Writer. Good times. Bad times. Thriving. Barely surviving. Pushing, chasing, dreaming. 
Can we? Should we? What should we do next? What about this, or that?
Sure, why not? We can do it-why not? We'll make it-why not? 

Yesterday, I got to sit at a table (which I've surely sat at before) and eat those same life-changing grits with my best friend who just happens to now be my husband of 3 & 1/3 years, and our baby. In the same little town I used to visit where we'd sit and talk and dream about the future.
All because of one little sure, why not? That led to dinner. And that led to falling in love. Which led to getting married. Which led to making a life in Orlando. Which led to Jack. Which led to Match and graduation. Which led us back to Gainesville. 
Full circle. 
Life, man. It's so good. 
Sometimes, you should just throw caution to the wind and say sure, why not. 
You never know where it's going to lead.

Do I Look Any Different?

Do I look any different than I did last time we talked? 

Because I'M A DOCTOR'S WIFE NOW. 

I don't know when that's going to get old. It's been three days and it's not old yet, so just bear with me. 

Graduation has come and gone, and the love of my life has finally achieved his lifelong dream of becoming a doctor. A real, live, cut-people-open-and-sew-them-back-together doctor.

So, this is it. The end of a journey. The end of an era. The last post I will tag with medical school. Four years of hard work (that doesn't even do it justice) and here we are. 

I want to say that med school has been good to us, but I don't really think that's the case. Med school isn't really good to anyone. It's hard and it sucks and it's exhausting and isn't really good to any student, until you make it through it. 

But he made it through it, and I made it through the four years with him. 

So while I don't think med school was good to us, I think we were good to med school. We made the best of it. Christopher worked diligently and tirelessly at school and in the hospital and then would come home and force himself to stay awake long enough to hang out with me. We made the most of the rare days off, adventured when we could, spent money on fun stuff when we could, and ate ramen noodles when we had to. 

Chris zeroed in on his goals. He bought me a puppy and I learned to not be terrified of spending nights alone. We supported each other and pushed each other and loved each other through every good and bad day of the last four years.

Being married to a medical student is hard and exhausting and frustrating at times. But it has been an honor to stand with him over the last four years, and it is an honor to stand with him now, watching his greatest dream come true. 

One last thing: Life is weird and cool and strange and amazing. Four years ago, I never ever EVER would have imagined being a family of three at graduation. But sitting there, holding Jack while I was tearing up listening to the graduates read the hippocratic oath, I couldn't imagine it any other way. 

yeah, I'll just eat this real fast.

Goodbye, medical school. Thanks for all the lessons I'm not going to miss you. 

Onto the next four years! Team Jacobs forever. 

One Thousand, Three Hundred and Eighty Days.

One thousand, three hundred and eighty days ago, I was desperately trying to catch a plane from LA to Orlando. I had been in Los Angeles all week as a sponsor on a youth trip, but I was supposed to fly back Sunday morning because Chris' White Coat Ceremony was Monday morning.
What happened instead was something like 3 delayed flights, two canceled flights, twelve hours in an airport, and finally getting on a red-eye. I was so tired and ready to sleep, but I ended up in a middle seat between two obnoxious frat guys (Side note: The second they walked on the plane I just knew they were my seat partners. I have bad luck like that) and when I dozed off at first, I woke up to both of them trying to cuddle with my arms (umm, nope), so I didn't sleep after that. 
We made it to Orlando just in time for me to sprint to the parking lot, hop in Christopher's car, change on the way, and then sprint into the building so he could make it on time for the ceremony. 
Cute hair? Nah. Makeup? What's that? 
I'll be honest: It was a pretty boring ceremony for all those not getting their White Coats. There were so many speeches and questions and answers and it went on and on and on. But it's a day I'll never forget. Because at the end, they rolled out this giant chalkboard that said "Good Doctor" at the top. Then the dean asked everyone what they thought it took to be a good doctor. The answers ranged from compassionate to hard-working to endurance. The dean filled the chalkboard--that has stayed in the lobby of the med-school for the past 1,380 days--with at least a hundred answers. And I thought, Wow, Chris is actually all of these things. 
Up until that point, my poor, naive self had thought of med-school kind of like a Master's program. I didn't yet know all it would entail, didn't know how hard it was, didn't know the gravity of making a choice to be a doctor. That day, seeing all of those answers about what it takes to be a good doctor, and seeing Chris get his first white coat...I think that was the first day I imagined him as an actual doctor. 
I thought, wow, he's going to be a really good doctor. 
One thousand, three hundred and eighty days have passed since then. They've been full. Full of adventure and hard work and tough decisions and sleepless nights and new chapters and happy moments and tears and perseverance. And for him, they've been full of every single one of those answers that got written on that chalkboard. 
In three days, Chris will graduate and become a doctor. He'll get to see his dream become a reality. There will be no more one day, no more eventually. There will be graduation, and there will be Christopher, the love of my life, the doctor. 
The good doctor. 
To say I am excited is a massive understatement. Very rarely in life do we get such big moments that mark hard work and success, but Friday is one of those moments. 
If you need me, I'll be dancing around my apartment surrounded by moving boxes, somewhere between packing and procrastinating and celebrating the fact that sometimes, dreams really do come true. 

Three Years of Marriage.

What. A. Year. 

The third year of marriage was nothing like I expected, but it was the best so far. There were lots of ups and downs, lots of good times and bad times, lots of in sickness and in health. Most of all, there was teamwork-we're a team when it's time to work through the hard things, and we're a team when it's time to celebrate the good. 

I know that in the grand scheme of things, 3 years of marriage may not seem long enough to be significant. But for me, it's already been a lifetime of adventure and learning and growing. A lifetime of building a life with my very best friend. 

December 29th will always be a favorite day of mine, because it will always be the day that we changed our lives forever. The day we became a family. The day we chose each other. And we've been choosing each other every day since. 

Being married to you is my greatest adventure. Happy 3 years...cheers to many, many more. 

Once Upon a Time.

Once upon a time, I started a Christmas date being rushed and told to hurry up and open my presents, and ended a Christmas date with the prettiest diamond ring on my finger. It was the stuff fairy tales are made of. 

I didn't yet know what I was saying yes to...I didn't know the adventures and the hard decisions and the laughter and the hard times and the perfect days I was saying yes to. I didn't know the little fox or the tiny apartment in the sky or the sweet baby boy that would be on the way one day that I was saying yes to.

I just knew that it was my best friend, the love of my whole life, the one who I wanted to live every day with, the one who would give me a lifetime of adventures and memories that I was saying yes to. It was the stuff fairy tales are made of. 

As I was trying (and failing) to fall asleep after the excitement of the most perfect, magical night, I held my new ring in front of my face, admiring it, thinking about how much our lives would change over the next year, and how happy I was that it was happening with him. It was the stuff fairy tales are made of. 

Today, four years later, there's no fancy date on the water or trips to the beach in our formalwear or front-row seats at Cirque Du Soleil.

I woke up, insanely pregnant and uncomfortable, next to the love of my life. When I look at him and imagine how our life is going to change over the next few weeks and how happy I am that this is all happening with him, my heart feels like it may explode, just like it did when I was staring at my new ring.

Today, we'll celebrate us. We'll celebrate our own personal little Christmas that we've had going for so many years now. We'll celebrate the yes that was said four years ago, and all the yeses that have been said since then.

We'll eat somewhere fun, or do some shopping, or exchange gifts, or go look at Christmas lights. Whatever we do, we'll be celebrating deep, honest, once in a lifetime kind of love.

And you guys...it's the stuff fairy tales are made of. 

Christmas & Love: Six Christmases of Forever.

Six Christmases ago, I spent December 22nd panicking about what to get Christopher for Christmas. What do you get someone you've only been dating for six months but are also pretty sure you're in love with? I turned to my dad, who is the gift guru:

"You can't go wrong with sentimental. Pictures, a scrapbook, something like that." 
"Um, is six months too soon for a scrapbook?" 
"Nope. He'll love it." 
"Mmm, is it going to scare him away if I literally hand him a book of our relationship and he gets me movie tickets?" 
"Chelsea, stop talking and make a scrapbook." 

So I did. And it is to this day one of my most treasured belongings, because we have the earliest moments of our relationship recorded, and I have the sweet memory of being terrified to give it to him on December 23rd, when we celebrated Christmas together.

Five Christmases ago, I was absolutely in love, but there was no ring on my finger. There were no plans, only dreams. I made up a scavenger hunt and we spent December 23rd driving around our hometown, taking pictures and exchanging gifts and kisses.

Four Christmases ago, December 23rd brought me the best surprise of my life in the form of Christopher down on one knee and a promise of forever. Each time I opened a gift on Christmas morning, seeing the shiny diamond on my ring finger overwhelmed me with happiness and thankfulness.

Three Christmases ago, I was a little preoccupied, because I was getting married four days later. We had decreed it would be a day of no wedding talk so that everyone could really enjoy Christmas, but my mom and I exchanged glances all day.."Oh, you KNOW what's coming." 

Two Christmases ago, I had one of the best days of my life. For the first time, I woke up on Christmas morning in the same bed as the love of my life. Opening presents and snuggling with our tiny little fox before visiting my family with my new little family...my heart had never been so full.

Last Christmas, my heart was even more full than it was the year before. Every Christmas song I heard, every peppermint mocha I drank, every time I plugged our tree in, I was overwhelmed with thankfulness that this was my life. The good and the bad, the sweet and the hard, it was all mine. And as I celebrated that year, in a tiny apartment in the sky, with my best friend and our tiny little fox, I was so full of joy. "Um, I think that I might love you" five Christmases before brought me such an incredibly full life.

This Christmas, I'm overwhelmed by how much can change in a year. That the boy I made a scrapbook for on our first Christmas together has moved from boyfriend to fiancé to husband to baby daddy. Christmas feels so full this year. The music, the decorations, the presents under the tree, the movies...it all feels so full. Not because it's the most put together Christmas we've ever had--because it's not...baby has made me sick and miss out on some of the normal Christmas cheer--but because I've never felt such real love as I have this December. The thought that this will be the last Christmas just the two of us has made me cherish every moment, even the hard ones.

This year, we're not only counting down to the most magical week of the year, we're also counting down the days until our little guy decides to join us. This year-the most unexpected, insanely shocking year-has brought me to a place of being more full of love for our life than I knew was possible.

When I was wrapping gifts our first Christmas together, I was so nervous and excited to give them to Chris. On my drive home that night, I was so happy. I actually remember thinking, "It just doesn't get any better that this."

This year, wrapping presents (from bed, because my overly giant belly doesn't really allow me to sprawl out on the floor anymore), I thought of that night six years ago. I wish I could go back in time and share with my seventeen-year-old self a glimpse of all that's coming. And I'd tell her, Oh, but it does. It gets so much better.

Because it just doesn't get any better than this.

How many Christmases have you been with your significant other?

Just Us: Our Thanksgiving.

Today is one of my favorite days of the entire year. It's a festive day full of love and chaos and really good food. It's a day that kicks off the Thanksgiving celebrations, and it's a day of celebrating how thankful I really am for Christopher and our marriage.

This will be the third year we've celebrated our own personal Thanksgiving, and it's a tradition I'm so glad we started.

Every year on the day before Thanksgiving, we go to Whole Foods. I think this is probably their busiest day of the year-it's absolutely chaotic, and that's part of the fun! We pretend we're rich for the day and pick out appetizers, drinks, desserts, the whole nine yards. Then we go home and cook everything and have the best night ever, eating delicious food and celebrating life and all we have to be thankful for.

I have never been more thankful for Chris than I am this year. We're right on the cusp of all these big changes, and every day is filled with so much unknown. But in a time where it would be very easy to freak out and miss out on all the good, I'm able to look at my very best friend and know that no matter what, he will be by my side. And because of that, I'm able to cherish every moment.

I love you, Christopher. I've never been so thankful to have such an amazing life partner. You're my babe, forever and always. 

In the hustle and bustle of tomorrow, don't let the holiday pass without taking a minute to tell your significant other that you're thankful for them!

What Two Months of Long-Distance Marriage Taught Me.

Because medical school is full of lovely surprises, I spent August 18th-October 20th living across the country from Christopher. I didn't blog about this because I feel like it wouldn't be that hard for someone to figure out where I live, so I didn't exactly want to broadcast my solo living situation to the internet. You've all seen pictures of my dog, so you know you could probably take him in a burglary situation.

But now you know-I lived alone for two months, and it sucked. Going to bed every night without my best friend sucked. Being pregnant and going to doctors appointments alone sucked. Getting bigger and more uncomfortable and having no one around to help out sucked. I'm all for being positive and finding the good in things, but sometimes things just suck, and it's okay to call it like it is.

But as of two weeks ago, my little family is reunited, and all is right in the world. And by all is right, I mean that I have my person home to do fun fall stuff with me, and that my late night cravings are finally accompanied by someone to go get them for me.

Like any good challenge, this one came with some life lessons. Here's what I learned:

It's the little moments that I love the most. Sure, vacations and big events and fancy dates are great, but it's the little moments of married life that I cherish the most. Things like falling asleep watching a movie together, or deciding to skip making dinner and just go to Chick-Fil-A instead. It's the little things that make life so good.

Having a dog is the best decision ever. I would have gone crazy without Gatsby. If you have to spend a lot of time alone, get yourself a puppy!

I hate cooking for myself, but I love baking. The idea of dirtying one, maybe two dishes to cook meat and vegetables for myself? Absurd. The idea of dirtying three dishes and two pans and the entire kitchen to bake a pumpkin cake for myself? Totally reasonable.

I take way too much for granted. I love my husband and am so thankful for him all the time...but now, extra so. Having to take the trash out by myself and take the dog out alone at night and not having anyone to curl up with and talk to when I had a bad day just showed me how lucky I am, and how huge of a blessing my marriage is. I love being in love, and I love having a partner in life.

Have you ever had to spend time away from your significant other? What did you learn?

It's Different, But it's Good.

I made Halloween plans around a year in advance for this Halloween. The second Taylor Swift released her tour dates and I saw that she was going to be in Florida on Halloween, I knew that’s what I would be doing. Because one, Taylor. Duh. And two, seeing Taylor with everyone dressed up and dancing around in costumes...hello, magic. 

I’m trying to think of another way to phrase this next part other than “and then I got pregnant” because I hate when people say things like that to me, like my life is worse because I had sex and it resulted in a human life. But in this case, the phrase fits..."and then I got pregnant."

So I’m not seeing Taylor on Saturday. Because dropping $200 to spend the night dancing around in a costume when you’re in a "wild and free and you only live once" phase and dropping $200 to spend the night dancing around in a costume when you’re in an “about to have a baby” phase are two very, very different things. 

This isn’t to say, “well, life didn’t turn out the way I thought it would, bummer.” It’s to say, life is way different than I thought it would be a year ago. And it’s good. 

I wasn't dancing the night away with Taylor on Saturday. Instead, I was celebrating the last day of October by freezing my face off and seeing actual fall leaves. The last weekend in October found me catching frostbite by Lake Eerie and exploring cities like Cleveland and Cincinnati and Indianapolis, places I never knew I wanted to see. 

Last Halloween, Chris got off work early (a rare occurrence) and we celebrated by getting queso and margaritas for lunch. This year, he didn't have to work at all (pure bliss) because we're on the residency hunt. But since I've got a baby hanging out in me for another 11 weeks, we celebrated with apple cider instead. 

Last Halloween was fun. Getting margaritas in the middle of the day with my husband, getting dressed up and going out with my friends, it was all so fun. It was a fun season. It was great. Seeing Taylor Swift end her tour on Halloween? That would have been incredibly fun. 

But traveling and seeing new places and exploring towns I haven't yet gotten the chance to fall in love with? That was perfect. Being equal parts terrified and excited while trying to imagine a life in one of these towns with my tiny family was a magical way to spend the weekend. 

On Halloween this year, we had lunch in Indianapolis. We were finishing up when a couple with a baby dressed up as a pumpkin sat at the table next to us. They ordered beers and laughed with each other and showed off their little pumpkin who waved at everyone in the restaurant. They were clearly having the best Halloween ever with the people that were the most important to them, and seeing that made my heart feel so full. Because maybe next year I'll be sitting at a table, having a beer and talking about life with Chris while we laugh at our little guy, dressed up like a pumpkin. 

So life is different now. More different that I could have imagined at this time last year. But it is so, so good. 

I'll catch you next tour, Taylor. 

Today is Big.

This weekend was magical. I spent it with Christopher in Birmingham, Alabama, and had the best time ever. Now, Alabama isn't really somewhere that comes to mind when I think about what the best weekend ever looks like, but because of who I got to spend it with, it really was the best.

Today is a big day. It's the day that all of the applications for residency programs are due. As of 9:00 this morning, all of our choices will be in. All of our research and trying to decide where to apply and where we might want to live is over. All of Chris' hard work over the past 4 years has been for this. And once he submits his applications, he's done all he can do. It now moves into hands off and pray like crazy that you get some interviews.

The trip to Birmingham was because it's a potential place to live next year. Again, not really at the top of my list, but at this point, I'm trying to have an open mind. Since, apparently, I am not in charge of how everything turns out for everyone. If only.

When I got to Alabama, I had the best time. The weather was perfect, the parks were perfect, the food was perfect, hanging out with Christopher and dreaming/freaking out/discussing our future was perfect. 

And most of all, the timing was perfect. Because on a day like today--one that holds so much significance and finality--it would be easy to freak out (of course I will) and worry that we didn't apply to the right places and start making a list of the only places I will be happy living. 

But instead, I'm just going to think of Alabama. And how no, I don't really want to live there. But if I had to, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. It wouldn't even be close. It would be the best, because of who I get to live there with. 

So today is big. It kicks off the biggest, scariest, most adventurous season yet. But after this weekend, I just have a feeling that no matter what schools call about interviews, or how many interviews he goes on, or where we actually match, life is going to be really, really beautiful. 

"Home, let me go home. Home is wherever I'm with you."

Life Updates: Match Day, I See You.

After some questions on Monday's post, I realized that while I mention bits and pieces about med-school, I don't ever really talk about it in terms that apply to me. And I thought, well that sounds like a good blog post.

While I am not in med-school, it is a huge part of my life. I met Chris when I was 15, we started dating when I was 17, we got engaged at 19 (I know, I know, it's young), and married when I was twenty. We got married on his break during his first year of school, so our entire marriage has involved med-school. Because of this I feel like I have a pretty good perspective of it. One of these days I'll blog about all the ins and outs that would have been nice to know beforehand, but until then, if you have any questions--I'm your gal.

But, about where we're at now: Medical School is four years long. Chris is in his fourth year (#PRAISES) now. He's finished all of his tests and is now just finishing out the year working different rotations in different hospitals/clinics/etc.

By September, he has to have all of his applications for residency programs in. He'll go on interviews from November-January (which I'm kind of looking at as a bunch of cross country road trips...yes please.) and then comes match day.

Match day is a cruel and unusual punishment. Everywhere that Chris goes on an interview, he ranks. 1-5 or 1-100, they all get ranked. These places also rank Chris. Instead of just saying, "Hey, we like you!" Or, "Mmmm, not gonna work out!" Everything just stays a big secret. Until match day.

Chris will "match" with the program that he ranks and that ranks him that matches up closest. And because a simple phone call informing him of this would be too painless easy, some sadist invented match day.

Everyone in the entire class finds out where they match on this day. Together. All at the same time. They're given envelopes to open in front of everyone's friends and family. All together. At. The. Same. Time.

Again, a brutal system.

Right now, life is just a big, anxious, exciting adventure. Because on March 18th, we'll find out where we'll be moving and starting the next phase of the adventure. The planning side of me says that this is unacceptable, the hippie side of me is excited for a surprise and a new place to explore.

Anyway, it's a day that's four years in the making. And whatever place is written on the inside of that envelope, it's an adventure waiting to happen.

I hope that explains a little bit better about exactly where we are in the journey. And boy, is it a journey. But, my partner's pretty cute, so I'll take it.

Have any of you ever experienced a match day, or anything like it? 

Do You Regret Getting Married So Young?

I've blogged before about things you hear when you get married young, and those still ring true. But now that I've actually stayed married for more than 72 days, there's been a new question added to the mix. 

Do you regret getting married so young?

While I think people should probably use their manners and never ever ask questions like this, I'm more than happy to answer them with a big, fat no. 

Every so often, I go through what I refer to as a mid-life crisis (though I hope I'm not halfway through my life already!) It's usually just something like wanting a tattoo or wanting to chop all my hair off or change some things in my life, but sometimes it actually feels like a crisis. One where I question all of my life choices, ever, and wonder what I will ever be able to do with my life with an degree in English.

Talking through these things with a best friend over coffee is great. But talking through them with the same person you'll be with ten years from now is fantastic. I know that no matter what, even if I have made ALL the wrong decisions and everything falls apart, I will still have someone on my team. And there just aren't even words for that.

I crave adventure. All kinds of it. I want to travel and see all sorts of places, of course, but I also want adventure here, now, at home.

It's fun to plan the future, to dream about all the trips we want to take. But it's also fun to just hop in the car and go exploring on a Tuesday night. Adventure can mean Australia, but it can also mean trying that new taco place across town. When it's with your best friend, it's all adventure.

We make the big decisions together. Where are we going to live? What's the first car we should buy? This part of life is full of those questions, and it's nice to have a partner in making them. When you're both planning on sticking together for awhile, it tends to make you want to make each other happy with the big decisions. Also, I sometimes don't make the best decisions under pressure. So it's nice to know that I won't have to explain to a future spouse why I own a house in my college town and drive a neon pink car.

We really are growing up together. I am an adult, living an adult's life, but I still feel like I have so much growing up to do. And I think I will probably feel this way for a long time...maybe forever. Sure, getting married young isn't for everyone. I'm sure there are people who maybe do regret it. But I don't. Having someone to do this with..to make the bad decisions and the big decisions, to go through the hard times and the best times and the let's-just-wing-it-times, there's just nothing like it.

I've read countless articles about things you should make sure you do before you get married, and I haven't done most of them. But I know I made the right decision, because when I read these kinds of lists, all I want to do is make plans with Chris.

Because once you've met the love of your life, backpacking through Europe without them just doesn't seem like fun at all.

two years.

two years.
seven-hundred and thirty days.

three homes &
two cities &
one little fox.

so much laughter &
a few tears &
insane amounts of love.

learning &
growing &
traveling.

new experiences &
so many memories.

old dreams &
new dreams &
adventures.

you &
me.

12.29.12.
my favorite day.

On December 23, 2011...

I knew oh-so-little about the adventures the next three years would bring.

It's still the best yes I've ever said.

I Love Christmas & I Love Love.

Five Christmases ago, I spent December 22nd panicking about what to get Christopher for Christmas. What do you get someone you've only been dating for six months but are also pretty sure you're in love with? I turned to my dad, who is the gift guru:

"You can't go wrong with sentimental. Pictures, a scrapbook, something like that." 
"Um, is six months too soon for a scrapbook?" 
"Nope. He'll love it." 
"Mmm, is it going to scare him away if I literally hand him a book of our relationship and he gets me movie tickets?" 
"Chelsea, stop talking and make a scrapbook." 

So I did. And it is to this day one of my most treasured belongings, because we have the earliest moments of our relationship recorded, and I have the sweet memory of being terrified to give it to him on December 23rd, when we celebrated Christmas together.

Four Christmases ago, I was absolutely in love, but there was no ring on my finger. There were no plans, only dreams in my heart. I made up a scavenger hunt and we spent December 23rd driving around our hometown, taking pictures and exchanging gifts and kisses.

Three Christmases ago, December 23rd brought me the best surprise of my life in the form of Christopher down on one knee and a promise of forever. Each time I opened a gift on Christmas morning, seeing the shiny diamond on my ring finger overwhelmed me with happiness and thankfulness.

Two Christmases ago, I was a little preoccupied, because I was getting married four days later. We had decreed it would be a day of no wedding talk so that everyone could really enjoy Christmas, but my mom and I exchanged glances all day.."Oh, you KNOW what's coming." 

Last Christmas, I had one of the best days of my life. For the first time, I woke up on Christmas morning in the same bed as the love of my life. Opening presents and snuggling with our tiny little fox, and then visiting my family with my new little family...my heart had never been so full.

This Christmas, my heart is even more full than it was last year. Every Christmas song I hear, every peppermint mocha I drink, every time I plug our tree in, I'm overwhelmed with thankfulness that this is my life. The good and the bad, the sweet and the hard, it's mine. And as I celebrate this year, in a tiny apartment in the sky, with my best friend and our tiny little fox, I'm so full of joy. "Um, I think that I might love you" five Christmases ago has brought me such an incredibly full life, and Christmas just serves as a reminder of that.

I adore Christmas. Everything about it. But I especially adore who I get to spend it with.

Does Christmastime make you sentimental?