Sunday, June 30, 2013

Only 2 years?!

When an anniversary comes around, some people will say, "I can't believe we have already been married ___ years!"

For me, I say, "We have only been married 2 years?!"

I guess I just feel like we have been married so much longer than we actually have. Maybe that is because we have done so much with the time we have been married.

It has been two years of big decisions, a lot of changes, and unexpected happenings, but most of all, we have fallen more in love with each other.

He loves and cherishes me everyday.
He makes me feel beautiful.
He encourages me to be the best person I can be.
He makes me laugh...a lot.
We can be silly and serious (both are important).
He is one of the hardest workers I know.
I love how he loves Landon.
He lets me eat all the red skittles and starbursts.

.....And for that, I feel honored and privileged to be able to call him my husband for the rest of our lives.

One of the biggest moments in a woman's life. I remember being in the back of the church and being surprisingly calm, but so excited to see Tyler.


This was Tyler's reaction when he saw me for the first time on our wedding day. He doesn't cry now, but he still looks at me and makes me feel like the most beautiful woman on this earth.


I couldn't have married a better man. 




   

   

Friday, June 21, 2013

We Did It!

We survived our plane ride across the country!

I had been dreading that airplane ride since we made the final decision to move to Toledo. I knew Landon hated riding the car and now that he wants to move around, I knew he would not be thrilled about sitting in a small area for 5.5 hours.

I prepared the best way I knew how.
     I read basically every, "How to fly with your baby" article on the internet.
     I packed a diaper bag and suit case full of toys.
     We made sure he was hungry enough to eat when we took off and while we were descending.
     I had his favorite blanket ready for him just incase we got lucky enough for him to take a nap.
     I downloaded a white noise app on my Iphone for him to fall asleep to.
     I had wipes to wipe down every surface he would try to touch.
Basically, if I read a "tip" I thought would be helpful, I prepared to do it.

Upon loading the first plane, we sat in the back section where other families were sitting. We assumed they would be more understanding if we had a melt down. However, I was pleasantly surprised when he stayed happy the entire time. He was even playing peek-a-boo with the lady behind us (and laughing really loud).

We had a layover in Phoenix which was a really nice break. I had packed a blanket for him to lay on the floor so he could sprawl out and move around.

Once we loaded the second flight, we ended up sitting in front of another family with a sixth month old. Their baby was screaming before we even took off. He eventually settled down, but I realized my patience and empathy towards mothers has drastically changed now that I am a mother myself.

Landon, on the other hand, was doing great. He was content chewing on his cup, banging on the lap tray, looking out the window, and listening to his favorite stories.

Honestly, I was just bracing myself for a melt down because I figured there was no way we were going to get off this easy.

When we had about an hour left of the trip, he was tired and ready to be done. Tyler, being the awesome, patient dad he is, walked him up and down the aisle for about an hour and a half.

But the greatest thing was, he never really cried or causes a scene. He did awesome! I should know by now to never underestimate this child. I'm sure he will be surprising me for the rest of his life.

I know he doesn't understand us when we tell him how proud we are of him, but I've told him so many times how awesome he has done with this huge transition. I can honestly say I have never felt more accomplished (and relieved) than I did when we stepped off of that airplane.

So far, we are enjoying this (old) new place. We have only been here for 24 hours and we definitely already miss California, but we are ready for new things to come.

Now, if we could only get Landon used to this time zone...

Thursday, June 13, 2013

California, It's Been Real...

When we moved to California a year ago, we had no intentions of moving back only one year later. I don't love everything about California, but I do love a lot of things about it.

    I love the beaches and the mountains. We can literally go to the beach in the morning, and go for a hike to see the sunset in the mountains in the exact same day.

    Pasadena is such an awesome city with so many things to offer.

    The culture is diverse.

    Not to mention, the weather is literally always perfect here (besides August and September when it is extremely hot).

    This will always be the place where our family of three started. For that, I will always love California.

    Overall, it is just a great place to live and I feel lucky to have lived in such a beautiful state.

This is the view from our front porch.


Our favorite spot. Point Dume


These can be easily found at the beach. 



This is only 10 minutes from where we live.


So we are leaving this beautiful place for...this?


We are moving back to a place where it could be cold and snowy for at least four months out of the year. There are no mountains, no beaches, and no bike lanes...

But, ya know? I couldn't be more excited.

As soon as Landon was born, I told Tyler I wanted to move back home so he could grow up with our nephew, Mason. Not to mention we have always loved Mason as if he were our own child and I can't wait to watch him grow. 

When we left Ohio last year, we may have said, "We will never move to Ohio." And here we are...leaving in a week for the very place we claimed we would never move back to. I have learned that having a baby really does change everything. Moving to a place that has people who will truly invest in Landon is one of the most important things to us.

So, we may not be able to go to the beach whenever we want, but we can be with our family and community whenever we want. And to me...that trumps the beautiful state of California any day. 



Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Love Letters

If you were at our wedding, you may remember hearing in my vows that Tyler and I have always written letters to each other. We have an entire binder full of letters written to and from each other and I often go back and read them so I am reminded of where we have come from.

I love all of my letters from Tyler and I truly cherish them. The binder is one of those precious things I would grab first if our house was on fire. However, I do have one (or ten), that are my favorites.

The first letter Tyler ever wrote me was fifteen pages long. We had only known each other for about six months and he came up with fifteen pages worth of stuff to write about! This is one of my favorite things about Tyler...he pays attention to every detail and appreciates the small things.

If you don't know Tyler, he is a planner and likes to have everything perfectly in order so it works out the best way possible. So, from the moment he began thinking about proposing to me, he kept a journal. He wrote down every thought from what it was like talking to my dad, to the entire process of picking out the perfect ring, to the nerve wracking thoughts he had the night before he proposed.  Every tiny detail is in this journal. These letters are some of my favorites.

Part of our vows to each other was to continue writing to each other...and we have.

We write for birthdays, anniversaries, or just because.

What I have learned through writing letters to Tyler, is that our relationship is always changing. You would think after a few hundred letters that they would all start to sound similar, but they never do. Each one is very different because our marriage is constantly changing, developing, and flourishing into something more beautiful.

I love that after being together for almost six years (married for two), we still write love letters to each other. I will always be able to look back and see just how full of love and beautiful our marriage is.

My marriage to Tyler is my most treasured and cherished thing.




Wednesday, June 5, 2013

My (not so little) Sister

Meet my sister, Karishma (Ishy)


Karishma is probably the most beautiful person I know. Secretly, I wish I was Indian because I think she is absolutely gorgeous. 

But, besides being beautiful, she is so compassionate for the people around here. 

She patiently puts up with my, not so great signing skills and kindly corrects me when I sign something wrong. 

When she isn' texting ;-) she is great to talk to. She does see the world a little bit differently than Tyler and I and it is interesting and refreshing to see her perspective on things. 

She is great with her nephews, Mason and Landon. I was always so impressed to see how she took care of Mason, and now she helps take care of Landon. I can tell Landon already loves her by the way he engages with her when they play together. He will be lucky to grow up around her.

But, beyond all of this, she has been through more "stuff" than most people have in their lifetime. She was adopted from India as a baby, she is deaf, her parents are divorced, and she is going through the normal things that every teenager goes through, (and she grew up with two, crazy, older brothers). However, none of this defines who she actually is. Her way of dealing with these things makes her mature beyond her years.

Although her family is a little different than some, she couldn't have been adopted into a more loving family. Her mom always tries to do what is best for her, her dad loves her more than she can imagine, her brothers are protective of her, and her nephews adore her.

Not only did Tyler cry when I walked down the aisle at our wedding, he also cried when he saw his little sister. She went from being a little girl, to a young woman faster than we were anticipating.

She challenges me to be patient, understanding, engaging, and she is encouraging to me without her even realizing it.

I feel honored to have her as my sister. I can't wait to see what she does in this world, but I'm sure it is going to be great. She has so much goodness to offer the people around her and I think we can all learn a little something from her.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Laundry, Laundry, Laundry...

Today, I was folding Landon's laundry and a few thoughts went through my head:

     How and why does my (almost) six month old have more laundry than Tyler and I?
     He will be learning to fold laundry ASAP.
     I always wondered what it would be like to fold my child's laundry.
     What happened to his newborn clothes?
     Laundry is my least favorite house hold chore.

This isn't even half of it...


Then, I found myself getting emotional over Landon's dinosaur pajamas. After thinking, "What is wrong with you? They are just pajamas," I began thinking about how far our little family has come in the past six months.

After having Landon, we were sort of thrown into this brand new way of life. We really didn't know what we were doing, but here we are six months later and we are making it!

     Landon is growing and I can already tell he is smart. He is beautiful, healthy, sweet, and I'm truly enjoying every second with him (even when he wakes up at 5am). I feel like the love we have for him is reciprocated back to us, from him.

     When we pay the bills each month, sometimes I honestly have no idea how we have the money to do so. However, somehow...they always get paid.

     After Landon was born, I had no idea how we were going to provide for him. We were not in a financial position to have a baby, but somehow, he has more than he needs. Sometimes, when I open his drawer to get him something to wear, I find a new outfit for him.

So, as I folded his little, dinosaur pants, I felt overwhelmingly blessed to be folding his laundry. I truly believe he is the greatest thing that has happened to Tyler and I. I could honestly just look at him for hours. Every thing he does is just so cute and I am constantly reminded of how lucky we are that he is ours.