Happy Anniversay | Nine Years

Nine years ago on this very day, I married Ryan Hollen. We have been together for a decade now and it makes my head spin a bit when I think about how fast the past few years have gone. Swiftly. I blink and a decade has come and gone. A decade!

 He was the person I wasn’t looking for when we met. Meeting another guy, a potential love interest, was very low on my list of priorities at the time. I was broken and broken hearted but there he was being introduced to me in a local coffee shop, the very coffee shop we would have our wedding reception a little more than a year later. I had only been back in Colorado a grand total of about four days. I had a camera in my hand and a bruised and broken spirit from the season I had just moved away from. We were surrounded by friends, music, and coffee. My happy place. A mutual friend introduced us and my life has never been the same. Somehow, in the depths of my soul, I knew that one day I would marry this bearded man, and I did. I’m so glad I did. 

Happy Anniversay, Babe! I look forward to many more years of winding down on the couch and having dinner after long days at work, once the kiddos have had tubby time and are tucked away in bed for the evening. I look forward to many more years of building a home with you, one project at a time. I look forward to many more years of going to see movies and getting to actually go have date nights. I look forward to many more years of little getaway trips, going to concerts, and just going out for breakfast every once in a while. I look forward to the day to day, the laundry folding and the emptying of the dishwasher. I look forward to playing more music, in whatever capacity that we can in the different seasons of our lives. 

I’m so glad I was at that coffee shop that day, all those years ago. I’m so glad I said “I do” in front of our friends and family nine years ago. Ryan, you are my person forever and always. I love you! Thank you for taking care of me and our kids so well. 

My Person

Last night's anniversary dinner. 

I woke up this morning and today is like most days. The kiddo is starting to stir in her bubble gum pink room and the husband is snoring next to me. My first thoughts, especially now that I am pregnant, is that I need to go to the restroom. My next thoughts are about coffee and the anticipation of some quiet time before the rest of my world fully wakes up and our day starts once more. 

Today is different though than most of our days. Today is special. Today we are celebrating eight years of marriage. 8 years of wedded bliss. 8 years. I do wish we were waking up on a tropical beach somewhere and I was wearing a bikini and there was a margarita in my hand. But, instead, we wake to a home full of toddler toys and bedhead, waffles with peanut butter, a strong cup of coffee. We wake to a world with a dinosaur nursery that is just waiting for its new occupant to arrive. We wake to a world where I can't see my ankles anymore and my bladder has rebelled against me. We wake to a world where we will both go about our day working hard for our jobs, take a trip to the grocery store, prepare meals for the kiddo, and pray that nap time is long. 

I like waking up here. 

I was thinking about the past 8 years of our lives and how much has happened and how much has changed. We aren't the bright eye and bushy-tailed young-ins anymore. We've now lived in our home for 7 years. We've changed many things about our home....painted some walls, new floors, new appliances, new roof, new furnace and ac. We've lived with roommates when we needed the money. We've brought home a new baby from the hospital and will soon do that again. We've had so many band practices over the years and now I am left trying to hold onto those memories. 

I just can't help but realize that I have found my person. My only person. Ryan loves me for me and all of my weird ways. He puts up with my obsessive vacuuming and how I am constantly working on some home project. He mows the lawn even when I know it's the last thing he wants to do. He helps empty the dishwasher because I might hate that even more than folding and putting away laundry. We have played lots of gigs together and sang many songs together. He gets it. He gets me. 

Even when life is predictable and each day seems to blend into the next, my person is always there. We are in this together and I wouldn't have it any other way. When we met 9 years ago, I was not looking for him. He was not looking for me. But God brought us together just the same. Our worlds suddenly collided and we haven't looked back since. In brokenness and heartache, we found each other. We found our people. 

I truly wouldn't change anything from the past 8 years of our lives. I am looking forward to many more. When you find your person, hold on to them tight. You will make it through the hard times. There will be plenty of good times as well. It will all be worth it. 

Happy Anniversary, to my very favorite person. 

The Great Road Trip | Days 7 & 8

The last two days of our trip were pretty predictable. We were driving and driving......and driving. Overall, from our little home to Portland, it takes about 20 hours to get there or back. I've only driven it straight through a few times in my life and I'm fine with not trying to accomplish that feat yet again. I'm getting to old for stuff like that. All nighters and driving in the dark? No thanks. My eyes just can't handle that like they used to. (I sound old...)

Saturday morning we packed up our bags and hit the road. Our half way goal is always Twin Falls, ID. Saturday was like most days on the road except for one little thing.....It was our 6 year wedding anniversary. 6 years. I found it pretty fitting to be out on the open road the day we celebrate 6 years of marriage together. There's just something about being in a car together, just driving. You can read about our past anniversaries here, here, here. Looks like I failed to blog about it for a few of years.

These past 6 years have been incredible. I am very blessed to have a wonderful marriage. We own our home. We get to do life as parents and raise Marin. We are able to provide for each other and support one another. I cannot imagine waking up every morning and not living life with Ryan.

On our trip, we spoke of what we want the next year to look like. I am very goal-oriented, so conversations like that always get my brain going. We talked about when we would want to start trying to have another child. We talked about jobs. We talked about playing music again and how much we miss it. We talked about health. I want to be able to do life with this amazing man for a very long time.

Over the past few years, we have celebrated our anniversary with pie. It seemed only fitting to find the local Shari's and partake in a tradition while we were on the road. I had the Sour Cream Lemon pie and Ryan has the Smores pie. Add a cup of coffee and I'm set.

The rest of the trip consisted of driving, driving, and driving. We stopped at many questionable gas stations. We ate too much junk. I totally nerded out and started reading the Outlander series. I know...I know....It was very good to pull into our driveway and finally arrive home. Picking up Marin from the Grandparent's house was something we had been looking forward to all week. Marin is making sure that we don't go anywhere for a while. Next time, she's coming with us.

It is good to be back and to slowly get back into the swing of things. I need vacations like this. It helps me focus on all of the other areas of my life. Next vacation though...I want a lot less driving and a lot more beach.

Our Anniversary: Good Food, Good Goals, & A Great Beard

It has been a week now since we celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary. The fact that I am just now able to write about our day goes to show that time really is flying faster than we can keep up with it most days. I didn't carry my camera with me that day, but wanted to capture everything through my phone.

Celebrating 5 years with my man was good. It was very needed. It's always weird for me to realize that we don't have our little girl in the back seat with us on an adventure, but sometimes parents need just parent adventures. You know? 

Marin hung out with the grandparents for the day and we hopped in the car and drove to Denver. For donuts. You read that correctly. We drove 1.5 hours to another city for donuts. I'm not crazy. It was well worth it. 

If you don't know of Voodoo Donuts, you probably should. When I lived in the northwest, I experienced Voodoo Donuts in Portland for the first time. These guys are crazy. Their donuts are crazy. They are also crazy delicious. By some fluke, they opened a shop up in Denver. All of the other locations are in the northwest but for some reason they decided to come here. I couldn't be more thrilled.

We ordered the Voodoo Dozen, 13 donuts that the staff hand picks for you. We also had two coffees to go. We ended up eating a donut in our car before making the drive back home because there's no seating at Voodoo. It was warm that day. Our donuts melted in our hands as we ate them. The coffee was super good. 

This was a perfect way to begin our anniversary celebration. 

We made the journey back home, stopped at the grandparents to feed the kiddo so I could think straight (if you're breastfeeding you probably know what I'm talking about and pumping in the car SUCKS.) 

We then ventured to Old Town, Fort Collins. A few posts back I talked about the new restaurant that we have come to love called the Mainline. We went there again. We drank good beer and ate good food. We talked about our goals and dreams for this new year of marriage. We talked about new business ideas and focusing more on the ones we already have. Getting out of debt. Upgrading to newer computers. Putting our house on the market and moving. Fitting back into my skinny jeans.

Helping Marin grow up smart and strong.

One of the appetizers at the Mainline. Jalapeño Cornbread with Apple Cider Butter. Oh my. 

If you know me, this conversation is what gets my mind spinning, in a good way. I love a good goals discussion, especially when good food, good beer, and a nice looking man with a great beard are involved. 

After dinner, we headed back, picked up Marin, and put her to bed for the evening. 

All in all, we are ready for this next year. We are excited for what is ahead. I wouldn't want to live out this life with anyone else. 

5 Years & Counting

Five years ago at this time, I believe I waking up from a night of not very much sleep, walking down the stairs of my parent's old house, and waiting for my bridesmaids to arrive so we could drink mimosas and figure out what to do with my hair. I was praying that my wedding dress would zip. I was wondering what Ryan's face would look like when he saw me for the first time. I wasn't thinking about putting on sunscreen, but boy, I should have. I was nervous about saying the vows we had written ourselves because I knew I would cry. I did cry. It was worth it.

Five years ago today, I married my best friend. It amazes me that we have already been married for half of a decade. We now have a child. We own a house. We have worked at our places of employment for 5 years and 7 years. We have created some roots here. I wouldn't want to do that with anyone else.

I love the nights where we have a Chinese takeout picnic on our basement floor while watching Ryan's ever growing blu-ray collection. I love ending our evenings once the baby is in bed, watching Friend's episodes and winding down for the day. I love that when Ryan gets home from work and I've been with the baby all day, he knows that I need a break due to probably my frazzled look and lets me go relax and take a bath. I love that we can write and play music together, even though since we have become parents, that has been a little far away from us. That will change. I love preparing for playing the shows, figuring out the lines, singing the harmonies. I love the thrill of getting to the venue, setting up our equipment, and walking up to the stage to do something that we love together. I love taking photos together of other people's special occasions. I love that he lets me go on my never-ending house decorating tangents. I love that he makes me feel beautiful even though my body has changed so much in the past few months, stretch marks and added weight and all. I love that we have both been there to tuck Marin in for the night and he always kisses her good night. I love that he knows how to relax but also knows how to work hard and help support our little family. I love that we still have date nights and we get see so many movies together. I love that we get to lead worship together and have our little one grow up in the church. I love that for our anniversary, we are going to drive to Denver for donuts. I love that.

I love that I get to live this life with such an amazing man. I couldn't imagine it without him.

Happy 5 years and counting, my love.

Bridge Wedding: June 2013

I have had these photos done for a while now, but I wanted to make sure I posted something from this June wedding. Ryan and I kind of stumbled upon this job. We knew the bride and groom. We knew they were looking for someone. They asked us if we knew anyone and I was like: well, you do know we shoot weddings right? The rest is history. 

This was the first huge project that I shot when I was pregnant. I was exhausted far beyond how tired I usually am after a wedding. It also took so much longer to edit for me (I still met my deadline) due to the fact that my morning sickness in my first trimester was very much night sickness. Sitting down to edit hundreds of photos isn't very appealing when my house is a billion degrees and my world is a spinning orb of nausea. (Melodramatic much?) At least most of the sickness is long behind me and I was able to deliver a product that we are very proud of. 

A few of our favorites....

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There are hundreds more. But, these were some of my favorites. 

Anniversary Week

Last week, we celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. I cannot believe how quickly time has flown by already. 3 years. 3 years! And many more to come. Each year is even more exciting than the last. 

The hubby took the whole week off and I joined him on Wednesday. It was very needed. We've been running at full speed for so long. We didn't have any gigs to play, any photos to take, anything that would take over our schedule like it usually does. We had a few days of freedom.

We started the time off by going to Denver to see one of my dear friends and his band, 1776, open for the Dandy Warhols. It was so good. It had been a few years since I had seen him and it was very good to be able to catch up like old times. Chilling back stage wasn't too shabby either. 

Later on in the week, Ryan's parents took us all out to dinner. I finally got the mojito I had been thinking about for a week or so. 

Friday night we stayed at the Armstrong Hotel in Fort Collins. It was really nice to just be able to stay in town but get out of the house for a night. The bathtub was lovely. There was air conditioning (hallelujah!) and we just got to finally relax. We went out for margaritas and mexican food, walked around Old Town, went to the drum shop, bought some new vinyl, and ended up at Perkins late that night for some pie. The next morning we went out to breakfast for one last hurrah for this year's celebration. 

Ryan Adams, forever. 

Fort Collins, CO 

Wildberry Pie

Breakfast at Dempsey's. 

Happy Anniversary, Love. 

Now it's back to reality for this week. Lots of band practices, 2 gigs, a maternity photo shoot, and working the entire time. The vacation was so wonderful while it lasted.