I used to hate the idea of getting older. Each year felt like some sort of hit to my pride and I yearned to be forever 22. There’s something to be said when you are an old soul living in a young body, but every birthday is just another reminder of the climb up the age ladder. I’m 26 right now, in that weird transition season of your life where you can no longer party like you are 23 but you aren’t quite up to the 30 status. We have a home, own our cars, have two little (naughty) rescue pups and a life that is filled with work, freedom, travels, and nights spent watching TV together on the couch. We have intentionally decided to wait on the kid thing (no matter how many times you ask us, we are pretty set on waiting a few more years – sorry, Mom!) and we are just enjoying this season of our lives. Growing older is a privilege that not everyone gets and now I realize that each trip around the sun is really something special.

Drew and I were talking about our college days before my visit to UWSP and we were reliving the days where our bank accounts had $53 dollars in them, we partied in the basements of old homes, and our only responsibility was to show up to practice and a few hours of class everyday. I remember that season (although parts of it seem vague now) and remember yearning to enter the real world, to fill up a bank account, drive a nicer car, and get married. It’s funny, isn’t it? The grass does always seem greener and where we are is never where we really want to be. The other day we were at a friend’s birthday party. I looked around as we all dined on an amazing pot luck and sat in lawn chairs in the backyard while kids ran around, the adults chatted, and the sun was shining. It was wild to imagine just how fast time had flown, that we were at the age where we had kid’s birthday parties to attend and days spent at home hanging curtains. When did we grow up and how the heck did it happen?

Each part of life is a season, I remember the poem well. For everything there is a season and as I looked around and thought about this season of life, I realized that I couldn’t love it more. It’s different than I could have ever imagined, (far better than my mind could have gone) and it’s filled with things I never had deemed possible. As I think of all of the growing up we have done these past few years as a couple, all of the obstacles we have tackled, the loss we have grieved, the chances we have taken, and the dreams we have chased, I realize that this season of life is truly wonderful – just as it is.  It doesn’t need to be glamorous to be lovely and those days unshowered and on the couch aren’t quite what I imagined for myself, but regardless of the mundane moments, progress over perfection will always win. I don’t find myself dreaming and wishing to hit the “fast forward” button and in the thick of the busyness I find myself clinging to the simple moments that make this season special. From hanging photos on the walls of our very first home to taking the dogs on walks in the morning before work, the little things really are the big things in life and in this very moment in time I don’t wish for anything more than to savor it.  For everything there is a season and this season has been one that is filled with the reminder to be present, water the grass where you are, and be thankful for each day and opportunity to be alive.

 To everything there is a season,
a time for every purpose under the sun.

 Sneak peek of our anniversary photos by : Chloe Ann Photography 

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Not done yet? Of course you aren’t, click a link below to continue:

• Inside the Print Shop: Let’s Cuddle
• Happy Birthday Chloe!
• I Totally Get It…
• Timing