Transferring to your collegeAlways installing the car seatsServing as your human alarm clockFolding tiny pairs of underwear just soReading an essay he wants to share with you as you both lie in bed and not minding when you fall asleep halfway throughGoing to small group, pressing into friendshipDriving the old car The middle-of-the-night parent, the patient parent, the fun parent Hearing “my wife” across the room, a thrill stillResearching the candidatesFalling asleep with the light onandGrumbling about how you stay up too late to read Making every hard decision less scaryNever ever giving you a reason to doubtAlways reaching for you, always beside you An unending conversation with my best friendWho we were and who we areThe most fun we’ve ever hadSo simple, so grand. In honor of our 12th anniversary, inspired by Jen

We came home from last year’s 10th wedding anniversary trip to Mexico determined to get away at least once a year from now on, even if briefly. Though this year’s trip isn’t as spectacular as last year’s (11 doesn’t have quite the heft as 10 :)), I’d love to share a few photos and details from our weekend in Charleston, if you’d like to see! The logistics of our anniversary weekend Though I was pulling for a three-night stay, John’s preference for two nights – for cost considerations – won out. We woke the kids up at their normal time on Friday morning to say goodbye, and then left them in my parents’ capable hands to make the four-hour drive to Charleston. We stayed two nights and left around 10:30am on Sunday to head home. Where we stayed in Charleston We booked our hotel late last year. After much research, John chose The Charleston Place: we wanted to be centrally located, and it’s smack-dab in the middle of the downtown action. We considered a number of “trendier” hotels, including the Dewberry, the Vendue, and Zero George, but were surprised by how much more expensive they were than Charleston Place – which itself was already expensive! Charleston Place was absolutely wonderful, and we would definitely stay there again if we had the chance. What we did on our weekend in Charleston On Friday, we pulled into Mount Pleasant, a suburb of Charleston, just in time for a later lunch. Since we have both been to Charleston a few times before, we thought it would be fun to explore a new-to-us area on this trip. We ate lunch at the Post House Inn, which is just adorable perfection with a Southern-meets-California vibe – I felt like we were on the set of

Yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of John’s and my first date. 15 years!! I am the luckiest. The most memorable thing about that first date is not what we did, or what we said, or where we went, but how close it came to not happening at all. I was a nervous and awkward senior on the cusp of college, and it seemed a whole heck of a lot scarier to say yes and a whole heck of a lot safer to say no to his invitation. But I did say yes (thank you, Lord!). I was musing over this yesterday, and it reminded me of something I had drafted a few months ago and never posted. (It was inspired by this essay.) As you’ll see by the first decision below, it seemed appropriate to share this week. We each make thousands of decisions a day, but in the end, we can trace just a few back to whether we wake up smiling most days or not. Here are nine of mine, starting with the most important one. 1. I said yes to a first date. Of course, I said yes to him again several years later, but this first “yes” was the one that really mattered, the one that was in doubt – the second was a forgone conclusion. I like to think that scared, shy 17-year-old had some inkling of the happiness ahead, and boy was she right. Either that, or she just had a very wise friend giving her counsel. (Thank you, Anna!!!) 2. I didn’t work after hours. When I began my first job out of college, my boss was a workaholic with not a shred of work/life balance. As the new girl eager to prove herself, it would have been easy to fall into the

Friends, ten years ago to the day I wrote my first ever blog post. You can still view it here, just like every other post I’ve written since — posts about weddings, mostly, at first. A heck of a lot of inspiration boards. Little bits of lovely before Pinterest came along. Funny DIYs :) And then, here and there, a more personal post. Longer ones. A few poems, so close to my heart. A new name and site design. A turning point. Another one. Another one. A passion project begun. Scary posts to write and sad ones and the most joyful. So many adventures, so many anniversaries, so many goals. Posts on this blog have changed my life. Some of you have been kind enough to write that they’ve changed yours, too. Sneak peek of our newborn session with Graham! :) Even aside from catapulting blog posts, a lot changes in a decade. You’ve graciously watched me become a college graduate, a North Carolinian, an editor, a first-time-apartment dweller, a fiancee, a wife, a homeowner, a person-who’s-been-to-Europe, a mama, and a mama again. And all along the way, writing this blog has not only been a place to capture those changes, but a cause of them. Because before I was any of those things, I was a writer. Writing is the way I’ve processed, held myself accountable, and grown since I was young. Writing is a way of becoming, for me. “In the end, people don’t view their life as merely the average of all of its moments — which, after all, is mostly nothing much plus some sleep,” wrote Atul Gawande in Being Mortal. “For human beings, life is meaningful because it is a story.” Yes. I have shared many times about the importance of the narratives we create