november 30th is the most significant day in the year for both of us.
it is the day that our lives, our whole world, changed. it is our day.
it was so cold. unseasonably cold that night. the night we met seven years ago.
i had no idea i would meet him. my him. that evening i was being pretty ungrateful that whole day. i remember changing my outfit three times before heading to danville for class. i was switching classes that night and would soon find out i would be meeting ethan and my new class and teacher. and doing nursing home clinicals with him for the next two weeks. and then marrying him 6 months later. all i could think about after he started talking to me was, i am so glad i put real pants on. two of my other outfits included huge ugly sweats. i wore jeans and a grey tee shirt with a wonderful fuzzy black sweater. plus a coat. ethan was wearing his officemax uniform and an oversized black zip up hoodie. we still have that hoodie and i wear it in our home.
one day i want to write out our full story. his side and mine. i never want to forget.
there's so much more to say of this day. the reason we celebrate it.
but for now, fast forward to yesterday. seven years.
this year has been a lot. more work, less time together, more spiritual growth and cutting away at wrong comforts and sinful desires. so we actually fasted from dating. we found that we filled our time up with each other only and haven't been serving or giving. just taking. and enjoying. we know married life is a gift and is to be enjoyed but we have been terribly gluttonous. whenever we hurt (which is daily because of our chronic pain/health issues), whenever we make more money, whenever we are just bored, whenever we feel like we deserve a break, we would date. we felt very convicted about this and we made a change. and it was very difficult. but we knew it was right. and we've been finding ways to serve or bless or grow spiritually because of the time we now had.
so we searched our hearts and prayed about dates and how we can celebrate married time together and when. and how often. and how much we could spend on ourselves.
ethan also works three days a week outside the home now. we used to just have more time during the day/week because we were both full time BURTco. but now we're full time with bco. and he's part time health food store. we don't feel like it's a mistake to add more to our plate, but we have had to learn the balance.
i didn't want to get my hopes up for this wednesday. it's mid week. we have more and more plates to juggle. if ethan has taught me one thing in life it's to celebrate ALWAYS. not waiting for certain days. we don't do birthdays or christmas presents or valentines day or anniversary gifts. none of that. it has been the most beneficial thing in our marriage i am sure of it. so i knew not to get disheartened if we couldn't spend the day together. i did not expect him to take the day off the health food store. i didn't ask him to. and even booked a few things for myself to get done that morning. but late on sunday night he told me he's taking our day off and we are having a date. i had to immediately manage expectations and guard my heart! just simply being thankful he took the day, no matter what we do that day, is enough.
and oh, what a day it was. i want to remember forever.
all the days, actually. photo taking and writing memories forever, please.
what a ridiculously perfect day.
it was much warmer yesterday then that day just seven years ago.
he first took me to traders pointe creamery, the loft restaurant. it's in indiana.
IT'S A WHOLE FREAKING FARM WITH REAL COWS.
AND WE GOT A MILKSHAKE!!!! i haven't had a milkshake in YEARS.
it still had sugar and that's a no-no BUT, celebrations. and happy cows and organic ingredients.
ALL THE THANKSGIVING.
they also had a lemon orzo chicken soup that was out of this world.
after lunch we just wanted to walk about a bit. who knew there is a walking tour of the farm! so perfect. so we went on that trail. it did start to get colder and colder and we took a wrong way somehow and i got really terrified we'd either end up right in a cow paddock and die or at least get in trouble with the owners. ethan is such a rebel. but he's also safe. and so he told me to just trust him and he'd get us back. which he did.
we ran a little ways on the trail and it was like a movie. ethan was a little bit ahead of me looking back with the most sweet face ever, enjoying seeing me. also, dumb silly faces, too. and then we stopped and he asked, have we ever gone on a run together? no. let's never do that again.
PHEW. i'm with you. never running.
the food and atmosphere was amazing there and we dreamed about BURTco.
we dreamed about where it'll go, God willing, what parts we will play, what a joy this is.
we also admired the amazing wood beams from the 1860's that the restaurant is built out of.
i also said holy cow a lot and made myself laugh. no one else laughed.
next, coffee & books.
e is so good. he found us a coffee place with amazing bread and books.
they have books all over the place on these really cool shelves. they encourage you to just grab one a read. UM OK. and they have a super simple coffee menu. so we grabbed just coffees and sat together on these old burnt orange chairs. ethan had to do something on his phone that he said would take 60 seconds, so i went to look at books. within 20 of those seconds i came back with four books. he laughed out loud at me. how do you do that, he asked. and smiled big. i love his eyes when he smiles. when we met he did not have those smiling eyes. and now it is a permanent part of his face that i love.
we talked about how this could be so boring to others. or we could even decide that it wasn't enough and we need more, need to do more than this. but this is just it for us. i will never get tired of sitting next to him with a cup of coffee and a book. i know it's true.
and last night while he tucked me into our bed, i cried a few tears about not knowing when it'll be the last time i sit with him with coffee and a book. this is enough.
when we were ordering our coffee the woman motioned to the coffee mugs. we get to take our pick. the options were the dark blue and teal you see here, and red. ethan looked at me and then touched a couple mugs, then picked the correct teal one for me. he has gotten to know how i pick by feel. it makes no sense and it's just a mug, but it was the best moment ever that he got the right one. the exact one i was thinking. and then i knew he'd pick the dark blue. the coffee was great. we each had two cups. and i got an oatmeal cranberry cookie, his least favorite. and he got chocolate chip. he shared with me but would never eat a cranberry again, so i basically got two cookies. which is FINE BY ME. i did not do that on purpose probably.
then we went to the mall and walked around. we weren't planning on shopping but h&m is my favorite store and we don't get to be around one super often. so ethan let us go in! AHHHHH.
ethan is all about good deals. he found 11 dresses he said he would love to see me in, but we couldn't stand the price. so we kept looking at the sale items. we found amazing green pants for 15 dollars and a plain sweatshirt for 9 dollars. tried them on, perfect fit. badda bing badda boom.
i got that outfit. THANKS. ugh. h&m and ethan burt are the BEST.
we walked around outside the mall, too. enjoying the brisk fall evening air.
we also took in a movie but we were not impressed. so i'm glad he got the tickets at a bargain.
i had no idea what this year would bring. personally, emotionally, physically.
i have no idea what to expect for next year. but i am thankful for the years we've had.
i'm thankful for this time together. the warmth of our bodies close. his smell. his beard. his hugs. his hands. his laughter. his wild ideas. breathing in every moment we are given.
happy seven, e. i'll love ya till the day i die.
