Cody and I got married April 27, 2019 after dating for just over a year. We were set up by mutual friends at church, not at all the way I imagined meeting my spouse, and I almost broke up with him multiple times. One of these days I’ll do a spotlight and share the beginning of our story and our Wedding Day! But as I reflect on the second year of our marriage, I think back to when we were dating and it already seems like a really long time ago. That’s not because it’s been a long two years (although the pandemic certainly didn’t help)! It’s because we have grown so much already in just these two years of marriage. Then, when I put it into perspective and think about what it will feel like after another 60 years, Lord willing, I can’t even fathom it! What a beautiful thing marriage can be!

The “quarantine” had just started when we celebrated our 1-year anniversary last year. Our original plans obviously had to change. Cody cooked dinner for me and we tried the last of our frozen wedding cake. It really didn’t taste as bad as we thought it would! Instead of waiting completely until our 1-year to try the cake, we actually split it up in 12 slices and tried a slice each month leading up to our anniversary. It was quite interesting to see how the cake slowly started to taste worse and worse each month.

Listen to our Love Languages

We were both pleasantly surprised by how we handled the quarantine. Even though I love to be around people, we both still consider ourselves introverts at heart so the staying home part was fine. It wasn’t long before Cody’s work became fully remote and my business started slowing down a bit because everyone was shut-up at home 24/7. We started to remember our love for games and found some tv shows to watch together. I learned how to cut hair (and am still cutting his hair so I’d call that a success) and we started working out together every day which was a lot of fun… we can definitely vouch for a positive experience and result with Beachbody OnDemand programs! Just look at that enthusiasm! (bottom right photo)

With so much time together, we have been extremely thankful to be in sync with our need for quality time. While we were dating, we re-read the book “The 5 Love Languages.” If you’ve never heard of it, try giving it a read! Basically, the author points out how we interpret what is and isn’t helping us feel loved. We both value quality time at a higher level so spending all this extra time together wasn’t a drain on either of us. I can imagine if quality time wasn’t a high ranking love language for one of us, we would have had to make sure to prioritize some alone time and give each other more space.

Prioritizing Meals Together

We’ve continued to stick with a mostly vegan diet since getting married and got a LOT of quality time in the kitchen last summer. One thing that has been a huge positive from staying home more is learning how to sit down for meals again. I’d say it’s safe to say we all get caught up in being so busy that we don’t take the time to prioritize meal time together. Our schedules have been picking up again since the start of this calendar year but we’re continuing to set aside meal time together as much as possible. We also realized how much we love to go out and try new places to eat!!

One of our first outings back out was meeting some friends at Hyde Park, walking around outside, and getting popsicles. Man, did it feel good to be out and about again!!

Here’s a few photos of Bella-boo. She’s just a cutie so how could I not include her in the re-cap? 😉 We keep Bella for my parents off and on. She is 12 now and still looks and acts like a puppy!

Our Need for Relationships

I don’t know if this is a “lesson” that stems from another year of marriage. Honestly, I think this is just a general truth we’ve all been reminded of since last spring. Once the parks and beaches opened back up we got out as soon as possible. The walks around our townhouse complex weren’t cutting it anymore! I am 100% convicted that our lives are meaningless without the relationships that bind us together. Our relationship with each other, our families, our friends, and our church, as well as our relationship with the earth around us. There is nothing better for our mental and emotional health than for those relationships to thrive. I am so very grateful to have gotten married before all of this. At least we had each other during the quarantine!

We went up to see Cody’s sisters and his nephews for July 4th and that was so much fun! It was my first time doing a tree tops rope course! Of course the boys had a BLAST setting off fireworks!

Jeremiah’s Italian Ice is one of our staple spots for dessert…riding the motorcycle is pretty fun too 😉

In September we went to Disney with my family! It was quite a different Disney experience than we’re “used” to but SO fun! LOTS of pool time and hanging out at the hotel.

We Have to Stay Flexible

How many time will we learn this lesson throughout our lives?? Seriously though, something unexpected happened in October when we decided to take the plunge and put in an offer on a house!! We weren’t planning to yet but the price was right and the house was the right fit so we did it! At the time, it was a whirlwind! We spent two weeks right after closing to CLEAN and PAINT. The last step was installing a new sink in the kitchen and once that was done….ah, it felt glorious. We were homeowners!!!

We started a new Thanksgiving tradition and went to the beach- HIGHLY recommend!

Sometimes it’s Good to Be Spontaneous

Okay, you may be thinking “how is this different than flexibility?” Being spontaneous is different because it’s purposeful. We were already planning to buy a house, but the flexibility part came when it happened sooner than we planned. This trip to Charleston the weekend before Christmas was not overly planned. Granted, we didn’t just hop in the car and say “let’s go somewhere!” I booked a hotel and lined up some things to do while we were there. But you also have to understand how much planning and budgeting we normally do. In comparison, this was a spontaneous trip! You can definitely expect to see a future blog post (probably this Christmas) with images from this trip. The Christmas decorations in Charleston are simply beautiful!!

We had the honor of celebrating Tim and Silvia’s wedding! I can’t WAIT for their renewal and reception with family and friends this December in Vermont!!

Christmas in Omaha with Cody’s family gave us a little taste of cold weather. I was loving it! It actually felt like Christmas!

This is us. There are a lot of exciting things happening. God is always working in our lives even when we don’t see it. Even though I just showed you all the good highlights of our second year, we’ve had a lot of reasons to get discouraged too. However, those aren’t the things worth dwelling on. Cody and I are excited to move into this third year of marriage! We can’t wait to continue to get to know our #EccCouples and celebrate their best day with them! Marriage is such a GIFT!!