Week Forty-Seven

This week I married another couple at a park here in Greenville. It was beautiful. It was the first same-sex wedding that I've officiated. When I saw their smiles that day I just couldn't believe anyone that would oppose them. They had such a loving, happy family. It was great to be a part of their day.

Every time I perform a wedding ceremony I am reminded of the love I have for you. I am so grateful every day to be in love. It's something that many people never experience and others lose too quickly.

Later in the week my site had their holiday party at the Commerce Club. It was quite swanky.

We were supposed to go to your side of the family's Christmas get-together but something treacherous happened instead. An evil stomach virus attacked my system and made me feel awful. You were sweet and brought me Ginger Ale and Powerade. 

Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling 100% on the day of the gathering so we decided not to go. I was looking forward to it so much! I hated missing it. 

We've decided that we're going to try to go to Illinois/Iowa next year to visit my family. I miss them all so much more during the holidays. You still have so many people to meet. I want to go back up there and make new memories with all of them and you.

Thing to remember from this week: nothing feels better than being in love with your spouse.

Week Forty-Six

This week was a good one. We took a day trip to Columbia so I could officiate a wedding there. My clients were married in Finlay Park. It was beautiful! Even though it was a business-related trip it felt so wonderful to have a little adventure. It was nice to get out of our apartment and drive for a bit.

 It made me even more excited for our anniversary trip next month. We’re most likely going to Savannah, Georgia. Neither of us have been there and we’ve heard it’s an impressive city. I want to see some gorgeous Victorian houses, eat some awesome food, and visit Tybee Island. It’ll be so lovely to get away for a couple of days and just celebrate our first big milestone in our marriage.

Thing to remember for this week: small trips build excitement. Sometimes it’s good to just get away.

Week Forty-Five

This week it was back to business after our Thanksgiving break. It made me realize how much I want to be my own boss full-time. I get a decent amount of inquiries for my side business (notary public/wedding officiant) but even that isn't something that I want to do 100% full-time. 

When I think about the future and what I want it to look like I see freedom. I want us to be financially stable and free and able to do everything we want to do. I want us to live full lives. I don't want to have to work from 9:00 to 5:00 every day. I want to be able to make my own schedule. I want to write. I want to create things. I want us both to be able to have the careers we want. People make it happen every day. We can do it. It isn't going to happen over night. We are going to have to work hard to make our dreams come true. I plan to attend every conference and workshop I can. I want to actively work on our future and help us build a firm foundation for our family.

We will do great things together, my love. I can feel it.


Thing to remember from this week: Life is worth living so let's live it!

Week Fourty-Four

We both had a few much needed days off this week. We had a date night at Copper River Grill. The food was amazing. You have now decided that it’s our new place. I fully agree. We spent some time with friends and also alone together. We needed both.

 We celebrated Thanksgiving--- twice! We first went to Tommy and Kathy’s on Thanksgiving Day to have dinner with our friends. I brought sweet potato casserole which was a huge hit…. because it tasted AMAZING. We then had Thanksgiving with your dad’s side of the family on Sunday. I made green bean casserole which was delicious.

 Let’s just get right to the point: your wife can cook! I feel like it’s a skill that a lot of people are unfortunately lacking. I am still baffled when anyone says that they “don’t know how to cook”. I’m sure my face always says, “Are you serious?!” But I digress.

We had a great time at Jill and Robert’s newly renovated house. I want their kitchen! One of these days my love, we will have a craftsman house!

The holidays especially make me miss my family in Illinois and Iowa. I feel such a need to be close to them and we just aren’t. Sometimes I wish that I would have gotten to stay up there so I could have grown up with everyone. But then I wouldn’t have met you… in fourth grade… and married you fifteen years later. I also wouldn’t have the amazing friends I have and the experiences I’ve had. In the end, I wouldn’t trade one for the other. I just wish that I could’ve gone back more growing up. You mentioned to me that we should try to go there for the holidays next year. I think it’s a great idea. You still have so many people on my Mom and Dad’s sides that you need to meet.

I think it’s also important to know that families aren’t always inherited. Sometimes they’re made. We’ve developed a pretty great family with our friends. Wherever we are and whoever we’re with for the holidays from now on, we know that we’ll be surrounded by love and laughter.

Even if it sounds sappy, I am incredibly thankful for you. I am thankful for you every day. It isn’t always easy. But it is always worth it. I’m thankful that I have someone to share all of the big things and small things and the craziness of everyday with.

Thing to remember from this week: Practice thankfulness every day.

Week Forty-Three

This week we’ve been married for ten months. I can’t believe it’s almost been a year already! Something exciting happened in South Carolina. They finally passed marriage equality in our state! I’m so happy that all of our LGBT friends can now marry the person they love. I’ve been getting calls about officiating same-sex wedding ceremonies and I’m thrilled to finally be able to offer my services to those couples.

Earlier in the week Jessi and I went to the Power Up event hosted by Greenville Business Magazine. It was great to hear from business leaders in our area. One of them was your cousin! He gave a great speech. I love hearing inspiring stories from business owners in our area.

I’ve been thinking a lot about possible jobs after AmeriCorps. I plan to send my resume to places out of state. I think it’s about time for another adventure. You and I deserve a new adventure. We haven’t lived out of this state together yet. I think we should. I’d love to go to the Portland area or Washington state or Colorado. I want to go somewhere that I really feel I can make an impact and also where I can further my education and earn my master’s degree.

I want to see us in a place where we can really grow.

Things to remember for this week: Marriage equality is here in SC!

Week Forty-Two

Something awesome we did this week was meet with a therapist. This was our first time going to couples therapy and it was amazing. Our therapist is wonderful. Our marriage isn’t in “trouble”. Therapy gets such a bad rap sometimes. People tend to think of it as a last resort and attach negativity to it when it’s just the opposite. I like to think of it as preventative care--- like a check-up.

 It’s good to have someone else there to hold us accountable for our personal and professional goals. I feel like we’ve learned a lot already. It provided some clarity. I think we both left feeling revived. We’ve decided after our initial session that we would like to continue seeing her for therapy.

So many people forget that marriage isn’t a thing. It’s a verb. We have to participate in our marriage daily. We both know that we’ve chosen the best person to spend our lives with. It feels great to be able to be open and vulnerable with one another and to work toward developing an even stronger marriage.

I am so happy that we went and even happier that we are working toward our goals together.

Things to remember for this week: From counseling comes clarity.

Week Forty-One

We had a very low-key Halloween at Marielle and Corey’s. It was a lot of fun. Next year though, we’re doing Halloween up right! We have to wear costumes and carve pumpkins! We planned to carve some this year but it just never happened. I will never be too old to dress up and get excited about Halloween.

 I went to the Athena Women’s Leadership Symposium. It was pretty empowering to hear from one of the leaders in our community.

It was Election Day on Tuesday. I went out in a blue dress. I didn’t even realize until later how Democratic I looked… and rightfully so. I passed some classes that I was so behind in I thought I’d fail. I turned in all of my late assignments by the end-of-course deadline. I made an A in one class and a B in the other! That made me feel awesome.

I finished the first round of medication to help with fertility so we’ll see how that goes. Hopefully we’ll have a little Smith soon!

Driving down the road the other day it hit me again: we’re married. I’m married to the guy I met in fourth grade. I’m married to the guy that sat in front of me in my ninth grade math class--- the one that wrote a “book” back-and-forth with me about how the teacher’s assistant annoyed us. I’m married to the person I can have great conversations with, laugh the most with, and still makes me weak when we kiss.

I married the best guy for me.

Things to remember for this week: Obstacles can be overcome.