Everything and Nothing

That is how I would describe today. I got a lot done today. The kids were asleep and the house was (moderately) cleaned up by 8:30pm. That does not always happen. But at the same time, it was a Saturday where we did nothing. And I love those Saturdays.

In the late afternoon, I said to Nathanael, "this parenting 2 kids...it never lets up, does it? I mean, can I get a Saturday off?" I find myself thinking back on my days at Intel, especially on Saturdays, which is often just like every other day of the week, as far as diapers and feedings and naps go, and think about how I used to work so hard at my job all week. I would be mentally exhausted by the end of the week, and then, blessedly, I would get to sleep in on Saturday morning and groggily exit my room and meet Jaime in the loft where we would sit in our pajamas eating bowls of cereal and watch What Not to Wear for most of the morning. That seems so luxurious now.

Not long after this moment of Saturday afternoon weariness overcame me, while Ezekiel was asking Nathanael to sit on his bottom (what?) and I was dancing with Atticus because he wouldn't tolerate anything except me holding him, and dancing was just more interesting than standing, Nathanael played You Make My Dreams Come True by Hall and Oats. And as I danced with Atticus, and then we all danced together, it occurred to me how true those words were. Nathanael, Ezekiel, and Atticus are all dreams come true for me. Cheesy, I know, but I don't care.

The dichotomy of life for me right now makes my head spin nearly all the time. I know these days are so precious and fleeting, and that in the future, I will look back upon them with a nostalgic ache in my heart, wishing for just one more day when my boys were little. And at the same time, I often think, "this is hard, and I'm tired. do I ever get a lazy Saturday morning again?" I get weary of the daily-ness of every day. BUT...I can do hard things. And I would not trade any of the dog days of motherhood, the ones behind me, or the ones to come, for even one of those Saturday mornings. I love every minute of this life.

Seventh Anniversary

We celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary this week. Seventh! 

My best joke of the day goes as follows:

Nathanael: "It's crazy that we've been married for seven years."

Me: "Yeah. You might want to think about taking a second wife."

The single other anniversary post on this here blog saved my bacon this week. As Nathanael and I were reviewing all of our past anniversaries, we couldn't remember what we did in 2011 or 2012 (years 5 and 6). We remembered 2012 after we looked back at our calendar, but it wasn't until I checked here that we remembered  2011. Thanks, blog! 

Reposted with additions, here is the list.

Anniversary celebrations

1. On our first anniversary, we returned to the place it all started. We ate at the Duval Beach Club in Key West. It's where we got married.

2. Our second anniversary was a little less glamorous. We spent it in beautiful Fresno, and ate at the Cheesecake Factory. It was a week day, and Nathanael was working at Apple and had to close a store in Fresno. The weekend before however, we went to a Death Cab for Cutie concert and ate at the Stinkin' Rose in San Francisco.

3. Our third anniversary was spent hiking Half Dome in Yosemite, and I know that my friend Val prepared a delicious dinner for us at the cabin upon our return, but I don't remember what that was. What I do remember is the trail mix that got me through the rough patches of the day and the hard boiled eggs that I carried in my pocket all the way to the top.

4. Our fourth anniversary was spent at Donner Pass. At the time I had a morbid fascination with the Donner Party. Nathanael humored me with an anniversary trip to the memorial site and we gazed upon graves as we celebrated the day we were wed. We ate at Smash Burger for the first and almost last time (we moved to Oregon 2 weeks later).

5. Pacific Pie Co. was the eatery of choice on this special day, our fifth anniversary. A favorite of ours since we moved to Oregon, I had yet to visit their new location. I think we've eaten pies from Pacific Pie Co. more than any food from any other restaurant since we've moved here. Australian savory pies are my favorite!

6. Ezekiel was at Grammy and Poppa's house. We went to Ikea, and who knows what we bought. It could be any number of items, since our house is literally littered (awesome phrase) with Ikea items. And we think we saw Midnight in Paris. But we're not sure. Portions of this anniversary will remain shrouded in mystery.

7. This year our anniversary was on a Wednesday. Having 2 kids really dampens one's ability to go big. We had burgers for dinner, and after bible class, we watched our wedding video. After which, we riffled through a box of cards, scrapbook pages, ticket stubs, and other memoribilia. This was more fun that we expected. We had a lot of good laughs. 

I am so proud of the marriage we are building. Being married to Nathanael is the most fun ever.