You and Me, Forever

   I kept joking with Alana about how I would never make a new blog post because I always wanted her Dorothy and Toto photo shoot to be the first thing people see when they found my page. But this is even more important than my favorite movie ~ my marriage to Michael!! After four years of being together (almost six years total, counting from when we met and began dating), at times it still felt like we didn't really know what we were doing a lot of the time, as if we were still learning how to be married. But since I remembered "the secret", I wanted to write this down so I don't ever forget. It's about communication and compromise.. duh! And continually praying to God for thanks and guidance. It's loving so fully, and being silly, and having fun, and not worrying about the future or how we may feel about a certain topic in three years, and about not arguing over all the dumb stuff that the devil creates to ever argue about. (Duh! again.) It's about keeping close, holding hands, truly being best friends, and using our bodies the way God intended married people to use them.

   This past weekend is the best I can remember us having - together - in a while. We have had some fabulous days (going to Clearwater Beach in March, Easter Sunday was really great, hiking in Ocala was pretty fun last month). But this was a **WEEKEND EXTRAVAGANZA**. Possibly because it also included my family, friends, Pioneer times, the beach, and road tripping. I'm already hoping for another weekend extravaganza in two weeks to celebrate my 28th birthday!!

   I talked to my dad on the phone last week, which was nice. I usually ask my mom for all of my marriage advice, but it was good hearing his "man opinions". Michael and I had a few long discussions about what needed to change, what we already liked, better ways to listen, how to spend more time together, etc. My mom found the Groupon for the Zoominations Light show at the Lawry Park Zoo in Tampa, which is what we did Friday night. (I had the whole weekend off from work!) The drive down was good and being with family is always nice. The lights were cool, but I just like spending time with my family. It always puts me in a good mental state. Calm, loving, caring- more than my regular amount. =)

   I found out about the Pioneer Village and Museum in Dade City a few days before, and told Michael and I would really like to go there in the morning on Saturday, on our way down to Siesta Key to meet up with my friend, Tonia. He agreed to that. Hooray!!!!!!!!! It was super amazing. We got out the door just before 10am, stopped by McDonald's for my favorite sausage, egg, and cheese bagel (super healthy!) and hash browns, then arrived to the Pioneer Village about an hour and ten minutes later. It was wonderful. And now I shall post many beautiful pictures about it:

   I loved all of the compromises, although I told Michael that I felt like his were of a higher volume (going to all of these places with me). He still told me that he loved all the little things I did (taking Sasha out a bunch so he didn't have to, pumping gas, giving him back scratches while he drove, unloading the dish washer). This afternoon he wanted to go on the bike ride, so I agreed to that. Lately I have been preferring to walk, but wanted to do what he picked out for us. Then he came with me to work for a few hours and sat next to me while I answered 911 calls to cover a friend's overtime shift. Michael had a headset so he could listen to everything that was being said- or he watched movies on TV. We ended the night with a late date at Sonic before we got home and he went to sleep since he is working today through Universal.

   I know I tend to not write much (or at all) when things are so good, even in a regular journal. The closest documentation is via beautiful Instagram squares. But I really want to remember this time and remember how it was so easy to get along and even though we still had quick mini-tiffs (mainly still getting through the "having really good communication part"), we were so happy and lovey and we had a lot of fun. Michael even said he would like to go back to the Pioneer Village for the Scarecrow Festival in October, and seems to enjoy the beach more lately. Siesta Key was amazing! We first met Tonia for lunch at Yoder's Amish Restaurants. Michael loved seeing all the mansions on the way to the beach. The water was kind of clear and not very cold = perfect. The sun wasn't even too hot and there was a nice breeze the whole time.

   Hopefully everything will continue to go smoothly. And I will update more when we have super amazing times, but I wanted this to be a photography blog displaying my talents with a fancy camera (hence not wanting to post anything after the Wizard of Oz shoot with Alana), not a "here is what I have been posting to Instagram lately"/ iPhone photos blog. Anyway.. have a great week! Xoxox.