Picture Round Up

Dear Caroline,

We have been busy bees since my Winter Break. I feel as though we have grown up and matured more in the last month than we have in the entirety of our relationship. For the longest time, we have been floating around waiting to make a big play. More importantly, we haven’t really understood or figured out what we wanted. As I talked about yesterday we are beginning to make plans for the long term in real time. It is definitely scary! We have taken a lot of pictures this month, so I thought I’d do a picture round up.

Rewinding back about one month, it was my winter break. I have been a follower on social media of a teacher action group. A bill impacting Georgia’s teachers came to a vote before the Education committee in the Georgia Senate. The group issued a call to action and we went to observe. Thomas ended up testifying and we both ended up joining the administration team for the action group.

Our first time at a hearing. We're in the back.

 Again on March 9^th, the bill transferred to the Georgia House and we again went to show our support. I even testified myself!

Capital Day Two

Action group admin team

March was my date month. I selected dinner at a nice restaurant, Tavernpointe, in midtown and a show at the Shakespeare Tavern. It was an amazing date night filled with laughs and good food. I had the bacon gnocchi and Thomas had a smoked salad. The show was funny and interesting. Overall, it was a great night with the person I hope to have all my date nights with.

Dinner at Tavernpointe

Much Ado About Nothing at the Shakespeare Tavern

As I mentioned yesterday, I am having a difficult time in this season of transition. I have always been a person of plans and purpose. I struggle with living in this moment instead of the one I am planning. All I really know is that no matter the season we are in, I love the person I am traveling with.

Love always

Life Worth Living

Dear Caroline,

I can honestly say that I am scared. Anyone who has known me since childhood knows that I’ve never been scared of anything (except the dark, I’ve always been scared of the dark). At least I have never projected it.

Lately, I have been terrified. We have been talking about making a life, but I’m scared we are forgetting to live. We are making decisions about where to buy a home, how to invest our money, and what our next steps should be. We’ve even been investing in dressing for the jobs that we want, instead of the jobs that we have.

Between saving for the house and the jobs and the future, are we forgetting to live in the present. Many people I know talk about the seasons in your life. We are definitely in a season of transition, but there is such beauty in transition. We could decide to wake up tomorrow and drive to Disney World for the weekend. We could go get ice cream at midnight. We could do whatever we wanted; yet I find we are not.

 I believe in thinking about and planning for the long term. You should hear the conversations we have about doing X or Y or Z. We usually choose whatever is best for the long term and we are such over thinkers. We have been impulsive exactly once in our married lives. When our plans fell apart two years ago, we went on a trip to the Caribbean. And it was amazing and it was what we needed. We planned that trip in two months and loved it! Especially considering what was coming. Thomas ended up having back surgery less than six months later.

I guess the point of this letter is just wondering what the future holds and wishing there was more we could do in the present while still planning and thinking for the future. I would love to have the best of both worlds. We both have such big dreams but aren’t sure the best way to accomplish them. And if we do, how do we get there? I want to have a live worth living and the sacrifices.

Love always

Dating

Dear Caroline,

Sometimes life is a challenge. I mean no one has a good day every day. The goal is to have more good days than bad. But the thing that I have learned during this Atlanta adventure is that the person by your side can make it all worth it.

About a month ago, Thomas and I went out on a double date with friends/family and we realized that we needed to keep dating-both each other and our new city. Since that time, we’ve been planning little dates for each other. Thomas had the month of February, and I’m taking the month of March. I’ve never been one to think that marriage is easy. Anyone who tells you it is easy, is lying to you. I think we have one of the better marriages I know of, and yet it is still hard.

Thomas got to plan the first of our new dates. We did go out as a family during the Valentines Weekend. My beautiful and talented cousin had an interview for Governor’s Honors and crashed with us that weekend. We had so much fun spending time with family and we went out to an improv show. Thomas even got picked to be a part of the show. The curse of Vanus strikes again. He actually had a lot of fun and we had fun watching. Later in the month, a bill impacting education was up for a Senate hearing and we decided to show our support and attend the hearing. As far as the romance goes, the date was kind of a fail. We walked all over Atlanta though and really got an idea for downtown. The restaurant Thomas picked didn’t work out, but it was an invaluable day to Georgia’s teachers and our futures. Thomas was asked by an action group to testify and he was awesome! All of that debate training paid off. He is now working with said action group. This could possibly lead to bigger and better things in the future. As kind of a makeup date, he took to me to Atlantic Station to pick up some new clothes from alterations (hey, he married a shorty) and to lunch at a cute little place called the Pearl and the Pig. He got lucky, as it was brunch and I L-O-V-E brunch. I ended up getting this egg, gravy, brisket skillet thing and it was delicious. It kind of reminds me of The Egg back home. We also walked around and got a feel of the area. Thomas also surprised me with a present from Clinique.

March has officially started so it is now my turn. I think that rather than plan one big date (which I did), I’d rather include smaller acts throughout the month to show that I love him. Last night I went and picked up dinner. I knew he was going to be exhausted and I didn’t want him to have to sit in traffic. He was so happy and appreciative. I honestly believe that the small things in the small days can make or break a couple. I hope to continue to make him happy and show him that I love him. I do have a big date planned next weekend. I hope that it will be memorable and special and us.

Love always