Anniversary weekend in Maine

To celebrate being married for seven years (and because we really needed a vacation), the hubs and I recently took off for a little trip to Maine.

When we go on vacation, we like to wander and we like to eat. (I also like to sleep in and poke into every bookshop I can find. My morning-person, not-quite-so-book-nerdy husband handles both of these things with great patience.)

We rented a tiny studio apartment in Rockland, a short walk from downtown. There was really just enough room to turn around (or snuggle on the loveseat watching Modern Family on DVD), but it was all we needed for a weekend.

Mid-coast Maine is full of little towns with ridiculously cute Main Streets. We browsed the shops in Rockland and Camden to our hearts’ content: books, toys, yarn, T-shirts, cool things carved out of wood.

The harbor views are stunning.

We also explored the Camden Public Library, because I cannot resist a beautiful library.

We had a delicious dinner at In Good Company, where we shared several small plates: deviled eggs, stuffed peppers with goat cheese, crusty baguette with fancy butter and thin slices of Parmesan.

We also had bowls of gingery carrot-beet soup, and finished with lemon cake drizzled with lemon-thyme syrup.

A little bit fancy and a whole lot delicious.

On Saturday afternoon, we drove to the top of Mount Battie, just outside Camden, for some truly amazing harbor views.

This spot supposedly inspired Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poem “Renascence.”

Ice cream, of course, is an important part of vacation. The wild blueberry ice cream at Lulu’s, in Rockland, was delectable. (J is enjoying strawberry-balsamic sorbet in this picture.)

Sunday was rainy, windy and cold, but we braved the elements and drove to Belfast to meet our friends Isaac and Katelyn for dinner.

We hadn’t seen them in a year, and we spent hours catching up on our lives, first over cups of tea, then over Italian food and glasses of red wine. The best.

We drove back on Monday (stopping in Portland for lunch), relaxed and so happy after four lovely days together.

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Seven years

Yesterday we celebrated seven years of marriage.

It feels like a lifetime (especially since we have been together for nearly 12 years) and a moment, all at once.

We met when we were 18, started dating when we were 20, got engaged at 23 and married at 24. Together, we have weathered most of our undergrad years (in the same town), graduate school (5000 miles apart), a cross-country move, multiple job changes in Texas and Massachusetts, and (most recently) a record-setting New England winter. We have welcomed new nephews and a niece, mourned the loss of friends and family members, served on worship and ministry teams at two very different churches, and traveled to (so far) four non-U.S. countries and multiple states together.

I keep returning to Lindsey’s words from last summer: “Marriage is about abiding. It is about remaining near.” As our careers and other obligations pull us in different directions, the constant work of marriage is to stay near to one another, to pay attention and take care of each other and be kind.

My mother once told me she married my father because he was the kindest person she had ever met. I am glad to be married to a man who is also deeply kind, who is funny and handsome and musical and hard-working, who makes me laugh and whose eyes light up when he sees me.

Happy anniversary, love. Here’s to many more.

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Weekend on the Cape

To celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary, J and I hopped in the car for a long weekend on Cape Cod. The weather was mostly grey and rainy, but we managed to have a wonderful time anyway.

We stayed at the beautiful Ashley Manor in Barnstable:

Our hosts, Vince and Pat, were so friendly and helpful (and they cook a delicious gourmet breakfast). Pat even showed us the house’s secret passage, which was used to hide Tory sympathizers during the American Revolution. (The original house was built in 1699.)

We spent Friday afternoon and evening wandering around Hyannis (kitschy but fun), catching a movie (Monsters University – we loved it), then enjoying seafood at the Black Cat. (Yum.)

We wandered around Barnstable Village on Saturday morning, stopping for chai at Nirvana when it started raining:

Of course, we visited several bookstores: Tim’s Used Books in Hyannis, Mary’s Bookstore in East Sandwich (where we chatted with Mary, who is adorable); Titcomb’s Bookshop farther along the same road; and Parnassus Book Service in Yamourthport. So many wonderful books.

There was miniature golf on Saturday afternoon:

And some delicious Italian food at Alberto’s on Saturday night. This is zebra striped lobster ravioli:

We finished it off with ice cream at Katie’s:

Sunday morning found us on a marshy beach in Yarmouth:

We watched people fish for tiny crabs (with pieces of raw chicken tied to strings) and enjoyed the, ah, ocean breezes.

We ended our trip with lunch – and scones – at the Optimist Cafe in Yarmouthport:

All in all, a perfect getaway with the man I love.

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Four years.

I wanted it to be you. I wanted it to be you so badly.

—Kathleen Kelly, You’ve Got Mail

Serving the wedding cake

Four years ago today, we stood up in front of God and our families and our friends who are also family, and we promised each other: It will always be you.

In Maine, last weekend

Happy anniversary, love. You’re my favorite.

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three years

Dancing at our wedding, June 28, 2008

It doesn’t seem possible.

With our freezer-burned wedding cake, June 28, 2009

From college sweetheart to long-distance fiance, from a serenade at our wedding reception to a cross-country move, through so many days of waking up next to each other and sharing a bathroom and washing dishes at the sink together and finishing our master’s degrees, through so much laughter and a few good cries and helping each other navigate whatever life throws our way.

At a B&B on Lake Travis, June 28, 2010

Happy anniversary, love. And many more.

(At the Cape Cod Light, June 2011)

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love thursday: happy two years

My sweet husband and I celebrated our second anniversary with a long weekend trip to Houston and Austin. (The official date was Monday.) I know I’m a few days late – been unpacking, doing laundry, catching up with friends, tending to my plants and house and soul. It was a good, rich trip. And it’s been a good, rich two years. Better and bigger and more complicated and more fun than I ever dreamed.

Happy Love Thursday, all. More soon.

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