Sixteen Months {And Two Days}

Ryan -

New life appeared this week...right here in our own backyard.

The promise of spring after a taxing, eternal winter. A sign of hope after weeks of stubborn cold.

I'm ready for spring. Too many weeks of snow and ice left me feeling trapped. Looking forward to days of sun and warmth and freedom.

I stood in our yard Tuesday night, staring at the collection of tiny buds on the lilac trees and thought back to our own spring sixteen months ago.

A spring filled with hope and a future after long, hard, dark seasons that seemed to never end. Seasons that threatened to trap both our hearts...but after we persevered...spring.

That day...a bud of hope appeared. Tiny and tender and beautiful.

And in that moment of hope, we made promises. With hands tightly clasped, we stared deep into each other's eyes and promised love for always, no matter what. We promised each day would be an adventure no matter what it held.

This week marked 16 months into our spring.

And oh....the adventure we've had. We've turned this house into a home. We've traveled. We've consumed a LOT of coffee. We've had many dates. We've laughed...so much.

But we've faced our share of spring storms in those 16 months too. Hard days when I've cried {a lot} - sometimes over things that matter and sometimes over things that don't. You've been gracious in both circumstances. Days when things didn't make sense and we wondered what road we should take, and you listened to my thoughts and counted them worth hearing. Days when it felt like a winter of the soul was pressing in and discouragement got to us both, but we grabbed hands and pushed forward anyway.

Sixteen months. The best sixteen months.

Thank you for bringing spring to me each day.

I love you,

~ AS ~