(Bee)autiful Blessings

After college, like most twenty-somethings, I had no idea what to do with my life. Degree in hand, I made the (somewhat impulsive) decision to uproot my life and move to a small Midwestern town that I'd never heard of to volunteer with a community garden initiative for a year with AmeriCorps. 

Thankfully, that decision was a good one. After six months of living in a town where I knew no one, I was invited to my colleague's birthday/Ugly Christmas Sweater party, and the rest, as they say, is history. On December 19, 2010, I met the man who made my Grinch heart grow three sizes. We dated for several months and then on Labor Day weekend, 2011, he popped the question in my favorite place in the world: Cape May, NJ.

Chuck and I were engaged September 3, 2011 in the most cliche fashion possible: on a beach, under the moonlight. I cried, hugged his neck and promptly began thinking about what my wedding would look like. I was not exactly the kind of girl who had spent her entire life planning her dream wedding, I was just excited to be married! Despite the fact that I was potentially the least-excited bride (about my wedding, not my fiance!) in the history ever, with the help of my wonderful family and friends, our day turned out to be a perfect reflection of us as a couple.

During our engagement year, we also had another big life change: I was accepted into grad school. Chuck had a traveling sales job, but decided to join me in Pittsburgh, where we lived for two years. Our time in Pittsburgh was fun, and quite honestly, imperative as we lay the foundation for our marriage. After two years, however, my dear husband had grown quite homesick, so we packed up our lives yet again and moved back to his hometown.

Making the transition from just-the-two-of-us, to living among his crazy, tight-knit family was (and still is) a huge adjustment for me, but thankfully I landed my dream job of helping low-income Ohio families access healthy food which made the transition so much easier for me.

We had always planned to wait several years before starting a family. I have crazy, high student loan debt and we really wanted to be financially stable before procreating. We quickly learned however, that babies don't really come when you think they will. In April 2014, two pink lines changed our lives forever. I freaked out every step of the way, but fell instantly in love when Charlie was born on December 26, 2014.

Somehow we blinked and another baby boy was on his way. Crosby came into our lives (on Labor Day of all days) on September 5, 2016.

Today, we're still adjusting to parenthood and learning how to love each other with our little ginger babies thrown into the mix, but our love has grown tenfold just in the short time we've been married. Chuck is the silliest, sweetest, most lovable and trustworthy man I've ever known. He is truly my best friend and I thank God every day for bringing me to that small, Ohio town.

> > >

Interested in seeing my wedding pictures? Check 'em out:

Bridal Shower: Mad Hatter Tea Party // My Pin-Up Girl Themed Bachelorette Party // Rehearsal Day // Getting Ready // First Look // Ceremony // Reception // Honeymoon

Oh, and my glorious, whimsical, rainbow farm wedding was even featured on Offbeat Bride!