December 17: Emily: Simplify

2013 has been a year filled with so many things. Like most people, there were lots of things I wanted to accomplish this year that I didn’t...even beginning that thought very quickly turns into a personal psyche sabotage.

Towards the end of 2012 my now husband, Ethan, proposed and I spent a good majority of the early

half of 2013 planning our wedding. I’ve decided planning a wedding can quickly turn into one of the most stressful life events a young women and her fiance can go through. One inkling of that and we said no way are we having a big wedding. Questions from family and friends about who we were inviting, what were my colors, where is the venue, so on and so on was enough for me to want to elope quite honestly. When we finally were able to sit back and decide what we wanted we decided we would rather have a tiny wedding ceremony and a GREAT honeymoon on the beach somewhere.

We went to a travel agent and explained the criteria, $2500 for one week, somewhere tropic and excellent food. When was the wedding date she asked? We’re not sure, we’re letting you decide, I’m pretty sure her jaw hit the desk. So when it was all said and done we ended up with May 11, 2013 for our wedding date and May 12, 2013 as our departure date for one week in Ocho Rios, Jamaica! Our wedding was amazing and it was everything we both wanted. We had our immediate family there and a couple of close friends.

Our friend’s dad married us with a ceremony written by yours truly and I wore a wedding dress that I bought on Etsy for $60. Our food was fantastic and our little 6” cake was hands down the best cake I’ve ever eaten in my life. The most important memory I take away from my wedding day, and something I found myself thinking throughout the day, was to always remember what brought us to this day and how I felt the moment I saw Ethan the first time coming down the stairs to him. This thing they call marriage can be a crazy ride and one I cannot imagine sharing with anyone else.

The first half the year felt like a blur, leading up to our big day. I got into

going to gym very regularly, in fact I’m pretty sure I reached a burnout point because now it’s been a couple months since I’ve been. I suppose getting back to gym regularly is something change for 2014, hell maybe even Monday.

If I can take anything away as lesson learned this year, it’s this: balance and simplicity. Having our home broken into this summer really gave me some perspective on what is important. There were several things stolen and damaged during the break in. I was so relieved that our dogs were not hurt, but when it came down to it I was so jolted by such an invasion of my privacy. I was heartbroken to find my grandmother’s wedding band had been taken. I was totally overcome with anger, sadness, fear and disbelief that it took a long time before I even wanted to be in my house by myself. Months later, I find that I am more aware of my surroundings and more in tune with what I have always valued, my family.

My hope (dare I say goal or resolution?) for 2014 would be to live more simply. I want to remember what’s important and keep a focus on the people and things that I find fulfilling and let go of the extraneous fluff. I want to support my marriage in ways that keep it fun and full of love so that when the hurdles come, and I know they will, we jump over together.