looking back...

 From our dating days

While I was working at the salon last week, on my wedding anniversary, I was talking with a client who has been coming to me since Eric and I were dating! She made me realize how much Eric and I have been through in our short four years of marriage, and how far we've come! It's been fun to reminisce on some of our adventures, and painful to remember others, but we've made it through each one together! 

Sorry, I pulled this picture off Facebook so it's not the best quality!

Our first year of marriage was very naive :) I remember having the crazy goals of: having my school and car debt paid off, buying a home, buying a truck, and buying a wave runner. I'm pretty sure we only got my school debt paid off, ha ha! But hey, you dream big and then reality puts you back in your place! Our first year was spent adjusting to married life (which is a HUGE adjustment. People just aren't honest and upfront about that enough...) and figuring out how to pay the bills. We did fit a Disneyland trip in there! Those little vacations are a big deal for us :) Oh, and I chopped 15 inches of hair off. That was almost a deal breaker for Eric ;) Did I mention that I was 20 years old and Eric was 22? We were babies!

By the time our 2 year anniversary rolled around, we thought we had it all figured out! We came extremely close to buying our first home, but at the last second we felt all wrong about the house and backed out. Thankfully! Our agent had talked us into offering 10 GRAND over the asking price, plus the home needed some work since it was a foreclosure. She saw us coming from miles away... stupid! But we learned our lesson and when we do finally buy a home? We won't be taken advantage of! We went to San Diego for my first time and a cruise for Eric's first time! We also learned how fast your world can be turned upside down in our 2nd year of marriage. Eric was laid off from work, twice! The first time he was only laid off for a month and a half. The second time? Close to 7 months. Those were the most trying and depressing months for Eric. It definitely took a toll on our marriage!

3 years in and my life had already panned out so differently than I'd planned! With the lack of work for Eric we had come to the decision that it was time to move to northern Utah. I was terrified to move, I'd lived in the same town my whole life! But at the same time, I was excited for the adventure and so relieved that Eric was working again! I ended up loving the area we moved to, I loved the amazing new friendships that were formed, and I loved being closer to extended family! Eric and I definitely had to work on our marriage in ways we'd never had to before. We were on our own, in a new place, and were only able to rely on each other! That sounds pretty weird, but when we got married I was still completely in my comfort zone because we were in a familiar area, with my friends and parents around, and Eric just happened to fit in perfectly. When I moved away from all things familiar, I really had to learn to rely on Eric! It felt kind of like that crappy adjustment period you go through in the first year of marriage :) But clearly we made it through, together! Oh, and we finally bought that truck and paid off my car!

And here we are to 4 years! We have already moved a second time, which we all know has been extremely difficult for me. Eric landed his "dream" job, which we are very grateful for. Eric also finished school, which is an amazing feat! We get to vacation in Hawaii, which I am so ready for :) And who knows what else is in store for us this next year of marriage. I can tell you that big things will be happening (but we probably won't be buying that home or that wave runner. Maybe year 5?)! Big things have already happened! Most of them were unplanned, and each one was a huge shock. Eric and I have experienced incredible highs and extreme lows, together. But we have made it through each adventure, and each trial, together! And outcome of it all is that we have a deeper love for each other and a stronger marriage! I can't ask for more than that :)

ha ha!

our anniversary celebration

Let me just tell you something.... Eric and I live an exciting life! Not! I was going to make up some dreamy story of how Eric and I spent May 3rd, celebrating us, but my imagination isn't working with me today. Ha ha. To tell the truth, we didn't even see each other until 8:00pm on May 3rd! I only wish that real life could just be put on hold while we celebrate those special moments in life, guilt free, but the world doesn't revolve around me. Darn it! So life went on as usual.... but in a week or so real life will be put on hold while we enjoy each other in Hawaii!
Back to our anniversary.... Eric got home from work at 8 (he is finally done working nights... woo hoo!) and hurried through his shower and got ready. He was even going to shave for me (it's the thought that counts) but we were starving so I told him to skip it. We were planning to go to a cute little restaurant that is perfect to celebrate your anniversary, but then we couldn't find it! Not that it was hard to find, but it was almost 9pm and we were tired and hungry. Not a good combination! By the time we found it they were closed. CLOSED! Didn't they know we were trying to eat a special dinner for our anniversary?? We were so ornery at this point that I was ready to just go home and go to bed :) Such a glamorous way to celebrate 4 years of marriage! Instead, we agreed that Chili's had to be open later than 9 in this small town. Luckily for us, we were right! We rushed through our meal, skipped dessert, took a pretty crappy picture together in the car, went home and passed out.

Happy four years to us :)

But honestly? There is no one I'd rather share these less than glamorous moments with than Eric. I love him!

4 years

+

=

4 of the hardest years of my life.

4 of the happiest years of my life. 

4 of the most satisfying years of my life.

4 years of being Mrs. Brinkerhoff...

I can't imagine a better way to spend the last 4 years of my life.

Happy Anniversary, Eric. I love you!

little letters {3}

Dear Eric, I am SO sorry that I threw self control out the window on Saturday and threw myself a little big pity party. I didn't mean to make you feel guilty for my homesickness. This move has been hard for the both of us, but you've been SO good to me through it all. I will be better to you, you deserve it! And for the record.... I really am grateful you are still loving this job!

Dear northern Utah friends, I've been missing you guys like crazy in the last week or so. I've been feeling very sorry for myself that I live so far away now, but I should be feeling very grateful that I had the opportunity to make so many GOOD friends! And I am grateful.... I was just wondering if any of you would come visit me already? Gosh dang it! Ha ha.

Dear self, what is going on?? I thought I was making progress... what is with all the pity parties?

Dear life, I am so grateful for all the good that is coming our way. My little family has been so blessed, and we've never been more thankful! But I have a crappy way of showing it. My little stresses and sadness are nothing compared to others! I am so sorry that I've been focusing more on the negative than the positive lately. I will be better! Can I just blame it on the hormones? Maybe?

Dear readers, this post is kind of negative, isn't it? To be honest, my life has been SO great. SO happy! But I am still going through a hard time and I've chosen to let that control me for the past few days. I just realized that I was letting silly little nothings put a damper on my days and that is wrong of me! It's up to me to make the most out of each day and I haven't been putting in any effort to choose happy over sad! I have so much to be grateful for and I'm going to start living my life with that attitude again!
Also, you guys are the BEST! You are always there to give me encouragement and advice, you make our happy moments so fun to celebrate, and I'm just really grateful for all of YOU!

weekend review {a lazy one}

This weekend was spent vegging on the couch and watching as much netflix as possible :) We seriously need some new shows.... any suggestions?? And for those of you who think we are always on the go, this is a normal weekend for us! Hanging around the house, vegging, and relaxing!

We did get to enjoy gorgeous spring weather and a visit to the temple. Just what we needed! We ran some errands together (why are errands so much more bearable when Eric is tagging along?) and hit up Costco! Eric found a cute swimsuit (for cheap) and now the man has more swimsuits to wear in Hawaii than I do! Something is seriously wrong with that picture...

Ha ha ha.... heaven help me!

Did I mention that Eric was able to finally get his birthday gift? He's not excited about it at all.... HA! Apparently we will be adding a new gun to the collection each birthday. So original. But boy does it make him happy!

And that's a wrap for our weekend. Definitely a lazy one :)