A very happy birthday

Yesterday was Anne's birthday. Although she was reluctant to leave 26 behind and embrace a new year, she proceeded to 27 with grace and elegance. I think her birthday gift eased the transition.

For the last several months Anne has been enthusiastically following the blog of Erika McPherson Powell, the exquisitely talented designer and owner of Urban Grace Interiors. Home ownership has bestowed a renewed interest in decorating upon my wife, and Erika's designs have inspired Anne to experiment with new styles around our house.

Anne's most pressing design dilemma has been choosing a rug for our living room. Sometimes it is the last thing she mentions before falling asleep. Countless internet searches have proved fruitless in locating the appropriate carpet, though its image occasionally haunts her dreams.

In hopes of easing Anne's weary soul, Wade and I decided to give her a gift certificate for a consultation with Erika. I revealed the gift over lunch at one of her favorite places in the world: the Whole Foods Market in Fair Lakes, Virginia.

I had originally hoped to allow Wade to present her with the card, but he quickly placed the small envelope in his favorite storage location.

Fortunately I was able to swap it out for a substitute item without incident.

The following sequence depicts Anne's reaction to her gift.

She would later call it "one of the best things to ever happen to me." When I asked if our wedding day was on that list, she seemed evasive. I'm afraid this may have bumped it from the top 5.

Hope you had a wonderful day, Annie. Happy 27th birthday.

Marriage

Our engagement photo for the newspaper!

Has it really been four years?! On April 9th, Philip and I celebrated our four-year wedding anniversary! In some ways, the time seems to have flown, but at the same time, it feels like we have done so much in those four years. We have lived in many places, changed careers, returned to school, and added a babe to the family. Phew. It blows my mind to think of how different things will likely be once another four have passed.

I love being married to this man. And I think he loves being married to me :) He is a wonderful husband who cares for me so well. He has seen all of my ugliness and brokenness and he loves me still. I love how this points me to the faithful love of God who loves me even more and better than my husband ever could. And while Philip and I have grown more and more towards one another in our four years together, we've also seen some tough times and have been reminded of how desperately we need a Savior who can save us from ourselves and our sin and teach us how to really love. We are definitely still learning, let me repeat, definitely still learning, but it's that hard refining process that's remarkably beautiful. (*Could someone please copy and paste this text and send it to me when I'm complaining about some aspect of my marriage/husband? :)

For our anniversary, my sweet mother came to Richmond to stay with Wade while we went here. We loved that the restaurant was so close we could walk from our house! It was so fun to be together on a date-night, drink sangria, and talk about life.

Wedding rings and sangria, a lovely combination!

While mama and daddy were out, Mimi took some great photos of the Wadster. Here's one. Looks like he's about ready to let out a "Goo" :)


Love this!

Oh, and something else I've learned. The way to all men's hearts is not necessarily a good meal. For mine, it is through clean floors. I recently cleaned the kitchen floor, and Philip proclaimed me to be the best wife ever. He could have been saying this because it had been too long since they'd been cleaned, and he was just overjoyed by their rare form, but still...