{crappy quality video...find on spotify asap & put on repeat!}
this whole album is great--i've been listening to it over & over for the last couple weeks--but these were my first three favorites. they make me miss tennessee terribly…with a lump in my throat and a pit in my stomach. that kind of missing. she’s GOOD.
it’s funny…our time in tennessee was so short (in the grand scheme of it all), but it left such an impact on andy and me. what’s even more interesting is that, while we were there, things were far from perfect: every day we were confronted with the (often) tough ways of military life, a deployment looming ahead, and the uncertainty of where life would take us. i liked my job, but didn’t love it; i was uncertain of my next steps (and dreaded the fear/sadness/anxiety of separation); and i missed being close to family & friends.
but we spent glorious days & evenings together (i have a memory of sitting out in the backyard sunshine on easter 3 years ago, reading and sipping afternoon cocktails): weekend nights spent in nashville, dinners & summer evenings grilling out with friends; house parties with our (single male soldier) buddies; road trips around the south; and all of our little dates and days of exploring.
now we look back so fondly on that time...as in, the best couple years (collectively) of my life. i know i've said it here before, but it was foundational for us in so many ways--for our relationship, our careers...our life perspective, really. there was an innocence: 'move to tennessee? start all over? explore a new part of the country? okay!' (love had a lot to do with it.) i met amazing people at my job--lifelong friends--and learned far more about life through that experience than the actual content of my job/the professional field i was working in. andy & i built our routine & true understanding of one another, the small ways we create a life together—how much time we need to linger over coffee on saturday mornings, the small jokes we repeat about household chores, the way we plan our weekends, the food we like to cook (and the music we like to play while cooking), the joy of shared friday afternoon naps (okay, we probably discovered that in college), the impromptu exploring we now love to do. who makes what messes. how we make up after a fight. the (somewhat) small stuff. we learned to enjoy a sweet life together no matter where we are.
"and that's when i was searching, i'm not searching anymore
and that's when i was learning about the things worth living for
before i was open, before i knew i couldn't live a day
without you
without you"
and that's when i was learning about the things worth living for
before i was open, before i knew i couldn't live a day
without you
without you"
it’s a really good reminder for me to enjoy the present. there are always anxieties, worries, things looming over our head--that's life--but it's (usually) still really good. 20/20 hindsight good...but we obviously can't always see this in the moment.
i know i’ll look back on these milwaukee days so fondly one day, too…as a certain chapter in my life. morning coffee together (after repeatedly slapping the alarm and groggily, stubbornly getting out of bed for work); happy hour with friends (and hilarious email chains about said happy hours during the work day); our beloved dinner group gang; walking along the lake; drinks on our deck; running the trails together; girlfriend & sister dates; trying new restaurants; going to concerts; trips down to chicago; cozy nights with fires in our fireplace; learning how to take care of a house and pretend to be an adult. jokes as we walk out the back door to work every morning. dreaming about where in the world we want to travel to with our precious, 20-something funds. all of the small, good stuff that make up our life as just the two of us. some day, i hope we look back on these milwaukee days and wonder how it was ever just the two of us.
"and that's when i was searching, i'm not searching anymore
and that's when i was learning about the things worth living for
before i was open, before i knew i couldn't live a day
without you
without you"
and that's when i was learning about the things worth living for
before i was open, before i knew i couldn't live a day
without you
without you"
aaaand then maureen sent me this as a birthday present.
such an awesome little book/guide.
i still {not so secretly} hope we'll end up in nashville--or the south--someday. i'm a total sucker/convert/goner.
such an awesome little book/guide.
i still {not so secretly} hope we'll end up in nashville--or the south--someday. i'm a total sucker/convert/goner.
"so i moved out west where the starlets play on the boulevards of west LA
and i tried to make a name.
but it never felt like home to me so i drove three days back to tennessee
in a slow and steady rain."
and i tried to make a name.
but it never felt like home to me so i drove three days back to tennessee
in a slow and steady rain."
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