Better Together

FINALLY. After almost nine weeks of life apart, Drew Barnes and I are back together again. Before this summer, we had spent very little time and no nights apart since getting married; perhaps needless to say, a two-month stint after no practice was a bit much. But we survived, as gracefully as possible I think, and we learned a few things along the way, most importantly (as if we didn't already learn this lesson the hard way once before) that we're simply better together.

River Street. Palm leaf heart and roses courtesy, free-of-charge, of a nice street vendor. 

Since we were apart for our second anniversary, we decided to celebrate both making it through two months of separateness and making it through two years of wedded togetherness by rendezvousing at the Kehoe House, the loft of which is where we celebrated our marriage with our friends and family the evening of our wedding. (See here for some of our favorite pictures from that beautiful day.) This historic bed and breakfast was an excellent find on my mom's part, and we enjoyed our stay just as much this time around as last time. 

Before checking out this morning, we took some time to walk around Columbia Square - the location of our wedding ceremony - and the grounds of the nearby Davenport House. It was fun to relive some of those moments - most were drawn from fond memories, of course, but I was wearing the same shoes I wore on our wedding day, so some steps felt more literally the very same. This summer made us nothing but more certain that we did the right thing that day, choosing to spend forever together.

I can't describe the relief it is to be back together at long last. It was simply no good being apart, and I envision us going to great lengths to ensure that we never spend quite so much time away from each other in the future. Life is good, but it's oh so much better when we're together.

"There is no combination of words I could put on the back of a postcard / No song that I could sing, but I can try for your heart / Our dreams, and they are made out of real things / Like a shoebox of photographs with sepia-toned loving /

Love is the answer / At least for most of the questions in my heart / Like why are we here? And where do we go? / And how come it's so hard? / It's not always easy and / Sometimes life can be deceiving / I'll tell you one thing, it's always better when we're together"

-Jack Johnson, Better Together