hello friends! it's been some time, but last week was filled with a plethora of non ideal events and i was totally consumed by what was happening. i'll get into a little bit of that next time, but i don't entirely feel like reliving it, so i hope you'll understand my brevity. also, i apologize for the quality of the photos, the lighting, although romantic, was not ideal for the iPhone and i had forgotten my good camera at home (bad blogger! i know). anyhow, miles and i went on a long overdue date with a few friends of ours, jake and abby. we decided to try a restaurant in west hollywood i had heard about on the local news called gracias madre. if we're being honest here, i really wanted to go because i heard they had adult snow cones. i don't even drink, but i made an exception for this occasion because, well, i love snow cones. if you are ever in the L.A. area, you must try "the quinceañera" at gracias madre. my theory on why it's called "the quinceañera" is because you it makes you giggle like a fifteen year old and it calls for a celebration. even if you aren't celebrating, a few of these and you'll be celebrating something. a boozy snow cone, i mean, come on! it just doesn't get better than that, especially when you've had the week i've had. i had only about one and a half (so a quinceñera and a quince), but that was about all i needed to drift away, just ask my husband, i was floating on cloud nine for the rest of the night. alcohol isn't really my thing--i don't judge anyone who likes to drink, it's just something i've let go over the years. while, for me, alcohol is a habit of the past, sometimes you have to let loose a little, especially with all the chaos and calamity in this crazy life, and if there is ever an excuse to let loose, let a boozy snow cone be your cause. plain and simple. 
anyway, to wrap up this extremely long post about a snow cone, dinner and the food was amazing (it's vegan mexican food) so you know my veggie-self loved every bite. miles (who didn't order the waitresses suggestion like i did), said he liked our other vegan hang out (seabird's in orange county) better, but i'd say they are two different restaurants, but equally delicious. maybe the snow cones helped?! miles and i have both been running around like chickens with our heads cut off, and when there is stress like that in your life, it tends to spill into your relationship. the best analogy i can think of is marriage being like a garden. you have to water your plants or they will slowly start to shrivel up-- overwater them, and they will drown. there has to be a happy medium, with lots of sunlight and, of course, lots and lots of love. marriage, like a garden, requires a lot of attention as well as continuous work. you have to manicure your hedges and pull out all the weeds. the work you put in, determines what you will get out of it.
miles read an article the other day which explained why so many marriages fail. and to my surprise, it was because each party becomes self-consumed and no longer yearns to learn about and become involved in the interests of the other. it's true what they say, "the family that ________ together stays together" (insert interest in blank). when one person feels as though they aren't being heard or tended to, they begin to feel insignificant. their interests feel boring and that seems to be when people begin to grow apart or look for what they're lacking elsewhere. this was so eye opening for me. when i sat and really reflected on what interests of miles i've really taken part in lately, my list was looking grim & that made me sad. miles likes to birdwatch (oh yes, you read that right. he likes to birdwatch. he bird watches like that old man at the park staring out into the abyss--the one you think is a total lurker/weirdo--yeah, that's my husband). anyway, he gets all into buying special feed to reel in some exotic species & gets a total kick out of watching them eat. he's the peeping tom of birds. he once named a couple of the regulars neiman & markus. i'll walk into the kitchen and catch him staring through a crack in the blinds, not blinking, with a huge grin draped across his face. then, i'll go in for a peep and the sucker flies off, and i'm left with my husband totally annoyed at my lack of disguise. to be honest with you, i couldn't care less about birds and the watching of them, but my husband loves birds and the entirety of the bird watching experience, and so i'm taking an oath in which i will do my absolute best to be a little more engaged (with the watching & the birds & being more incognito) and i'll be more mindful in showing some interest in his interests.
i love that miles longs to learn, and i love that he shares these things with me--that he cares enough to read articles about how relationships thrive, and i love that i chose to make this intelligent man my husband. anyway, since miles' reading & my reflection of the article, i've felt like both of us are really taking it upon ourselves to really try and engage in each others enjoyments. it feels good to feel heard, and even better to feel like something you love is being appreciated by someone you admire. whatever it is that's been happening, it's been working. and i think marriage is that way. I think it is a constant ebb and flow of ups and downs. and in this great companionship, you'll find yourself falling in love over and over and over again, for different reasons, at different times...and in this season of our lives, i'm falling in love all over again. this candid photo of us, reminds me of that. this is what survival looks like, what hard work and an abundance of love look like. and i like it.
miles read an article the other day which explained why so many marriages fail. and to my surprise, it was because each party becomes self-consumed and no longer yearns to learn about and become involved in the interests of the other. it's true what they say, "the family that ________ together stays together" (insert interest in blank). when one person feels as though they aren't being heard or tended to, they begin to feel insignificant. their interests feel boring and that seems to be when people begin to grow apart or look for what they're lacking elsewhere. this was so eye opening for me. when i sat and really reflected on what interests of miles i've really taken part in lately, my list was looking grim & that made me sad. miles likes to birdwatch (oh yes, you read that right. he likes to birdwatch. he bird watches like that old man at the park staring out into the abyss--the one you think is a total lurker/weirdo--yeah, that's my husband). anyway, he gets all into buying special feed to reel in some exotic species & gets a total kick out of watching them eat. he's the peeping tom of birds. he once named a couple of the regulars neiman & markus. i'll walk into the kitchen and catch him staring through a crack in the blinds, not blinking, with a huge grin draped across his face. then, i'll go in for a peep and the sucker flies off, and i'm left with my husband totally annoyed at my lack of disguise. to be honest with you, i couldn't care less about birds and the watching of them, but my husband loves birds and the entirety of the bird watching experience, and so i'm taking an oath in which i will do my absolute best to be a little more engaged (with the watching & the birds & being more incognito) and i'll be more mindful in showing some interest in his interests.
i love that miles longs to learn, and i love that he shares these things with me--that he cares enough to read articles about how relationships thrive, and i love that i chose to make this intelligent man my husband. anyway, since miles' reading & my reflection of the article, i've felt like both of us are really taking it upon ourselves to really try and engage in each others enjoyments. it feels good to feel heard, and even better to feel like something you love is being appreciated by someone you admire. whatever it is that's been happening, it's been working. and i think marriage is that way. I think it is a constant ebb and flow of ups and downs. and in this great companionship, you'll find yourself falling in love over and over and over again, for different reasons, at different times...and in this season of our lives, i'm falling in love all over again. this candid photo of us, reminds me of that. this is what survival looks like, what hard work and an abundance of love look like. and i like it.
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