In every relationship there are the highest of highs (our amazing honeymoons) and lowest of lows (up at one in the morning arguing over the definition of a word), and somewhere in-between resides normal. The mundane. The dishes and the laundry. The work schedules and the dinner plans.

And to be honest, after all of the super-eventful blessings leading up to our marriage, I feared the mundane. I wondered if I could handle “normal.” Or if the void of “Today Show” interviews and wedding showers would lead to some sort of letdown or disappointment. I remember my dad even fearing this FOR me, along with a few of my friends.

I think what we all failed to remember were two things:

1. Long before wedding showers and a NY Times bestselling author’s friendship were a part of our lives, my “About Me” section on Facebook read:

My life is extremely eventful.

This had nothing to do with Broadway shows, television interviews, or being the bride, it was simply my outlook on life. I am unbelievably happy when I buy new pens at Wal-Mart. I celebrate half-birthdays (Ry’s is 10 days away!). I make bus cakes for Grandma Wanda for Bus Driver Appreciation Month. When our total at a restaurant comes to $13.35, I take a picture and send it to my parents and all of my friends. I don’t just enjoy my favorite foods, I LOVE LOVE LOVE them.
This is who I am.

So whether I’m having Starbucks with the CEO of mywedding (which was incredibly cool as he is one of the most impressive people I’ve met to date) or I’m at a quilt show with my grandmas, LIFE, itself, is abundant and eventful to me.

2.  Apparently my dad, friends, and I also failed to realize normal was going to take on a WHOLE NEW MEANING as I now LIVE WITH MY HUSBAND. This is not “normal” nor “mundane.” Ryan finds no normalcy in the fact I STILL (almost 9 months later) think it is really funny to sneak in the bathroom quietly to peek over the shower curtain at him! Bahahaha. When I wake up, HE IS NEXT TO ME! Every morning. It’s a dream. It’s crazy. It’s wonderful. It still does not quite feel “normal” though.

For today’s post, I want to celebrate the normal with a story that is neither the highest of highs NOR the lowest of lows. It’s just a content moment in between.

Last Friday night, we were both exhausted from a crazy busy week, so we decided to stay home. However, tired and busy weren’t my sole reason for wanting to stay home. When you live with your best friend, have the two sweetest kittens on the planet, and a brand-new Soft Blanket Yankee Candle, is there anywhere that can compete with the joy of staying home!?

We have learned there are a million and two areas in marriage where compromise is the magic word, but with our pizza – not so much.We have fun making it together, but adorn our individual sides with whatever our stomach desires. And, with a new-found, recent love for avocados, we’ve mastered our own homemade guacamole (while we make the guac super-healthy, all of the chips I consume with them were not so I found a healthy and fun alternative in celery!).

Pizza, guacamole, an unsweetened ice tea Ryan brought me, and festive cookies for dessert made for the perfect Friday evening dinner. After what seemed like a week of going, going and going, it was extremely nice to sit across our table with dinner for two. Meanwhile, these guys were enjoying their own dinner for two.

After an insightful discussion where we discovered our thoughts on homeschooling vs. public education were quite congruent, we quickly cleaned the kitchen (because as you know, I struggle with relaxing completely when things are messy) and retired to the living room.

We have found that there are certain movies that somehow we can laugh at forever, but then we will suggest watching it with my parents or some friends and NO ONE else finds it as funny as we do. And then we have that weird feeling you get when you’re watching one of your favorite movies with people and instead of watching the movie, you find yourself watching them, waiting for them to laugh at the funny parts and almost feeling responsibility for their enjoyment. ANYWAY, since it was just us, we put in a favorite of ours, “Couple’s Retreat” from our cousin Josh (fun movies for a wedding gift – GREAAAAT idea!).

And somewhere amidst laughing out loud at Vince Vaughn, I took a minute to just savor the moment. The two of us laying on the couch together in our sweet, first home. One kitten lying on Ryan and the other on me. Laughter and our new, Soft Blanket scent filling the room. While we weren’t at an altar in front of hundreds of people we love, or in the middle of the street with a NYC photographer, or even at the Palace with room service, I truly felt an overwhelming joy in my heart… toward the mundane.  The only thing missing was our amazing photographer, Jesseca Hattey, to capture the moment. Because these moments – the ones that likely are never GENUINELY captured – are the ones that define a lifetime.