Reality = Unplanned Frustrations

I was just finishing up a wonderful blog post about all the great things that have happened the past six months that Nate and I have been married. And then my computer shut down on me.

While I could have gone back and finished that post, I realized those "unplanned frustrations" have tended to be a theme lately, so I'm going to highlight those instead. Here's a more realistic look at what we've experienced in the first half of our first year of marriage:

• We currently need to turn our basement lights on when we want to use the internet.
• Nate's driving record showed he left the scene of an accident and it added six points on his license. Problem was: the hit and run was apparently in Missouri - a place Nate has never been to!
• We still do not have a stove, and we blow a fuse when we use the toaster oven and microwave at the same time.
• We'd been wanting to go camping at Long Pond (where Nate proposed) and the afternoon we planned to go the fridge in apartment we rent out decided to die. So instead of loading the canoe and tent up in Nate's truck, we headed to Lowes and hulled a new fridge home in Nate's truck!
• We had Nate's family over for dinner on the grill one night and had trouble with the propane. Realizing we didn't have a stove to cook everything in, we ate in shifts as we cooked each item in the toaster oven.
• We still do not have vent covers for our duct work and have realized the sizes we need do not line up with the current standard sizes available.
• I found the website I wanted to create our wedding album through and spent hours uploading pictures and placing them on just the right pages. When I went to sign back in a few days later to finalize everything, it wasn't accepting my password. Come to find out: when I originally signed up, I had a typo in my email address, so created an account for an email that's not even mine! Now I need to figure out if I should finish the book under this incorrect email or start the whole book over with the right account.

Despite certain things not going as planned, we truly have enjoyed the past six months. God is good and our life is full of blessings from Him! We ended up being able to recycle the old fridge from the apartment and got six energy efficient lightbulbs with the deal too - just the number we need for our basement, so now at least when we turn our internet on, we're being more efficient with the lights that have to be on too!

As far at the hit and run on Nate's record, after countless phone calls to Missouri and New York State, they realized Nate was not the right guy, so cleared it from his record. That was an answer to prayer!

While things like vent cover sizes and mis-typed emails can prevent us from accomplishing our plans in our timing, we try to keep everything in perspective and make the most of each day no matter what it brings. We didn't make it to Long Pond the weekend we originally wanted to, so we pitched the tent in our backyard after dealing with the fridge. We had a lot of fun roasting hotdogs and marshmallows right at home and were able to camp at Long Pond a few weeks later.

Instead of working on house projects last night, we marked our six month anniversary with a movie and popcorn. I think it was just what we needed as we gear up for whatever "unplanned frustrations" the next six months will bring!

Photo Credit: Brandi Scott Photography