About 365 days of marriage

I started this blog in April of 2011. At the time, Bret and I were wedding photographers and it was a way to share how marriage is more about the day to day and so much more than the wedding day itself. For about 5 years, I blogged about the joys and sorrows of the Christian walk, marriage, work, family and friends. I’ve blogged every day since a few weeks after I started. In May of 2015, we photographed our last wedding. Now, I have become passionate about simplicity, particularly in marriage, Christianity, business, travel and life. For a number of reasons, we have become minimalists. I’ve found that having simplicity makes life so much deeper, refreshing and joyful. I hope that this blog will help others see the benefits of living simply.

Day 3141 – You Never Know What Tomorrow Will Bring

Posted on February 15, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

Tomorrow marks the 11th anniversary of meeting Bret. I’ll never forget the date because of it’s proximity to Valentine’s day, I love easy to remember dates. I’ve been watching my On This Day on Facebook for posts leading up to meeting this guy who would change my life, and I keep saying to my lonely, past Jennilyn “just hold on girlfriend, he’ll be here very soon!”

For years, I’ve said I was totally ok with being single two days before meeting Bret, and on that day, I was. But as I was scrolling, I saw that I had posted this “still convinced that sprite has caffeine in it and sometimes she really wishes she wasn’t single” at 11:05 p.m. the day before I met Bret. I look at that and think, “AH! You only have ONE day left to wait! Less than 24 hours!” Now, granted, you won’t be in an official relationship with him until June, and you won’t know if you’re getting married until the following July…..BUT, he’s sooooooooo close!!!!

So friends, you never know what tomorrow will bring you. You never know if tomorrow is the day that you’ve been waiting for.

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Day 3140 – 250,000 Miles Later, And This “Guy” Still Has My Heart – or – Happy Valentine’s Day To My Car

Posted on February 14, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

I celebrated a very important event yesterday – my car hit a quarter of a million miles. I actually pulled over to the side of the highway to Facetime with Bret to celebrate the occasion. He’s been with Sam (my car) and I for a lot of the journey. I think we figured Bret joined us around 30,000 miles.

Sam has taken me across the country three times. He’s taken me up and down the east coast many times. He’s taken me to the beach.

He was there when I had my first conversations with Bret.

I’ve loved this car so so so much. He was brand new when I got him, with only about 100 miles under his belt.

He’s hit a few deer. He’s slid on some ice. He’s been in a few fender benders.

He’s held me while I cried. He’s held me while I laughed.

Many stories have been told through his amazing sound system.

I’ve given him mid-grade gas pretty much his whole life.

Sam, it’s been great hitting such a big milestone with you dude. Here’s hopin’ we make it another quarter million miles.

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Day 3139 – What This Blog Taught Me About Marriage – repost (With Some New Thoughts)

Posted on February 13, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

I came across the following post during my Pinterest work this morning. What’s really awesome about rereading this post is that it was almost 2000 days ago. What a super full 2000 days of marriage it’s been! It also made me think about all of the changes to this blog since then, from no more wedding photography, to actually sharing about my alcoholism (still crazy to think about that!), to all the adventures we’ve taken. It gave me a fresh appreciation for this blog, the amazing folks I’ve met through it along the way, and that it gives me a platform to share my thoughts and practice writing every day. Enjoy this oldie but a goodie!

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originally posted 12/13/14
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The other day, I asked my Facebook friends for ideas for the blog. I had hit a wall when it came to ideas and had (if we’re completely honest here) lost all motivation to keep blogging. It really doesn’t take me long to write a post and keep up with posting. But as certain areas of my life have slowed down, I’m finding it harder to come up with interesting topics. As I was falling asleep last night, a thought hit me that gave me renewed desire to blog.

This is a blog about marriage…..and sometimes marriage is boring. Sometimes your marriage consists of routine and that’s it. Each day is the same as the one before. I think these are the times it’s hardest in a marriage….not when you’re fighting about things or you’re going through a stressful time….it’s when everything is the same and nothing changes. It’s harder to love someone when they do the same thing every day. That’s when it’s easiest to be resentful about your spouse…..exactly how I was feeling about my blog.

But these are the times in marriage where you HAVE to keep going. You HAVE to keep loving your boring old spouse. And see this as “hey, my spouse is consistent and faithful.” It also helps to remember the good times. The times when you weren’t in the boring time….for the blog, I’m remembering the times when people have commented about the impact of this blog. I think of people who appreciate the honesty and one particular post by Bret that changed someone’s life and marriage.

I AM grateful for the opportunity to share about our marriage (the struggles and the joys) through this blog. I’m just in awe of what God has done through the last 1337 days I’ve blogged…that’s 3.66 years! Holy smokes! Let me just say I could NOT have done that on my own strength! Thank you God for empowering me to do so!

And there’s my ramble for the day. 🙂

Photo credit: Shawna Sherrell Photography

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Day 3138 – How We Have A Minimalist Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 12, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

I’ve said that I don’t think there’s a bad definition for minimalism. Minimalism looks different in each person’s life. What’s minimal to me might be extravagant to you, and vice versa. Bret and I have never really celebrated Valentine’s Day for one main reason – we met 2 days after Valentine’s Day, and in my mind, that’s a MUCH bigger deal. It has led to saving money. The biggest way we save money is that we can wait until the day after Valentine’s Day to get candy because it’s all on sale. We get lovey dovey candy for our more important day AND it’s cheaper. It means we don’t have to wait for a table on a very busy night.

And all in all, it’s a reminder that days are just days, holidays are still a Wednesday night.

How are you celebrating Valentine’s Day?

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Day 3137 – World Marriage Day!!

Posted on February 11, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

A very hearty happy world marriage day to you! Marriage is very near and dear to my heart (blogging about marriage every day will do that to ya), and I love that there are days to celebrate it! I wish you many happy days of marriage and I very deeply hope your marriage lasts “til death do us part.”

Here’s a few of my favorite moments with my favorite (and only) husband. 😀