Marriage Mondays: Preserve & Propel

We just celebrated our 3rd anniversary.
This month has has a lot of celebration and we're kinda tired. But we put some nice(r) clothes on, picked some favorite places and walked to drinks, dinner & dessert. We reminisced, talked through some desires we have for our future, things we see that could be around the corner and dreamed a little. But lets be real, most of it revolved around good food (Our picks: Hopscotch for a cocktail, Stubricks for dinner and Burger Parlor for a Milkshake).

This was also our first weekend home this month and it was needed.

Saturday morning we walked to coffee ready to reflect a little more, write things down, dream and make some plans. It was nice to just to create space for conversation around us and whatever came up. It started slow... like, "What should we talk about?" but evolved into a great conversation.

We haven't done this before (even though I love traditions) but we decided to start a journal where we keep these things written down. We picked 3 topics:

- Highlights of year three
- Dreams for year four
- New rhythms to implement

We listed things for each.
Highlights like trips we took, shifts we've seen in our marriage, moments we loved, etc.
Dreams like a puppy (I can't quit), our summer vacation and more I can't list here. They are dreams, but who knows... you gotta write 'em down!
and new Rhythms like putting out TV away for a month, limiting clutter so home could feel more homey, phone restrictions, friendships we want to invest more time into and the way we rest.

I think each of these areas are key. Some fun looking back, sharing memories, reliving fond moments. Also some accessing areas that need attention, making tweaks and shifting things. But also dreaming, looking forward, sharing desires with each other.

Maybe it is the achiever in me but I really loved the new rhythms talk. I never want to look back and be like, "Shoot, we should have paid attention to that area and done something different way sooner". I loved making space to evaluate, understand each others' needs and make changes. Intentional is probably one of my favorite words. And this was just that. I am glad for what it brings for this year. I am glad for ways we can love each other better. I am glad for new.

Do you slow down to reflect and refine? Whatever stage of life you are in, I think it is a great tool.
If you don't, it's not too late to start.

Pick a few valuable areas (ex: health, pace, dreams, goals, contentment...) and lean in.
Ask questions.
Evaluate.
Pursue new.