Introducing, My Husband!-

I figured it would be appropriate to kick off the blog with a little more about me, and introduce you to someone(s) very special.

2009 was a BIG year.

I had just graduated high school and got my acceptance to the best SEC school there is, Ole Miss. I had my plastic bins loaded down with red and blue, cute dorm decor, and my entire closet crammed on a hanging bar in my backseat of my white 2004 Ford Escape.

I was ready for college!

What I wasn't prepared for was to meet my husband on the second day I was there...

Of course, I didn't know he would become my husband.

In fact, it's quite the opposite.

David and I were introduced by a friend of mine from high school. I knew her from back home, and she met him in her history class.

I remember the text: "hey, meet me after class in the union. Met this really cute guy and he's coming too."

So we did-

There in Chick-Fil-A we kicked off what later became a 7 year friendship.

Each Wednesday night, he and I would grab Chili's and a Redbox movie and have our bff date night. I cherished it so much, until he broke my heart and transferred schools at the end of Sophomore year. We still kept in touch, but not having him near made me sad.

2013 snuck up on me, quick.

Just like that, the 4 (and a half) best years of my life had come, and graduation meant the ever looming doom of "adulting" creeping in. Ugh.

Where to? Who to work for? Better yet... taxes, mortgages, car note?

Not the ideal situation to jump into, to say the least.

Well, as The Lord's plan would have it (as it always does) I landed my dream job in Dallas, bought a townhouse in Highland Park, and purchased a fancy sports car. I was on top of it, and totally nailing adulting. All my friends were dating and I was pretending to love being single; trying to use my singleness for the better... way easier said than done.

I also welcomed home my first love- Beau, the most snuggly and squishy 6 week old white Labrador Retriever.

Life. Changed. Forever.

My little man and I honestly grew up together.

Through trial and error, we figured each other out. He had his place in my life, and I had mine in his.

Fast forward to 2015.

I had come to a quarter-life-crisis decided I just simply wanted a change.

That was in June. I left it all behind- a stellar job, my beloved family, my insanely close group of friends, sold the townhouse...and the sports car. By October, Beau and I found ourselves firmly planted in the heart of Nashville, Tennessee.

I was getting the hang of things at my new job when I got a text that made my heart flutter in ways it hadn't in a long time...

"Hey, I saw you moved to Nashville. Wanna grab dinner with me and some friends?"

How could I let this slip my mind? DAVID LIVES IN NASHVILLE. (I promise, it had no influence on my decision to move here- I still say every day...The Lord's plan, not mine)

So I went. And "dinner with me and some friends" ended up being "just Nicki and David" and eventually we were together every single day. Our first real date we went hiking, and I knew then this was something special- especially when he met Beau and it was a bromance from the start.

February 4, 2017- David proposed, with Beau, family, and friends close by. I said more than yes- I said absolutely.

September 23, 2017- we got married here in Nashville and although it's been said, I'll say it again- best day of our lives.

September 25- October 8, 2017- we went honeymoon'ed in Asia. And here, my friends... I understood the value of now. (more elaborate honeymoon post soon, I promise)

Now, we are currently navigating and enjoying our new marriage, Beau is 4 years old and 96lbs, travel is a huge chunk of our calendar, we have a 1 year old niece (born 6 days before we got engaged), and we could not have asked for our families to blend more perfectly.

Im not here to claim that we have it all together- in fact, marriage is indeed hard. It's hard in ways I never could have imagined. And yes, I'm saying this only 4 months in. Marriage is also grand. It's wonderful in the up's and, yes, even the down's.

The aim here is one, to let yall know a little background story, but mostly- for what it's worth, try and enjoy what now can bring you. On our honeymoon, I really started to grasp the idea of here and now. When we hit the ground in Tokyo, Japan I realized the next time we were in the Nashville airport, our honeymoon would have been behind us. Something we could certainly come back to, but in memories. It was the train ride to our hotel that I decided to never let the opportunity of what now has to offer you slip away and to soak in every second of where you're at.

If you find yourself in a similar place, asking those 'what if' questions- stop wasting your time.

Now is a great place to be.

For now is where you are supposed to be- perfectly situated in your mess and your glories.

Put things down, pick new things up. Have awesome days. Have horrible days. Burst your comfort zone bubble, and then come back to it. Learn through it all.

Now is made for you, and it's yours to have.

Naturally,

Nicki