As a bride, wedding planning has a lot to do with the anticipation of your big day. There is a lot of work to be done and so many lists to be checked off - but at the end of the day, through all the details, there is also the trying task of waiting for the day you've been dreaming of your entire life. Whether the engagement lasts a few months or a couple years, finding patience to get through this time can be harder than asking a child to wait for Christmas morning.
Patience also feels like it's my theme and biggest lesson to learn this year.
In the fall, Matt and I found out we were expecting our first baby in June. Coincidentally, the same week (just a couple days prior), Matt accepted a job in the Bay area and we had decided to split our time between the two cities. Now, the logistics of such a scenario became much more challenging. As the months passed, there were rumors that he might be able to stay here in Seattle, but we would have to wait for a final decision.
Regardless of the outcome for Matt's work, our family and my business are here. We decided to keep a home base in the PNW, and start house hunting in the Seattle area. Ultimately, the plan was to find a house here and a small space in California.
Finding your dream home (or even starter home) in one of the most competitive housing markets in the country has proven to be an additional test in patience. Waiting for properties that fit our criteria to come onto the market, waiting for offer review dates, waiting to see if the sellers had chosen our offers (and crafting the over sugared, "please choose us because we're great people and did we mention we're having a baby" personal letter).
If waiting for a due date wasn't already enough, this year has really piled on the practice of patience.
At first I found myself mostly frustrated at each circumstance and anxious to be done with this chapter of life. I needed my husband to stay in Seattle, a house to call home, and this baby to arrive already.
Then, slowly, I started to look at this year through a different lens. Perhaps there was beauty in the waiting. I saw it partly as an opportunity to prepare for the big changes but also to enjoy our final days of just the two of us, living in our apartment - the first "home" we've shared as a newlywed couple. More importantly, there is something almost humbling about learning to have peace with the slow inching towards big life events. It's a marathon, not a sprint, right? (Or something about the journey, not the destination.) The more I started to enjoy this in between time, the less anxious I became about our house hunt, juggling two cities or our due date that still feels like a lifetime away. Soon enough they will pass and I'll look back on this time wondering why I was so worked up about each one.
"Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow has its own worries"
Instead, I try to enjoy today for the small joys it brings: walking through open houses, getaways to the bay area, receiving a thoughtful baby gift from a friend, narrowing down our baby names, or crafting projects for the future nursery.
I share these thoughts in hopes that brides (and grooms), and anyone waiting on a big life event might also find some happiness and patience in the process of waiting. It can be hard not to focus on the far off date, but sometimes looking forward to something can also be half the fun.
A big THANK YOU to Lora Grady for capturing some early maternity photos. It was a great opportunity to "pause" and enjoy this time in life in the midst of daily chaos and stress (and for helping me feel like it was ok to do them solo, as Matt was away for work).
