Marriage Licenses and What is Normal, Really?

 

The trip back home was filled with breathtaking scenery. Oregon is a beautiful state with the greenery and the scenery, especially along the coast. See? I'm a poet too. 😏

Seeing so much of the coast made me want to head back to the colder waters of Oregon shores soon. Terry and I love the coast! That's why our family chose that location for our honeymoon. Our daughters got together and gave us a nice package at the coast of a hotel room along the Siuslaw River. Not too far away and yet gorgeous, romantic, and filled with some absolutely amazing scenes. Besides, it makes for nice blog posts (insert sarcasm here). 

Our hearts were full of love and our minds had not touched ground since the ceremony. We were soaring high with thoughts of the honeymoon and wedding weekend. Terry was ecstatic the wedding had finally happened and could not wait to take off for the beach. I was definitely feeling the same way. But yet, it has to end at some point. Not the joy and the love of course, but the return home, away from the beach. Like I said earlier, I plan on heading back soon. I can't wait. 

My husband loves to take care of business matters immediately, which is a great opposition of my trait of procrastination. On the way home he chose to make a stop and take care of some of the business matters at hand, dropping off our marriage certificate.

I guess this really embeds the marriage in stone or the upper tier of a wedding cake as the case may be. We are legally and officially married and couldn't be happier!

We arrived home, greeted by our daughter Mallory, grandson Hayden and our cute little fur babies. The kisses, hugs, and snuggles were unbeatable. Even while I didn't want to come home, being here meant beautiful things and a closeness in family and our precious pets. It was a wonderful welcome home. 

The afternoon was spent unloading the car and chatting a bit with Mallory. She said everything went smoothly and all was well. I knew everything would be fine and it was so nice to see her again. She wanted to hear all about the honeymoon. Of course, the phones came out and pictures were shown. About an hour later she climbed in the car with Hayden, and they drove home. Terry and I spent the evening discussing our experiences and feelings about the weekend. Once I told him I wanted to go get dinner started, he recommended that he take his "beautiful bride" out for the evening. I'm up for a good time out, so we drove to one of our favorite restaurants, Hacienda Vieja. 

As usual, the wait staff were hospitable and immediately seated us. We had water, diet soda, and club soda with a lime twist served quickly. Within moments they were back at our table for our orders. They knew we were regulars and probably had our orders figured out already, which we did. 

Chips and salsa arrived swiftly as well. 

Out came the steaming hot enchilada and tamale I ordered, served with rice and beans. Always a great meal!

Terry received his favorites as well and all was good in the world. 

Both of us were full, tired, and ready for bed. I snuggled up next to my sweet man, his arm over me, and we fell into a deep, wonderful sleep. Maybe it wasn't so bad being home again after all. We are blessed and do have many good things in our lives, especially the love we hold for each other. The memories we are making together are forever embedded. I love that. 

The following morning Terry had to head to work. I busied myself around the house, cleaning, making the bed, washing dishes and getting ready for the day. I worked a couple of hours and then headed to the store. I had to get items for dinner and grab a prescription from the pharmacy. Off I went. 

I made steak, mashed potatoes, and green beans with almonds for dinner that night. Terry was happy. Banana cream pudding followed and that really made him smile. He is easy to please and all is great in the Macrae household! We are back to our "normal" lives, whatever that entails. What is normal anyway? I guess normal comes with a description of whatever is normal to you, what you're used to, no matter how strange it may seem to others. We each have our quirks, our strangeness in our lives. This is our normal and I love it. Cooking and cleaning is something I don't mind doing because I'm appreciated by Terry for the things I do. I appreciate our home so very much and that makes it an honor to clean. I finally have a kitchen back that I can call mine, so the cooking is also a blessing. 

The remainder of days in the week flew by quickly. Saturday rolled around and we chose to invite Mallory over for another movie marathon. This time, it was Star Wars. None of us had seen Star Wars in a long time, so the triple movie day was awesome! Even Kit loved the movies as he sat in front of the TV and kept an eye out on Luke, Leia, Chewie and the gang. 

Even though my thoughts remain on the beach and in our honeymoon suite along the coast, my sweet man is here, my fur babies are here, and our family is close. This is home. This is our life. I am overcome with joy as the blessings flow readily in our lives. Terry and I are now married, and a new chapter opens for us. So far, I'm loving this book! My belief is we all create our own reality. I have crafted this beautiful life for me and am overwhelmed with joy at my creation. My canvas was once covered with a dull, gray paint. I took out my brush, wished a beautiful piece to be true and painted what I believe to be beautiful. It's come to fruition and the picture is set. 

Life just doesn't get better. As the saying goes, "Live, laugh, love." Pass love all around. The world needs it more than ever at this point in time. Take care of yourselves. Love each other. Laugh until your sides ache. Bless you all.