Something mentioned in the comments of my last post got me thinking about that day that Kristin and I got married and I started thinking about the music that was played that day.  We obviously had all the wedding music picked out, and for the most part we had most of the music picked out for the reception.  One song in particular that I was pretty firm on, as I assume most people are, was the song that Kristin and I danced to for our “first dance” as a married couple.  Now, I don’t dance much so it was more like swaying back and forth and talking, but that’s what we do.

I have always been a pretty big Derek Webb fan and even felt silly telling him this when we met, but our first dance was to a song of his called “Somewhere North” off of the Caedmon’s Call, 40 Acres record.  It’s a great song and will always remind me of that day.  

If you’re married, what song did was your first dance to?  If not, what would you choose if you had to today?

Eight years ago today, I committed my life to my best friend.  

I remember waking up that morning, frantically cleaning the house and the car, being late to the church, forgetting to shave, frantically getting dressed and loosing my breath as she walked toward me.  I remember talking during most of the ceremony, and the heat that August brought.  I remember the smell of the church, the sound of the music and the anticipation of the life ahead.  I remember putting the ring on her finger and telling her I would love her forever, and I remember thinking it wouldn’t be hard to.

That was eight years ago and I am more in love with my wife than I have ever been.  I am so lucky to be sharing my time here with her.  There is no one else I would rather have by my side.

This is also part of Positive Post Tuesday… Duh.  How could it not be? Your turn.

Tonight Kristin and I went out to celebrate the end of her working at Target.  To celebrate a new chapter in our lives again, and an excitement to see what’s going to happen.  We also went out to connect with each other.  It has felt like we have been living separate lives running as fast as we can in different directions and stopping only to sleep.  We also went out because we have a free babysitter once the boys are fed, bathed, read to, and asleep.  We went to our favorite sushi place for some sushi, fried rice and drinks.

You see that drink there on the left?  The fancy one with the orange slice and the cherry on top?  The one with the shaped whip cream topping?  Yeah, that one’s mine.  The beer is Kristin’s.  Go ahead, make fun of me.  I can drink a Guinness with the best of them, but sometimes I like a “fancy” drink.  And you know what?  I liked it.  I liked it and would have it again.  Even if Kristin made me take a picture of it to mock me.  I don’t care.  So what if my wife is sometimes tougher than me.  She still likes me.  So what if the waitress brought it to the table and tried to hand it to Kristin and I had to tell her that was mine and the beer was hers.  No big deal.

For those of you legally entitled to drink adult beverages responsibly and morally allow yourself to, which could be another post entirely, are you a fancy beverage drinker, or a straight forward beer type person?

Is that the longest run-on question you have ever read?

Kristin is a lot more forgiving than I am.  She sees the good in things and can make any situation a positive one.  She has a great attitude and is one of those “silver lining” type of people.  You know the ones.  I’m glad I married her because if she wasn’t like that we would have a depressing life.  Take this camping trip for instance.  Here is her side of the story.  And here is the rest of the story.

First off.  Hey East Tennessee, they’re called toilet seat covers.  Ever heard of em?

We drove about three hours east and then north a little while.  The maps rendered useless once we started getting close and the directions were telling us to “turn right on Local Road”.  Eventually we stopped in at gas station to ask directions and found out we were headed in the right direction.  Eventually we saw clever signs with the name of the camp ground and sayings like “You’re getting close y’all”.  Good news.

We pulled up to the entrance of the campground and noticed as soon as we drove in a teepee that looked exactly the same as the one on the website.  I read allowed the sign instructing us to check in at the top of the hill.  As I looked around I noticed a few “more permanent” camping spaces and started to wonder what we were really driving in to.

I followed the gravel road up and around the pool where several people were gathered.  Still not seeing any other teepee’s I asked Kristin if she thought the teepee on the side of the road at the entrance was the only one there was.  I got out to check in and felt like I had stepped on to the set of “My Name Is Earl” only the lady from “There’s Something About Mary” was there too.  Pink string bikini and all.  Next to the gate to the pool was a woman in her early thirties, maybe six or seven months pregnant just finishing a cigarette and telling the toddler next to her that it was time to head home.

One of the women near the pool got up and walked to the gate and welcomed me to the grounds.  She brought me in to the office and confirmed that we were the family staying in the teepee.  The teepee. She told me she had turned the fan on so it should be cool in there and that the pool was open until seven and I said goodbye.

Eager to check out the teepee we drove around the circle and parked right in front.  We got out and went inside.  There sat two cot-type beds, a lamp and a box fan.  The boys were excited and jumping on the beds when I noticed a wasp flying around.  Now, I am not a fan of wasps so I told the boys to get out and I would get it out.  Just then Kristin noticed a nest with several wasps stuck to the side of the teepee.  All of the wasps looking at me ready to eat my face off.

I went back up to the office and explained to the lady that there was a wasps nest inside the teepee and asked what we should do.  She said she would take care of it and I figured that we could go on a little hike for the time being.  We started down a trail with a sign marked “Lake” with an arrow.  Kristin had been excited to swim in the lake ever since we read about it online and even bought the boys some new water shoes.  After about twenty minutes of walking we heard some voices and knew that we were close.  As we walked around the corner we realized that we would not be swimming in a lake that day.

A few minutes later down the trail we saw a sign saying “Upper Falls” so we decided that maybe that was the place that we would do some swimming.  Up some hills and deeper into the woods, we followed the trail the way it was telling us.  The boys pretended to hear wolves, and follow wild animal tracks, occasionally wandering into the trees.  One particular tree that the boys decided to run behind had specific instructions on what not to do, but Kristin and I wrote if off as a bad joke.

We finally found the falls, and played in the mud, got lost on the way back and decided that it was time to visit the pool.  No one was in there at the time so it was the perfect time to swim around with the boys and play.  It wasn’t five minutes and a family walked up wearing mostly camouflage and talking about how tired they were from working at the flea market all day.  The dad and, what I would guess was about 17 year old, son jumped in the pool and swam for a bit, then decided to float face down on some air mattress things.  Eventually the dad got out and yelled, “Jerry D., make sure you’re home by dark”, and left the pool area.  After about ten minutes of camo covered Jerry D. floating uncomfortably close to me and cornering me into sides of the pool repeatedly I decided that it was time to roast some hot dogs over the fire.  

The thought of quite literally roasting hot dogs on a campfire that is nearly in someone’s front yard was a bit comical to me, but I was going to do it regardless.  After all we were CAMPING IN A TRAILER PARK. What could make it more awkward?  We waved to the people in the cars as they were coming home from work and joked about how maybe we should go ask to use their stove to cook the hot dogs.  Because of the humid air it was nearly impossible to light a fire worthy of roasting hot dogs or smores later on that evening.  I kept trying until finally we gave up and decided to have them cold.

With most of the wasps gone, we decided to head to bed around eight o’clock and tell Indian stories.  The boys thought it was fun to make things up and like my story of the Indians that stumbled on to the colony of more established Indians and looked like idiots trying to roast hot dogs in the front yards of the other Indians trying to watch American Idol in their trailer.  Eventually the boys calmed down and fell asleep to the sounds of a box fan and intoxicated hillbillies.  

All in all we had a good trip but I think a state park is the way to go next time.  Really, when it comes down to it, I was with my family and away from my phone and computer for two days and that was the best part.  I did come back to about a hundred and thirty emails and a handful of voicemails but it was worth it to get to hang out with the family and score this picture.  

Final Score:  Tennessee rednecks - 1  Harper family - 0.  But at least no one got stung or eaten.  I was however able to bring back a souvenir though.  This morning the boys wanted to run down the the creek one last time and as we were down there I found a really cool stick that I pulled out of the water and decided to bring home to Randy.

What did you do this weekend?

Tomorrow morning Kristin, Cooper and I are taking off to Grand Rapids.  A friend of mine is getting married and I was asked to take some pictures of the wedding.  It’s a little in intimidating to be the “photographer”, but I’m not calling it that, so it makes me fell better.  Matt used to be the road manager for the David Crowder Band and now is the Technical Director at Rob Bell’s church in Grand Rapids.  Rob’s doing the wedding so that should be a pretty interesting to hear.  It’s going to be a great day for Matt and Hannah and it’s cool we get to be a part of it.  It’s interesting where this photography thing has taken me.  I never planned on being a photographer, but for some reason opportunities keep popping up.  I still love the creativity of it, and don’t know if I could do it for a job.  I wouldn’t want to start not liking it.

We have little to no agenda driving up there and the wedding isn’t until Saturday so we are taking our time getting up there.  One thing we do plan on doing tomorrow is stopping in Chicago for dinner.  This is one of the first times in a really long time that Kristin and I will be able to travel together and have time to actually hang out.  She has never been to Chicago, so we figured it was a perfect time to drop in and at least see a little bit of the city and grab some dinner.  Then on to Grand Rapids.

Today will be a day of making sure everything is packed, the car is cleaned, the new Death Cab record is on the iPod, and the big boys are ready to stay at Kristin’s dad’s house.  The boys are still asleep so I better get started.

*Creative Chaos - Photography*

For the last few weeks I have been home more with the boys than I ever have.  I have played with them more, eaten with them more, punished them more, and tried to get things done while taking care of them.  I have a new (and unbelievably high) respect now for my wife as a mother.  I knew she did a lot to make this house function, but there are more things everyday where I find myself falling behind and not getting things done.  I find myself loosing patience and sort of feeling like I am going crazy.  I realize how horrible of a mother I would be.  I can barely get dressed without going crazy and loosing one of the boys.

I had a very involved mom, and I grew up being able to do all the things a kids schedule could allow.  I played baseball, had friends over, went on field trips and never realized all the effort that was put into my life.  I was always allowed to be myself, no matter how problematic or annoying that may have been.  I was able to have friends and be involved in as much stuff as I could possibly handle and now looking back, I don’t know how it was all possible.  Mothers make most of that stuff happen and I have no idea how.  So, with that, Happy Mother’s Day Mom, thanks for all you did for me growing up, and for all you continue to do.

Today, at our house, we are celebrating Kristin and all that she does.  She is the hardest worker I have ever seen.  She is the most caring mother I have seen, and loves our boys more than I could type.  I don’t know how she does it and I’m a little afraid to ask because I don’t want to find out she is some sort of super computer robot or something weird.  The boys and I are unbelievably lucky to have her in our lives.  Everyday I realize how little I could accomplish without her.  I just hope that some of the things I do help her a little.  

Happy Mother’s Day Kristin.  You are nothing short of perfect for our family, and I can’t imagine life without you.  Even if you are a super computer robot.