Year Four
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Oh year four. I’m really curious what we will look back to this year and think about. Will it be the way we kicked off our anniversary last year taking in the sights and foods of NYC? Will it be the monotony of living day in and day out in our home during a literal pandemic? Will the memories of this year forever be scarred by a mess of tangled emotions? Most likely.
This Thursday is our fourth anniversary. Every year since we’ve been married, I’ve jumped on here to memorialize our year, mostly of our highlights and things we’ve done or loved. This year feels so different, and I honestly scrolled through my phone camera roll to remember anything from before March. We’re in a new normal that is nowhere close to normal and our year has looked exactly like that - abnormal. What I do know is that I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else by my side to ride out a pandemic with other than Rick. It’s been a wild year, and I’m ready to see where our next year together will take us.
OUR FAVORITES FROM YEAR Four
Games: Pandemic (Obviously!) // Horrified // Betrayal at House on the Hill // Villainous and it's three expansion packs (1+2+3) // Fetch + Keep Away with Scout
TV + Movies: The Closer // Chef // The Chef Show // The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel // Scrubs // Hamilton // Veronica Mars // Psych // Knives Out // New Girl // Sister, Sister // Great British Baking Show // Friday Murder Mystery Movie Nights // Somebody Feed Phil // The Umbrella Academy // Tiger King // Community
Constantly on in the background: NCIS // Raising Hope // 30 Rock // Brooklyn 99
Podcasts + Music: A few episodes of Fake Doctors, Real Friends // Popcast // Annie and Eddie Keep Talking (Rick listens while Ashley walks around the house blaring it from her phone)
Books: We haven’t really been shared readers this year, although we’ve both read individually.
Food: Pinterest meal prepping - here’s some of our recent faves // Brother’s Pizzeria - seriously this year could be sponsored by them! // Chavez Mexican Restaurant /// Making our own ice cream // Double Dragon // Brewing beers at home // Pickle Beer // A lot of red wines like Becker Vineyards Reserve Cabernet Syrah, Bogle, Cooper & Thieves // Indian food // Popcorn with Peanut M&M’s // Midnight quesadillas // Homemade baguettes //Rick’s self-dubbed year of fermentation // Mezcal // Margarita Cake made by Ashley
Miscellaneous: NYC // Normal Halloween/Fall/Christmas Movie Binge // Hosting Thanksgiving // Being with the Lessman’s and Rick’s family for Christmas // Learning to make our own sushi // Rick’s Korean BBQ birthday dinner // Emma’s 1st birthday party // Waco Escape Room with Rick’s Dad + family // Attending Griefshare // Jerry’s bachelor party // Canceled trip to China // Rick volunteering on the day that the Houston Livestock Show + Rodeo Cook Team canceled and shut down for COVID // Finally baking a baguette and then trying different recipes // Herb Gardening - our basil and thyme are thriving // At home date nights // Ashley’s work-out-for-a-prize system actually gets her working out consistently // Puzzles + TV show binging // Our Thursday + Friday self-care rhythms of guys night and Kali chats to accountability and team happy hours // Haircuts at home // Our 1st Annual Christmas in July // Greenbelt walks // Scout turns 11 with a super small and sweet birthday party // Sara + Kusha’s Virtual Wedding // Starting to paint the upstairs of our house // Celebrating our anniversary in a pandemic
If you want to deep dive some of our past loves, here’s Year One, Year Two, and Year Three.
THE TRADITION OF RELIVING OUR WEDDING DAY BY WATCHING OUR FRIENDS + FAMILY GATHERED AROUND US ALL IN THE NAME OF LOVE CONTINUES…
While I have no idea yet what our actual pandemic anniversary celebration will look like, I know that we’ll be watching this again.
Videography by One Fifty Media House