I feel like life’s been getting bigger and bigger recently. I can’t even really articulate what I mean by ‘bigger and bigger’ exactly. I guess I mean…busier? Fuller? More serious?
I think it’s just that, as the months are passing and the wedding planning is progressing and Jason and I move forward with both our individual and shared goals (and begin to think about making steps towards moving house and all that other crazy serious stuff)- life, and all that it entails, seems to be looming larger and larger by the day. Whereas up until maybe two years ago or so ago the biggest of our worries was broken dishwashers, and can we get out to Canada to visit family this winter, and What’s That Stupid Dog Eaten Now and How Much Will The Vet Bill Be, now we’re thinking about things like stamp duty. Mortgage rates. Wedding seating plans, and the related politics of said seating plan. (Sidetone: Who on earth knew it could be quite so hard to figure out where to seat 80 odd people for dinner? I mean, I’m contemplating having it be a free for all…).
It’s not to say that we’re not enjoying ourselves at the moment, not at all! Nothing that’s going on is particularly stressful, or arduous even, I guess it’s just more…big! In fact, the good thing is that what with the big stuff taking up so much brain and to-do list space, it’s making the little stuff so much sweeter. The moments of relaxation, and switching off, and total escapism. This whole Easter weekend was like that, really.
Jason spent most of last week and the Easter weekend building the deck in our back garden (which he’s now finished, and it looks completely fantastic!), and so we spent a lot of time pottering around at home. And by ‘pottering around’, I do of course mean eating chocolate, and watching The Good Wife. (Sidenote- You should know that I bought the Nakd Basics II palette yesterday for the sole reason that I spend each and every episode of The Good Wife swooning over Alicia Florrick’s amazing matte eye makeup looks, and want to try and recreate them. Isn’t she just so insanely awesome?)
On Easter Monday, my Mum, sister and I took Ted up to the almost-bluebell woods for a walk, ahead of a family lunch at Mum’s later on in the day. The walk was totally idyllic. Mum lead the way up to a big lake I’d never found my way to before, which happened to take us along a path through the woods so thick with pheasants it was all I could do to keep Ted under control! We must’ve spotted easily seven or eight, all glossy and fat and brightly coloured.
^^ Spot the flying pheasant! ^^
^^ Isn’t that magnolia tree spectacular? I always think magnolia flowers look sort of like birds, though I’m not really sure why. ^^
We finished up our walk a lot muddier and soggier than it began, after Ted took a dip in the lake and then had to be hauled out by the scruff after getting stuck up against a steep bank. (These photos were taken during an identical but separate walk, and thank goodness! I came home from Monday’s walk with muddy patches on my knees, forearms, and just about every other part of my body from having to go fishing for the dog!)
The remainder of the day, that beautifully sunny and warm and quintessentially spring-like Easter Monday, was spent at my Mum’s- eating mountains of food, trying to stop Ted from ‘making friends’ with the cats, and talking with my sister about everything from Snapchat (I still don’t really understand it…) to the stresses of GCSE revision and our shared memories of childhood holidays.
I’m glad of spring days like these. I’m grateful for family and muddy dogs and afternoons spent in my Mum’s sunny kitchen eating hot cross buns and talking for three hours solid. And, most of all, I’m so, so happy that in these months where it feels like we’re rushing as fast as we can towards the wedding and all our plans beyond this coming July, slow days like these help make the Big Stuff seem a little less…big.
What I wore :: Breton top || Grey jeans (older and scruffier than time itself, hence why I’m totally cool with wearing them on a dog walk!) || Wax jacket || Wellies.
