Do you know, I always avoid Facebook on Monday mornings?
It's just not worth seeing how many people are grumbling about what day of the week it is.
Yeah, I get it, I am a stay at home mom. But the start of the week means I am back to missing my man all day (and a good part of my evenings).... back to feeding the gaping mouth of the always-hungry Laundry machine... back to handling naptimes, grumpy times, hungry times, stinky diaper times, and hugely messy times with Mr. Baby on my own, without the help and humor
of my trusty husband.
And yet, Mondays are exhilarating, if you choose to make them so.
It's like our camping trip this past weekend.
Don't be fooled by the gorgeous pictures - we were surrounded by beauty,
we were head-over-heels-happy to be with each other,
we were a little giddy to be baby-free,
but this camping trip was not what I had planned for!
It was overcast the whole time, and rained from about 4 pm on Saturday til 8am when we were chased out early by wet firewood and a desperate head-pounding need for hot coffee.
Gosh I love this man. A lesser man would've been disgruntled at the very least by the gloominess, the dampness, the burnt-dinner-ness... but this wonderful husband of mine kept me giggling all weekend.
And there were some spectacular views, even with all the fog.
The Parkway. I grew up just a 45 minute drive from this beautiful winding road through the Mountains. I have so many memories of the adventures my family has had together here, some of which, as I have shared, included Jason.
I think that picture is my fav.
We got the most perfect, perfect little campsite for the two of us.
It was cozy, hidden away, and yards from the "Comfort Station" (primitive bathroom consisting of a mostly-flushing toilet, spider webs, and an ice-cold sink. Glory!).
I am so grateful the rain didn't come till after we set up camp and finished our hike. Okay, that really was beyond lucky. That was a gift from God to us mini-mooners. He had to know how much we needed this time!
OOTD because everyone is dying to know how to put together such glam-ness: tank Gap, belt J.Crew, shorts James Perse, and boots Columbia.
I got my boots for sale on Amazon, and being a boot girl, I love them... except for their mysterious ability to make my feet look HUGE.
The view at the top of the mountain. A hike is a good analogy for the goodness of Mondays. If you didn't have to work to get to the top, if you weren't gasping for breath before gasping at the beauty of the overlook, I just don't think the effect would be at all the same.
We have to fight for beauty. We have to push ourselves and feel like we earned these moments that take our breath away. (Literally, haha).
We need the Mondays, the up-hill climbs of life.
The weekend wouldn't be "the weekend" without the 5 days of toil and labor before and after.
There is a certain exhilaration in the knowledge of that fact... in the starting line we get to find ourselves at every week, with goals and resolutions and new determinations. We are tested and refined and strengthened even as we are worn out.
The past weekend was not the best camping trip I've been on. But I was so grateful for a tent that kept us snug and dry all night, despite the torrential drizzle.
I was grateful for a happy, laughing husband when this happened to our dinner:
Our stomachs had been growling for the past hour as our supper cooked, we laid in the tent because it had just started raining, and we were desperately trying to not think about how starved we were after our afternoon hike.
Then, when we finally eagerly opened the Dutch oven to check on our No-Peek-Chicken...
It was heartbreaking. It was too hilarious.
Thank the Lord in Heaven that we were camping at a place where there is an Inn just up the road with a lovely little restaurant. We went in to this fancy place reeking of burnt chicken and campfire smoke, shivering in our wet socks and the Always-Cold-at-Night-In-The-Mountains air,
had a good laugh at our crazy waiter behind his back who referred to all three of us constantly in the first person - "And what are we having?" "Do we need a little refill?" "How do we like it?" - [after which Jason conspiratorially whispered to me, "So... Are we all splitting this check?"]
and came out so stuffed we could barely walk.
As I laid in our tent on the hard ground, hearing the constant downpour overhead through the night, all I could think was this:
The past year has been full of hard work and hard moments, of burnt dinners and wet socks, metaphorically speaking of course because I am a darn good cook in the comfort of my own home!...
but I wouldn't trade the Mondays and the long nights for anything,
because those moments show me the true awesomeness of the man I married, a man who will take me in his arms and kiss my forehead and tell me with honesty he's just glad we're having these adventures together...
and they show me the hidden strength I have within me, ready and able to endure trials and hills and disappointments,
because I have faith there will be a beautiful view at the top.
Labels: blue ridge mountains, camping, camping trip, husband, love, mountains, something beautiful
