It’s been 3 years (!) since Nate and I got married on a hot August day on the beach of the Woodbound Inn in Jaffery, NH. 3 years seems like a long time, but if you really think about it, it’s NOT a long time. It’s actually way less than the amount of time Nate and I knew each other before getting married (we were friends for 2.5 years and dating/engaged for 2.5 years!) These 3 years have flown. And I think, for us, the reason is because we haven’t had any of those usual-married-life-moments that MARK time. We haven’t bought a house, we haven’t moved far away, we haven’t been job-less (praise Jesus), and we haven’t had a kid. So 3 years kind of just feels like a lot of happy/interesting months smushed together, only being marked by the occasional trip or big purchase. Maybe I’m not making sense to you, but I totally understand what I mean.

ANYWAYS! Onto our Top 3s of our 3rd year of marriage. We brainstormed at the dinner table last night and thought about all the cool things we did (or interesting things we learned) during our third year of marriage. Here they are!

TOP 3 EVENTS:
– Napa Valley – We visited Napa and San Fran in October of last year and basically what we learned is that we love wine country. 😉
– Acadia National Park – This was a duel-purpose trip: the first part was for our friends’ wedding, and the second was to explore Acadia. Acadia was gorgeous and I felt so in my element. It was probably the highlight of the last 4 months of my life!
– Buying Kayaks – We had mentioned in the spring that it would be fun to own kayaks. One day Nate started crunching the numbers and realized it was doable(!), so we’ve been exploring nearby ponds and lakes since mid-June! We finally have “our thing” (I mean, one that doesn’t include eating bahaha).

TOP 3 EATS:
– Gott’s Roadside Diner – While we were in Napa, we ate at Gott’s twice. TWICE! In 2 days! That’s how good/cool it was. My fish tacos were unreal. Nate forgets what he ate, but he promises it was amazing.
– Bagel Alley (but we call him the Bagel Guy) – It has become our Saturday morning ritual to go to the Natick Farmer’s Market, stop by Bagel Alley’s booth and get big, yummy bagels from the Bagel Guy. They we sit on a park bench and contemplate life together. We love Saturdays.
– Sparta – I am biased because my sister used to work here, but I’m telling you, this little diner in Newark, Ohio has the best eggs and homefries we’ve ever tasted. Classic American comfort food. I’m writing this at 8 am and man I could go for some of this food right now!!

TOP 3 LEARNING MOMENTS:
– Don’t plan every minute – This is something we have learned only in the last couple months. Guys, don’t plan every single minute of your weekend. Be spontaneous, it’s good for your heart. Just this last Sunday, we went to get coffee and then decided right then and there to go on a two mile walk around a lake just because we could. Because we didn’t have anything else planned. And guess what, it was my favorite day of the month so far.
– Family is family – Love ’em as they are. Even if it’s hard.
– You can’t rush time – Remember my post about feeling in limbo? Well, that post was inspired because of many conversations / fights Nate and I had over the last few months about what we want life to be and when we want all those life things to happen. We had to stop fighting about it, because every single time we came to the same conclusion: you can’t rush things that take time. And I hate that conclusion because I’m the most impatient person ever, so it’s definitely a lesson I’ve been learning.

TOP 3 PHOTO SPOTS:
– Muir Woods, Mill Valley California
– Sunrise kayak on Spofford Lake
– Galavanting in 60+ inches of snow
(See below)

TOP 3 DATE NIGHTS:
– Free date night! We gathered up all our half-used gift cards (you know, the ones with $5.73 left on ’em?) and used them all up. We went to Starbucks, Barnes&Noble and Target and only spent $1.50 of real money. Best date night ever.
– Skating at Frog Pond! This was a double date and it had been on our Boston to-do list for ages. Besides waiting for 50 minutes in the freezing cold just to get into the ice rink, it was so fun! We skated soooo slow because we both are terrible, but I loved it anyways.
– Seeing the Nutcracker! (apparently we only go on dates in the winter?) We have a bi-yearly tradition of seeing the Nutcracker in Boston because that’s what we did on the night Nate proposed. But this year, to add to the fun, we got a room at the Hyatt and stayed downtown for the night. It was pretty special.

So there you have it! Now you know everything there is to know about #thekristlife. 😉 Happy Anniversary to us! <3

~Stephanie

(wedding photos by Alyse French Photography)