Loving Life

My life now is so different than when Ben and I were living in Orem. It constantly amazes me, when I stop and look at how truly blessed I am with the life we live now (not that we weren't blessed in Orem as well, it just seems as if life keeps getting better and better).

One of those moments for me was Saturday. Saturday morning, Ben left Ashtyn and I shortly after Ashtyn waking up to go help his grandparents chop wood. Ashtyn and I hung out all day by ourselves, eating breakfast and lunch, playing outside, having a bubble bath, and watching Elmo's World while I did some meal prepping for when the baby comes. It was a pretty normal day for us, except that Ben wasn't in the house.

Even though Ben is up in his office working a lot, it feels different to have him gone. He doesn't come down for food or to share some exciting news. We can't go up and visit to say hi. It just is different to have him out of the house.

Having him gone reminded me of when he used to go to work every day at TestOut. I remember hating to see him go and counting down the hours with him (over email) until he could come home. It was a good job and he seemed happy for the most part. We still found time to spend together, even with a newborn and him being so busy (with two jobs and school), but it was definitely a more stressful and crazy time of life.

Now, it feels as if our life is perfect at times. I know it's not, but it sure feels great to be living the kind of life that we both want. Ben loves his job. He looks forward to Monday because he gets to work. He comes down all excited about what he's working on pretty much every day and I can just tell that he loves what he does every day. I love that.

As for Ashtyn and I, we get the best of both worlds. We get to hang out all day together, doing just whatever we want. If we want to stay in pajamas and watch Elmo all day, we can. If we want to go to the library or the park, or go visit someone, we can. I love having the freedom to relax and I love having Ben around. With our soon-to-arrive baby coming soon, I'm especially grateful for that.

I love our life. There are things about life that aren't great, of course. Life is never perfect. But I have to say, ours is pretty darn close.