Posts Tagged ‘love’

Two {freakin awesome} years

Posted on September 18th, 2012 by Tonia 13 Comments

Happy two year anniversary to my favorite person! Waking up today to clear blue skies, a nip in the air, fall colors and sunshine brought memories flooding back from our wedding day. Thank you to all the friends and family who made that weekend so incredible. We are so blessed!!

Mike, so much has happened since we said our vows under the cedar arbor you made. That arbor now stands rooted out in our back field. We planted grape vines under it this summer, and in a few years they will have climbed all the way up its posts to create a shady canopy. I imagine we’ll sit there in the shade together on summer evenings and talk about where we’ve been and where we’re going.

In two years we’ve made this place a home, learned how to keep a large garden alive, we’ve raised animals for companionship and for food, we’ve made friends, we’ve grown our business and started new businesses, we’ve traveled, we’ve laughed, we’ve cried and we’ve grown. I have you to thank for all of this, my partner and my best friend. I love my life, and I love you Mike! ♥

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P.S. We’re back from CA! It’s so good to be home. It could be because we were working our tails off outside in the 90+ degree heat all day for eight days, but it turns out I’m not a fan of Southern Cali. It’s dirty, the traffic is phenomenally horrid {like, I feared for my life every time I had to get on the freeway}, and {I don’t really know how to put this…} the people who live there seem to value material things and money over basically everything else.

BMWs and Benzes everywhere. 30 million dollar homes. Fancy sunglasses. Even the middle class seems to be trying to come across as wealthier than they are. Everyone aspires to live like a millionaire. It’s….creepy. I don’t know how else to say it. I’m sorry if this observation offends any CA readers. I’m sure that not everyone in CA is this way, but it was certainly my observation that in general, the cultural value system is focused around money and materialism. And it weird-ed us out.

I’m sure that many people out there would look at how we live and think, “Gross! They have to go outside and chop firewood and stoke a stove in order to not freeze to death!! Who would want to live that way.” Or on the other hand there are many people who live even more simply and more low-impact than we do and they would tell us we’re the ones who are materialistic. And that’s fine. We’re all different, and there’s no necessarily right or wrong way to go about living life. But for us, coming home felt like going on vacation compared to how most people in CA live.

We came home to a blast of fall weather and fresh, clean air and the slow pace of life in the Northwoods. And Keith at the bakery in town said, “Hey welcome back! How was Cali? Are you having the usual?” And crappy cars! Or rather, normal cars. The kind of cars that you can drive on slippery roads and pack full of your kids’ hockey gear. I could not be happier/more thankful about where we live. It seems that every time I leave, I’m reminded that I belong here.

This week my mom is coming to help me harvest the garden and preserve massive amounts of tomatoes, kale, peppers and beans. We’re going to my friend Sarah’s yoga class tonight. There’s talk of an apple cider pressing party with friends later in the week. We made our first fire of the season in the woodstove last night and I wore wool socks.

A Sweet Farmstead Wedding

Posted on September 4th, 2012 by Tonia No Comments

Our dear friends Jenn and Trevor got married this past Saturday under an old apple tree in the field behind their yurt with 40 family members and close friends in attendance.

It was a magical moment, listening to them read their vows to each other while their beloved dog Coal pounced on field-mice behind them in the long grass and the evening sun warmed our backs and glinted off the tears on our cheeks.

Mike and I took photos for them as a wedding gift. It was pretty easy to come away with good shots, considering the setting and the subjects were so beautiful! I’d love to share some photos of the reception once we’re done editing them. Jenn put so much work into all the little handmade details- everything looked so beautiful.

We could not be happier for these two- they’re soul-mates and their love and partnership is an inspiration. We’re so blessed to have them in our lives, and I look forward to many many years of memories and merriment together. Congratulations, J&T!

exclamation points galore!

Posted on September 22nd, 2011 by Tonia 5 Comments

First of all, you guys were super helpful in the emergency-anniversary-gift-for-husband department. Thank you for the ideas! He totally loved the L.L. Bean flannel work shirt I gave him. I know he will get years and years of use out of that thing. He has another present coming his way that I cannot reveal at this point in time because I am not quite done making it.

Unfortunately, due to us both catching that gnarly cold that I already whined about to you, we never had the big elaborate meal and romantic evening that I had schemed. But we will. Next week. Or as soon as I can breathe out of my nose again without sounding like Darth Vader. “Fffffffffft, feeeewwwwwwwt. Ffffffffffft, feeeeeeewwwwt. Baby, I love you. Ffffffffft…..” Yeah, not hot.

In the meantime, though, turns out Mike planned an adventure for us. Only, he’s not telling me what it is. A SURPRISE!! OH GOODY!! WHAT IS IT?? LET ME GUESS! NO WAIT I DON’T WANT TO KNOW, I WANT TO BE SURPRISED! OHMYGOSHSOEXCITEDWHOA.

So tomorrow we’re waking up super early to do………something.

Recipe for awesome day: Coffee, eggs, SURPRISES!!!!

Ok, I’m done eating. Let’s go do the surprise!!!!!!!!

One Year

Posted on September 18th, 2011 by Tonia 4 Comments

September 18, 2010

Dear Mike,

Being married to you is awesome. This has been a pretty ideal first year. We’re so blessed to have each other, this little homestead, and our sweet dog.

Today- instead of decorating the house and cooking the big fancy meal I planned- we sat on the couch together, played Mexican Train Dominoes, watched the Packers beat the Panthers, and ate chili {the easiest recipe in the world: two cans black beans, two cans sweet corn, a big bottle of chunky salsa, and a bunch of shredded cheddar.} We’re both feeling under the weather and just needed a really mellow day.

It was perfect, I loved every minute of it. Happy anniversary to my favorite husband ever!!

I Love You,

Tonia

P.S. It was really fun to go back and read all the posts about our wedding. Man-alive was that fun. I wish we could do it all over again every year: Setting up/rehearsal, getting ready, the ceremony, the details, the dinner, the dancing, the next day.