it goes like this: the fourth, the fifth

I got married.

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It was perfect.

(His face in that middle picture. I can't. I cry every time.)

This isn't from today - it was taken on Sunday, on the beach - but it's too amazing to not share.

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Bookworm life.

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Getting away today was a good idea. Yeah, it cost us a lot in terms of usable time - for sure we could have spent those hours doing the many wedding chores we still have ahead - but we really needed the break, and the time alone together.

So I am just no good at Snaptember, friends. Between wedding prep (only 8 days away, HOLY SHIT) and Vegan MoFo, I keep forgetting for days at a time. Maybe this year was not the year to try it.

Still, here are some photos. I'm surprised and pleased that they're not all of food.

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Tomorrow we're taking the day off from, well, everything and taking a day trip to the coast. I need to put my feet in the Pacific. It's been a year, and I get antsy and sad. And we both really need the break - the ability to catch our breath from wedding stress, the time away from our everyday business... but mostly, time alone with just each other and nothing else. I can hardly wait.

I helped one of our kiddults bleach and dye her hair today.

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While I was working on that, our friend who is officiating our wedding came over, and we all talked about the structure of the ceremony and worked out a fair bit of the wording. Progress feels good, especially since it's only 13 (!!!) days away.

I'm still trying to get back to my regular level of activity after surgery. I get tired easily, It's a bummer.

This weekend was so busy that I flat-out forgot about Snaptember until right now.

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We were out in the world a lot this weekend. We got a lot of wedding stuff done, which is good, because it's in two weeks and we are not ready.

I'm tired.

My therapist shares space with another therapist, in an old midcentury house in Ballard. Her partner does lots of impressive gardening in the front yard, both flowers and vegetables.

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I started PTSD treatment a few months ago. It's necessary and hard and sucky and awful and for the best. I often hate it, but I still go every week, because I need to. I don't want to spend the rest of my life debilitated by trauma. Now that I'm safe, and supported, and tremendously loved, I can do the work I need to do to get better. Falling in love with Mike and building this incredible relationship means I'm always looking towards the future.

No matter how hard it is, though, I always get to enter and leave through a magnificent garden, with roses, grapes, dahlias, lavender, tomatoes, strawberries, kale, and more. And that always makes everything feel a bit better.

What I did today:
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I made 11 quarter pints and 2 half pints of gorgeous blackberry jam today, with berries we got at the farmers market. The quarter pints (along with the dozen I made a before my gallbladder surgery) are favors for our wedding. We're also giving out books and Mike's homemade coffee liqueur. It's going to be amazing!

It's not midnight here, so I'm not late!

Our last rose of the year.

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It's a Rainbow Sorbet we got at the farmers market, if you're curious. It lives in front of our house.

I'm not ready for summer to be over. We've only had one picnic, and no date picnics. We've only played Frisbee once. We haven't been to Richmond Beach at all. We haven't taken the dog to the park enough.

I always get panicked when summer is ending.