It's a TEN

A blog worthy milestone: The Bradlee Duncan's celebrated 10 years of marriage this month. Here's the thing about marriage (mawage...). You can never predict what problems you will face as newly wedded and blissed out on love. And the problems you do inevitably face as a couple, as a family, and as a deeply flawed human being, are never what you think they will be. At our ten year mark I'm not going to write that I'm grateful for the challenges we have faced, even though I might admit that sentiment in an honest conversation with a friend. That particular colloquialism has the tendency to sound trite. Because those challenges are real, are hard, it hurts, and we are equally human. I will say that marriage continues to be a refining process for both of us and if there is one thing I know for certain, it is we are yoked in this partnership equally together. I'm often amazed at where his strengths pick up where I'm lacking and vice versa. Ultimately I'm grateful for his easy temperament and passion for life. He's thoughtful and the true romantic in our relationship. He's my confidant and sounding board. My #1 fan. He sticks his long bony cold freezing feet on me. every. single. night. But you know what? He's still the one.

With two young babies and newly house poor it wasn't in the cards for extravagant gift giving or vacationing this year. Brad took the day off of work which was absolute heaven for me. We had lunch at our favorite little cafe in the avenues just like we did after our temple ceremony and just like we do every year on our anniversary. We hiked Ensign Peak. We had take-out pizza for dinner. We played with our kids with the purpose of really enjoying them. It was a right perfect day indeed.

Happy Anniversary my love. I love us.

"Did I catch a niner in there?"

Fact: nine years ago today married my best friend. It's been a wild ride! Sometimes BD will snuggle against me and say "I love my life with you." It's such a small thing, but oh how I love to hear those simple words. The feeling is completely mutual. I thought it would be more romantic to meet him at a restaurant for dinner (instead of my usual frantic rush around the house) and he was so surprised that I showed up without Bee! (Thank our lucky stars for Aunt Jen!). I had such butterflies driving over to meet him. When I pulled up, he greeted me with a big kiss, flowers, and a small gift. I'll never forget it! It was fun to have a quiet dinner alone with him and no little fingers grabbing at water glasses and dropping napkins. We only talked about Bee most of the time. We got home in time for daddy to read Bee a bedtime story and indulge with some of our favorite treats. It was pretty perfect. For our 9th anniversary we did something totally hip and sexy and spontaneous and ... bought a couch. Happy AnniversaryMerryChristmasBirthdayfor5years to us!
I love you, my loverness ;)

Eight is Great (and getting even better!)

Aw, shucks

Just so you know, I don't particularly love these pictures of us but sometimes being picky is only going to make matters worse and will never make matters skinnier. So. This particularly beautiful fall evening we were up Millcreek Canyon taking Russ & Jana's engagement photos and Jana-bless her-insisted on snapping a few of us. After all, it was the day before our anniversary. The kissing photo? Well, that was because as 8 year veterans we felt obligated to show the rookie newlywedstobe how it is done properly. Like this. You see? Instructional purposes only. Plus, I love him, so it was an easy sell.
Eight years ago I would not have been able to guess even one single detail about our life together today. It is nothing how I imagined it would be. Literally everything from where we live, where he works, where I work, (and don't get me started on my hair) is completely different than what we had envisioned. Spoiler: it's actually better. (Not necessarily my hair but we're working on that, too). Because 8 years after the cake and the honeymoon when you're holding sweaty, nervous hands with someone in the Dr.'s office you'd better be sure it's someone who is willing to fight in the trenches of life with you. Sometimes it is the surprises that make life better and even BEST.
Now, he will probably always set multiple alarm clocks separately to randomly odd times (like 6:13 and 6:26 am-I.am.not.joking) and I will probably never be willing to iron his dress shirts, let alone be able to do it correctly. Yet, this thing this we do every day called marriage somehow works. Because when we need it most, he will carry my rock of burden and I will carry his. We're both learning how best not to drop it on each others toes. This makes the plenitude of sweet moments, big triumphs, and even small victories that we share all the more treasured. He's my lobster. Need I say more?
Of course I do. We did take a day last weekend to slip away and spend some time together. Although, ahem, he did work for most of it. Come to think of it, lounging alone in bed all morning watching the Food Network didn't seem to bother me much. He gets a free pass. BD ordered room service for breakfast because when BD's on vacation BD gets spendy, folks! This is what I found when I did finally emerge from bed: a 60 year old version of my husband, clad in white robe, reading the newspaper, and waiting patiently to eat his spicy man breakfast complete with hash browns and sausage and a whole side of Tobasco. Flash back to present day and if in 30 years I happen find this exact situation again, I'll consider myself the luckiest lady (or grandma?) that ever kept a man from his breakfast.

xoxo

Brought to you by the letters L, O, V, and E and the number SEVEN

This month we celebrated our 7th anniversary which actually felt like the 57th. I know I'm supposed to say that it feels like yesterday when we blah blah blah. It certainly wasn't yesterday and being together 7 years shy of eternity just doesn't happen overnight. Sorry. Seven years ago I had this plan, actually I think we had the same plan, but anyways our plan was perfect. Trust me, it was a really good plan. I am here to report that the only thing still original to our plan and our present is that we're still married. I suppose that's the beauty and the irony of the mishap that is my life. All those surprises along the way have given us good cause to stretch and challenge ourselves in ways that we wouldn't have otherwise. So thank you, Universe, for that. Your attempts at sabotage are duly noted, but you'll notice that we're doing just fine. Thriving, actually. Thank the heavens for that. Thank our gracious Father in Heaven for being there when we've needed Him most. 

"The past is the past and the future is perfect."

On our anniversary we happened to be downtown at Temple Square for Regional Conference. It was rainy and cold, but we were happy and content to just be together. Then we snuck over to the same little Italian cafe where we had lunch exactly 7 years ago and ate the same chicken curry salad over greens. I love tradition. The only thing that could have made the day more perfect was a Sunday nap, which you can trust I enjoyed for a solid 3 hours that afternoon. Cheers to us, eternity, imperfection, curry salad, naps and the lucky number 7.

Looking Back, Looking Forward

Surreal
Remembering the cool misty October morning when we wed
Life seemed so simple
Yet so complete in the basement of that little white house
Where being together was the only thing that mattered
And we were right where we needed to be
Real
Six short years later
Life is a bit more complicated and a little less simple
Plenty of ups and downs and highs and lows
Yet being together is still the only thing that matters
And we are right where we need to beXOXO

My kind of town, Chicago is

Where to even start...
We packed in so much "stuff" on this trip, and for good reason: who knows when we'll be able to go back. But first, we celebrated our 4th Wedding Anniversary. 4 years has passed so quickly, it's mind blowing. I love being married to my best friend and high school sweetheart. Chicago was the perfect place to spend a few days playing around together without work or school or real life in our way. Our good friends Andy and Alex let us crash at their place, which was so gracious of them. It was tons of fun to hang with them again. We've missed them since they moved from our ward to Chicago for med school. Maybe, just maybe and with a lot of luck and prayers, we'll be joining them in the Windy City next year...cross your fingers! Tighter! We visited The Art Institute of Chicago because we had sadly neglected it on previous trips. It was amazing. I realize that this next part may be boring for some of you, just sit still and it will be over before you know it.

We tagged along with a school class on tour with one of the museum curators. This sneaky maneuver turned out to be a great way to learn interesting facts about famous paintings, for free. Did you know, the Art Institute has the best collection of Impressionist paintings in the U.S.? Monet, Manet, Renior...they all live in Chicago.
Two Piet Mondrian's on display, my lucky day. The one I'm looking at is Lozenge Composition with Yellow, Black, Blue, Red, and Gray (1921) . Exquisite.
Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman. Gimme gimme. This chair was introduced on NBC's "Today" show in 1957 and has become the icon of modern furniture. Bear with me...
You can't be American and not recognize this painting by Grant Wood called American Gothic (1930). This is one of the most parodied images of our time and continues to reflect the struggle between traditional values and modern progress which is ever present in our culture, even today.

Almost done. Georgia O'Keefe's Cow's Skull with Calico Roses (1931). Love it, but you can't appreciate how "soft" it is from the photograph.

Brad and I walked all over the city during those few days. Our legs were not quite used to all that city walking, so we stopped often to take pictures. Brad was in heaven with his camera. He and Andy had way too much fun showing off their photog skillz while me and Alex hit Michigan Avenue for the shopping. We decided that we need an "Andy and Alex" wherever we go. Andy can go with Brad to take pictures and Alex can come with me for all the fun stuff. We did manage to buy Brad a nice suit, first one since the mission. If he's going to be interviewing for medical school soon, he might as well look presentable. I love the suit, but it makes me feel old and all grown up-ish. Ew. Andy gave us a quick tour of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine which is located in downtown Chicago. The campus was SO impressive. Brad loved it and we're now praying for an interview there as well. I could definitely live in Chicago, if I was forced to.

View from Thomas' Sun Deck. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Thanks again Andy and Alex! Until next time...

2 Year Anniversary

I surprised Brad with a nights stay in Deer Valley for our second anniversary. This picture is from the balcony of our room. It was such a blast!

Our First Blog Entry

So, we finally got out of the 20th century and created our own blog!! This is a place where we will post the latest haps with our family for anybody or nobody that wants to read it.

To start off, I (Brad) will give a brief history of our family. We have been married for two years today and if what they say is true about the first year (and second for that matter) being the hardest, then I think I really love this marriage stuff! =) We just got back from a weekend of relaxation at the Stein Erikson lodge in Deer Valley, and we've just been doing a lot of playing over the last few weekends. Last week we were at Arches for Gina's first time there, and we had a blast! There will be more from that trip to come in later posts as I get some pics ready to post, etc. Well, that's probably all I can think of for now, so until next time.... au revoir!