the little things: summer 2016 edition

Personal

Happy Friday friends! Can you believe that it is ALREADY the end of September?! I turned to Ben this morning and informed him that my birthday month officially begins tomorrow (because I can’t argue with cake being a necessity for an entire month ; ) but seriously can’t believe it. This summer went by so very fast, and even though it’s still a million and a half degrees here in sunny ol’ Florida, October’s arrival officially makes it fall in the McLachlan household.

This summer went by in a whirlwind, so much so that when we reached the end of June and we were just getting settled in after our trip to Alaska, I made the decision to lump all of my favorite Little Things of the summer into one giant post. Because keeping track of them all amid our travels and shoots and crazy, choatic life amazingness just seemed like far too daunting a task. Which just so happens to make this post EXTRA special because these are the little things that trumped all others for the past three months! So let’s get to ’em!

The Little Things Summer 2016 Edition

The Rain

Sometimes, we can be a little cheap. Not towards the things that matter or towards the things that we know are truly worth a little splurge, but towards the normal, every day, nothing exciting things. Which is how we found ourselves walking about 12 blocks on our way to a concert one night instead of paying the $10 valet fee at the venue. We walked, and talked, and cuddled waiting for the crosswalks, and I happened to casually mention how ironic it would be if when we came out it was raining. Ya know, like in that way that Alanis sings about. (Sidenote, none of the things in that song are ironic, just absolutely terrible. Why do we not talk about this as a society?) Ben shushed me in the way he does when I apparently jinx the weather, and we went on to enjoy the rest of the night. Until, that is, we came out of the concert venue to a legitimate monsoon. Lightning crashed and the thunder roared and the rain came down in the way it did in the famous scene from The Notebook. So we waited, and waited, and after 30 minutes it just wasn’t stopping. So, we decided to make a go of it. Pants were rolled up and Ben shoved my pursed under his shirt, and we grabbed each other’s hands to start our 12 block speed walk back to the car. We were completely soaked, walk-running to every awning we could find, with Ben abruptly slowing to a snail’s walk while we had cover, only to launch into a silly rushed jog to the next one. This resulted in me being dragged along, laughing hysterically as he abruptly stopped and started again, looking like a crazy person with whiplash all 12 of those blocks. I just love the way love makes even the stormy parts of life so much better.

The Ping Pong

I’m not very good at ping pong. Or really any other activity of the athletic persuasion (unless you count juggling, which involves athletic gear, so I feel like we should). That being said, any time we have the opportunity to play any sort of game I am all about it, which is how we found ourselves playing ping pong in the middle of our Alaskan Cruise. Ben had beaten me about 7 different times (not that anyone was counting, because that would have been rude) and we were just getting ready to put our paddles up. And just as I went to hang mine on the wall, I heard him talk to someone. “Do you want to play?” I turned around and he was offering the ball to a little boy, who was probably about 7 or 8 and had been sitting by himself near the tables watching. The little boy took the ball, and he and Ben played 3-4 games while I sat and watched, thinking the whole time what a ridiculously good human I’m lucky to get to spend my days with. The kind who doesn’t do things for the credit or the glory, but just because they’re the kind of things that fill the hearts of those around him. Even the youngest of strangers who just seem to need a friend.

The Time I Mastered Fear

It could be said I can be a little bit of a wimp. I’m not the first person to line up for the droppiest of roller coasters, and I think things like skydiving and bungee jumping are incredibly unnecessary. So when we were planning all of our excursions in Alaska, I was just a *bit* panicked that Ben wanted to go on a helicopter. And zip-lining. And just spend so much time in the air in general. (Because in my mind, life is just safer when you spend it on the ground). But he convinced me that we were only going to be there once, and that so many other people had done it, and after all of his rationalizing it became apparent I really didn’t have any choice. So, we booked it all and the decision was made. Which is how I came to wake up on a Thursday morning in Alaska in a state of panic. And stayed a little panicked as we took the shuttle to the helicopter launch pad. And then proceeded to launch into full on internal turmoil when they told us that the seating would be assigned by weight, and I would not be sitting next to the only hand I had to hold inside that little airborne bubble. Ben comforted me as we put on our safety vests, and smiled reassuringly as we put on our special glacier walking shoes, and gave me an extra supportive “I love you, you won’t die” thumbs up as the staff buckled me in. I just sat mortified through it all, and when the pilot asked how I was, I simply responded “SCARED.”

But then, we were off. I didn’t have time to freak out about anything, we were simply just flying. In an instant it seemed we were up in the air and soaring over things I’d only ever seen in nature documentaries, and it was the most magical, awe-inducing, once-in-a-lifetime experiences I think I may ever have. I let my eyes relax on the white landscape below, half filled with tears of sheer amazement and the other half of thankfulness. Because (like so many other experiences of our almost 11 years together) I wouldn’t have ever been brave enough to see any of it if without the man who seems to make me believe I am.