THAT WASN'T QUITE HOW I IMAGINED IT (part one)...

so many thoughts are running wild in my head these days.

join me this week, as i attempt to put just a few of them into words.

i welcome you to "that wasn't quite how i imagined it" week.

it's been ten years since i graduated college and left abilene with my aunt, uncle and pipsqueak cousins, ages 2 and 3. we climbed onto a bus, then a plane, then another bus and arrived in oxford, england for four months.  i imagined i would always share a sweet bond with my cousins i helped take care of each day there. and that was correct.

what i didn't imagine, was how that trip would change my life. how i would fall in love with a guy while we were there. how i got a preview of what a great dad that guy would be watching him with my cousins. and i didn't imagine how one day we would have three kids of our own that i would get to take care of each day.

when i went to england, i was imagining sightseeing with my family and independently. i was not imagining how i would also enjoy being friends with the thirty students in my uncle's classes. but it didn't take long to discover i still throughly enjoyed hanging out with sophomores in college. especially one named evan. which led to a a small group of us going to the french riviera for a long weekend. monte carlo and nice, france to be exact. 

on valentine's day 2003, evan and i enjoyed a late dinner eating pasta and laughing with friends at a restaurant in france. i didn't imagine how valentine's day ten years later, evan and i would still be eating a valentine's pasta dinner together and laughing with friends. just now it's in our own kitchen with pint-sized friends, heart-shaped ravioli from costco, and a side of a few meltdowns.

it was on the flight to france that this infamous conversation happened between the two of us: "i've decided you are probably one of my top five favorite people." (when he looked surprised i shook it off and added a disclaimer) "all i mean, is i really like hanging out with you. a lot. "ev: "well you are probably one of my top five people too, i was just surprised i ranked so high since you know a lot more people than i do." me: "good point. okay, you are in my top ten favorite people then." 

i imagined correctly how much i'd always love living life with evan. but it was impossible to imagine how our hearts would expand for these three little people that have been added to our favorite people list too. there are so many twists and turns along the way, even my crazy imagination couldn't create these scenarios.