Enjoying It

In a mere thirteen days I will be a Mrs. and I like that. A lot.

I absolutely should not be writing a blog right now. I should be sleeping. Or, at least if I'm not sleeping, I should be working on wedding things. But I am fooling myself into believing that it doesn't need to be done tonight... whatever "it" is. I'm ready for the wedding to be here. I am ready to post a blog showing you all some awesome pictures of all of the things that have been made by my parents, Trey and myself. It has been awesome DIY-ing so many things, and I am SO grateful for my parents (and Trey's) willingness to help with everything! Getting married at my parents house, at the place I grew up, is such an awesome thing. I know that I took it all for granted as I was actually growing up, but now, now I truly appreciate every little thing about this place.

There are so many simple, lovely memories that come back to me every time I stroll through the yard: rolling and sledding down the hill back by the pond, which apparently is not all that big... playing baseball/soccer/football in the yard in front of the barn... playing countless games of horse/1on1/2on2 in the driveway... swinging on the swings just to get to the highest point so we could jump off on the count of three... getting "under-dogs" on the tire swing and quitting when my brothers would start to spin me so much and so fast that I thought I would die... hunting Easter eggs... riding horses... playing in the sand box... running through the sprinklers... building snowman families and igloos... skating on the pond... raking all of the leaves into one huge pile so we could jump in them just to realize that no matter how many leaves we put in one pile, the ground under them was still very much solid and painful... following mom from garden to garden pretending to help weed but having no idea what a weed was in comparison to a potentially gorgeous flower (sorry mom, for probably pulling out a whole lot of your flowers)... playing fetch with the dogs... lining the cars up for our own car washes... asking dad to help me fix/build something and standing next to him while he did it... I enjoyed it.

And inside the house has it's own endless list of vivid, beautiful memories: playing dress-up with the daycare kids (even the boys)... racing matchbox cars down a ramp and fighting to get the fastest car... building all sorts of unrecognizable things out of Legos... coloring in coloring books at the table and always being the last one to get bored with it... helping mom make snack... playing dolls and barbies in my room, often by myself, simply changing their clothes and putting them away... playing cards and board games... Christmas time when the living room gets filled with Tuperware bins FULL of holiday decor... dying Easter eggs... sliding down the stairs in sleeping bags... building blanket forts... Friday night pizza on a blanket in the living room watching TGIF... the smell of mom's caramel rolls fresh from the oven... hearing the cuckoo clock every 15 minutes... dad waking me up and making me put my feet on the floor before he would leave my room... playing Monopoly until everyone was mad at everyone so we were told it was time to stop, at which point we were all ready to quit anyway... dinner conversations... praying with  my parents before I went to sleep...  I enjoyed it.

This place is what I know. It is everything I grew up knowing to be a home. Until I moved out to go to college, I didn't know people lived any differently. I had a blessed childhood and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I continue to have a blessed life and I am enjoying it now as well. In the next two weeks, I know I will become overwhelmed at different points by the details of our wedding day and I know it will be hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, the rainbow after the storm, the prize at the finish line. But, when all is said and done, I will enjoy the day. Yes, I want it to be gorgeous. I want it to be fun. I want it to be perfect. But really, that's not what's important. I will spend my last moments as a Downing in the place I spent all of my firsts, and, come the end of the day, I will be married to my best friend and I will be an Erickson. I have been reminded by many people to, "enjoy it; it all goes by so fast." And so, that is what I plan to do. 

I will enjoy getting ready in the house I got ready in for so many years. I will enjoy taking too many pictures to count in the yard I played in so many days. I will enjoy sharing the day with our closest friends and family. I will enjoy praising the Lord, through it all, and spending time in worship. I will enjoy all of the hard work we put in to make the day happen. I will enjoy my Trey, my best friend, my HUSBAND, because I love him. Whatever the Lord blesses me with, not only on June 23rd, but always, I will do my best to enjoy it. 

-Han