Friday was an absolutely beautiful day. After a round trip to Lansing to finish some paperwork, I wanted nothing to do with the indoors, computers, work or cars. So Justin and I went to the arb for a little while. He'd never been, which, given my current proclivities, made me all the most insistent that we go as soon as possible. I've come to really adore showing people new things and convincing them to do new things. Other than drugs. I have no desire to convince people to try drugs.
The point is that I was delighted to go for a walk in the arb with Justin. Its such a gorgeous place and being outside is a simple pleasure I'd forgotten for a long time. So we walked around, laid out on the grass in this stunning open field and watched the world drift by for a little while. I showed him all my favorite places (yes, I have favorite places in the arb) and just stopped to enjoy the smells and sounds and sights for a little while.
As we were leaving, we noticed a few trees that had hearts and names carved into them. Without thinking, I blurted out that I'd never had my name carved into a tree before.
...and Justin is super sweet...
We decided not to go the full nine and carve the kinds of hearts and initials we saw on the other trees because, well, I'm pretty sure that hurts the tree. So he just traced an outline of a heart and his and my initials as lightly as possible. Usually I'd apologize for the cop-out, but I actually found it more sweet that he didn't carve a huge permanent heart. Neither of us wanted to hurt the tree or cause any kind of damage to the arb, but he still wanted to help me with my new thing for the day and do something romantical.
It was nice to have such a joyful afternoon. It got me thinking about how much more joy I've felt this year than ever before. I can chalk it up to a lot of things, but I think it all comes down to having my eyes open. I didn't have my eyes open to the beauty of the world around me for a long time and now I do. Turns out the universe is a pretty amazing place, if you bother to stop and see it for a while.
You guys are adorable! :-D
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