i am the lucky one

This past weekend, I got to spend almost 3 full days with Ethan, which is hours and hours more than we usually get.

The first night--Thursday--Ethan took me to an Italian restaurant for dinner in an outdoor mall nearby and we watched the sun set from our table.

On Friday, we drove up to Venice beach for the day.  I got henna on my wrist and we bought mango and watermelon shaved ice and let the sand indent the underside of our legs as we watched the waves.  Held hands.  Dipped our toes in the ocean.

After hours and hours at the beach, we stopped on the outskirts of Venice and people-watched and browsed the stores.

My favorite was the one with all the books--on bacon and tattoos and releasing balloons into the sky so people can forget about the bad in their day.  I loved that store.  (p.s. The book about the balloons?  Called Everything That Can Happen In A Day.  For all you introspective artistes out there, I highly recommend checking it out.)

We stopped at this cute little place on the way out.

I got hibiscus watermelon lemonade and a peanut butter chocolate cookie, both of which made my tummy very happy.

We ended the day with a handful of beers and The Count of Monte Cristo playing on my small television.

On Saturday, we went to the small zoo in Orange County.  We marveled at the barn owls, made the bear talk in goofy voices, and laughed at the goats’ beards.

{This guy was my favorite. :) I just love owls.}

We then sat on a shaded park bench near the pond and talked for a long time about the future and family and watched the little boy nearby stick his face in his sno-cone while his dad taught him how to fish.

Once we got back to my house, I made Ethan dinner—this chicken parmesan recipe (which was to die for, by the way).  We drank wine over candlelight and then lay on my floor and stared at the ceiling together while I sang this song to him in the dark.

On Sunday, we went to a brewery for lunch with his sister and her husband.  And then we did nothing.  We lay together and watched Eat Pray Love and Star Trek as we counted down the very short hours, minutes, seconds we had left together before he left for another 3 weeks.

It was in Venice, though, that first day when it hit me.  While we sat in the sunshine on a Friday afternoon when I should’ve been at work.  As the flavor from our sno-cones mixed on our lips with the salt from the ocean air:





I am the richest girl in the world.

This laughter and life and love played out under the sunshine is worth more than the rarest of diamonds and it shines brighter than the purest of gold.





And while I didn't say that out loud, I couldn't help but be humbled as I scattered my praise to the heavens.





And I knew that I couldn't possibly be more blessed.





I knew that I. am. the Lucky One.





Oh,

how I am the Lucky One.