Two years ago I wrote a post called Patience and Persistence. It talked about the journey of writing and how long it can take to get published. At that time I hadn’t sold ALL WE LEFT BEHIND yet, but I was making a comparison between the long haul of writing and my relationship. You see my boyfriend had just proposed to me after 10 years of dating. Yup, it took him 10 years of courtship to get down on one knee, and it took almost as long for a publishing house to give me a contract. These things take time.

Well, two years later, which has been another exercise in patience and persistence, both of those dreams are coming true. ALL WE LEFT BEHIND comes out in December, and…

I’M GETTING MARRIED this week!

All those gorgeous paper flowers I’ve been slaving over will have their moment to sparkle in the Southern Utah sun as I say “I do” to the love of my life. There’s a lot of build up to this day. 12 years of courtship, 2 years of planning, 8 months of paper flower making. There have been lots of road blocks … quite literally. In fact, a giant bolder is currently blocking the road to my wedding location: 

I remain optimistic.

The park service says the road will be cleared by wedding day. But even if this rock doesn’t get moved, we’ll find another way. 8-months-of-paper-flower-making-be-dammed, I’ll still marry my fiance in his parents backyard if I have to.

The point is the path is slow. It’s full of dreams and anticipation. It’s full of giant boulders in our paths. But eventually, those beautiful visions of the future are standing at our feet. And even if they aren’t the way we imagined them, we ought to fiercely embrace them.

Raise a glass to realizing your dreams this week, and I’ll see you on the other side … the married side!