Time Keeps on Ticking

Campbell Photography

Time.
How do you put time into perspective? How do you manage the passing days, months and years? Do we take the time to tell the people that we love how much they mean to us? Aaron and I celebrated seven wonderful years of marriage on New Year's Eve. Our anniversary falls right smack in the middle of Christmas and Valentine's Day. As we approached the anniversary of our wedding day this year it had me feeling all kinds of emotions and feelings...maybe it's all of these babies that have done a number on my hormones or maybe I'm just getting wiser with my age and I'm really taking time to truly reflect on everything that I hold dear in my life- like time and what little of it we are given.

Time.
There was a time about eight years ago on a cold winter night when a six-foot-two tall drink of water walked into my life (sent me a facebook message) and everything that I thought I knew changed in an instant. Meeting this man and feeling all of the feelings that I felt right away took me by surprise because during my college years I told myself I didn't want to settle down and have children. I was determined to graduate from college and set the world on fire. I was prepared to get a job in a city and immerse myself in different cultures and experiences. I wanted to be well fed, well read and travel.

Campbell Photography

Time.
Well, sometime later, a few months after graduation... into my life walks Aaron Hess. He basically took my perfectly round and sparkly world as I knew it and turned it on its head. All of a sudden I wanted things I never wanted before. I always wanted to get married eventually; I mean I had my wedding planned down to the very last detail since the time my mom bought me my very first 'Brides' magazine in the Yoder's checkout line at age 9. I had begged for a subscription for weeks after that, and once it started coming monthly in the mail I would clip pictures, make image boards and design endless lines of dresses. I even designed what I thought would be my own gown one day, all five of them; you can never have enough backups, right? But here I was, 21 years old, standing in front a man — and this time I wanted to be his wife, not just his bride. I wanted to actually settle down and share a life with someone. So I put my trust in the unknown and the universe, threw all of my future plans out of the window, and I took a giant leap of faith. My choices did not disappoint and all of the uncertainty surrounding my decisions paid off.

Time.
At the time, Aaron was an over the road truck driver, and he traveled coast to coast every other week. So, I quit my job once we were married and I went on the road with him. And yes, it was traveling and it was fun, but it was not jet-setting, champagne brunches, and room service by any means. In reality, it was trucking through the night, running the white lines, iron skillet salad buffets, and Petro truck stop showers. It ended up being some of the best moments for us on the road together. Because we had a shorter courtship (89 days to be exact), the one-on-one time together really gave us a chance to connect and grow as a couple. I mean, when you are in a 6 x 6 box with someone 24 hours a day you really get to know them, all of them. And for us, those long days and nights together helped us to set a strong foundation. But honestly, the real growth, the real connecting and settling in together as a couple happened after Aaron retired from the road and we were back home on the farm when the babies started arriving, and the normalcy of everyday life started to settle in. While we are still growing and expanding as a couple like we always will, our days ahead and our future has never looked brighter. We take the time to listen to each other or understand each other and we wake up every day choosing to give each other the time that we have here on earth.

Campbell Photography

Now, when it came to selecting something to give Aaron to commemorate our seven years together and the upcoming Valentines holiday I had a hard time deciding. This year was the year of 'desk sets', my farmer doesn't need a desk set and he doesn’t enjoy sweets or chocolates. He's an impossible person to shop for and I always struggle but thanks to JORD watches I'm able to gift him a beautifully crafted wooden Stacked Sandalwood & Olive With Ivory watch. A symbol of the time we have put in and the time that we will continue to put into the life that we are building together. He's not a ‘big accessory guy’ and doesn’t often wear things on his hands and wrists- but he really loves this watch. He’s a big fan of the look and quality so it already became a date night staple. Now, for some really exciting news JORD has partnered with me in a giveaway- ALL entrants will receive a 10% off instant coupon code and ONE lucky person will win a $100 gift code to use on the JORD site!

-To enter the giveaway click here -

And while you're waiting to see if you are the lucky winner and want to use your 10% off code you can check out their men's shop here, and their women's shop here.

Wooden Wrist Watch Goodluck, everyone! Your special someone will love these watches, you can even get them engraved to tell them exactly what they mean to you.

*this post is sponsored by JORD watches and contains an affiliate link*

Wooden Wrist Watch