To my high school sweetheart on our 18th anniversary // 31 Days of Letters to my Family // Angelsea Urban

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What is 31 Days?

It’s that time of year again! Starting October 1st, I’ll be a participant in The Nester’s 31 days Writing Challenge. The purpose is to exercise the writing muscles, dig deeper into topics that you want to explore and to practice honing in on your writing styles. Last year my topic was: 31 days to an Organized Life & Business. I wrote about taking some of my own advice and taking you along on my journey to a life reset. I shared some tips on everything from bookkeeping, shopping, managing kids, intentional parenting, work from home mom syndrome, work/life balance, spiritual reset and more. Not because I am the expert in these fields, but because they have worked for me in the past, and I so badly needed them in my own life and often we neglect ourselves while we are busy working with others.

This year we have had some interesting things that keep pointing us back to the heartbeat of my purpose in all of my business, ministry, artistic and personal endeavors: FAMILY. So when thinking about a topic to write about for an entire month, I decided to keep it simple and just write letters to my own family. It’s a activity I ask for my portrait clients to try in the Story of Family Experience, and even emphasize with my coaching and consulting clients when outlining their goals for prioritizing a business life that gets them home in time for dinner with their family. But as we often joke about the plumber’s pipes always being leaky, I fall short of dedicating enough intentional time to writing letters to my own family. And so here we are.

If you are a writer, I invite you to join us in the challenge here:  Write 31 Days

You can follow along on my blog here with this 31 Days Project 2015.

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My dearest love,

My camera broke on my iPhone on the way to our long awaited anniversary vacation. Judging by the literal 6,540 photos that reside there, you know this is crippling for me to be without. That with every walk around the block in this quaint and picturesque town, you see my sadness regarding the 372 tiny pieces of art I am missing out on creating.

You could tell me it’s not a big deal and we can deal with it when we get home. But after 22 years by my side, you know me. You know the words in my heart before I even need to speak them.

So here we are sitting at an Apple store in Montreal apparently winning the lottery of a recall on faulty cameras. It’s sunny and beautiful when it could be cold and raining, and yet we sit for a 3 hour wait for a repair.

And all the while you are smiling at me. Telling me it’s part of our adventure and that anything we do together is always worthwhile. Even sitting for hours at a Genius Bar blogging slowly on a french keyboard with funky punctuations all in the wrong places.

Tomorrow we celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary. Big time.

Because you didn’t want to wait until our 20th. >>Life is too short to worry about rounded numbered anniversaries. << (Those are French Quotation marks, apparently).

And so we celebrate 18 years since we said >> I do<<.

I still do. Big time.

Because I thought I loved you, then. 

That young girl at the alter loved you with her whole heart then. But she had no idea that God has something else in mind entirely. Through these years that heart has molded and changed and matured in ways never even fathomed.

Today’s adventure may just be sitting for hours at the Genius Bar yawning from this morning’s smoky fire drill evacuation in our PJs.

Thank you for sitting with me for hours smiling during a phone repair. Thank you for prioritizing our marriage honouring our relationship.

I cannot wait to look back on the next 18 years and say, I cannot believe there was even more.

Happy Anniversary my love!

 

Hopelessly in love at the Genius Bar,

Angie,

XOXOXO

 

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UrbanFamily-1116Angelsea Urban is aentrepreneur and photographer helping familiesto nourish their homes, relationships andbusinesses through meaningful portrait photography, business consulting and management for entrepreneurs, teaching practical stewardship and home management systems, and creating simple products and tools that maximize the quality of our lives.Her unique photography work focuses onRedefining the Family Portrait Experienceby tellingthe story of familythrough personalized foundations while creating a space to strengthen family bonds throughout the experience. As a certified tax professional and seasoned business consultant, Angelsea has helped the careers of photographers, restaurateurs, musicians and general small business owners through teaching, workshops, coaching, and hands on consulting. She serves in several ministries and is a Board Member and the Director of Operations for Starve Poverty International. She has photographed for families, brides, Bravo TV, NFL Films, and more and has been published inmultiple blogs and magazine print for her work in photography and in strategic business management. Angelsea teaches and photographs throughout the United States, and resides with her husband of 17 years, their two children, and their barely 3 pound Yorkie near Long Beach Island, New Jersey.

To book your session with Angelsea Urban, please visit www.angelseaurban.com

For education and consulting opportunities, please visit www.urbanrg.com

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