#1,835 The 6th Year Book.

If you’ve been reading here for longer than a year, you know about the books.

The books are my favorite possessions.

At the end of each year, usually around our anniversary (marriage or dating), Ben makes these little books for me that document his perspective on the best things from each month of our marriage that year. Every single entry ends with “I love you.”

It all started with the tiny handmade book Mallorie and our roommates handed to me in Square Books that September afternoon in 2007. Ben had been watching me in my bookmaking classes, and made one of his own that told the story of a couple meeting and falling in love in college. I read it downstairs near the Southern writers section while Ben was waiting upstairs on the balcony with an antique ringbox, ready for me to walk up where he would finish the story with a marriage proposal.

Every year since, he’s written a book that’s kind of like his own condensed version of this blog—his side of the story of our life together for the year, documented in 12 sweetly written letters. Tonight, he gave me our 6th year book. The traditional gift for the 6th anniversary is iron, so the book has a metal plate that he engraved by hand with a dremmel.

My favorite part this year came from his January entry, that says:

So January was a slow month for business, big deal. We obviously survived and learned a lot from it. We now know that God had a big plan for that slow month. It was very important that work be easy for you for a couple months afterward*. Even the slow months are pretty great, though. I don’t know what our future will be like, but I will always remember how great it was to have a slow January and February after a busy December. Whatever happens, I know that I’ll love every peak and every valley with you. I love you.


*Surgery #1, surgery #2! How could I have possibly fulfilled and shipped it all in February and March if we had had a normal, busy winter? God always knows exactly what he’s doing, even if it scares me to death. 2014 taught me how to walk by faith, not by sight.

I just can’t hardly wait to make another year with him and I really can’t wait to see what story the next book tells.

To be continued!