Celebrating Our First Anniversary

“The days are long, but the years are short,” -Gretchin Rubin. This quote is perhaps the most true that I have read this year. Although some days may have felt very long, this past year has flown by in a blink. Matthew and I were married on June 16th of last year and our first anniversary has already come to pass. How can that be? 

My first feeling was awe, then gratitude, followed by some sadness. Awe because I am so amazed that an entire year has already gone by. Gratitude because I am so thankful, through every high and low in our lives, Matthew has stood by me and offered his love and his strength. There have been some times in my life where I feel like “I’ve got this,” simply because he was there holding my hand. And of course there was the inevitable sadness, because as thankful as I am, I also do not want our lives to change too fast. I want to live in this moment and keep it, although I know just like the short lifespan of the lupine flowers in June, our lives will also bloom and fade away. One year has already gone by so quickly, that I do not want more to simply pass us by. Yet, I know we do our best to make the most of our time together on this earth, sometimes we do take our time for granted and nothing we have together is permanent. Which, in a circle of events, fills my heart with even more gratitude. 

To celebrate our first wedding anniversary Matthew decided that he wanted to go on a local New England adventure to the White Mountains in New Hampshire, a little more than a four hour drive from home. We rented an Airbnb cabin on a lake and made plans to see the lupine flowers on Sugar Hill. About this time last year we were on our way to France where we stood in the early morning sun in a lavender field in Valensole. The film photo below was taken on our honeymoon. This year, we kind of-sort of recreated that moment in the lupine fields. It was actually Matthew’s idea for me to bring a long dress and to wake up for photos at sunrise. 

Waking up early in the morning (before 4:30 to get ready and be there by 5 a.m. sunrise) was not fun, but oh so worth it. The sunrise was the brightest part of the day. Immediately after the sun came up, clouds filled the sky. We were lucky that they parted in the middle of the day before it rained in the evening. 

The lupine flower is pronounced “loo-pen.” I asked a few locals how to pronounce them and they seemed just as lost as I was. After calling them “loo-pines, “lo-peens,” and “loo-pins,” I finally looked up how to see it on dictionary.com. These beautiful purple flowers cover small fields on the mountains during the beginning to mid June. New England has plenty of wild flowers, but we’re not very well known for our large flower fields. The lupine fields of New Hampshire are a unique New England treasure. 

Matthew took this amazing drone photo at sunrise: 

Within seconds the bright morning sunrise faded into this soft dreamy light through the clouds. 

For trekking into the lupine fields I changed into some overalls and rain boots. My rain boots were the best thing I packed for this trip as the fields were pretty wet with the recent rain. 

Across from one of the fields is the cutest Pancake Parlor we ever did see. We stopped here for breakfast a little after seven and they were already pretty busy. I’ll be sharing more photos of the trip and how to plan your own stay, including more about Polly’s Pancake Parlor. 

The rest of the day was spent exploring Franconia State Park. We took the tram up Cannon Mountain, had lunch at the top, and hiked the rim trail. 

From up top you can see Canada, New York, Vermont, and Maine with the 360 degree views! 

The end of our afternoon was spent hiking the flume gorge before driving back to our Airbnb on Burns Lake. 

Before making the drive home we stopped by the lupine flower fields one last time and met this lovely horse. She walked right up to us, rolled around like a kitten, got back up on her feet and continued to snack away on the grass. 

I am so thankful for our first year together and so blessed that we live in this beautiful part of the country where we were able to escape for a quiet mountain retreat. I will be sharing more posts about our trip, including how to spend a weekend in the White Mountains and how to enjoy the Lupine Festival in Sugar Hill.