Dave and I were talking this week about how wildly full life has been lately, a state which is guaranteed to continue for some time! The thing is, we focus on the most important people and go from there. So we don’t get to casually accept invitations often, or hang out in our pjs every weekend. Our days of lounging with novels for hours or taking a spur of the moment trip won’t return for years! But that’s ok.

We’re both at points in our career, where we are passionate about what we do and feel like we know how to use our whole skill sets. On the home front, we’ve consciously traded all of that earlier freedom for a madhouse brimming with family, laundry, kids’ books and mismatched and uncapped markers. And as wild as that can get, we have no regrets.

So we’re adjusting our mindset to accommodate for all of those choices, and have recognized that we have elected to live an intensely concentrated life – rich as berry sorbet or awesome custard. And we revel in the complexity and layered experiences, almost all the time.

And on days, when we have to admit we’re craving a “salad” life for just a moment, we remind each other of how much this intensity suits us. We give each other a little extra snooze on a weekend morning, or ignore the dishes for one night. We may have to turn down an evening with friends, miss a movie, or sleepwalk through a conversation, but the overall outcome is a life full of love, discovery, and no regrets.

As we gear up for the holiday season, it all feels so worthwhile – and the kids at these ages are feeling all of the holiday feels. They’re ecstatic about seeing their cousins and decorating for Christmas. They want to bake and play in snow. And we get to do it all with them. So our gratitude on Thanksgiving is for these tiny people, who’ve made our lives so much more worth living. We continue into our fierce joy!