Skipping Sundays

 (or, why my husband is more sarcastic than you'd ever guess)

This is the first Sunday in 4 weeks that I've actually be awake around the time for mass.  The first 2 I was off schedule, and then last week I had been up all night with the roof leaks.  But I just didn't feel like going today.  Honestly, it's exhausting driving to church, sitting by myself (no pinky to hold), up and down off my knees (this baby is making moving about real fun lately), and I just don't want to answer any more questions about how G is doing or when he's coming home.  The answers are as always, "He's doing great" and "Soon."

So I e-mail G to tell him that I just don't want to go by myself any more.  Church has always been this thing we do together and it makes me weary to be so alone in that cavernous place.  Instead, having been up since 9:30 last night (I slept for 6 hours...ahem), I'll probably nap, get a chicken to roast for dinner, and relax a bit.  I just received G's response and I literally laughed so loud that I startled Sophie and she jumped up.

G: I have to say, I'm a little disappointed...I figured that when they asked how I'm doing over here, you would just say, "Well, he'll be much better once they get the prosthetic fitted."

Such a smartass, that husband of mine.  

Some moments I'm made well aware that I am indeed the luckiest girl in the world.  I was reading G a blog post that is going up tomorrow, and he and I were discussing it, and he said, "Yeah, I was planning on talking to you about that."  We were discussing shoes.  Why my husband was going to have to talk to me about shoes may surprise you.

I had recently told him that I didn't need an expensive pair of black pumps, that the money could best be used elsewhere.  And at the time he didn't really say anything.  I took it as a sigh of relief from him when it fact our conversation went something like this:

G: "When you mentioned giving up nice shoes I was trying to think how to gently approach this.  I felt like I was losing Kate."

Moi: (laughing) "Because I didn't want expensive shoes?"

G: "No, the shoes are just a symbol.  I didn't want to have you lose yourself."

Ahhh.  True love, my friends, true love.  He at one point in the conversation said he was glad I was back from being "zombie-Kate." 

*But can I just say I'm pretty sure he saw those nice Italian leather shoes we talk about getting him going up in smoke too?  :)

Like A Kitty

Here is my husband, eagerly watching the snow.....nevermind that he has to stand on a step stool to look out the window above our front door because I've taken up prime real estate on the couch in front of the front window.  His biggest worry today was not that we would be snowed in but that they would change the forecast and we'd only get a foot.  He desperately wants to go walking in the snow.  In fact he just now offered to walk to a cafe a few blocks away and pick up lunch.  But we already had lunch I point out.  His response?  Okay, our mid afternoon meal he says.  "What are you?" I ask, "a freakin' hobbit with your second meals?"  

"Well I like snow, " he says.  "If you need me to go out in it for any reason I will."  (having already offered to walk to the local grocery store to pick up pecans for cookies if I want them).  

Aargh!

Me:  You need to come up with a name for the house since you want to name it.

G:  Yes.  Pause

      It's bad luck to sail a ship without a name.

Me: Laughing  But we don't live in a ship.

Ahh, the crazy moments of my life when I wonder if my husband is getting too many sharpie fumes at work.  

Things About City Life

I really do love living here in this city.  The lights, the noise, the surprising friendliness of neighbors.  But some parts make me horribly sad.  It's cold and rainy here a lot, and I see plenty of homeless on our drive towards and coming back from base.  Garret had bought apples the other day and gave one to a man he saw, feeling bad that was all he had.  So we try and pack sandwiches and apples in the car when we're heading out and about.  The economy kinda sucks here, (as in a lot of places) and so we try to do a little.  I encourage you to consider doing similar things.  A peanut butter sandwich can sit in your car for a bit, and it's a source of protein.  We're hoping to remember to do things like baked potatoes as it gets colder.  Pop them in the oven an hour or so before you're leaving and it's something that provides some heat and a lot of nutrients.

We've been in the house a little over a week, and while it seems like there is always something new to worry about, we're loving it.  Baby steps, deep breaths, and lots of coffee!  This city is full of life, and the homes are colorful.  This is what I see when I look out our back window, the colors are stunning.  

Our heat hasn't been on in a few days.  It's cold outside, but our house is quite well insulated apparently.  The thermostat is set to 65, and yet it's been 70+ in here with our furnace turned off.  I don't think we're going to mind this next bill too much!  We got our new laundry machines this past week, and I am loving the little music they play when they begin and end.  Because our house is so empty with hardwood floors, you can hear it in the kitchen (and our laundry is up on the third floor).  G's become our local handyman, installing blinds and curtains.  Last night he went downstairs to check the breaker box, and accidentally set off our house alarm....boy is it loud!  I think he nearly had a heart attack as he came up muttering about needing to stick his finger in a light socket to re-start his heart!  

Sorry for the lack of posting and the lack of pics.  The house still has plenty of boxes as we figure out what will stay, what we're donating.  It keeps us busy, running errands, picking up things we forgot we would need.  I hope everyone is enjoying the fall, it's been beautiful around here, I need to take pics of the changing trees! Here is a pic on base of a grate that I fell in love with the pattern.  Very Moroccan tile-esque!

Oh, and our sweet realtor brought these over this week:

A book on Baltimore and pumpkin muffins with cream cheese frosting (that she made from scratch!).  The muffins were delicious and she was kind enough to give me the recipe, making G a very happy man.  Ahh, making a man happy by feeding him simple quick breads!

Words Are Powerful

Last night I was dancing around our hotel room.  Ballet dancing if you want specifics.  I was wound up, and when I have a bunch of energy I dance.  Normally no one else is around (this built up energy generally occurred when G was at work overnight, because when he's around we keep busy and I don't get that built up) but last night, G was in bed watching me.  When I finally calmed down enough to crawl into bed G was just staring.


Me: What?


G:  You make me wish I could paint.


Me:  Thank you.  Have you said that before?


G:  Well, I was thinking it yesterday.


Me:  No, I think you've said it before. Or else someone else has.


G:  I don't know, I think it a lot.


Words are indeed powerful.  Every day I struggle with my body issues.  Every. Single. Day.  My eating disorder is not a choice, it's a constant.  But I aim to ignore it, and I am the luckiest girl in the world.  Because for the first time in my life I am with a man who I don't worry is looking at any other woman wishing I looked like her.  G's eyes are always on me, they follow me as I walk across a room.  It is not uncommon for me to turn around and find my husband just looking at me, this happens several times a day.  


I got lucky.  My greatest wish for any woman is that she finds herself beautiful and worthy. And that she finds someone (a friend, partner, anyone) who daily confirms that she is indeed spectacular, something special.  Because I don't know a single woman who isn't.  I've been blessed to find so many through this blog.  Powerful women.  Amazing women.  I just hope they know that.

Glorious

Today is one of those days.  Beautiful.  Serene.  Puffy white clouds, sunshine.  G and I had lunch at Panera (can I just say their black bean soup is delicious, but do like I did and ask for some red onion to put in it----I took red onion rings and chopped them up and mixed in).  Then before heading out into the warm light we picked up a pain au chocolat to enjoy.  We drove back to the hotel, sat on a bench and shared the treat.  Simple things, but good things indeed.

I think we're both still tired from yesterday.  The day before we had gone to Old Navy and picked me up 2 dresses, a skirt, a tank top, t-shirt, a one-shoulder shirt and a cardigan for about $35.  Not bad.  I am still trying to pair down my closet but needed some clothes that fit a bit better.  And a dress for less than $5 that I had tried on and liked before?  A nice little pick me up.

Yesterday we went out just to get out.  We didn't necessarily need anything, but wanted to look around.  First we went and had a late breakfast at Clementine.  They had a homemade sausage that had corn and mushrooms in it that was like nothing I have ever had before....I kept stealing bites since it was G's.

We hit up Off Broadway, a shoes store I had never heard of, and I picked up some cute (and oh so comfortable!) grey suede ankle boots.  

We stopped in at a beauty store for me to finally pick up some new nail polish.  A bottle of Russian Navy later and we were out the door.  Painted my nails today and I LOVE this color.  I've always been afraid of darks, but it looks great against my pale skin.  I'm currently looking for a charcoal grey color next.

We stopped in the Gap outlet.  I picked up a nice, semi-nautical blue and white dress that I plan to rock this fall (just adding in some warmer tones).  I first picked it up in a large, but realized quickly that while the large was fine for now it would be too loose by Christmas.  However, my thing is to not buy for the future, it needs to fit, but went ahead and tried on a medium.  Well lo and behold it fit!  It will definitely look better as I slim down (since I like these style of dresses to be more loose and swishy), but it works for now too.  

(it's hard to see on the hanger, but it is a very drapey dress, with loose sleeves, and a nice, defined waist.)

The Limited was having a 40% off everything in the store, including clearance.  Nice, but since the only thing I had was a medium size dress that I doubted I could get into, I wasn't that excited.  But when it fit I was almost jumping for joy.  I've been looking for a simple, but not boring, long casual dress, and this will work beautifully.  Especially next summer when I am hoping we will have a backyard set up ready for a Spanish BBQ (sangria, tapas, oh yes!).  

And finally we dropped into the Saks 5th Ave outlet and it was there that G finally found some sunglasses.  He has such a long and narrow face that it's been a difficult search.  But of course D&G came through for us.  His first fashion love, I say.  Now my only conundrum is how to justify getting the Ray Bans I want, since my justification used to be that they were unisex and we could see how we both looked in them.  

The day is still young, and the sun still glorious in it's light.  G wants to go for a "stroll".  His word, not mine.  And I am in my new skirt that calls for twirling.

Me:  Kill the spider!

G:  Okay, missioned accomplished, spider detroyed!

He comes and kisses me on my forehead.

Apparently I was not impressed enough....

G:  That's okay, you can worship me later.

Ha!

Tonight for dinner we picked up a roasted chicken from the store and made a salad with spring greens, red onion, goat's cheese, roasted garlic and grape tomatoes.  It was delicious!  The chicken was so moist!  

Then we had some concord grapes for dessert.  G had never had concord grapes, but he loved them.  He kept saying, so this is what they're trying to replicate with the artificially flavoured crap.  He said he always wondered since grape candy tasted nothing like grapes!

And then he said something that I immediately loved. 

"Here we are in a crappy kitchen, in a seedy hotel, eating our concord grapes.  Every day normal things.  I love you."

I think he's just a wee bit happy to be on a normal schedule where we can eat dinner every night together.  He had said earlier that he had been home for several hours and it was only 7:30.  He was just fascinated.  Sometimes it is the things we would normally take for granted that become so amazing when you haven't had them in a while.  

And let me tell you, I am so very excited to really be able to focus on planning meals that we'll have the time for.  For taking time in the middle of the day to write, to paint.  

So, readers, what is something that pops in your head that you take for granted but would be upset if it went away?  I think it's a good thing to remember the good things in our lives!

Good Morning Baltimore!

Last night I had a fever, my face was bright and flushed, my head was pounding and I had stomach cramps. I thought to myself, no way in hell am I missing the farmer's market. G and I don't really take medicine that often, so while we had some at our house (it got packed up) we haven't bought any since arriving in the US. So I had to will myself better, because I didn't think it was worth going to the store late at night for. I relaxed in bed with an ice cold wash cloth on my forehead, and woke up this morning (after a couple hours of sleep) feeling much better.

So off we headed to the Baltimore Farmer's market, which is the epitome of this city, as it's under an underpass. I literally almost cried from being so overwhelmed by feeling suddenly at home. The people, the smells, the pulse and rhythm of it. We bought grape tomatoes, perfectly ripe. Pluot plums with green stems still attached. Ginger gold apples from a stall that apparently accepts WIC, good info to know in the future. We also picked up a quart of local milk for 2.50, with a 1.50 charge added on that we'll get back when we return the bottle. I have to say it was the only thing I wasn't in love with, but not bad to try it for a dollar. We planned on getting a cup of Zeke's coffee, but after realizing we would be in line for 20 min, we changed our minds. Next time we need to get to the market earlier!

We also ate a croissant when we first arrived, and for lunch ended up getting the most amazing turkey burger I have ever had. Let me tell you, that man who makes them and I have a standing appointment every Sunday for the next 4 years! They also had a habanero hot sauce that had perfect flavor, not too spicy for me, but leaves a tingle on your tongue. When we move into the new house I will need a bottle.

This week is going to be a whirlwind of scheduling inspections, the appraisal, faxing in the contract the to bank, and G goes back to work. Which we found out tonight is going to be a different office. Great. I am keeping my fingers crossed and praying hard for a day job. He said it perfectly tonight when I asked what's wrong, "I don't know if we could survive shift work again." It's sad, but I would rather have a husband gone all the time, deployed, then go through the hell of shift work again. Especially moving into a neighborhood where I am a little scared how it's gonna go. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

But, we're optimistic, and G told me tonight as I was dancing around the hotel room that before we move the furniture into the new house, he wants a night to just dance around. The whole lower level has gorgeous dark hardwoods, and I cannot wait to spin around with him on them. We need to hunt down an old record player for weekend dancing!

Every time things seem to be going well a kink occurs. But I am holding faith that God has great plans for us here, and that we are exactly where He means us to be. I never imagined I would be here at 25. Married, buying our first home in a big city, learning how to fix things and build things ourselves. I have so many projects in store for our new home, I cannot wait to get in there are share them with you!

Learning

Being home has been an eye opening experience in my marriage. In England, G and I would fight, but once it was done, it was done, and no one really knew about it. Here, our disagreements are on display since usually we are not alone. And yes, it means there are other people there to laugh about it and tease us about how I'm yelling one minute and on his lap the next, or how he went from moody to pulling me on his lap. But it also means it's all embarrassingly on display. I think my family in particular finds it both amusing and annoying. And my grandmama is sure sick of seeing us kiss!

But that's how we are. Most people see us in cute mode only, because for the average person, they are only around us long enough to see that. But living around family? They get the whole gamut. I am mildly embarrassed to say it was only last week, when I was stressed about car financing, and feeling like it was all on my shoulders that I shouted to G as I stormed into the house (and in front of my grandmama and Daddy) that he could quote, "Get his shit and get out!"

Now, other married couples will generally attest to this happening occasionally. It natural when you are with someone as often as G and I are to grate on each other a bit. But it's made me more acutely aware of exactly how silly we sound when we're mad. It never lasts long, we're giggling and kissing in no time, with plenty of apologies. And now we have the added bonus of having family members tease us about it. We knew we would fight a lot here, because of the added stresses of cars/housing/moving, but also because we've been less alone in the 2 weeks we've been here than in the 2 years we have been married. When we wanted alone time, we could have it. It's a hard adjustment going from two people to too many!

But right now, he's asleep. I just finished True Blood a bit ago. And all I can think is, as much as he drives me crazy, I adore him. For the things like getting a new cell, and deciding that texting me "I love you. Love, Your Husband." with an attached picture of him.......from across the room was the best use of his time. Sometimes he's too cute, and I have to pinch myself. Cheesy or not, I never doubt how much he loves me.

Today Was A Day To Twirl (and in fact I did)

Garret and I went to Bury today and ended up doing a bit of shopping (and getting a double scoop of the locally made butterscotch ice cream that is to. die. for.). I did a bit of twirling with G as it was a beautiful day and we were trying to soak it all in.

Best ice cream. I was nice and shared....a little.

Beautiful building in Bury, would love a townhouse that looked like this!

There were quite a few half off stores, and I was pleased as punch. G ended up convincing me to get the quilted shoulder bag/clutch (the chain detaches) that I have been eyeing since January. And we had 60 GBP to burn in Javelin, so fate drew me upstairs to the nicer section. I saw a dress on a mannequin, but couldn't see it anywhere else. It just happened to be exactly 60 GBP, so I turned to the sales assistant and asked if there were any more. Oh yes, just one. And it happened to be in one of the sizes I always try on! (notice I didn't say "my size" because here in this country I am constantly doing the numbers in my head. I'm a 12/14 American, so I am a 14/16 British, and you never know what will fit) Now the dress is kind of girly, but I had grabbed a large leather belt that zips up the front to try on as well and in the dressing room got the brilliant idea to put it on the dress. It took a pretty dress to wow! The sales associate loved the pairing (maybe I should work in fashion ;)?), and when I whipped out my new purse with the gold details that tied into the gold zipper on the belt? Well it was like fashion heaven, and we began chatting, because the woman's mother has been eyeing that bag.

Another lambskin jacket that looked amazing on G! I asked the sales associate we always deal with to write down the information for me.....maybe a Christmas/birthday gift?

This is the chair outside of the women's dressing room at Javelin. I am in love with it.

The actual dressing room. Makes me want to lounge.

So we got the dress (and the belt that made it), and headed home. When Garret opened my door to let me in the car this older woman who was working in her flowers across the street yelled over to G "It's so nice to see a young man do that nowadays. Well done!" Garret got into the car with a big grin on his face. The fact is, G opens my door for me to get out and in usually, just part of his charm.

When we got home I was trying on the items, and I grabbed the purple purse. I asked if it went with it, since I was wearing a brown camisole and a yellow cardigan. His response was "well purple and yellow are on opposite sides of the color wheel, so it looks fantastic." God I love this man! He's partially colorblind (has trouble seeing varying shades, for example magenta and red don't look much different to him) and I've used the color wheel as examples before, and he listens!

Now it's Sunday here and I think I'm going to grab a slice of pizza for breakfast!

Cuteness With A Side of Spicy

Me: "I know, I know, I'm a bleeding heart liberal."

G: "That's okay, I love you for it."

Me: "You love my bleeding heart."

True love people. True love.

G's sister and I got into a rousing debate on facebook (ain't it grand) about Obama's policy, politics in general, falsehoods, etc. A.K.A. I made a comment on my profile that she disagreed with and proceed to wax on. I had two choices, let it go or respond. Realizing she would most likely take my silence as a won battle (and I am never silent anyways, who am I kidding?), I responded. She responded back, and I responded again. Suffice to say we will never be at the same political parties unless one of us is protesting. And that's okay. I used to be a political science student. I can debate for hours. Literally, ask G, hours.

Garret and I are an odd couple. I had made contacts through a yahoo group for the spouses here before I arrived and one member had seen my myspace with some wedding pics. Let's just say we looked like an odd couple. I love G, and he's come far, but he is and always will be a geek. And that's my geek so watch it!

However when we first got together he was a libertarian atheist (more agnostic, but we're going with his dogtag title). I was a bleeding heart liberal democrat and a Catholic. While we were engaged we could easily sit for 5 hours on the phone paying international rates to debate these particular views. In the end we both won the other over. G's a Catholic, and I lean more towards the libertarian side of things. But I am, and always will be a bleeding heart liberal. It's just me, who I am, and it's never going to change. And I also have a tendency to be easily excitable in debating. So his poor sister chose the wrong person to debate (*cough* attack ----G's words, not mine). I have my beliefs, you have yours. I am willing to never post anything on your page criticizing yours, but if you choose to not follow the same policy, I reserve the right to argue till the cows come home.

Perhaps we should have warned her?

I'm working on a longer post about a bedroom mock-up, but for now I thought I would share a funny story.

I was lying on the couch last night checking my e-mail when G comes in fuming. He's holding something behind him but I cannot tell what it is, and I assumed maybe something happened outside (he was out back with Sophie). No, he had been in the laundry room and was switching clothes over. He says to me, growling really, "We are never buying Scotch and Soda again!" (Scotch and Soda is the brand of his new button down).

"What's wrong, hun?"

"Look, it faded," he says, holding out the shirt where clearly one part of the arm is much lighter than the other.

I have him bring it to me, and looking at it, I realize what's wrong.

I begin trying to not laugh hysterically as I explain to him that the shirt arm must have folded up somehow and stayed dry in that spot, because the spot was clearly dry compared to the damp rest of the shirt (he was transferring it to the dryer).

He realized his mistake and became horribly embarrassed, but consented to letting me share the story here.

The best part was later when I was in the kitchen cooking and I began to laugh hysterically. I couldn't breathe I was laughing so hard and I could hear him in the laundry room saying "Laugh it up!" In the end, even he was laughing!

Our First Date Night

This is the Abbey we always go to.  Gorgeous, right?  And no, it's not a painting, it's a photo.  If you click on it, you can see how the trees look.  

So I have kept something very quiet here.  Mainly because G's mom reads this, and I try to not ruin her image of him.  But here it is.

Garret and I have a fight a few times a month over the same thing.  We've been having this fight literally our entire marriage.  You see, G has never, and I mean never, planned a date for us pretty much the entire time we've been together.  Okay, I take that back, he planned a dinner while I was in London during our engagement where he was going to re-propose, and it was wonderful, so I am not sure why he gets so flustered about it.  So we constantly have this fight, with me pointing out that it shows his lack of care because I've told him for 2 years how much it upsets me, he always promises to do better, and then he doesn't and the cycle continues.  Garret tells me he loves me at least 50 times a day (no joke) but I've told him it's starting to get hard to hear when he says it but keeps hurting me by not doing something as simple as planning a date.  

Now, G has never dated anyone other than me.  Not really.  He went out once with a girl while a holdover, but that was simple because they could only go to the mall basically.  So he gets slightly flustered trying to come up with a date.  I keep telling him to keep it simple, he keeps wanting to do some huge gesture.  But this weekend he finally did it.  He finally listened during a conversation, noted that I had mentioned that a certain pizza sounded good, and planned for us to go there this weekend, all on his own.  Because I know some of you are thinking that we seem to get out and about an awful lot, but it's always on me.  I am always the one who comes up with where we are gonna go, cause I love my husband, but he's kind of lazy.  Oh, and he tends to only want to do what I want to do, which drives me mad, because it should be give and take.  And yes, I know I'm crazy for sticking with him after 2 years of no planned dates, but I do love him so I held out the hope.  I wasn't disappointed.  

So he took me out to Strada for pizza.  I even brought my camera but forgot about it until after I was done with everything. But I had my favorite pizza which has Italian sausage (and it's the Italian link slices not ground up "Italian" sausage, they get most of their ingredients shipped in from Italy), baby artichokes, onions, capers, sun dried tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and I drizzle chili oil on it.  To. Die. For.  We started with a salad with crispy pancetta, avocadoes, spinach leaves with a mustard dressing and parmesan for me and G has his fried polenta with creamy mushroom sauce.  For dessert I had an espresso, G got his "girly drink" cappuccino and we shared a tuillerie filled with vanilla bean marscapone cheese and fresh strawberries and blueberries with a mint leaf.  It was a new dessert item, and now knocks the pannacotta into second place.  

It was a pretty decent first date, I'm considering going out with him again.  Maybe, just maybe I'll give him a second shot.  And I figure he's like a great wine, he'll only get better with time and proper care.  I am looking forward to the next date he plans!

(Garret gave me a piggy back ride so I could reach the pink rose at the top of the pic.  I wanted to smell it, but it as part of the arbor and way too high.)

Oh, and on the last note, the other night at the wine bar Garret explains the whole thought process of why he said he loves me more than all the bricks in the yellow brick road.  I thought it was hilarious, but didn't share it because I try not to embarrass him.  He said he didn't care, he likes being mentioned, so here it is.  He thought to himself that he loves me more than all the sequins or whatever they are on Dorothy's red shoes (I should note that this was my favorite childhood movie, hence him thinking of it).  Then he thought that isn't very much, so what is there that there's a lot of?  Munchkins!  He loves me more than all the munchkins in Oz!  But then he decided that sounded weird, hence him saying the yellow brick road one instead.  Isn't he funny as hell?  Seriously, I have never been more amused then I am living with this man.  

And ironically this is what we saw on our way home from our date.  A sign maybe?  Somewhere over the rainbow my dreams really might come true.  

Update on Staring Contest

I totally won today's round.  Promptly after I finished the last post and I pulled the Bridget Jones move, my husband woke up and tried to take me to coffee.  Unfortunately for us, traffic was at a crawl, so we ended up just grabbing Indian food and having floater coffees to finish.  Yumminess ensued. 

Now we're getting ready (trying desperately to give my heavy hair some body) to go meet a friend for a glass of wine at a little wine bar/restaurant in Bury.  I am standing in the bathroom fixing my eyeliner when G and I get into our usual "I love you more" debate.  His response?  "I love you more than all the bricks in the yellow brick road."  He's so cute I almost want to start singing The Lollipop Guild song.  But I am not ready to be welcomed to munchkin land!

And that folks, is my life.  Seriously, it would be uber cute if this was random, but it's such a normal occurrence for G to say something like that, so I usually don't remember it long enough to blog it.  But tonight I was prepared!

Whew!

(Garret with his Manly cappucino)

G has finished his test.  Which is great, because I have to tell you, I've been sick for days worrying about one thing or another so now I can scratch one worry off the list!  

Also, quickly before we head out for lunch I thought I would share my advice to him this morning.  His co-worker had told him "If in doubt, go with C" and "Too long to be wrong."  Great, but mine was a little more practical (for us anyways).....

"Don't think about me too much during the test or all the blood will rush away from your brain, and then you won't do well." 

What can I say....2 years in, and we're still pretty damn crazy about each other!

Here's me with my new Gerard Darel clutch!