Vacation Part 2: Traveling and an Anniversary

After celebrating at one of the best weddings I've been to, I had a little bit of a hard time getting up the next morning. As did my husband. We had originally planned to make it to breakfast to say farewell to the newlyweds, however that did not quite happen. We did manage to grab some breakfast at our hotel before loading up the car and hitting the road.

We knew we had a long drive ahead of us, but I would be lying if I said that the first several hours of it weren't tough. First of all, we'd had fun the night before. Second of all, we were driving across Kansas*. Have you ever driven across Kansas? It's like driving across Nebraska. Only flatter (if possible) and less populated (again, if possible). Oh, but we did see a wicked dust storm. It's also worth mentioning that this was our true anniversary. Romantic, yes?

We debated stopping for the night in Colorado Springs and just pushing on the next morning. However, Matt was driving and he decided against it. His reasoning was that he didn't want to be stuck in the car the next day, he was feeling better and we both just wanted to GET THERE already. We got in at about 2am.

The next two days, we slept in and relaxed. It was good to finally be out of the car and THERE! I will do more on these days at a later time.

On Wednesday night, we celebrated our anniversary. It was perfect.

Matt was being very, very sneaky. He hurried me into the car and off to town, saying that we HAD to be somewhere before 5:30 when the place closed. I was so surprised when he pulled up to the door of Telluride Truffle! Patty had made our wedding cake, but Matt had told me that when he called about an anniversary cake, she said she couldn't do it due to having two weddings that weekend. Apparently, that was what she had really said, but then called him back to say that she had changed her mind. So, we got our cake. And, it was HUGE. She also gave us a few of her delicious truffles (which we forgot in my parents' fridge--we're both pretty sad about that).
After picking up our cake, we went to dinner at the Cosmo, one of my favorite restaurants in Telluride. And, surprisingly, Matt had never been there before. They seated us in the greenhouse at a corner table. We started out with a bottle of Malbec and some bread. The Cosmo has a few early dining specials--if you are seated before 6:00, a select few of the entrees are only $19.

I directed Matt toward a few of my favorites on the menu (the Warm Beet Salad, Shrimp and Calamari and any of the wild game meats). We started out sharing the Crispy Salmon Nori Rolls. They were delicious! That was followed by the Warm Beet Salad. I know it sounds strange, but I LOVE it. I am not really a big beet person, but this salad is so good. It is mixed greens, warmed beets, goat cheese, pine nuts and a balsamic vinegar that is just heavenly. The beets are just warm enough to slightly melt the goat cheese. I decided that I am going to try to recreate it at home at some point.

For dinner, Matt ordered a special trout that was not on the menu. I was disappointed to see my favorite ahi tuna absent from the new menu, so I stuck with the Vegetable Cannelloni. My dish was very good--light pasta rolled around veggies (spinach, eggplant, mushrooms, etc.) with a light goat cheese melted on top, sitting in a tomato broth. Unfortunately, Matt was not as pleased with his trout. He said it was good, but he wished he had gotten the rack of lamb that he had originally decided upon before hearing the specials. I felt bad that he didn't LOVE his meal, but we promised we'd be back and he'd try the lamb.After dinner, we rode the gondola over to the Mountain Village for the Sunset Concert Series. Every Wednesday in the summer, the Mountain Village hosts a free concert. This time it was Junior Brown. We got over there and looked around for my family. We found them, but the concert was already over and they were getting ready to go home. So, we hopped back on the gondola and rode it up to Allred's for a drink. Allred's is one of the coolest restaurants in town--for the food, but more for the experience. It is perched at the top of the ski area and overlooks the town of Telluride. We spent several nights at the bar there last year with our friends before our wedding, so it seemed fitting that we stop there for a drink for our anniversary.

After we were done, we went back home and shared our cake with my family (it was so big that it would have been pretty selfish not to share). It was just as good as on our wedding day. And looked the same too. Matt and I exchanged cards. He is absolutely the best at picking out the perfect card. I cried. We lit some fireworks out on the patio. It was a fabulous evening and I wouldn't have wanted to celebrate our anniversary any other way.

_______________
*Eastern Kansas was actually really cool. I had no idea it was so hilly. Matt actually commented several times that Kansas City reminded him a lot of San Francisco. Having never been to SanFran, I will just have to take his word for it.

One. Un. Uno. Eins. один. 1.

The Art of Marriage, by Wilfred Peterson

The little things are the big things.

It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say "I love you" at least once a day.

It is never going to sleep angry.
It is at no time taking the other for granted; the courtship should not end with the honeymoon, it should continue through all the years.

It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is standing together facing the world.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.
It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy.

It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is not expecting the husband to wear a halo or the wife to have wings of an angel.
It is not looking for perfection in each other.

It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding and a sense of humor.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.

It is finding room for the things of the spirit.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal.

It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.

************************************
One year ago today, I married my best friend. In front of a group of 80 friends and family, we exchanged vows of love and devotion. We promised to love and cherish one another. To encourage and inspire. To stand by the other in times of struggle. Not just for that day, but for the rest of our lives.
It was the most beautiful, perfect day. The sky was blue, the sun was shining, the mountains framed our setting, birds were singing, a light breeze lifted my veil and as cheesy as it all sounds, it was the best day of my life. I laughed, I cried, I laughed some more. Everything went by in a blur and it's incredible how quickly I forgot about the little details. But, I do remember the feeling of overwhelming happiness. As I said, it could not have been more perfect.
Today, a year later, I am even happier--if that's even possible. This past year has been full of ups and downs. But it has been amazing and I wouldn't have traded it for anything. I am more in love with my husband today than I was a year ago, which I also never thought could be possible. If the first year has been any indication of what the rest of our marriage will be like, I'll gladly accept it with open arms.
To Matt: You are my rock. The calm in the middle of our storm. You love me for me. I love you for the little things just as much as I do for the big things. You have taught me that the little things are the big things. You know me. And I know you. There is no one else I would rather grow old and wrinkly with. And raise a family with. You recognize that our life is far from perfect, but you accept it and make the best of it. I love you. Here is to a great first year and many, MANY more to come.

Getting Close

Geez, I've really been bad about blogging lately. Actually, that's not entirely true. I've been writing posts. They're just not getting posted. Not yet anyway. I have a few posts scheduled for the week of my upcoming vacation and I want to make sure that they're just right (since I won't be around to edit 54 times after officially posting them, I need to tweak them now).

Vacation? you say. Yes, vacation, I say. While I don't really think of our trips to Colorado as real, actual vacations, I suppose that's the technical term for our upcoming trip.

We have a wedding to go to in Kansas City (the one IN Kansas, not Missouri, in case you were wondering--and, yes, I'm the ass that always asks "the one in Kansas or Missouri?" when people tell me they're going to Kansas City) at the end of the month. It just happens to fall the day before our one-year anniversary. Or, actually, due to leap year, that's technically the day that is 365 days after we shared vows. But, whatever, I'm not keeping track or anything. So, we're going to a wedding to celebrate our love for each other. Really, I am so happy for Larry and Renee and am thrilled to see them get married. I couldn't imagine missing their wedding.

And then on the actual day, we're driving from Kansas City to Telluride. Romantic, right? I think so! But then, we'll spend several glorious days in one of the most beautiful places on earth with friends and family and it will basically be our wedding, version 2.0. I'm excited! And, yes, I do plan to go back to the exact spot where we were married to gaze into his eyes lovingly and reaffirm my undying love and affection for him.

And (and? there's more?) we'll be there for the 4th of July. And this just happens to be one of my favorite days of the year. It's my dad's birthday and we always have a fun party. The weather is usually spectacular that time of year, the fireworks display put on by the Fire Department are incredible and it's just FUN!

We are taking Indy and I really think she'll enjoy it. Sure, she might not enjoy the many, many hours in the car to get there (really, who does?). But, I promised her she'll love it when we finally arrive. I expect her to be ecstatic about meeting my parents' dog, Timber, and less than thrilled about the cats. She loves the water and my parents have a pond on their property, so I suspect she'll be doing some swimming. We'll also probably take her hiking, on the gondola, or whatever else strikes our fancy. I wouldn't be too surprised if she tried to stay when it's time for us to come home.

Truth be told, this trip has sort of snuck up on me. A year ago, I was so busy with wedding stuff that we got to the end of June and didn't even realize it. This year, I'm still pretty busy (though not with wedding stuff--thank goodness!) and I am suddenly noticing that we're leaving next week. I've been thinking a lot of Renee lately and how she's holding up. Having been there a year ago, I can only imagine (though, I handled the planning fairly well, I did have a meltdown or two). She is going to make one beautiful bride. And Larry won't look half bad either.

So, that's that. I'm really excited about my vacation and wouldn't want to spend that week (or our anniversary) any other way.

The Whirlwind Formerly Known as "May"

Hi blog! Nice to see you. What have I been up to? Oh, EVERYTHING!

I knew that May would be a difficult month. With our trip to Jamaica, my trip to Colorado and my mom coming for a week and a half at the end of the month, I knew I'd be busy. Add to that a new puppy, house issues, tenant issues, work and life and we're feeling a little overwhelmed. It's been a whirlwind so far and we don't really have an end in sight.

Our puppy (we have decided on Indy for those of you paying attention) has been wonderful. But, she is a lot of work. Obviously, we knew going into it that owning a puppy is a huge responsibility. We're not complaining about it, but it's taken a lot of our time. She is absolutely wonderful and we have completely fallen in love with her. Every day she learns something new and I am so proud of how quickly she is catching on with things. The house training has gone well and she seems to have grasped the concept of outside being where she should pee and poop. She is the source of constant amusement for me. I am also pretty certain that she grew while I was gone. I must be attached because I missed her terribly while I was in CO and called home about 1,209 times to check on her.


Our house is not so wonderful. Our tenants of two years have been moving out and we have new tenants set to move in. Move out finally took place today and they loaded up the last of their Uhaul and headed out to their new home. The new tenants move in next Wednesday. In the meantime, we are rebuilding the bathroom in that unit, which has proven to be a huge project. We've had workers here for the past two days and they should be working up until move in. In addition to that, our backyard fence needs to be rebuilt. Our dishwasher is broken. Our furnace is broken. Will it ever end?


Yesterday, we joked that our house was the "white trash" house of the neighborhood. Our tenants' stuff was ALL over the front yard while they loaded the moving van. We had a pile of trash about a mile high in the alley. Our fence was missing with only a few big holes in the ground to mark where it had been. And, our yard hasn't been mowed yet and is getting to be jungle-scary. This all really piqued our neighbors' curiosity as they all came over to see what was going on. I met more neighbors last night than I have in the last two and a half years that I've lived here. Go figure.


And now, my mom and brother are arriving today for the next week and a half. They originally came to help my grandmother pack and move. However, the sale of her condo fell out and she is not moving next week as was originally planned. So, they won't have much work to do while they are here. It will be great to see them again (even though I just saw them) and I really hope the weather is nice so that we can play outside and possibly even go to the lake house (nevermind the fact that the piers and boats aren't in the water yet (they're usually in by now)--THAT'S how busy we've been).


In between all of this, Matt and I are trying to fit work in as well. Fortunately, we are flexible with our business and careers that it can fall into place as needed.


Hopefully when May is over, we can get into some sort of a regular routine again. I really can't wait until these house projects are done. I like to enjoy my home, not see it as a money/time pit.

Can this be right? Oh, I hope so!

If you know me at all and have had any sort of contact with me in the past month, you probably know what I've been up to. If you guessed "working on taxes", you would be absolutely correct. It's been hell. Really, I do not exaggerate when I say that. I hate tax season. I have always done my own taxes and actually have a very in-depth knowledge of how it works. Running a business complicates things slightly, but I've still been able to understand it all and get it done. This year, adding my husband's even more complicated tax situation led me to the decision to use his accountant. For the low, low price of $600. Hooray!? Tack this on top of the fact that we usually owe and will likely not get the economic stimulus and I was just thrilled.

It started mid-March. I finally got to thinking about our taxes and dug out the accountant's tax organizer. I panicked slightly when I noticed that he needed everything by March 22. That resulted in me spending an entire weekend getting organized. I, personally, am a very organized person. I keep track of all of my finances in QuickBooks and it makes tax time pretty painless. The man of our house? Not so much. So, the bulk of that first weekend consisted of me tracking down his bank statements and getting them into QuickBooks. Needless to say, it has been a project. I wish I could say it ended there.

I had finally gotten everything organized and began on our tax preparation. By the time I had it all ready to go to the accountant, I realized I had practically done everything for our taxes. So, instead of taking it to the accountant, I sat around debating if $600 was really worth having someone else do what I had already done. After sitting down with one of our friends who happens to be a CPA, I realized that it was not worth $600. I decided to go full steam ahead on doing it on my own. Never mind that I changed my mind about 500 times in the week that followed. My friend offered to look it all over before I was done, so I felt a little more confident with my decision. Just a little.

The week that followed was full of swearing, tears, headaches, more swearing and a possible ulcer. Not to mention that I didn't even have one of our tax documents yet. During this time, my husband decided that I was the smartest person alive. No, really. He looks at me like he's never met me when I start talking tax-speak. I think he loves me. And then he goes and screws it all up by saying "you are so great with this stuff! You should become a CPA!" It takes strand of my being not to smack him. It's a really miserable existence, being a tax person. This miserableness has forced its way into the rest of my life. It's all I talk about. I've scared away most of my friends with questions such as "so, when you are depreciating listed property, what method do you use?" FUN!

So anyway. This past week, I finally got the last of our tax info. Time to get this bad boy done and figure out how much we owe Uncle Sam on the 15th. And today, I finished. Federal and State.

And GUESS WHAT?

We don't owe. Actually, not even close. We are getting a refund! Let me say this again. WE. ARE. GETTING. A. REFUND! A big one. Um, wait, what? My first thought was "Oh no! I totally did this wrong. This CANNOT be right. What did I do wrong?" But I went back through everything and, best I can tell, it is right. OMG! AND (and? you mean there's more?) we qualify for the economic stimulus!

Our Federal refund, our State refund, the economic stimulus and the money we saved on an accountant is quite a good amount of money.

Of course, I am trying not to get too excited until I know for sure that it's right. But it certainly did make all of this stress and agony a little more worthwhile to know that we don't owe thousands of dollars.

Time Flies

Seven years ago today, my husband and I became a couple. We started dating. Going out. Whatever the kids call it these days. It seems like such a long time ago and never, in a million years would I have guessed then that I would marry that man. Yet, here we are. Married. A lot has happened to us in those seven years. We went through college, we lived together, we broke up, we started careers, we lived our lives, we endured a long-distance relationship, we suffered great losses and experienced great achievements, we welcomed new friends and family members and said goodbye to old ones. It all seems like a blur now and seven years really isn't even all that long in the big picture of life. It almost seems like it was yesterday that Matt sent me flowers and marked a beginning to this long and winding journey. And here we are. Happy and content. And married.

And while we're on the topic of being married, I still have not ordered any wedding pictures. I did finally get two albums done for our parents and those turned out to be fabulous. Every time I get ready to do it and think I've gotten all of my favorites picked out, I change my mind. And I go back to square one.

Unfortunately, I just received an email from Mpix that if I don't place an order within the next 14 days, they will delete my pictures. Which puts a lot of pressure on me. It took a really long time to upload all of my photos to the site. The email does mention that if I would like to order a print in the future to "simply re-upload the photo to our site!". If only it were so easy.

So, this weekend, I will probably spend my time deciding once and for all which pictures I want badly enough to spend money on. There are really only two things I want from Mpix. Prints to put in a frame and a gallery wrap. The prints will go into this frame that I have been eyeing from Red Envelope, so I guess I'll just bit the bullet and order it. And so it goes.

And back to the real reason of this post. Matt is awesome. As I said previously, never would I have guessed that my friend Matt would someday become my husband. But I am glad it worked out that way.

[On a totally unrelated side note: it drives me up a wall that adding pictures to a post screws up the formatting. I try and try and try to get it right and I can't.]

Just a little bummed out...

It's just one of those days, I guess. But I'm just feeling let down in a lot of ways. This is not meant to be my own little pity party, but I can't help but try to express how disappointed I feel today. This is due to a few things:

-On Friday, I went out with some friends and had a great time. However, I got home and put my car in the garage and "brushed" the side of the door with my car. Notgood. I rubbed the paint off of the door with my wheel well. As a result, I have a nice white streak across my car that is about a foot long, but I believe that it can be buffed out. And another below it which is shorter, but deeper and likely permanent. My car is dark. And still kinda sorta brand new (ok, it's a little over a year old, but it still has its "new car" smell). This is the first damage it has sustained and I'm really bummed out about it. And disappointed in myself. How did I let this happen?

-Last night, we watched as all of the other world markets took major hits. This was not looking good for our market come the opening bell this morning. We were right. Fortunately, it looks like it's bouncing back and wasn't as bad as it could have been--economic forecasters were claiming it could have been another "Black Tuesday". But talk about a scare. You would probably have to be living under a rock to not know that our country is headed into a recession. While this probably won't affect most Americans terribly, for us, it is huge. We do not have "normal" jobs. We do not know when our next paycheck is coming to us. Not to mention the money that we have invested for our future. Our industry has already taken a big hit with the collapse of the housing market. Running a business makes it even harder. It is hard to not be nervous about the future in our position.

-I still hold a Colorado real estate license. I am proud of this and hope to never have to give it up. When I moved to Wisconsin, I discussed this issue with my Broker and he urged me to keep my license. It is a good thing I did, as I currently have two listings out there. My local board of Realtors requires a Professional Standards class to be taken every four years to remain a member. I am due to take it this year if I want to continue my membership. Unfortunately, unlike all of their other required courses, this course is not available online and must be taken locally. Problem is, it is only offered once a year. That is tomorrow. I found out that it was being offered only two weeks ago. Tickets were $900 to get back for it. Basically, not going to happen. I sent a very angry email to the Executive VP of the board to demand that she provide me with another option--I'll take it here, I'll take something else, whatever it takes. The response that I got was a "sorry, I guess you're out of luck. I'll look into asking the board to change the rules, but until they do (probably not until June), if you miss the course tomorrow, you will not have met your requirement." I would be lying if I said that this was not a huge disappointment to me. It's still early enough in the year and there is a chance (though small) they could offer the course again. I also am friends with several people on the board and my Broker is a past President, so I am going to use that to my advantage as much as I can. But it still just downright SUCKS. I absolutely refuse to give up my license, but without being a Realtor, I can't do much by way of practicing.

There really is not much that I can do about any of these things at this point. Two of them are beyond my control and the other already happened. I've also realized that wallowing in my own self-pity is kind of lame. But sometimes it all piles on top of each other and I can't help it. I realize there are bigger problems in the world and mine are, relatively, insignificant. I am trying to stay positive, but I would be lying if I said that wasn't a little difficult.

Domestic Goddess

Next month, we will have been in our house for two years already. Actually, March will be two months since we officially moved in. We spent the first month of homeownership refinishing our wood floors, tearing out and remodeling the kitchen and painting. Then we moved. We never quite finished a lot of those projects--the walls of our stairway are still unpainted. We also had big plans to tear out and remodel the upstairs bath, but have yet to get around to doing it.

Now that I've been married six months and change, I am feeling restless. I didn't really spend a lot of time planning my wedding, but it was still something that occupied my time. Lately, I feel myself wanting to be domestic. It's weird, I know. I suddenly want to get those home projects finished (not really enough to do them myself though). When we first moved in, I had grand dreams of constantly entertaining in my home. To date, I haven’t had people over nearly as often as I had hoped. Sure, we threw a Super Bowl Party, I hosted a book club meeting, we have friends over to play Guitar Hero and for dinner on occasion. But, in my mind, that doesn’t “count”.

I think more than that, I want to organize our poor little house. Our house is small and I often feel like I don't have room for everything. Our mail has no place to go, our "everyday junk" is homeless. It's just there. We have a small desk in our living room that was designed to be a "bill paying desk". Really, it just sits there and collects junk. Which is precisely why I need this system from Pottery Barn:
It has everything we need! A place for our mail, a whiteboard to leave each other love notes, cubbies for our phones/camera/ipod/crap and hooks for our keys! Perfection on the wall is what I call it. That still leaves us with the desk, but I have been meaning to call my pal Brad over at Bilt Rite to hook us up with a cute Secretary's Desk for that space.

So, that organizes MY stuff. What about my guests? I have some cute little mirrors with hooks by my front door, yet my guests insist on wearing their coats across the living room to put them on the my dining room chairs. This is fine, but I have hooks. They also don't remove their shoes at the door but wear them over to the area where Matt and I keep our shoes (we don't use our front door, so our shoes stay near the back). So tell me, guests, what is keeping you from removing your coat and shoes by the front door? Is it because there is no bench near the front door for you to use? Because if so, just say the word and this corner bench that fits so well in our front corner will be there:
Notice that it even has a matching corner shelf with hooks for your coats. And storage for some of my extra crap!

In addition to making my house look more like a magazine ad, I have been cooking too. In addition to the several cookbooks that we got as wedding gifts, I also got the Joy of Cooking for Christmas. Let me tell you, this book is amazing. I don't think there is anything that you can't cook after looking through it. Really, it's that good. I have enjoyed flipping through it. Furthermore, this week I planned out our meals, made a food list and took it to the store. I realize this is a novel concept, but it really has made life easier. No more scrambling every evening for meal ideas. No more trips to the grocery store only to discover that we bought nothing to actually make a meal with. It's great.

Finally, I am becoming quite the seamstress. I got a sewing machine for Christmas after my mother was shocked to hear she had never taught me to sew. I've always had a secret fear of the sewing machine and sewing my finger. I am not sure where this came from, but it was strong enough for me to never push my mother to teach me how to use the machine. Wow, who knew sewing was so easy? Really, it is. I can't believe I was afraid of sewing my finger. That's nearly impossible!

I can already tell that I'm going to be the next star on Project Runway (I was actually excited when I saw on the Simplicity website that they have Project Runway patterns). Until then, I'm hemming jeans and I'm ready to start on an apron. Because, what domestic goddess doesn't need a cute apron?
And then, I think I'll make some curtains.

Who knew this kind of stuff could be so fun? I realize I'm a little nerdy, but I am truly enjoying this next phase of my life. And, now (especially with all of the rockin’ wedding gifts we received) I want to entertain more than ever. I’ll let you know how that plays out.

because mom wasn't around

My husband took me out to lunch today. At a bar. We enjoyed beers and bar food. And then went back to work.

I giggle to myself that I am actually old enough to go to a bar and order a beer. Let alone at lunch on a workday. I am still waiting for someone to tell me it's really some big mistake and I'll get in trouble for it.

For the most part, being an adult is pretty cool. I live on my own. I'm married. I own my own home. And, if I want to, I can stay up late on weeknights, sit too close to the TV, eat cookies for dinner and not clean my room or make my bed. Not saying I do. But I could if I wanted to.

And I can drink beer at lunch. Sweet!

Still Thankful

I spent yesterday watching football and stuffing myself with good food. I still thought long and hard about everything I was thankful for. This year, I am thankful for:

My wonderful husband. I feel so lucky to have been able to marry my best friend. I love him with all of my being.

My family. I miss them more than words can describe and love them even more. I am thankful for cell phones and IN calling for making it possible to talk to them every day. And for the internet for allowing us to be able to share pictures.

The new family that I've married into. While it seems to always be changing, I am grateful to have such a wonderful group of people who welcomed me with open arms.

My friends. Those here in Milwaukee, as well as those back home. Life pulls us in every direction, but for making it count when we do see each other.

The house I live in. The car I drive. The food on my table. My health and happiness, as well as that of my family and friends. The means to buy plane tickets to go back home for Christmas. Or any time of the year. The snow that is still yet to fall on the Telluride Ski Area. Being from Telluride and having been able to enjoy everything it has to offer. Still have my skiing legs. The dream wedding we had in June. The even more of a dream honeymoon we took to St. Lucia. All of the memories I have of my life and all of those that we have yet to make.

Everything but the Kitchen Sink..

Which sums up what is working in my kitchen at present.

Our garbage disposal was leaking, so I asked Matt to look at it. Being the (somewhat) handyman that he can be, I knew I could trust him with this.

Six hours and two trips to Home Depot later, our sink is put back together. But it still leaks. A little bit.

(Please note: any home repair project on our house generally results in multiple trips to Home Depot. Today, with only two trips, was a pretty good day. Is it weird that HD is my favorite store?)

The good news? Matt knows how to fix it now. The bad news? He won't have time to work on it again for a few days. Meaning I need to have a bucket under my sink.

At this point, any home repair issue that comes up in our house is almost comical. Our house is a big mishmash of work done by about sixty years' worth of handymen. Not to mention the elderly lady that sold us the house and thought that she could "fix" things by herself. The fun part is figuring it all out and correcting their past mistakes. In the past year and a half, we have bought tools and plumbing parts and electrical wire and more in every shape and size available. And we have used them all. And somehow, we still need to go back and buy even more of these things. And use them.

Oh, the joys of homeownership.

Kitchen Covered in Soda

There I was. Lying on the couch, watching the tail end of CSI: Miami. I was trying to keep my eyes open and thinking how comfy my bed sounds. As soon as this is over, I'm going right upstairs and to bed, I thought.

Suddenly, from the kitchen, I hear a loud crash, followed by some fizzing and swear words spewing from my husband's mouth. Somehow, some way he had dropped the (plastic) bottle of soda he grabbed from the fridge. And it burst. It was like a soda bomb that kept on fizzing. Soda sprayed everywhere.

For a split second, I thought that if I stayed on the couch, I could pretend I didn't hear what had happened. That way, it was like it never happened and I wouldn't have to deal with it. But, that's not fair. So, I slowly got up to go assess the situation.

It was worse than I had imagined. Soda.was.everywhere.

So, instead of going to bed as I had planned out so nicely, I instead worked on getting Cherry Coke cleaned off of my kitchen cabinets. And floor. And fridge. And stove... And somehow, soda managed to find its way into the powder room.

I am sure that I will find sticky spots of soda in random places for the next few months now. I can't wait!

I thought plastic bottles weren't supposed to break? Isn't that the point?

The Brewers Win Again

While the game is only in the 7th inning, the Brewers win again.

I'm not talking about winning the game they are playing against St. Louis (though, with a score of 9-1, that is very likely at this point). I am talking about the Brew Crew winning in my house.

I've been asking Matt for the past hour and a half if he wants to watch Heroes with me. He keeps saying yes. But he's still glued to the Brewers. I don't care for them one bit. Yep, I said it.

The good news? Baseball season is almost over. And now we can finally watch Heroes.

I Have An Identity!

Yes! My new driver's license (with my new name) finally came in the mail!

Let's back up. I got married (did you know I got married?) at the end of June. I returned to reality mid-July. I was so excited to be a Mrs. and had every intention to change my name. I just got....sidetracked.

I did my research and found out I needed to go to the Social Security office first. I did that at the end of July. They told me I should wait a few days before going to the DMV to change my name on my driver's license. Since I needed a photo ID to change things like my bank account, this was definitely the next stop. Except I forgot. Well, I didn't so much forget as I just put it off. For a month. And a few days. I've been using my married name for everything--I think I really confused my bank teller last week--but I don't actually have proof that it's my name.

I finally realized that I have a trip coming up on September 12. I made my flight reservations in my married name (because when I did that in July, September seemed soooooo far away and OF COURSE I would have my new ID by then). I suddenly realized that I needed to get my butt to the DMV, stat.

So last week, I went to the DMV. What a mess that place is! I sat for two hours and believe I inhaled every single germ that this fine city has to offer. No wonder I ended up sick over the weekend. After all of that wait, I finally got to speak with a clerk. I signed all of the right documents, said all of the right things and had my picture taken. That's when they told me that, since this was my first license in the state of WI, my license would get mailed to me. I should expect it in 7-10 days.

This just would not do. I was leaving in 8 days. I played out several scenarios in my head of how I would handle the situation. My most creative involved a passport, a credit card, my marriage license and a smile.

Luckily, my license arrived in the mail today, so none of those will be necessary. And I can finally prove what my name is. Maybe I'll get everything else changed over by Christmas...

Happy Twomonthaversary To Us!

What were you doing two months ago? For those of you not good with math and dates, I'll help you out. That would have been June 30.

I know what I was doing. I was getting married. That's right, today is my twomonthaversary! Now, before you go thinking I'm that crazy person that celebrates every anniversary under the sun, let me assure you that I do not. I'm not expecting flowers or anything. I doubt Matt even realizes it. But, two months of being married is still kind of a big deal to me. I got a little teary eyed when I thought back to our wedding day and how lovely it was. Even though it has only been two short months, it already seems like a lifetime ago. So much of that day was a blur and it's amazing how much I have forgotten. Maybe I'll go home and watch our video again...

I still look at my wedding pictures every day. I still have not ordered any either. I have about a million favorites and can't decide which ones deserve to go on my limited wall space. I want to get one of these for over our bed, but don't have just one favorite to get. I've also been working on an album. It might get done by Christmas. I promised our parents I would make them one too.

We still have a very large pile of boxes in our living room. Two are full of wedding stuff--candles, table numbers, leftover programs, the pictures of us we used for the cocktail tables... Oh, and I found my veil crumpled up in one of them. Now it's sitting on top of the box. The rest of the boxes are made up of wedding gifts that haven't found their place in our home yet. Others are waiting to be returned. I figure I will need to get those out of the way in a few months--that's where our Christmas tree gets set up.

And for us? Married life has been wonderful. Though, not much has changed. We've been together for nearly forever already. Other than having a new last name (which I still only partially have due to not following through on the name changing process) and calling each other by a different title ("hey husband!", "yes wife?"), not a lot has changed. We have been busy though. The last two months have consisted of a fabulous 2-part honeymoon and setting up a business. I know, it doesn't sound like much, but let me tell you, it is. It's a lot. (The tales about our business are different stories for different days though.)

While not much has changed, I will say this: being married is better than not being married. My husband is a great guy and I love him to death. The past several years have been awesome, but the past two months have been even better. Here's to the next million years with him.