Flashback #1: Married Life

I love my husband.

Since my last post in 2008 was about him, post-honeymoon, I think it's appropriate to start the catch up process with the marriage update.

Dr. J and Dr. Mon are doing well. We're still that couple. And I think moving to River City where we have no family and didn't know anyone outside of work has been great for our marriage. Our bond as friends has continued to grow as for a long time, we were the only people we could hang out with. River City is a neat place and it has grown on us a great deal. But one thing we've learned is that although it is kind of in the South, it is not as friendly as Homestate. We've decided it's a landlocked state thing--people don't really come here, they travel through here. So the locals tend to look at us like we're strangers or as suspicious characters since they don't know why we would move here. Everyone was born and raised here so we've definitely had to adjust to our outsider status. It's made for some interesting memories, but has motivated us to explore the area as a couple and have some great dates. One of my favorite dates was the night Dr. J snagged us 6th row seats to see John Legend! We have "our" favorite restaurants (one for breakfast, one for lunch, one for dinner), "our" local sports team, "our" pharmacy, "our" pew at church--things that just the two of us share--and I love that. Most of "our" friends are White and/or 10-20 years older than us--and that's pretty neat too.

Our first trip home during the summer after the wedding was a lot of fun, but quickly taught us that we can't go home for too long. We spent a day at the beach and have been longing for our coastline ever since. During the trip, we were bouncing back and forth between my hometown and his for 12 days, so we were absolutely exhausted by the time we returned. Since then, we've only been home once (for Christmas). This most recent Christmas the families came to us. So hosting our first holiday in our home was quite an event.

We spent our first anniversary in a nearby resort town and had a lot of fun being tourists there. My mother had managed to ship the top tier of our wedding cake to us in its frozen state (it had been taking up room in her freezer all year). It was absolutely delicious!! Admittedly, we ate the whole thing during our weekend get-away. I've been trying to think of reasons to order another one of those cakes. We spent our second anniversary in our new home this past March--Dr. J surprised me with roses and a candlelight dinner of steak and crab legs (sooooo good). It was a wonderful evening and one of the first meals we'd shared with just the two of us at our new dining room table.

Of course, we've had some emotionally trying moments, but nothing atypical of newly married couples. I have my issues, he has his. We worked out the household chores pretty quickly (I do laundry, he mows the grass--most everything else we share to some extent). Sometimes I want to be on a more organized schedule, but I've learned to let go and realize that doesn't work for him. We've learned a lot about our communication; sometimes he wants me to talk more. But he's learned to let go when I just want to curl up with a book for a while. We play Xbox games together on occasion. We still have TV dates to watch cooking shows and HBO. We've laughed so much; we've shared some tears. Every thing, every problem, every fun memory, we've tackled together. And that's what we're loving most--doing this thing called life together.



And since the relatives always ask, curious minds may want to know. The answer is no.
No babies yet....