"i'm not the silly romantic you think.
i don't want the heavens or the shooting stars.
i don't want gemstones or gold.
i have those things already.
i want... a steady hand.
a kind soul.
i want to fall asleep, and wake,
knowing my heart is safe.
i want to love and be loved."
~shana ab

one year.

happy 1 year anniversary!

last year was a whirlwind of pictures, people, music, vows, and dresses.

my favorite part was when we got to the hotel, sat down, had a bottle of champagne, and realized that we were married.

"you don't have to be perfect to belong in this place. you don't have to have all the answers, or always know the right thing to say. you can climb the highest mountain if you want. or quietly imagine that you might, someday. you can take chances, or take safety nets, make miracles or make mistakes. you don't have to be composed at all hours to be strong here. you don't have to be bold or certain or be brave. you don't have to have all the answers here. or even know who you want to be. just take my hand, and rest your heart, and stay awhile with me."

~ashley rice.

pretty much sums it up. love you.

"i accept him, i love him, just as he is.
he accepts me, loves me, just as i am.
we choose each other. everyday.
it isn’t puppies and rainbows and cotton candy under a starry sky.
but it’s the biggest love that i’ve ever known."

happy birthday, dude

holy crap, you're getting old. ;)

reasons why i love this man:

1. there is zero chance of us ever forgetting something when we leave the house. he double, triple, and quadruple checks that we have everything. twice.

2. every morning he pours himself a full cup of coffee. and every morning he only drinks about half of it before dumping the rest out and pouring himself another.

3. he actually encouraged me to go to school. although studying is a different matter.

4. i've never heard him say, "you can't do that".

5. he can watch out cold once a month during the winter and not get sick of it.

6. he can survive off of 5 hours of sleep and not bitch about it like i do.

7. when he cooks something, he first measures out everything in little dishes and then starts to cook.

8. he read all 5 off the dan brown books this year.

9. when we got ourselves stuck on a mountain, with no cell service, he didn't freak out.

10. he's a ridiculously hard worker.

11. he makes some mean cupcakes.

12. he gets as excited about decorating for christmas as i do.

13. when he asked me to marry him he was super nervous.

14. on my birthday he got up super early to make me breakfast.

15. he is the yin to my yang, the cream in my coffee, and yes, the cheese to my macaroni (although, i like to think that i'm the cheese and he's the macaroni).

happy birthday. hope it was everything you imagined your 27th birthday would be. and more.

happy 6 months of marriage.

dear husband aka charles aka dude,

happy 6 months. they've been fabulous, awesome, amazing, etc. but seriously, being married has been way better than being engaged. perhaps because we're not planning a wedding?! or maybe just because i love you so much. even when you don't take the trash out. maybe because you love me even though i hate cooking. here's to the next 6 months! and the ones after that, and the ones after that, and the ones after that ... and lots of takeout.

love, d

The story of Love: Part 6

Previously [Part 5], we got engaged and moved to Colorado. And usually what follows an engagement is a wedding. Big, small, religious, non-religious, traditional, modern .... and the list goes on and on.

Ours was a mix of all of the above, perfect for us, and A LOT of fun! [But really, have you ever heard anyone say they didn't have fun at their own wedding?] We got lucky with the weather. It was sunny, warm and bug-filled.

We were married in a short, sweet, outdoor ceremony ...

... had fun with our friends ...

... and fell even more in love.

All pictures are credited to Joseph Allen ......... amazing.

The story of Love Part 5: Engaged

So, when we last left off [Part 4] C and I were "living in sin" and had lots of decisions to make about where we wanted our next year of living in sin to be. I mentioned that I applied to grad school in the Northeast as well as a few places in Colorado. Well I thought that Colorado was my best shot so we planned a trip in March to check out the area, look at places to live, and see if we really wanted to move here. I think our parents were all hoping that we would hate it. Actually, I know they were. When we got back to MD with pictures and stories from the west no one wanted to hear or see them. Anyway, we had a great trip in March exploring the area, checking out apartments, and doing all the touristy stuff that I am now too embarrassed to do.

Our first of 1,000 trips to Red Rocks. The trail not the amphitheater.

Now I'll spare you the details about getting into school. I could write a novel on that alone and it's neither interesting nor something I want to relive. Basically, the school lost every piece of paper they possibly could, mixed me up with other applicants, and went from telling me that I was accepted to they had no record of me ever applying. It was a nightmare. Seriously. But after a month of scathing emails, phone calls, etc. I finally found out that I got in. Of course after that process I didn't really want to go anymore, but C talked me into it [he didn't have to try too hard], saying that if I didn't go I'd always regret it. And, he was right.

Anyway, at the end of this entire process we planned one Saturday to drive back to UMD, where we went to school, have a picnic and hang out before heading over to my parents for dinner. While we were there, after some kick-ass PB and fluff sandwiches and a minor frisbee injury, C asked me to marry him. He was so nervous, it was pretty cute. :)

This is where the magic happened. PB & fluff sandwiches and frisbee accidents. :)

And then we began the process of planning a wedding [we originally wanted a destination wedding in the Virgin Islands. Ok, C wanted a destination wedding. I wanted to elope.] and planning a move to Colorado. It was one of the craziest times in our lives and it hasn't really calmed down at all in the past year but also one of the most exciting.

Goodbye east coast. Hello Rocky Mountains.

Today also happens to be our 1 year Engagaversary :) ... Say tuned for [Part 6] when we get married!

The story of Love Part 4: The year of living in sin

So when we last left off [Part 3] I had some decisions to make about my future. As I neared the end of my first year teaching I realized two things: 1. I really liked teaching and wasn't ready to give that up and 2. I wanted to be closer to C. We had been dating for 2 years and were more than sick of the long distance thing. So we decided to move in together. We got an apartment in Virginia and I moved down after the school year was finished. It was a little stressful, leaving friends I had just made and quitting my job without having another one lined up yet, but it worked out. I got several job offers over the summer including one at a great school, teaching only Biology, and I was really excited about it.

A few months after moving in together we decided to add another dog to our family. Crazy? Yes. And so we brought Henry home 2 months later. Best decision we ever made. I love being a two dog family and it was definitely a bonding experience going through puppy training together. My mom joked at the time that it was like we had a baby, since we were getting up in the middle of the night to take Henry out.

irresistible

I also applied to grad school in various states that fall. We didn't really discuss what would happen if I got in since I thought my chances were pretty slim in most places and there were so many options. I figured we'd cross that bridge when we came to it in the spring.

all dressed up for my sister's confirmation

I loved that first year of living together. It was hard at times but we had so many firsts. Our first big purchase (a bed), raising our first puppy, cutting down our first Christmas tree ... I loved how when we moved into that apartment it seemed so big and empty and over the months we filled it with animals, books, food, music. Our balcony overlooked beaver habitat and being the Animal Planet lovers that we are we spent a lot of time out there watching the beavers, listening to thunderstorms, and drinking coffee on Saturday mornings.

burry, imperfect but ours

Towards the end of the year we talked about moving. We knew if we stayed in Virginia we wanted to move somewhere to shorten both of our commutes and we knew if I got into grad school there was a possibility of us leaving the state. Which leads us to, [Part 5], when we make all of those decisions.

The story of Love Part 3: The year of long distance

We last left off with The Year of No Money. Fun times. We were now looking for jobs that paid enough to allow us to make rent. Not exactly the easiest thing in the D.C. area. To be honest Charlie had a better time of it than I did. He interviewed and got a job with a company in early May so when he graduated at the end he started his job the next day. He got hired in Northern Virginia and made plans to move in the summer which meant for the first time it was going to be harder to see each other. Still ... his new diggs were about a 35 minute commute from where I was working so we still saw each other on some weeknights and weekends.

I told you he graduated! And in the same cap and gown I wore the year before.

Me ... well it definitely wasn't as easy for me to find a new job. I was still working at the Dermatology office and while it was fine it wasn't something I could stay in for much longer. I had applied to PA school in North Carolina and was waiting to see what happened with that. I was also applying for every job that I could find. On a whim, I applied to the school system in a rural county in Maryland and in one week I found out that I got into PA school and got offered a teaching job. I took the teaching job and deferred my acceptance for PA school for a year.

This was the view from my bedroom. How can you not love waking up to a view like that?

We celebrated our 2nd anniversary. Hands down the most romantic trip ever.

C and I were now 2.5 hours away from each other which meant that we were doin' the long distance thing. Now if you ask C about that year he'll tell you it was really hard. Me? I loved it. I loved my job. I loved the people I worked with. I loved having new friends and to be honest I really loved living in the middle of nowhere. [And when I say nowhere ... I'm not kidding. I literally lived in a one stoplight town, except I didn't live in town. The high school I taught at was nicknamed 'cornfield high' on account that it was surrounded on all sides by cornfields.] Sure it was hard only seeing C on weekends. We would trade every other weekend who's turn it was to drive and come visit. Every Saturday and Sunday morning we would drive to Panera and sit for hours catching up on the week. I have lots of good memories from that time. Still ... as the end of the teaching year approached there were a lot of decisions to make. We both knew that we couldn't do the long distance thing forever, I had to decide if I wanted to keep teaching or move to NC and go to PA school. And to be honest I wasn't too sure what would happen if I moved 8 hours away from C for two years ... onto [Part 4].

The story of Love Part 2: The year of no money

So, when we last left off I had just given Dunkin, otherwise known as Chunky Monkey, credit for C and I finally getting together. But before we could live happily ever after we had to get through some rough times.

our first pic as a couple.

First, we were the poorest people ever. C was in school with a year left to go and living off of student loans. I had just moved off campus to live and work in a vet clinic because my rent was free there. We felt like we were livin' it up when we ate at TCBY or split a 6 pack of Miller Light. Oh who am I kidding? We were in college. We split a 12 pack.

In our first year together we were pretty stressed out people. I barely got a night of sleep because my "free rent deal" meant that I was up with sick animals all night long. I was also still taking classes and applying for PA school once I realized that I didn't want to make $9/hour the rest of my life. C was taking as many classes as possible, trying to graduate, and realizing that engineering classes only got harder as the years went on.

Our lives might be a lot more comfortable now, but despite having no money, working crap jobs, and not having any idea where we'd be in a year, we had SO much fun that year. It's one of the reasons why I love the boy ... we can have nothing and do nothing and still have the best time.

Since we had no money we started looking for things to do that were free, which is how we got into hiking. I had been hiking since I was a kid and we started doing it a lot more. We even got Dunkin his own backback.

Cupid on one of our free adventures.

As the year went on we eventually became less poor. I moved out of the vet clinic and started working at a Dermatology office. Charlie passed all of his classes. We both kept looking for actual careers, and then ............ [part 3]

The Story of Love Part 1: The Beginning

Every good love story has a catalyst. Ours just happens to be a dog.

(Notice the resemblance to Marley and Me?)

C and I met and were friends long before we started dating. When we first met, Charlie had a long term girlfriend and I was going through my "just having fun" phase. And, it was fun. :) Anyway, for Christmas that year C's present from his girlfriend was this adorable puppy who he named Dunkin. (I've tried to change the spelling to Duncan which I think is much cooler but it didn't work).

Seriously ... how cute is he!? The first time I saw him I started talking in that annoyingly, high-pitched voice reserved only for puppies and super-cute babies and I haven't stopped since.

So anyway ... C broke up with the girlfriend a few months later and he and I started spending more time together usually under the pretense that we were doing something with Dunkin. We walked him all over campus, took him for hikes in the woods, and swimming in the lake. And the more time we started spending together the more I realized how much I liked the boy ... and so we started dating.

he loved frisbee back in the day. now it's just all about the tennis balls.

I make it seem a lot less complicated than it really was but moral of the story is that I give Dunkin a lot of credit for C and I getting together and staying together. C always tells people that I dated him and agreed to marry him for his dog. He's wrong, but Dunkin definitely deserves some of the credit for getting us together. He's been the best, most loyal dog to both of us and I know that we both agree that he's just the best dog in the world.

So, Happy Valentine's Day to the dog who's been with C and I for 5 Valentine's in a row!