Chivalrous Acts and Wet Willies

“Real love--it's less shiny than solid and simple.” ~Deb Caletti

Last week, there was a massive wind storm that blew through our little town starting at about midnight.  I'm serious, we are talking hurricane force winds here!  Earlier that day, The Boy from Texas had been changing a light bulb and trying to eradicate a wasp next on the roof of our porch.  He had left the heavy-duty ladder set up there to finish the next day.

Well, about 1 in the morning, the wind blew that ladder into our front door, making a series of loud crashes.  It actually sounded like someone was shooting at the front door.  We both woke up right away, and The Boy from Texas threw himself on me like you see cops do in the movies (or Joey did for his meatball sandwich during the ride along on Friends).  

After the commotion died down and my heart stopped beating about 257 times a minute, I just laid there thinking about how lucky I am to have found this guy, such a great husband who is so chivalrous and protective.  We should probably write a book on this, I thought. Smiling, I went right back to sleep.

Then, come about 7:00 that morning, I was awakened by that same husband asking me what I was making for breakfast and giving me a wet willie.  Book deal sort of went out the window.  Chivalry may not be dead, but it's not constant either.

And after I got done sternly informing him that was not the way I wanted to start my Saturday, I just laughed and thought, again, how happy I am to have found him.  We're not perfect, our marriage is not perfect, but man alive.....we sure love each other and always have the best time together.

God bringing us together is the biggest blessing in my life, wet willies and all.

One Month Anniversary: Thoughts So Far

We have officially been married 1 month as of today.  In light of this milestone, I figured sharing a few thoughts on this topic might be in order.

I absolutely love being married to this man.

It is so much fun being able to see each other every day....this living in the same zip code is all that it was cracked up to be!

I really enjoy cooking.  Usually he comes and sits in the kitchen and we chat while I make dinner.  It's probably my favorite part of the day.  Good thing, because that guy likes to eat.

Apparently boys put off a lot of body heat while they sleep.  As someone who is always (and I mean always) cold, it's like my own little space heater!

But, there have been some bumps in the road. 

We've learned that when one of us gets dressed (in what she perceived as being a really cute outfit), the other should not respond with, "You really  need to learn how to buy pants."

I quickly figured out that I am a much, much happier person when I gain some exercise endorphins.  Because it has been like -5 degrees around here, that meant a gym membership was required.  Best money I've spent in a long time.

He mocks Chicago Fire.  I'm pretty sure there was something in the vows about not speaking ill of your wife's favorite tv show.  However, three weeks into it, he now knows everyone's back story and he was even giggling at part of it last week.

Two people create a LOT of laundry.  Seriously, I feel like the washer and drier never stop.

Then, there was the butter incident.  I made some yummy apple dumplings (recipe coming up tomorrow!)  He tasted them and said, "They're good, but they are really buttery, you might should have used less."  Well, I wasn't happy with that comment, got my feelings hurt, and pouted for a while.  However, when I went back to look at the recipe.....turns out when I halfed it, I forgot to half the butter.  So he was spot on right.  I hate it when that happens.

Life in the Panhandle

It's cold here.  Like, for multiple days the high was not above freezing.  This girl had sort of acclimated to College Station winters and this took so me major readjustment.  And lots of warm sweaters!

I now drive 45 minutes one way to work each day.  I thought I might hate it, but actually, I kinda love it.  In the mornings, I pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet on my way to work.  I'm terrible about getting "busy" and not making time for that, so this is the perfect opportunity to pray.  In the evenings, I get to see the most incredible sunsets.  I've probably pulled off at least 5 times in the last month to take pictures.  It also allows me ample phone time with my friends.  As a girl who spent so long single, I have a routine of long phone conversations to keep up--particularly with the girls--and the drive allows me to do that then, instead of when I'm at home with The Boy from Texas.

Post-Wedding Life

I thought that I'd have so much more free time now that I'm not doing any wedding planning.  I was wrong.  I am writing thank you notes.  Loads and loads of thank you notes.

Super Mom has been kindly emailing me a photo a day or so to keep me going while I wait for the entire set to be done.  It's so much fun to see what she was able to capture with her camera (and cat-woman like maneuvering) on the wedding day.

We still have wedding gifts trickling in, which makes it like Christmas several times a week.  When boxes stop appearing on the front porch, I am going to be a little sad.