The Luckiest

I have this friend who is tall and thin and beautiful and cool. We grew up together and she was always tall and thin and beautiful and cool.  She had one attractive, bad-boy boyfriend after another when we were young.  If you had asked me when I was 16, or 18 or, shit, even 23 which one of us would have the awesome life when they were 34, I would have hands-down said her. I was the insecure chubby sidekick friend. She looked like Uma Thurman. It had to be her.

I haven't talked to my friend in a while -- that's what happens when you grow up and move to opposite parts of the country -- and I don't mean to in any way disparage her life. Her life is probably awesome for her, and I love and support her in anything that she chooses to do with it.

But me? I know that really, I'm the lucky one. I'm the one with the awesome life.   I'm the one with the handsome green-eyed lawyer husband who rubs my feet and makes a mean burrito.  The one who owns a cute house with a white fence and a backyard for my awesome dog.  The one with the decent, steady job. A group of  friends who make this non-home-town feel like home. About to have a baby.  

Of course, she may not want any of these things.  But I do. I always did. It's strange to be at a point in my life where I feel like I am exactly where I want to be, to have everything I've ever wanted; it's weird, in a way.  How lucky I am that I get to live my life.

An Actual Conversation

I don't know what position I have been sleeping in lately that has resulted in this, but every morning I wake up with my hair sticking at least 4 inches from my head.  It's like a cross between televangelist hair and a raggedy Southern girl poof.

This morning, I roll out of bed like a zombie and walk into the hallway, where Brad is tying his tie and looking all handsome getting ready for work.  The door to our spare room is open, and I can see a large pile of clean laundry on the bed.  I point to it.

K: "Oh my god, laundry mountain!"
Brad: "Whatever, James Brown on a cross-country crack spree."

K: ...

The Importance of Flag Day

Five years ago today, Brad asked me to marry him. It was a random week night and we took a walk after work to a park on Lake Michigan. It was lovely and romantic and saying "yes" was the best (and easiest) decision I've ever made.

It happened to be Flag day, so I always remember the exact date.

In honor of my husband and our nearly 13 years of couplehood, here are just a few of the many ways in which he has made my life so, so much better:


-He inspired me to lose weight and become active. Not because he ever had a problem with my body, but because I felt like he deserved to be with someone who was healthy and who took care of herself. In the years since my initial weight loss, he has inspired me to canoe in the wilderness, hike mountains, cross country ski, and run. Watching him train and compete in bike races, from crits at the Pittsburgh oval to 100 milers to 24-hour mountain bike races, has inspired me to train for and meet my own athletic goals.

-He got me out of my hometown. I never would have left the little town I grew up in, let alone lived in Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia, had I not met Brad.

-He has made me more independent. Brad has a low tolerance for people's bullshit, including mine. He calls me out when I'm being ridiculous, and has helped me to see that I can do anything I want to, and there's absolutely no reason that I need someone to do it with me. My mother can't even put gas in her own car, so I value this more than I can even explain.

-We share a brain. Whether it's from being together for almost 13 years or because we truly are a perfect match, I don't know. But we have the exact same sense of humor and sometimes freak each other out by thinking the same thing at the same time. It's awesome.

-He has introduced me to things such as Tom Waits, camping, and Predator. And for that I will forever be grateful.

Brad is 100% my best friend and I am still sometimes amazed that I landed such a smart, funny, handsome and all around awesome guy. Here's to a lifetime of Flag days to celebrate. XO

An Actual Conversation

This is what it's like when you work from home.

It's 7:30 am. I am headed into my office (read: our spare bedroom). Brad is getting ready for work. He's wearing jeans, which is somewhat unusual for a lawyer for a Tuesday.

K: Jeans again today?
B: At least I'm wearing actual pants.
K: Decides not to respond, after looking down at giant flannel pajama pants and legendary GnR shirt.

An Actual Conversation

Brad and I are driving home from beautiful Davis, WV. I am telling him about a girl who I met that day; in conversation with her, age came up and she was surprised that I am 32.

K: She said she thought I was 24 or 25. I told her I loved her.
Brad: You were wearing those huge sunglasses, weren't you?
K: . . .

Like a Queen

I have been sleeping on the same bed that I bought when I moved out of my parents' house at the age of 19. It sags in the middle and Brad and I often wake up with backaches. Not to mention the fact that Brad's feet hung off the end of it and I was constantly kneeing him in the side in my sleep. Eleven years we'd been sharing this bed, and it had to stop.

So last week, we went on a wild, flu-ridden journey of the city looking for a new bed. We found one at last, and it arrived yesterday. After moving our old bed into the guest room (for my parents to sleep on this weekend -- sorry guys), we hauled that sucker upstairs, set it up, and were all, "Huh. This Queen-sized bed, contrary to what I believed, is significantly larger than a double." For some reason, I thought our full-sized sheets would fit, but I was mistaken.

So last night at 9.00, you could find me at Target, buying sheets and a new bedskirt. But holy moley. I slept like a cherub last night. I am so in love with our new mattress that, if I weren't already married, I would make it my husband.

Small Comforts

Our trip to Davis was wonderful! Brad and I both left with the opinion that Charleston was going to seem very dull in comparison. Oh, Blackwater Falls. Oh, the Purple Fiddle. Oh, the pumpkin pancakes at the Bright Morning Inn.

Unfortunately, we both came down with bad colds immediately upon arriving back at home. So bad, in fact, that I stayed home from work today and yesterday. I always feel guilty for missing work; I think about the work I have to do and I don't want to let anyone down. So happily, I will be back in the office tomorrow. But on days like this, I look for small everyday comforts to make me feel better. Nothing beats a day of cuddling on the couch with my dog, Boy Scout caramel corn, and a Project Runway marathon.

Firsts

Brad and I have been together for 11 years. We were engaged for three years, and as of today, we've been married for 13 wonderful days.

In all of this time together, we've had a lot of firsts. First date, first kiss, first time we said "I love you." First night spent in our first apartment. The first time we moved out of our home state; the first time we realized we wanted to spend the rest of our lives with each other.

Now that we're married, we get to celebrate a bunch of new firsts. Some of them feel like milestones, like the first time I referred to Brad as "my husband," and some of them are seemingly mundane, like the first time we went hiking as a married couple. For the first time in my life, I probably won't be spending Christmas in Wisconsin. So it will be our first Christmas spent without our families. But I'm OK with this, since we are our own family now.

We have so many firsts in our future: first wedding anniversary, the first time we buy a house, our first baby? I can't wait to celebrate them all!