Let's Try This Again

Wow. Almost 5 months since my last (first) post. I'm pretty good at this blogging thing! Hopefully, with more frequent updates, writing will seem a much less daunting task and I'll be more willing to keep up with it. Ryan and I have been living in Houston for almost a month now, and I can't believe how quickly the time has passed. I also can't believe how many boxes are still unpacked. We were happy enough - giddy even - to let the firm pack us up and move everything, but something didn't feel right about having complete strangers unpack and arrange our stuff for us. It seemed too much like grabbing the first 2 burly guys we could find and asking them to be our interior decorators. We opted instead to handle the unpacking ourselves, which of course meant I would open and sort every item we owned while Ryan was at the office. Perhaps this is why, four weeks later, cardboard is the design theme we're still going with. All was well and good until the Houston humidity set in and the smell of damp paper started permeating through the apartment. Our solution: Unpack faster? Work together to get the job done and then celebrate our hard work? Nah. We bought a dehumidifier instead. Works beautifully.

In all fairness, we know the apartment is a temporary arrangement, and it's hard to settle into a place you hope to be leaving soon. Not to mention, the only furniture we own resides in the bedroom. The couple who lived here before us were kind enough to leave behind a futon and coffee table, along with an area rug that the dyson has almost returned to its original color. We have no tables, no chairs, no shelves or bookcases. There's really nowhere to put our stuff even if we did have a burning desire to unpack. So do we buy something from ikea for the time being? Nothing I want to have in our house one day would go with the existing pieces here already, so I hate to invest too much... Oh well.

On the subject of Texas itself, I'm not sure where to begin. We spent the first week here with my parents, waiting on the arrival of our bed and mattress, but the stories from that week alone are deserving of their own entry. For the sake of time, I'll have to skip over that for now. Speaking generally, I'm finding that a return to life in Houston is both refreshing and maddening. I realized in my first week that I've lost my gift for small-talk, which can cause more issues than you would think. I'm fine catching up with old friends and meeting new acquaintances out with a group; for the moment I'm speaking specifically about the Texans' ridiculous habit of playing an impromptu game of 20-Questions with every stranger they meet. Specifically, with me. I'm sure I come off a tad rude when I thwart their efforts at getting to know me, but I just can't see the logic in this. Why is the person behind me in the check-out line telling me how delicious my strawberries look? I know they look delicious; that's why they're in my basket! And no, I didn't move back home to start breeding, random stranger. My parents haven't once asked if we're having any kids soon, so thanks for filling that void.

The weather has been a mixed bag of rain and sunshine. Our first weekend back, we went out in my brother's boat with his family, though it was a little chilly. We've been in the 80's for a few days, but presently we've dipped back into the 50's. I miss the snow and my coats are hanging in the closet, sad and abandoned. About once a week I'll still throw in a comment about moving back to Boston, but I'm fairly certain Ryan has been blocking them out for a while.

On a more positive note, spending time with my parents on the weekends - and even the occasional weekday - has been an immeasurable advantage to living here. They are only a short 35 minute drive away, and they are always happy to have us down for the night. We've also elected to hold off on buying a television, which frees up countless hours of free time. I guess we've gone without for about a month now, and I think it's been the best decision we've made as a married couple. If communication is the key to a lasting and successful marriage, getting rid of the TV can only be a step in the right direction. We've also managed to take in a basketball game - against the Wizards, ironically - and spend an afternoon at the zoo, two things we frequently talked about in DC but never got around to doing. All in all, I think we're off to a good start.

Coming up: My best friend's recent date with my favorite singer of all-time.
Gretta enters Week 4 of doggy obedience class; will she continue her run as top dog?
I finally found some grass-fed beef, but how will it taste? (background: I recently read Pollan's "Omnivore's Dilemma" and have resolved to eat pastured food as frequently as possible.

In the beginning

This is my humble attempt at keeping people up to date on the goings-on in my life. I intended to start this thing about a year ago after Ryan and I got engaged. I thought it would be great to keep a written account of that crazy year of wedding planning and long-distance romance. Unfortunately, between manic trips to the gym and working 50 hours a week while keeping up with my amazing and wonderful junior high kids at church, it never got off the ground. Perhaps it's for the better. I'm learning that married life is far more entertaining than the training period leading up to it. With the exception of some insane yoga and spinning instructors, my last year was pretty routine. Here's a quick recap:

I flew to DC every few weeks to see my darling fiance and drag him around town for the requisite wedding-related errands.
Winter came.
It snowed.
It snowed some more.
My car got stuck in the middle of the road on a snow bank and AAA had to come bust it out with an ice pick.
My mother and aunt flew up to help me fight (literally) for my wedding dress at Filene's.
I found my dream dress!
My dress was two sizes too small.
I took up residence at the gym and my dress zipped up a little.
I stopped eating starch and it zipped up a little more.
I stopped eating carbs and nothing changed.
I stopped eating. I don't remember what happened.
I shipped my dress home to end my obsession and I went back to eating healthy food once again.
More flights to DC.
More snow.
Engagement garden party in Ryan's hometown. It rained.
Engagement patio party at my parents' house. It rained.
Engagement pictures in Houston. Yup. Rain.
Bridal portraits. Hurricane hits.
Somewhere along the way I lose a bridesmaid and find a dear, dear friend in my precious sister-in-law Stephanie.
I flew home in August to prepare for the big day.
Miracle of miracles, my dress fit perfectly!
Our perfect day finally arrived. It rained. But at that point, we didn't care. We hardly even noticed!
Honeymoon was perfection. Newlywed bliss all through Paris and Italy...
We made our way to our new home in DC, and I love all 550 sqft of it.

Okay, now everyone is caught up. When I left Boston, I was working as a nanny. I love, love, love working with kids. I absolutely loved being a nanny. But it's time to move on. I've been searching for grad programs in the area where I can finish the Masters I started in Boston and I have finally started to find a couple. Okay, one, but it's a start. In the meantime, I've put in an application to volunteer with Hospice. I'm also looking into joining the youth ministry at the church we've been attending. It was such a huge part of my life in Boston, I can't imagine staying away from it for too long.

Having married the most amazing man ever, I've also had plenty of time to hang out and explore the city. So far, I'm happy with the little routines we've established in our young marriage. I cook almost every night. I bake occasionally. We use the good china. Sometimes for pizza, but at least it's not gathering dust in a box somewhere. And we wake up early to spend time together before he leaves for work in the morning. Usually it's about two hours of drinking coffee and talking or reading. We've started attending a church nearby that has an incredible Sunday School class for young married people. The class is awesome, and half of the couples there - possibly more - have some tie to Texas. Most of them have lived there within the past five years, so that's an interesting connection to make.

A few of our friends have relocated to the area, so our weekends are rarely our own, but it's nice to have a reason to get downtown once in a while. We're trying to resurrect our weekly poker game with some of Ryan's friends from law school, but it's a little slow getting off the ground.

Thanksgiving will find us in South Carolina, and my parents get to have us in Houston for Christmas. In between the two I'm spending a weekend in New York with Ryan's cousin, and we'll be picking up our puppy Gretta on December 3rd.

So there it is: A recap of the past, a snapshot of the present, and a glimpse of the near future.