Dudes

So, I think I'm done with my post-wedding blog break. Now that it's been a million years. But those years went by super fast for me on account of how much I like my new husband. Check it. He's awesome.

photo by Summer Street Photography

There is now a lot to cover, though. Like the wedding and our wedding night fiasco. Yes, a fiasco with yelling, three dollar and fifty cent tolls, airplanes, and Dunkin' Donuts (just kidding, we avoided the DD).

Also, this summer, we have found ourselves a new little home for the fall. It's a small two bedroom apartment in Dorchester about 30 seconds from the JFK redline stop. I craigslisted like a maniac to find it. Many times Jared had to demand that I stop refreshing the page and put the computer away. But, my efforts resulted in totally awesome rent in pretty decent location and no broker's fee, despite the best efforts of the entire Boston/Cambridge real estate market. We are currently in the midst of moving in, but we have several weeks in which to do it. We're also doing a bunch of little projects to make it our very own/better.

More to come.

Lifelongs and forevers

*Otherwise known as the details.

Jared pulled back the covers on the bed and then tucked them all around me after I settled into the pillows. The cabin was cold. We had driven up to Flagstaff on Christmas day, ahead of his parents and brother so that we could heat up the house and trade a couple of gifts with just the two of us. But, I was still a little sick and very tired from the India trip. So, I was put to bed.

I woke up to a sweet hug, soft kisses, and a much warmer room.
"Come downstairs," he said, "Let's have Christmas."

A tree was up. Covered in lights, presents stacked around the trunk. Candles were lit around the room and over the mantle, two knit stockings hung, I imagine, with care. Jared took them down and we settled on the floor to empty them out. Everything in our stockings was from Jared's mom. I found body wash, lotion, perfumes, chocolate, and an orange. And in the bottom was a small, velvet jewelry box.

"Oh," Jared said, taking the box from my hand. "You can't have that until you answer a question."

I looked at him confused, "What?" I asked. Still thinking of earrings, or maybe a necklace, from his mother.

"You can't have it until you answer a question." He got on one knee.

"Oh," and then the whole world changed, like a small shift in space, the sunlight a slightly different color. And I thought, this is happening right now. Nothing will ever be the same. This is your whole life.

He opened the box and I got a glimpse of the ring before I looked back at his face. Then he asked.

"Will you marry me?"

"Yes," I said softly before kissing his mouth and hugging him hard around the neck. I was crying. I didn't want to stop holding him and touching him. Minutes later he asked if I wanted to see the ring. "I do," I said tearfully, "It's just that I love you so much!"

One more kiss. One more hug. And then he put it on my trembling finger.

iLove

Remember this one time when I didn't post anything for a ridiculously long time? Me too.

See, my computer stopped working in ways that computers usually work. It stopped playing any audio and the keyboard stopped working, in addition to loading everything slower than my family's first ever dial-up internet connection. It was/is extremely pitiful. Though, perhaps even sadder is how long I lived with it. Copy and paste individual letters into Google's search bar? No more!

Jared and I documented the momentous occasion in Photo Booth on some of the store's computers.

It's like you were there!

p.s. Computadora's name is Pepito (as in Madeline and the Bad Hat)

Hello, then

I don't know if you noticed, but I haven't written in a while. I mean, I know Maryn noticed because she said so, and requested something other than supremely cute baby faces to look at. But, maybe the last two months have gone by like a short, but decidedly groggy afternoon nap for some other people as well. March? April? Where'd you run off to? Too late to find out now, I suppose.

I think this means it's time for a recap. With bullet points.

• Ta da! I took this semester off from school. And the next one, too. School was hard in ways it shouldn't be - ways that really only come along with chemical imbalances in the brain. So even though I am close to graduation and am already old on the undergraduate age spectrum, I pressed pause. I want to like school and succeed at it the way I have in the past. I'm thinking this will do it ...
• I am working full-time taking care of an 18-ish month old baby girl. I fully adore her. She will charm your pants off. Plus, she is the cutest. Really. And her parents are awesome, too.
• I am learning/have learned how to make various Indian foods. The family I work for is Indian and comes with a grandmother who likes to show you how. It's neat. And delicious.
• My own family is kind of a bummer right now. Parents (primarily, almost totally dads) who just can't get it together and siblings who aren't handling the separation/maybe divorce/hopeful reconciliation/likely divorce/??? situation well equal a lot of stress. And sadness.
• I am reading book after book after book. It feels so good. Even in school I still read for myself a lot, but I have much more time for it now. Currently, I am reading a few plays by George Bernard Shaw and the Dune series. Next: The Things They Carried.
• Topping out the list of things I like about my life right now is the boyfriend. He is my favorite. My very favorite. I would have a hard time telling you why in the amount of space appropriate for a bullet point, so I'm not going to try. ( But yeah, we're still dating)

Goodbye 2009 ...

via Haw-Lin

Hello 2010. It's nice to meet you.

Broken-up

I love him. And he loves me. But we're not together now. It's funny how everything feels hazy, heartbreaking and so very different.

I feel all in pieces and I am not really certain where they all are, except that some of them (a lot of them?) are with him. Strangely though, I don't feel like bothering to put myself back together. Like, when you have a jigsaw puzzle and you know some of the pieces are missing, what's the point in even opening up the box?

I think this is a bad sign.