Archive for the ‘I Do’ Category
The best part about this year
Posted on: December 29, 2011
David and I were reflecting on 2011 earlier this week when the following conversation took place:
D: “Baby, I think our spontaneous trip to Disney World was the best part about this year.”
A: “I really loved that trip, too, babe. You do realize we also got married this year, right?”
D: “Oh yeah… Baby, I think our spontaneous trip to Disney World was the second best thing about this year. After our wedding, of course.”
The best part about this year...
...and the second best part about this year.
What is this spontaneous trip to Disney World you speak of? And did I just use the word “spontaneous” in a sentence??
Stay tuned! As soon as I recover from my Christmas coma I’ll have all the details about the most spontaneous thing I’ve ever done.
Disappointed
Posted on: December 1, 2011
I’ve spent the last few months being thoroughly disappointed with myself. Things aren’t working out as planned and I’m frustrated.
I’m the kind of person who usually gets what I want. Partially because I’m spoiled, but mostly because I’m ridiculously driven. If I set my mind to something I make it happen. I’ve been this way my entire life. I distinctly remember wanting to be friends with a girl I didn’t even know in 7th grade. We were bffs by the next year. Senior year of high school I realized my GPA was .26 points away from being at the top scholarship level. In order to raise it I would have to get an A+ in literally every class, including AP English. I pulled it off. When I started my first full-time job out of college in June I realized I wasn’t going anywhere fast and I decided it wasn’t the right place for me. I wanted to work for the company I freelanced for, even though they didn’t have an open position. I had my dream job by the end of summer.
Part of my determination comes from being hyper-focused. I really only have two speeds: GO-GO-GO-GO-GO-THIS-IS-NOT-A-DRILL and off.
So imagine my disappointment when I set my mind to something, work at it really, really hard then fail.
I don’t deal with disappointment well. I cry, I scream, I try to project my anger on anyone or anything else. When I’m disappointed I lose sight of every thing good in life… I only see the negative. Unfortunately I don’t think I’ll be able to change my disappointing situation anytime soon. Instead of festering in self-pity I decided to set some intentions for the month of December. Maybe having something else to focus on would do me some good.
1. Nurture my relationship with David. This is always something I have top-of-mind, and that’s the way I want it to stay. With the holidays coming up it’s easy to get lost in a flurry of family gatherings and Target receipts. I want to make an extra effort to put down the iPad and connect with my husband.
2. Knock it out of the park at work. We’re working on a lot of great projects at work with more on the horizon for 2012. I feel like I’ve flourished at my job this past year, and I want to keep the momentum up. I have a few big projects I want to wrap up and do my best so I can begin the new year with a strong start.
3. Finish up all loose wedding bits. I still have a few stray thank you cards to write (from recently received presents, for those of you trying to judge me). I also need to select photos for our wedding album, and I want to get both David and my rings redipped sometime soon. As much fun as the big day was, starting the new year without an ounce of wedding business to tend to sounds fab.
4. Work on this blog. I’ve been writing a lot these last few months, just not posting. Early next year I want to give Hamsaps House a custom design facelift. I also want to blog more frequently and more meaningfully. I feel like in all my disappointment I’ve been writing a lot of fluff. No one likes fluff. Except on their hot chocolate.
5. Continue my freezer kick. Over the last month or so David and I have become enamored with our freezer. We’re obsessed with freezing leftovers and making our homemade meals stretch a little further. I’ve been making a different batch of soup each week then freezing it for lunches. It’s so nice to have a quick, easy to grab meal ready to go that’s NOT wrapped in plastic and preservatives. I’ve also been freezing hunks of cookie dough so when we want dessert we can just break off a chunk and make a few cookies at a time. This saves time making cookies from scratch, and it saves calories from eating a full batch of cookies in 2 days (guilty). I want to continue to freeze as much as possible so we waste less and eat more whole, homemade food.
I think these should keep me busy this month. What are your intentions or goals for December?
I Feel Bad…
Posted on: November 2, 2011
I’m a little scared to type this because the wrath of the Interwebs could come down on me with an earth-shattering boom.
But I feel bad for Kim Kardashian.
I feel bad that there’s a hashtag mocking the brevity of her union (#thingslongerthanKimsmarriage), and I feel bad that her situation is being contorted into an anti-gay smear (“celebrities can get divorced after 72 days but it’s homosexuals who are ruining the sanctity of marriage?”).
I am sad that she thought she had it all, and I am mad that we live in a society where it’s acceptable to pass judgement on other people’s intimate relationships. (Is this post starting to sound like a Dr. Suess book? I feel bad and I am sad and I am mad…)
Mostly I feel bad for the relentless commentary about Kim, her relationship and her decision. Everyone seems to have something to say about it. Where exactly does that need to comment come from? Obviously I suffer from it: I wrote this post. The news media, the tabloids and everyone on Twitter also needs to comment on it. Why are we all so desperate to talk about a celebrity’s failed marriage? Could it be because we’re desperate to talk about marriage in general?
If you want to be outraged about Kim’s divorce go right ahead: but don’t try to link the dilapidation of her marriage to her celebrity status. Kim’s marriage failed because as a society we’ve allowed divorce to permeate our lives and become not just a solution for extreme cases, but a solution for most cases.
Kim is not encouraging people to get divorced, nor is she sending a message to little girls that it’s okay to get married if you don’t plan to stay with your partner forever. On the contrary, she is a victim of those very messages. Kim lives in a world where it’s okay to get divorced. A world where working on a relationship just doesn’t seem like a fun way to spend eternity. A world where weddings are more exciting than marriages. This world isn’t some extravagant Hollywood alternate reality: this world is our world.
A few weeks ago David had the weekend off. We spent 3 days/2 nights together, which is unheard of at Hamsaps House. As much as I enjoy spending quality time with my husband I was happy to have my bed back once our normal routine commenced.
The night David returned to work I decided to go to bed early. I took a shower that evening, told David goodnight and left him in the living room to watch X-Files while I got some shut-eye.
I crawled under the covers, enjoying the cool fabric of our overly priced sheets. I let my head sink into the memory foam pillow. I pulled the duvet over my body and sighed out of happiness.
“A whole cheese pizza, all to myself,” I muttered dreamily.
I could have drifted off to sleep right then had I not been startled by a voice from the living room.
“What was that about a cheese pizza?” David asked, chuckling.
I scowled under the covers, annoyed he had been eavesdropping and angry with myself for marrying someone who didn’t know every line of Home Alone.
“When I grow up and get married,” I exclaimed, “I’m living alone! Did you hear me? I’m living alone! I’m living alone!”
Remember how happy Kevin was at the end of the film when his mom came home and congratulated him for buying milk? That’s how awesome it felt to sleep by myself that night.
WEDDING PICTURES
Posted on: June 14, 2011
- In: I Do | Uncategorized
- 2 Comments
We interrupt Abby’s regularly scheduled ramblings posts to present… WEDDING PICTURES.
