This Is How We Are

I thought it would be fun to start our "family" blog with a description of what my and Daniel's relationship is like. I'm sure this is the kind of post that no one will want to read, but I'm going to enjoy writing down some of the things that define our relationship in this stage of our marriage.

I happen to think that my husband is awesome. We've been together for a year now (that is to say that we started dating a year ago, hah), and I can honestly say I am truly happy. This is not to say that things are perfect. I hate it when girls paint an overly idealistic picture of their relationships, and I promise never to do that. But I really am happy, and I feel the need to express it. This is going to be fairly stream-of consciousness, so bear with me.

We love "marriage high-fives." We find them ironic.

We once camped in our family room, spending the entire night in a tent that we squeezed into our family room. Plans for an actual out-of-home camping trip are in the works.

We consume massive amounts of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I think even the Italians would be appalled... well, maybe not.

We have a notebook, given to us by a Jibson family friend (thanks, Denise!), in which we randomly write messages to each other.

On a much less cute note, we also have a gay pirate doll named Jaxson (no, we did not name him that ourselves), which we periodically hide in random places in the hopes of scaring the other person. He has made it into the shower, the dresser, the bed, the freezer, the car, etc. Jaxson gets around.

If I get out of bed in the middle of the night for any amount of time, Daniel will inevitably roll into the middle and sprawl. He denies this. He lies.

I have been known to wake Daniel up by elbowing him in the head (sometimes repeatedly) or loudly talking in my sleep. I can't deny this.

We play games a lot. Right now we're on a backgammon kick, because we just learned how to play. Daniel also taught me how to play chess, which I suck at. We constantly have a Scrabble game going; on most nights we play a few rounds before we go to bed.

Before we got married, we agreed that Daniel would do the dishes and I would do the laundry. I got the better end of the deal.

When we drive by a Wendy's, we almost always stop to get Frosties. This happens a lot.

I constantly hurt Daniel with my clumsiness. One time I dropped ridiculously hot, cheesy potatoes on his hand. I was trying to dish up some dinner for him (to be nice!), but I ended up giving him a second-degree burn (not nice).

We are incapable of being on the same sleepiness cycle. When I'm alert and want to stay up late, he can't keep his eyes open. When he has energy and doesn't want to go to bed yet, I'm incapable of staying awake. It's kind of annoying.

When we're not watching one of our many TV shows or playing some sort of game, we can often be found imitating an old couple. Daniel works on his Jackson Pollack puzzle while I sew and/or cross stitch.

We often eat dinner in the family room so we can watch something while we eat. We use foldable TV trays. We're ashamed of this.

Okay, I'm done. I suppose I could go on forever, but no one wants that. Suffice it to say, we've got a good thing going here.