one year since...

...Nick acted so random I never caught on that it was all intentional.

 ...since he bought haagen daz and had spoons in the car and insisted on "trespassing" and having a picnic in a vineyard in the dead of night so that he could propose under the stars. And it's things like that...that made me fall in love with him.
one thing leads to another:

 and another:

and another:

 and another:

One year since the adventure began to begin in earnest.

On the first day of Christmas . . .

. . . it only happens for the first time once, so better do it right.


I decided to take the classic approach to our first Christmas - start the celebration in the days leading up to Christmas!

but you can forget the swans and leaping lords, because I'm not bringing her throngs of elaborate gifts.


I'm taking her to the gifts.



That's right. In four days, we will be looking at this:


where I hope to pick up a couple of these:

the next day, we will be dining here:

to be followed by trips here:

and here:

Please, hold on to your jealousy. Besides the fact that jealousy is downright unbecoming, I'm not finished yet.


we may even find ourselves one of these:

before we go do some of this:


and check out purchase options for something here:

we may even stop and think of y'all while looking down at this.

. . . maybe.

although you really have a better chance of that happening here:

or even here:

heh. had you going there didn't I? you really thought I'd be thinking of something other than taking in all the grandeur with her?


okay, okay. . . maybe I can put in a good word for you when I see him:

otherwise, I'm prolly going to be a bit distracted by managing my gifts.

actually, come to think of it there could also be some french hens involved after all . . .

- The Knight

(by the way. . . you can feel free to be jealous now.)

One Month of Wedded Wisdom. . . a month late

(at least the PG-ish version):

1. There is no “poof!” at the wedding. I’m still me. She is still she.
2. For the first week or so, “exhausted” is pretty much a constant state now that the planning is over.
3. Always wear your ring. Sometimes you need it to remind yourself that you are not dreaming— it actually did happen
4. October is the best month for weddings. Period.
5. Want to start off your marriage with bushels of brownie points? Grill steak on your honeymoon. Extra points if done from the middle of the ocean.
6. Always kiss your wife goodnight and goodbye.
7. Windy New England days are cold, but they make for incredible wedding pictures.
8. raWr.
9. Being greeted at the door by your wife almost makes it worth being gone at work all day.
10. Tie racks can hold all manner of interesting things.
11. Moonlit walks are inherently better with a wife rather than a fiancée.
12. There are girls who can cook, and there are girls who can cook.
13. Corn mazes are fun dates.
14. Motivation for getting out of bed for a 2-hour commute: hard. Getting up when it is cold outside: harder still. Getting up in the cold and leaving wife: you gotta be kidding me!
15. Don’t forget to ask for stories—you weren’t the only person at the wedding.
16. Employee benefits should include bonuses wedding/honeymoon leave.
17. The honeymoon is not the best time to “be brave” and experiment with foods you both historically have disliked just because you are in the area where they harvest it fresh.
18. Putting outings with the wife on hold to work on school stinks. Having a wife who takes those opportunities to make yummy goodness is bliss.
19. RaWr.
20. A lifetime together is too short.
21. Just because you live together that doesn’t mean you now suddenly have all kinds of time to be together – you still need to set time aside to spend together.
22. It is actually possible to get tired of spending free money.
23. Three words: cold. feet.
24. Life gets fast very quickly. Make time to remember these moments.
25. There really are monsters in your closet.
26. #8 + #19 = *whistles*
27. There is no such thing as “hers” and “his.” At best there is “hers” and “ours.”
28. When in doubt, kiss her.
29. I have the bestest. girl. Ever.
30. True happiness doesn’t go stale.

- The Knight

honeymooners part 3

For all the stores we went to, we only bought a few small things at the lighthouse museum...oh...and we happily carried a model sailboat out of an antique shop (with a 2' mast). She's beautiful, and desperately in need of a name--and we purchased her on the blind faith that she would fit in the Mustang along with all the other stuff already in there. She did. Eventually. After an exciting adventure packing our loot into the car (poor River) we sat and waited for our turn to get on the ferry.

Leaving the harbor at Rockland we saw the harbor's lighthouse, which is at the end of a mile(?) long man-made causeway. Long walk.
The ferry took us to the island of Northhaven--summer population 1000, winter population 350. That is like taking our alma mater and marooning it on an island.

A man who moonlights as a Boston U professor (but spends the bulk of his time living on this island) met us at the dock (knowing immediately who we were, because he'd never seen us before) and tossed our gear into his little orange motor boat.

We stopped at the island's one grocery store for supplies, then piled into the little motor boat and set off to I-wasn't-sure-where. But I had my suspicions, based on something Boston U had said when we landed.

Little did I know that Nick had earlier that morning pointed to the precise spot we were going to spend the next two nights.

Yes, he's pointing to a little light.
This one:

Goose Rocks Lighthouse

Yes, we motored right up to it, stepped from the bobbing boat and climbed up the metal ladder and through the hatch to the deck.



And we proceeded to spend two nights there.

Nick grilled steaks and mixed an olive oil dip for our scrumptious fresh bread and we ate dinner by lamp light.
Proof we were in a lighthouse, this is us and the light itself!
This is the tail end of the "bit of a blow" we had while we were there. The storm hit after sunset the first night, and cleared up by mid afternoon the following day. How romantic is that? A storm at sea in a lighthouse!

We had a lovely time at our breathtaking and rustic spot off the coast of Maine. Yes, seriously. Nick did a good job.

On the ferry back a random fisherman type popped into the passenger section of the ferry (which we had all to ourselves) and said "So you're the honeymooners? Did you enjoy the lighthouse? My grandfather was stuck there once for 18 days!"

Ahhhh, Maine.

-The Lady

honeymooners part 2

At our next stop we took in the beautiful opulence offered by a Victorian Bed & Breakfast in Maine

Homemade pies are available 24/7, and the genial innkeeper and his wife create an atmosphere in which you really feel like their welcomed guest--only without the obligation to be social.




We walked to the lighthouse museum:

Look! Polish Coast Guard!

Does this ship look familiar to anyone?

We then wandered around the Main St shops. We ate lunch at a little Italian place (soup, and an eggplant parmesan panini that were exquisitely yummy) and continued our shopping expedition.

Toy store!

We thoroughly enjoyed exploring the Main St of Rockland, ME before heading to the ferry to Northhaven. Where did we go from there?

stay tuned to find out!

the honeymooners

We're back!

It's official! ^

We've been "back" at work for a couple weeks, but tried not to resurface too much to the rest of the world (sadly, paychecks are necessary things, and there is something unforgiving about grad school classes and projects!)



However, I bet you've all been dying to know where we went for our honeymoon!


We took advantage of the beautiful seclusion offered by Cape Cod in the off season.

We went to Chatham Fish Pier

got our picture taken with a seagull^

^Chatham's harbor seals!
^Yup, We were that close to the wild seals. Didn't see any sharks, though.
^ The dunes where we stayed.

Our picnic in Scargo Tower: the highest point of Cape Cod ^ (mmmm, wedding cake and cold leftover chinese!)
Dessert first. ^

Sitting down high up. ^

Chatham Lighthouse ^

Our escape: Wind Song
Check back soon for pictures from the next stop!