Six Months, San Diego and Se…ntiments

Steve and I celebrated completing our first six months of marriage last weekend! Where did the time go?!

To be honest, these six months have been some of the most challenging, tiring, and complicated months of my life!…and I LOVE IT!!!!

Let’s recap what life has been like for just me these past 6 months (because I don’t know how it has been for Steve…):

I moved out of my parents’ house for the first time

I got married

I learned how to live with a man for the first time (who wasn’t my dad!)

I got a new job

I am working 5 days a week, 8 hour days for the first time

I sit in traffic for about 15 hours a week

And some more things:

I learned what it feels like to be madly and truly in love with someone in ways that dating can’t teach you

I wake up every morning in the arms of a strong, loving man

I get to eat dinner with my best friend every night

I learned that falling asleep to “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” on the couch with your husband is one of the most romantic things one can experience

I don’t have to do life alone and someone WANTS to really know how my days are

Haircuts are more fun when you go together

There is someone always there to wipe your tears, make you laugh, and rub your back

Getting flowers from your husband is more romantic than getting them from your boyfriend (because for some reason, husbands aren’t expected to give their wives flowers…)

And that’s just 6 months!!!!

So to celebrate, Steve and I took a little break and headed down to San Diego. We even classed it up a bit and stayed at the Manchester Grand Hyatt (but only because we got a nice deal on Hotwire.com). Steve had already planned a wine tasting event at his friend’s house (who lived in SD), so we spent part of the evening there. Then one of my friends, who just happens to be a concierge for a hotel in San Diego, told us all the places we should go and recommended a great restaurant for us to have dinner.

We went to Asti where we immediately realized was a little fancier that we anticipated, BUT we looked much better than the “Bohemian” sitting next to us and the “Pocahontas” at another table (We totally didn’t think about Halloween…but everyone in San Diego apparently didn’t forget!). We were greeted by our server, given menus, and started to browse. Another server approached us and told us that the gentleman sitting behind us was leaving and would like to give us the half bottle of wine he had left. We gladly accepted (hey, it was free!)

Then our server returned and he was surprised to see wine in our glasses.  So he left to find out where it came from and returned to tell us that the red wine we were given was a $130 bottle called Banfi. Yeah…we will never taste something like that again!

So we did what he had to do: ordered lamb chops and veal to go with this very expensive and elaborate bottle of wine!!

Needless to say, we had a great time!

Since it was Halloween weekend, the sidewalks were packed with tons of costumed partiers. Amidst the Steve Jobs, Mermaids, Tacos, Teletubbies, Marios and Luigis, and countless “modified” princess costumes scrambled “Average Man” and “Average Woman” who headed down to a little bench near the Hard Rock Hotel and Tin Fish to watch and comment on all the costumes. I think that was my favorite part of the night: I didn’t need to go to a club half-dressed to have a “good” night and wake up with a headache; I had the best kind of happiness and fulfillment sitting right next to me on this very bench! And no headaches were part of that equation!!

We spent Sunday morning and afternoon wandering through the Gaslamp and Seaport Village. I had such a relaxing time walking through San Diego with Steve. It was just what we needed to refresh and reload for the next few weeks. And the Ghiradelli Ice Cream Sundae was a necessary part of that rejuvenation!

Although these six months have flown by and were filled with a lot of new things for both of us, we are enjoying every moment of it!! I turned to Steve last week after we made dinner and watched an episode of Chuck and said, “I just like being married to you; this is fun!” Because it was. I didn’t need anything more than to sit on the couch eating dinner and laughing at the same show.

I just pray that we don’t forget what it is like to be newlyweds and what it feels like to be excited to come home to one another, or to plan your weekend together.

I hope I don’t forget how I put Steve before everything and that he remains my number one priority. I hope I remember that his kisses give me chills, his “I Love You”s mean the world to me, and that sleeping in on a Saturday morning is ok to do with each other. I pray I remember how I still get excited when I see his name pop up on my cell phone, how I get butterflies when he tells me I look beautiful and he’s proud of me, or how his singing is better than any radio station. I pray that when I am 80 years old, I still want to hold his hand, show him off to all my friends, and print out pictures of him to put in my line of sight.

I told Steve as we fell asleep on our 6 month anniversary to never forget this feeling. I know that time goes by, and so we will have to remind each other always that this is love and not a job or routine.

I look forward to writing this blog when I am 80 and telling you all the wonderful things we did on 684th month anniversary….