Day 5: Your definition of love, in great detail

Junior Homecoming, 1997. My high school boyfriend was cute, in that Fred Savage way! Also, my mom made my periwinkle blue dress.

I thought I knew what love was when I was 16 and 19, but I think I had it wrong. I did, said, acted, responded and pined appropriately. But when it came down to allowing my own, true self to shine through, I had lost touch of what that looked like. I was Cara, with boyfriend. Not Cara or Wickey (a nickname I've held since the age of 17 from my dear friend Cassie Lei). It took a long time (8+ years or so) to figure out what made me happy and I'm really thankful for that time to myself. I believe that in order to be truly happy in a relationship, a person needs to be happy with their own person and know to some extent what they want out of life.

Rose Formal, 2000. I had a thing for blue dresses. Also, my college boyfriend was cute in a Gap ad sort of way! At least that was my roommate's opinion.

Love isn't getting down on yourself when you can't be around your significant other. It isn't wallowing at home when they're out doing something else. Love is taking responsibility for your own actions and figuring out what to do on your own time. It should never hurt too much to tell a person you love them; it should come out of your mouth naturally, with plenty of raw emotion and accountability. Love is not obsessive or needy; it allows for room to breathe and evolve. Love listens, tries earnestly not to judge, and gives those involved a chance to give back. Love expects nothing in return.

Skipping into the start of our marriage, August 2009.

The first time I told Andy that I loved him, we weren't that far into our relationship. I told him I had been "in my head" lately and that I needed to consult April for advice. Andy wondered and asked if I was in love, and I said yes. I asked him the same, to which he also responded yes. It was there, at Muchas Gracias, that we made our official declaration, over the special # 3 and a burrito. There was most likely a bit of giddy laughing and blushing, but we knew it to be true and I wasn't afraid to hold back.

Fall 2008.

Our marriage hasn't been rainbows and sunshine each and every day, but we take our marriage one day at a time and are appreciative of all the good times we've had thus far. The first year was tough and a lot of folks don't talk about how tough the day to day of marriage can be (or the ideas you bring with you to the table of what marriage is supposed to look like). We're getting better at navigating our bad moods and crabby days, giving each other the space we may need. We try not to keep score (who did the dishes, who made dinner), but those petty arguments still come up. We're definitely glad and thankful that we haven't argued about anything major (kids, jobs, etc.), but we navigate the small waves as best we can. Time, communication, laughter, and funny faces continue to make us a stronger, better couple. We're not Andy + wife or Cara + husband; we're always us and fabulous. Exclamation point. :)

Hungry?

Here's a little more photographic evidence of what I've been eating lately (sort of continued from the last post):

I have become obsessed with plums.

Tommy enjoys cookie dough ice cream.

Using our garden fresh zucchini to make pecan and chocolate chip breads.

More garden veggies in my salad.

My first apple pies! I made the crust from scratch via a Martha Stewart recipe. I had no idea pie creation would be such a lengthy endeavor! I had a little crust assembly mishap with the top pie, but taste tests revealed that both pies were delicious.

Stuffed zucchini. Recipe found here.

Remember the meme?

You know, the 30 days meme I started almost a year ago. Well, I figured I'd try my best to complete it as life is looking simple at the moment (knock on wood). Here's a go at Day 4: What I ate today:

Kix, with vanilla almond milk

Assorted berries and a chocolate chip cookie (which I haven't finished).

Other items consumed include a turkey/cheddar/spinach sandwich and plenty of water. To be continued...

2 years!

It's our second anniversary! Yay! We spent the weekend enjoying the hot weather by taking in a movie, going out for ice cream, swimming in the Washougal river, and then hiking Silver Star Mountain. Tonight we'll enjoy a lovely dinner at Montage and scramble around Portland. I'm craving macaroni and cheese or maybe I'll go with jambalaya or gumbo. We'll see how the mood strikes later this evening. Did I ever mention here on this blog that we wanted Montage to cater our wedding, but due to their (new at the time) weekend brunch service, we wouldn't have been able to secure food service for our Saturday reception. Big sad face ---> : ( Ordering the food a day early and reheating it also would not have been an option.

Anywho, we were quite happy with our self/group catered soiree. Here's a little diddy from the reception, showing off our photo wreath which was put together by my Aunt Sue. She's a crafting genius!

Embarrassing childhood photos FTW! Photo courtesy of my Mom.

How does your garden grow?

Click to read!

For my birthday, I asked my mom if I could use her back yard space for a garden. 

My oh my, has our harvest been plentiful! We're currently waiting to harvest Old German tomatoes, more of the Black Krim (Andy wants to try his hand at fried green tomatoes from the two we picked), corn, Tommy's beans, beets, jalapeno peppers, and Walla Walla onions. Sadly, our carrots never sprouted, the radishes only produced a few small buds, and the spinach died. Tommy also had a very successful strawberry plant and my mom's marionberry plant has been providing as well!