Love and MARRIAGE in MARRYland!

I nearly forgot, one of the most exciting recent developments...

Maybe we had foresight wise beyond our own dreams, but it seems as thought we chose the perfect place to live.

Yes, the fifth house on the left is a nice place to park our cars and lay our heads to rest each night.

Yes, our dogs are loving the yard and lots & lots of places to lay down and get comfy.

Yes, our neighbors have been nothing but pleasant.

BUT, best of all, these neighbors of ours have voted to acknowledge our civil rights.  They have voted to affirm our right to marry in the State of Maryland, and for this we are eternally grateful! 

I would like to put out a huge THANK YOU and CONGRATULATIONS to the people of Maryland for their historic vote on Question 6.  Also a huge thanks and congrats to the voters in Maine and Washington for doing the same... and to Minnesota voters for voting against the proposed constitutional amendment that would limit the definition of a marriage to one man and one woman.

I don't like to post political things but I think this one gets a pass :)

Toodles!
Lacey (a very, very happy Lacey)

YES!!!!

So it's official....WE'RE ENGAGED!!!

Details...
Answer: She obviously said yes!
Ring:  My grandmother's ring that I inherited
Location:  On the front step of our new house
Wedding: Sometime in 2013
Who proposed to who and why: We don't have any rules or "roles" when it comes to this stuff.  It was whoever popped the question first.  I already had a ring to give her (we both will wear engagement rings) and since I don't do well with surprises (I always ruin them)...I secretly decided that I would make sure I'd propose first!

Preparation and planning...

The carved pumpkins were probably my 4th or 5th idea!  This idea was more controllable and in my hands.  I was so nervous that something wouldn't work out!!

I was able to work on these guys all morning (ps - I ruined one poor pumpkin and had to go out and find a replacement...so needless to say, we'll be eating a lot of roasted pumpkin seeds).  Thank goodness for the days I'm able to work from home!

I took both the pumpkins outside to clean them and I accidentally broke off the center piece of the U...before I could even reach down to pick it up to try to add it back on with a toothpick...my lab mix was already eating it! Beast!!

Anyways,  I sat in front of them as Lacey pulled in from work. She had no idea until she walked up to the front porch.  4 watering eyes, so many tight hugs, tons of kisses, at least 20 OMGs and 1 big yes!

We couldn't be happier!

~Kim

A Year

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

I'll try to make this quick... This has absolutely been the best year of my life. It had been extremely stressful at times, dealing with the drama that grad school, work, deaths and divorces in the family from a couple thousand miles away, and moving cross-country... Again. But dammit, it has been amazing :)

And all because of this girl. Cheesy? Yes. But she makes me smile. Every. Single. Day.

I've always been a happy person by nature, but Shrimp just makes every little part of my life better. Take, for instance, when I came home 366 days (it's a leap year!) after she worked up the guts to make things official. I came home to this...

On the front door

And on the living room wall

A whole slew of little notes she wrote about all "our little things." From our firsts to our favorites. I love this girl :)

~Tater

Missing People & Places

It's a funny thing, missing someone.  I don't really understand how or why it works, but it really starts to mess with you!  I've never been the type to get homesick.  I left home for college almost nine years ago and haven't spent much time under my parents' roof since.  I don't pick up the phone nearly enough to stay in touch with my far-flung loved ones (thank goodness for Facebook!), despite having a downright wonderful relationship with my family.

...But Shrimp leaves me on a business trip for less than a week and I am all sorts of flustered, disconnected and just plain functioning below par.  It doesn't help that this week a project I had been planning for since November finally had to be executed, or that I got sick, but come on, I should be able to handle this, right?  I mean, we've not even celebrated our first "official" anniversary yet, and for over half the time we've been dating we've lived 1000+ miles apart.  It's true, though, she's become a pretty important piece to the puzzle of my life.

It became apparent this afternoon when I was pulling in to the driveway.  I saw Shrimp's car and I got so excited.  That was right before I remembered she wasn't actually home yet.  I would have to spend one more afternoon with the beasts (the three dogs and a cat we have between us) and without my girl.  Ugh.  And that led into my longing for the good ol' days.  It was actually before we were even dating, when we were back in the town where we met.  We had an amazing dog park and we could just go there and run and be with the pups and each other.  It's hard to explain why it's such an amazing place, but if you have dogs you know how nice it is to be able to take them somewhere and not worry about leashes or cars, and to have a large expanse of land and trails to just go to.  The area where we live now has nothing like that. I.  Miss.  It.  (Note to self: Add "dog park" to list of needs at next residence.)

 The awesome park we all miss!

Well, enough of that.  Needless to say, I am extremely excited to pick Shrimp up from the airport tonight, even if it is really late and I have to be at work really early.  Just to have the comfort of her being home will be great... and she's not too bad at cuddling, either :)

~Tater

Meet the Neighbors!

Hi!

Nice to meet you.  We're Your New Neighbors!  You've probably noticed us struggling to maneuver Ikea boxes from the back of an SUV, chasing our dogs when they escape the front door, and racing to pull out the recycling bin as the truck pulls up on Tuesday mornings.  Yep.  We're painfully normal.

 But there's something a little different about us.  Sure, we're just a couple of girls trying to get by in the crazy race of life.  Somewhere along the way, though, we figured out how much better it would be to run the race together.  So here we are, hand-in-hand.

The intent of this blog is to document our adventures (and misadventures) and hopefully connect with a few amazing like-minded people along the way.

Have a great day!

~Your New Neighbors