To quote my favorite Scotsman, Craig Ferguson, “Today’s a great day for America everybody” except I really mean that, well, today is a great day for me. It probably is a great day for America, too, but I don’t have enough time to stay caught up with the news. But back to the point, today is a great day for me because today marks the close of our first month of being married! (Coincidentally, it’s also the last time I get to be excited about a 1 month relationship marker) Lately, I’ve been getting the question “So…how’s married life?” or some permutation quite often as a conversation starter from people. Given the recent popularity of the topic, I thought that today I’d share some of my thoughts.
So…how’s married life or, as mein großer bruder likes to say, “marital bliss”?
Well, it is quite blissful and fun. In fact, I love it. It’s like in college after you got through that first awkward year of living with a complete stranger and you finally get to move in with someone you like, but better since that someone is stuck with you! Just kidding. It is, however, wonderful to get to live with your best friend. It’s different from how things were before and it’s not. I think it’s a subtle difference thus far, that I think will become greater gradually and perhaps imperceptibly.
Recently, our life is very exciting now. (We’ll ignore for the moment that the hospital has all but eaten the Boy and seeing both him and the sun is a rare sight.) A couple weeks ago, we decided to take the plunge and expand our happy family:
I got you there, didn’t I? Oscar (that long trailing Golden Pothos plant in the teal pot) has friends and an outdoor home now. He’s very excited, aren’t you Oscar?
Oscar? Are you there buddy? 
Don’t worry, he was very excited to have new friends. He’s just a bit sleepy.
This hibiscus plant is just beautiful. It was mostly the Boy’s idea, but I am becoming more infatuate than I anticipated. The flowers bloom so quickly, beautifully and transiently. Every day is different.
Now introducing Basil of Baysil Street, Cecil Cilantro, Señor Spice, Patricia Parsley & Rosemary.
And what mini-flower bed would be complete with a dwarf-gnome?
None, I tell you!
I find that I have been quite domestic in the past month. This could be due entirely to my feeling like I should live up to my new title, but it’s probably also partially due to that new apartment excitement & my extreme aversion to studying perpetually. I think my favorite thing this past month has been being able to cook regular, everyday food for two people. Before I got married, I didn’t have the opportunity to cook for more than just myself all that often. Consequently, when I did have the opportunity, I felt like I had to do something elaborate. As school got more and more busy, cooking for just myself devolved into microwaving for myself. This past month, however, I’ve rekindled my interest in cooking and learned some things in the process:
We also had some visitors
to make intensive study weekends less sad.
Now that labor day is over and school for everyone is pretty much back in full swing, I thought it was time to bake up some nice lunch box treats. These peanut butter chocolate chip bars are just the right amount of chewy, salty and chocolatey. This recipe is from Two Peas and their Pod (psst, they’ve also got a printable version of it).
The beginning of this recipe is my favorite part, full of warm ooey, gooey-ness. In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, melt 1 stick of butter with 2 cups brown, stirring constantly until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup of peanut butter. Don’t forget to spray the measuring cup with Pam or similar to that the peanut butter slips right out.
mmm…peanut butter swirls
While that is cooling off, combine the 2.5 cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt in a bowl. Once the peanut butter mixture has cooled some, mix in 2 eggs, one at a time, then stir in 1 tsp vanilla extract. Once that’s all done, pour the wet mixture over the dry and stir until combined. Use those arm muscles (or cheat and use a mixer, but man power is necessary at the end because it gets thick). Stir in 1/2 cup chocolate chips then spread into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Use a spatula, back of spoon, etc to spread it to fill the whole pan. Sprinkle another 1/4 cup of chocolate chips over the top and press them lightly into the batter.
Pop it into a 350 F oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden and the edges are slightly browned.
While those are cooking, I have one last tidbit to share. In the months leading up to my wedding, I almost obsessively perused the wedding world equivalent of tastespotting or foodgawker. I am excited to report that MY wedding made it on the site! Our wonderful, wonderful photographer featured some photos from the wedding on her blog and her post was selected to be included on weddinggawker. I’m quite tickled!
Now, pull those yummy bars out of the oven and get yourself a glass of milk (and watch out for the local Mr. Dwarf-Gnome)!
So…how’s married life or, as mein großer bruder likes to say, “marital bliss”?
Well, it is quite blissful and fun. In fact, I love it. It’s like in college after you got through that first awkward year of living with a complete stranger and you finally get to move in with someone you like, but better since that someone is stuck with you! Just kidding. It is, however, wonderful to get to live with your best friend. It’s different from how things were before and it’s not. I think it’s a subtle difference thus far, that I think will become greater gradually and perhaps imperceptibly.
Recently, our life is very exciting now. (We’ll ignore for the moment that the hospital has all but eaten the Boy and seeing both him and the sun is a rare sight.) A couple weeks ago, we decided to take the plunge and expand our happy family:
I got you there, didn’t I? Oscar (that long trailing Golden Pothos plant in the teal pot) has friends and an outdoor home now. He’s very excited, aren’t you Oscar?
Oscar? Are you there buddy? Don’t worry, he was very excited to have new friends. He’s just a bit sleepy.
This hibiscus plant is just beautiful. It was mostly the Boy’s idea, but I am becoming more infatuate than I anticipated. The flowers bloom so quickly, beautifully and transiently. Every day is different.Now introducing Basil of Baysil Street, Cecil Cilantro, Señor Spice, Patricia Parsley & Rosemary.
And what mini-flower bed would be complete with a dwarf-gnome?
None, I tell you!I find that I have been quite domestic in the past month. This could be due entirely to my feeling like I should live up to my new title, but it’s probably also partially due to that new apartment excitement & my extreme aversion to studying perpetually. I think my favorite thing this past month has been being able to cook regular, everyday food for two people. Before I got married, I didn’t have the opportunity to cook for more than just myself all that often. Consequently, when I did have the opportunity, I felt like I had to do something elaborate. As school got more and more busy, cooking for just myself devolved into microwaving for myself. This past month, however, I’ve rekindled my interest in cooking and learned some things in the process:
- It has taken me four years, but I am finally comfortable cooking. I no longer feel that I absolutely must be following a recipe or that I need even follow a recipe to the letter.
- Cooking for two is much more motivating and enjoyable than cooking for one.
- Having someone else to cook for has inspired me to begin trying more of “those recipes.” You know, the ones I’ve gathered obsessively from all over the interwebs or put a post-it by in a book/magazine. And most of the time the results aren’t disastrous.
- It’s easier than I thought to use up things in the fridge/freezer/pantry.
I seriously need to learn how to meal plan.
We also had some visitors
to make intensive study weekends less sad.Now that labor day is over and school for everyone is pretty much back in full swing, I thought it was time to bake up some nice lunch box treats. These peanut butter chocolate chip bars are just the right amount of chewy, salty and chocolatey. This recipe is from Two Peas and their Pod (psst, they’ve also got a printable version of it).
The beginning of this recipe is my favorite part, full of warm ooey, gooey-ness. In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, melt 1 stick of butter with 2 cups brown, stirring constantly until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup of peanut butter. Don’t forget to spray the measuring cup with Pam or similar to that the peanut butter slips right out.
mmm…peanut butter swirlsWhile that is cooling off, combine the 2.5 cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt in a bowl. Once the peanut butter mixture has cooled some, mix in 2 eggs, one at a time, then stir in 1 tsp vanilla extract. Once that’s all done, pour the wet mixture over the dry and stir until combined. Use those arm muscles (or cheat and use a mixer, but man power is necessary at the end because it gets thick). Stir in 1/2 cup chocolate chips then spread into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Use a spatula, back of spoon, etc to spread it to fill the whole pan. Sprinkle another 1/4 cup of chocolate chips over the top and press them lightly into the batter.
Pop it into a 350 F oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden and the edges are slightly browned.While those are cooking, I have one last tidbit to share. In the months leading up to my wedding, I almost obsessively perused the wedding world equivalent of tastespotting or foodgawker. I am excited to report that MY wedding made it on the site! Our wonderful, wonderful photographer featured some photos from the wedding on her blog and her post was selected to be included on weddinggawker. I’m quite tickled!
Now, pull those yummy bars out of the oven and get yourself a glass of milk (and watch out for the local Mr. Dwarf-Gnome)!
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