Deva by Definition

Bears, the beach, and baseball

If it seems like these posts are a little spread out, allow me to first apologize. There was so much emotion and going-on during our wedding and in the weeks after that I am still processing a lot of it. I am also trying to figure out how to share the details without giving up too much as the time from our wedding through now has been busy, filled with emotions and a lot of goings-on. Those emotions and what has made all of this so special are all things I want to share, while at the same time, keeping parts of it close to my heart for my husband and me to remember in the weeks and years to come. 

With that in mind, up until a month before our wedding, we had no real honeymoon plans. Then, we made a spur-of-the-moment decision and a few clicks of a mouse later, we had planned a mini honeymoon in San Diego. We had two days and a night to spend there together, and to enjoy and explore the city. Rather than pack a lot into our time there, we picked just a few things to do, deciding to fill the rest of our time exploring and seeing what we could find near our hotel. What planned to do was the zoo, Coronado, Embarcadero, and a Padres Game. All of which we were thrilled to be able to accomplish.

We actually ended up spending a whole day at the zoo - we were there before they opened, and stayed right up until they were almost closed. We saw almost everything. After we left, we realized that in our eagerness to see the reptiles we somehow managed to miss the insect house. Looking back on the day, we weren't upset about that: we saw giant Galapagos turtles, kangaroos, baby capyberas, wombats, koalas, and I got to geek. out. over pandas. 

When I say geek out, I mean geek out. I love pandas and have since I was little. I saw the giant panda exhibit at the National Zoo in DC when I was very young, and then saw pandas at the Columbus Zoo again when I was a little older (probably close to seven). To see giant pandas now? I was beyond thrilled, even giddy, so when we saw them not once, but twice in the same day? I was positively in heaven.

In addition to the pandas, I was also beyond excited to see koalas. I haven't seen koalas in I don't know how long. Possibly not at all? So I was excited to learn that the new Australian Outback Exhibit at the San Diego Zoo had opened on our wedding day and that we were going to see pandas. Again with the excited freak out. These were all subdued and were more babbling than anything, but the number of pictures we took just at these two exhibits are numerous, and I am glad we got to visit!

In addition to the zoo, numerous people we knew told us that we needed to go to the Coronado. We did just that during our second day in the city, hopping a ferry over to the peninsula to explore the area. Our real intent in going was to spend time on the beach and to walk in the ocean, which we did. This was a big deal, guys, because I love the beach. Love. We used to go visit the beach in Ocean City, MD, when I was growing up, and it had been ten years since my last trip. Walking into the ocean on Coronado made me feel like a kid again, and I grinned like I had the day we got married. It was breathtaking - perfect weather, perfect sand, and a perfect day to enjoy the sand and surf. We hadn't packed to spend a full day on the beach, so not quite dressed for the occation, we spent a good bit of time just walking around, exploring, and taking photos, right up until our stomachs announced - loudly - that it was lunch, which is when we started to make our way back to the city.

The time we weren't on the beach and at the zoo (or the ballgame, which I will get to a bit later), we explored the city on foot. We stayed in the Gaslamp district, which was incredible. Our hotel had tons of character, and there were several restaurants, galleries, and shops all within a few blocks of where we stayed. We ended up stumbling upon Karl's Brewery for dinner one night, which was delicious, and enjoyed some of the best short ribs I have ever had at a Mexican restaurant another. By chance, we found a Chuck Jones gallery, which had me in awe - I love Chuck Jones' work. We spent a good half hour in the small space, admiring the cels and prints from him and others, including Dr. Seuss.

To wrap up our honeymoon, however, we managed to check another ballpark off of our list. We actually have a goal to visit all of the Major League Ballparks (and many of the Minor League ones as well), so one of the first things we did as soon as our flights were booked was buy tickets to a Padres game. Our last night in the city was spent in the truly amazing ballpark. While its capacity is similar to that of Great American, home of the Reds, the park looked (and felt) huge. It was connected to a hotel, and had towers housing suites while they also served the purpose of holding up the field lighting. One of the sections of outfield seats was connected to an old building, which was incredible. The scoreboard was both old and new, and the atmosphere incredible. Somehow, the game only lasted a mere two hours and twenty-one minutes, but we loved every moment we were there.

Leaving San Diego was hard and easy, if that makes any sense. We had a blast celebrating part of our first week as newlyweds there and saw so many awesome sights - bears, the beach, and a ballgame! We both missed home and our cats, and while we weren't going to get back to normal right away, we were ready for some of our normal life. Things had been busy since before the wedding, so it was nice to come home to our cats, house, friends, and everything we know to be familiar. We may be married, which is a big change, but even as things and our relationship changed, they stayed the same. Our honeymoon was a great cap to an already fantastic week, and we're already looking forward to our next trip together. 

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So We Got Married

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So We Got Married

So we got married. It was more than I was anticipating in many ways, exactly what I wanted in most, and better than I could have imagined. As we stood beneath our huppah - lovingly constructed by my father, The Boy's stepfather, my grandfather and brothers - I felt like we were in a bubble of love and tradition. We repeated our vows and giggled as we both tried not to cry from the strong emotions surrounding the commitment we were vowing to, in front of a not-too-large group of our friends and family.

Our wedding, was, for us, perfect. We had a first look that made me grin and helped calm my nerves before the ceremony. Our food was delicious. Our self-dj'd wedding was overall successful, though as a group of introverts (and in retrospect) we should have had more slow dances in the mix. Throughout the evening we both felt surrounded by love and endlessly happy. From our officiant's surprise introduction talking about love and traditions, to the speeches given by our Maid of Honor and Best Man and beyond - it seemed to be a theme. That theme was continued by my father, who spoke about what it meant to him to be dancing with me on my wedding day as he went through a playlist of music all with their own memories of me growing up. All of this took place before he surprised me with the father-daughter dance to Rainbow Connection - sung by Kermit, of course. During that dance we asked everyone to take to the dance floor. Now, we look back and smile on that memory, especially when my father had my husband "cut in." Rainbow Connection was the most danced-to song on our wedding day. It was one of many moments where I felt surrounded by love and support for us as a couple.

The wedding and reception, like all good things, came to an end all too quickly. As our guests filtered out and we were left alone with a few relatives and our bridal party, we enjoyed one last dance together to end our evening. We grinned as we celebrated our accomplishment - not only had we achieved the wedding we wanted, we were married. In that moment even though we were still surrounded by loved ones, we were alone, in love, and encased in love. When I look back on the wedding day, that moment is one of many that stand out in my mind. It was a moment filled with love. The memory reminds me of just how much love we were held in on our wedding day, and will continue to be held in througout the days after. Our wedding day was filled with love. It felt like love. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Family Traditions: Holiday Cut-Out Cookies

Some of my fondest memories growing up are of making cut-out cookies with my family. We made these at the holidays and other times throughout the year. I have an early memory of being allowed to stay up past my bedtime to help decorate the cookies I was taking to preschool the next day for my birthday. There were many pink stegosauruses in that batch.

The last time I remember making cut-out cookies with my parents was when I was nineteen and a vegan. I remember cutting out giant gingerbread men, Christmas trees, Stars of David, and dreidles and impatiently waiting (along with my siblings) for the cookies to bake and be cool enough to decorate wtih sprinkles, frosting, and colored sanding sugar.

Those memories are a big part of why we chose our house. It has a large kitchen and dining room, which are perfect for baking big batches of cookies and spreading out all over to decorate. Last night, just short of one year from when we bought our house, we decorated our first batch of sugar cookies together. I baked the cut-outs Sunday night, carefully rolling and cutting out gingerbread men, candy canes, snowflakes, stars, and trees. After doing a lot of searching for a good recipe for the dough, I settled on the delicious-sounding Vanilla Cookie Dough from Martha Stewart.

While baking, the house smelled of rich vanilla cookies, and I couldn't resist sampling one fresh out of the oven. They were delicious and very similar to shortbread, and I was excited to mix up frosting colors and start decorating the cookies on Monday evening, after we picked up some sanding sugar and icing colors. As soon as we mixed up some green, blue, and red, we got started decorating, and soon, we had a small collection of colorful cookies.

Our cookie creations ran the gamut from standard Christmas trees and candy canes to striped trees and red snowflakes. The Boy got creative, as did I,  and when we were finished we were both happy with our cookie creations. My favorite part of the night was making new cookie-decorating memories with The Boy, and I hope we can continue this tradition for many years to come.

What is your favorite holiday tradition?

On Tomatoes

I have loved tomatoes for as long as I can remember. When I was a small child, maybe six or seven, I told my parents I wanted to grow my own. They obliged, and we picked out a small, green-smelling tomato plant. Later on we transplanted it into a large pot that sat just outside of our back door, where (after many reminders), I lovingly watered it, eagerly waiting for it to produce tiny, lush, red fruits.

In the years that followed, my parents bought their first house and I continued to grow tomato plants – this time in the front yard, but in the same big pot. Many of my memories of my late single-digit years involve walking barefoot down the warm concrete walkway in front of the house, carrying a huge cup of water to douse the tomato plant with – of course after many reminders. I did this nearly daily, waiting for the tiny green tomatoes to ripen into big red ones that I would pick and eat warm.

Eventually, though I don’t remember why, I lost interest in growing my own tomatoes. I think with adolescence came more interesting things. My love for the fruit, however, never ceased, and I loved the days in mid-summer when we would go to the farmers’ market and sample heirloom tomatoes sprinkled with fresh salt and pepper. The flavor of those tomatoes was bright and acidic, full of warmth, and was unlike the tomatoes we normally bought at the grocery store. I remember bringing home bags with tomatoes in them and eagerly slicing into them, tomato juice and seeds dotting my hands as I ate hungrily, savoring every bite.

With college came dining hall tomatoes – small bright tomatoes that didn’t have much flavor. I longed for the tomatoes I grew as a child, and savored the small grape tomatoes that you can buy at the grocery store. I vowed that when I had a place of my own I would once again try my hand at growing tomatoes. A promise I was able to fulfill this year as The Boy and I tended our first garden in our first house.

Sadly, those tomato plants did not fare very well, but we have learned. We needed fresh soil for our planters, something we didn’t have. I planted my tomatoes too late and transplanted them far to early, and my only tomatoes were lost to the first frost of the year. I will learn from it this year so I can enjoy fresh, homegrown tomatoes next summer, sprinkled with salt and fresh cracked black pepper. I can’t wait.

About that Cream Cheese

When I was in my early teens, I had this habit of getting whatever food it was I was eating in places that it shouldn’t have been. I mean spaghetti sauce on the backs of the knees of my jeans, macaroni and cheese on my shoe, or coffee on the sleeve of my shirt – and I never had a good explanation for it at all.

Well, one morning while my grandparents were visiting, we decided to meet for bagels and cream cheese for breakfast, as sort of a send-off meal before my grandparents had to make the journey back to Maryland. Now, I LOVE bagels, especially when smeared with a good quantity of cream cheese and topped with delicious smoked salmon. That morning I eagerly ordered just that before taking my seat at our large table.

Before I go on, I should probably mention that at this age I had very long hair, and was often brushing it out of my face and behind my ears. This may have been the year I was awkwardly growing out my bangs, so the “brushing out of my face” was happening far more frequently than normal. This will become important a little later on – I promise.

So, we were all sitting there, gathered around a table in a bagel shop on a cloudy, possibly rainy, spring morning. I eagerly dug into my bagel, pausing momentarily to enjoy my cup of hot coffee. Somewhere between setting my cup down and reaching for my bagel, my hair fell into my face. Not giving it much thought, I reached up to brush it out and behind my ear, and went back to take another bite when my mom quietly asked what it was I had in my eyebrow.

I didn’t know what was in my eyebrow, so I reached up to wipe it away, and came back with a fingertip full of cream cheese. That’s right, I got cream cheese in my eyebrow. I was a little more than a little embarrassed, and, being a teenager, this was an “end of the world'” moment for me. I was quick to wipe my face before finishing my bagel while considering the outcome of cutting my hair – undoing all of the work I’d done to grow my bangs out. I didn’t cut my hair until I was a few years older, so it wasn’t that traumatizing, but for young-teen me, it was definitely a moment.

Of course, now I can look back at that incident and laugh at the absurdity of it all. At the time, I couldn’t see the amusement in it. I can say that it taught me two things:

1. Don’t brush your hair out of your face while you are eating. Do it before.

2. Always be careful with the cream cheese. You never know when it will decide to make a break for your eyebrows. YOU JUST NEVER KNOW.

March Madness

I was all set to write a blog post about how my race training went this past week, and then I sat down and got sucked into some March Madness basketball.

You see, I am proud to call Ohio University my alma mater as I have many good memories of my time there. I met my best friend at OU my first few days living on campus, and she introduced me to my fiancé in the midst of my junior year.

So, when I watched the last few minutes of the MAC championship game, and watched my alma mater win, I was excited to be able to see them play in the tournament – their second time in four years. OU is not very well-known for its sports programs, so any time the Bobcats go to a tournament – well, it’s kind of a big deal.

The game was scheduled to start not long after I got home from work, so while dinner was cooking, I sat down with The Boy to watch the first few minutes, and we ate dinner at the coffee table, following what was turning out to be a very good basketball game.

At halftime, I was thrilled to see OU winning. They were playing some excellent defense, and making an incredibly awesome number of baskets. The Boy and I agreed that as long as they continued to play as they had been, that they would win the game.

the second half of the game was far more intense than the first, and by the end of the game, The Boy and I were on the edge of our seats right up until the last few seconds of the game, and were incredibly thrilled when our alma mater WON. Much fist-bumping ensued, followed by enthusiastic Facebook-posting and texting of friends.

In honor of my alma mater’s incredible win – I thought I would share this video of the Ohio University Marching 110:

 

Today, as always, I am proud to be a Bobcat.