Day One: Airplane zombies, Book of Kells, and Guinness

Our trip to Ireland started out a bit more stressful than I would have preferred. I was already nervous about the 1 hour and 40 minute time between flights, but Paul and Google answers assured me that it was JUST the right amount of time. Of course, then we had a plane delay.

I decided not to be nervous about it, because vacations shouldn’t be about stress, yo. But there *was* a moment when they were considering cancelling the flight. Eep. Anywho, we got to Atlanta at 7pm, and our next plane (to Ireland) was supposed to start boarding at 7pm. So we booked it in the airport along with almost everyone else from our first plane.

Fortunately, we made it in time, and the moment I sat in the final plane seat, I was no longer concerned. The flight was even shorter than it was supposed to be – by about an hour – because of good tailwinds. Huzzah! We landed in Ireland, super excited to start our day.

Except that we were pretty darn tired. We had left home at 3pm, and it was difficult to sleep on the plane, since they constantly walk up and down the aisle to give out free booze. It was approx. 3am to our bodies, and we maybe got 2 hours of sleep on the plane. So we were struggling to keep our eyes open.

We learned that driving in Dublin was a bad idea, so we drove to our hotel, which was on the outskirts of the city. Luck was on our side, and they let us check in super early, so we didn’t have to worry about our luggage in the car.

We left the car (which, by the way, Paul drives like a pro despite it being a manual on the wrong side of the car that drives on the wrong side of the road) at the hotel and took the tram into the city. Holy bananas, I wish every city in America had a tram! It was SUPER easy to figure out how to get around Dublin in it.

We went right away to Trinity College to check out the Book of Kells. The problem with the tram, though, was that it was too tempting to sleep. Paul had to practically shake me to keep me awake. I also slapped myself a few times.

There was a tour of Trinity College that went with seeing the Book of Kells. That college has some amazing history. It was cool to hear about all the famous people who went there, and the buildings were so old and SO pretty!

After touring the campus, we went to see the Book of Kells. I’ve been super excited about seeing it. It was super cool, however, there were crowds and no lines or whatever, so the Book was just on a table, under glass, and people just randomly went up and politely pressured others out of their way. So I didn’t get to look at the Book of Kells as much as I would have liked. It was too crazy in there.

Fortunately, the next stop was the rest of the library that holds the Book of Kells. WOW. What an unbelieveably gorgeous library. Paul had to guide me around the crowds, because my eyes were fastened on the books and the ceiling, not where I was walking. I want to own that library. Those books *need* to be read!

After Trinity College, we cancelled our other plans because we were sleep deprived zombies. Of course, we couldn’t cancel our first Guinness beer! We went specifically to Brazen Head pub, the oldest pub in Dublin, from 1193 A.D.!!!! It was really cool. What a perfect place to drink our first Irish Guinness. J

Then we struggled to stay awake for the tram ride back. But we were determined to get on Irish time, so next we went out for dinner. I would like to apologize to Paul again for how cranky I was. Since I’ve never been sleep deprived before, I didn’t know that I get very very grumpy when I need sleep. Oops.

Finally, we stumbled back to our hotel, and fell asleep almost immediately. We slept 12 hours that night, and I didn’t move at all. Bliss.

Random lesson of the day: Tesco is NOT like walmart, despite what people say. Nope, it’s just a crappy and small grocery store with one aisle of swimming stuff and an aisle of toys.  They do have Bourbon crackers which are also not what they should be.

Random lesson of the day part deux: It’s impossible to find plastic cutlery to buy for making our own sandwiches. They don’t like plastic here. Oh, and buy a shopping bag ASAP for groceries.

Why Are We Going to Ireland?

Later this week, Paul and I are excitedly off to a grand 3 week adventure to Ireland! We are super excited for this vacation!

I keep getting asked: "Why did you pick Ireland?" So I thought I would jot down the details.

As long as I can remember, I have dreamed of travelling Europe. I have college degrees in classics (greek and roman stuff), medieval Europe history, and early modern European history. So yeah, it's kinda my passion. :)

When Paul and I were dating, we would talk a bunch about all the things we wanted to do in Europe someday. We really wanted to go to Europe for our honeymoon, but we got married while we were still poor college students.

So here we are now, 11 years of marriage, and we finally have enough money saved to go to Europe. Woohoo! However, we don't have enough time and money for ALL of Europe (um...yeah, when you have multiple college degrees in European history and literature, you kinda want to see LOTS and LOTS of stuff), so we're going to explore one country at a time.

So why did we choose Ireland?

Choosing Ireland as our first European adventure happened kinda randomly. I have a passion for Europe, however, I have honestly never thought about Ireland before. I have lists and lists of places I want to see in England, Germany, Greece, Italy, France, etc., but I never read anything about Ireland before and it wasn't on my radar of interests.

1. Literature.

Then, one day, I read the book Daughter of the Forest (Sevenwaters #1) by Juliet Marillier. It was a fairytale retelling of the Six Swans, and I'm a huge fan of fairytale retellings. The book took place in medieval Ireland. And holy monkeys, the author did an amazing job making the Irish landscape sound magical. She mentioned plenty of historical places in Ireland, too, so I was suddenly for the first time ever interested in Ireland.

I told Paul about the book, and I casually mentioned that 'we should learn more about Ireland' for future Europe visits.

2. Movies and television.

Paul is super awesome and took my casual comment very seriously. It wasn't long before he found some movies and a tv series about Ireland to watch together.

First, we watched The Secret Kells. It's a beautifully illustrated film about the Book of Kells in Ireland. It's a beautiful film and it started making Paul and I even more curious about Ireland.

Next, we watched the TV series Moone Boy about an adolescent Irish boy in the 80s. It's hilarious! And it made us both eager to see the Irish countryside.

Finally, we watched one of Rick Steve's videos about Ireland. It was a GREAT way to see all the awesomeness of Ireland.

More reasons we chose Ireland...

3. They speak/write English.
By this time, we had fallen in love with the beauty and history of Ireland. Since we are very new to flying places, we talked about how we wanted to go somewhere where English was the main language, so that it would be one less thing to worry about. That was another reason we chose Ireland.

4. It's a small island.
Ireland is roughly the size of the lower peninsula of Michigan. We originally thought that seeing a small place for 3 weeks would mean that we would be able to see everything of importance. However, Ireland really is steeped in history and beauty. We have had to cross many things off of our list, which is a bummer. Who knew a small place could have so many amazing places to see?

5. It's mainly countryside.
Paul and I HATE cities. We also don't care for tourist traps, tourists, or crowds. For example, I would LOVE to visit England, however, I know it's quite urban these days, which gives me anxiety just thinking about it.

In Ireland, most of the population lives in Dublin or Belfast. We are avoiding both of those places except for airport days. So yeah, it's lots and lots of countryside and small villages and not as crazy touristy as other countries in Europe can be. You should see the directions to some of our airbnbs! They don't even have addresses and you share the road with sheep and cows. Sigh, the dream, am I right?

6. Not super tall mountains.
I LOVE mountains. That's why we live by the Appalachian mountains. Mountains give me joy. Sadly, if the mountains are too tall, I also get really really bad altitude sickness. Sigh...

Fortunately, Ireland has mountains, but they are roughly the same height as the Appalachian Mountains. Yay! The tallest mountains in the Smokies only give me a slight headache. I can deal with that!

Conclusion
Anywho, these are some of the reasons for why we're going to Ireland. We tried really hard to balance stuff between castles/cathedrals, hikes in national parks, and fishing. It should be a fun adventure, with lots of mild temps and rain! :)

Hopefully, we'll be posting our daily adventures with photos on this blog. Unless we don't have good internet. Or we're tired. Or lost.

Here's to Ireland and our adventure! <3 p="">

100 A-Z Questions about Me (for fun)

Whenever I read things from friends/family/etc., I am always drawn to the personal stories and info. I don't often share things about myself, but today, I thought I'd give it a try. It's kinda a long survey, but I like that it's so thorough:

A – Accidents

01. Have you ever been in a car accident? Nope. To the surprise of my family, I'm the only kid in the family who has NOT been in a car accident (I almost failed my driver's test).

02. Do you have a lot of scars? My legs are almost entirely made up of mosquito scars, thanks alot, Michigan mosquitoes.

03. Have you ever been in a fist fight with someone? Kinda. Just fights with neighbor kids, not serious.
04. Have you ever had stitches? Where? Nope. Jon (older bro) broke his arm. Jim (younger bro) got stitches all the time. I was the careful child.

B – Beauty

05. Do you consider yourself beautiful? Yes. I like the way I look and how I treat others. I think beautiful means not just looks but also personality.
06. Are you self conscious of how you look? Nope. I am fine in my grungy non-attractive boy clothes because I will always pick comfort over style.
07. Do you put on a lot of makeup? I almost never wear makeup. I don't actually know how to put that stuff on...
08. Would you ever consider getting plastic surgery? No, but I wouldn't mind having some face moles removed.

C – Consequences

09. What was the longest amount of time you’ve been grounded for? Hmm... maybe 2 weeks?
10. What would you do if you got pregnant, keep it or have an abortion? Whoa, that's tough. It would be a serious conversation with Paul. We have differing opinions on this topic...
11. Do you ever think about how your actions affect other people? All. The. Time. It's one of the reasons why I don't like being around people. Every word out of my mouth is personally critiqued and reviewed over and over for eternity.
12. What do you think is the worst punishment someone could give you? If someone told me to my face that I was unkind to them. I try so hard to be loving to everyone.

D – Dealing

13. When you are mad at someone, how do you show them? I act coldly. Then I close up, build a tower over my heart, and reconsider having that person in my life. I struggle with the concept of forgiveness. I'm trying, folks.
14. Name a time when you had to be strong. Whenever a loved one needs my help or advice or hugs, I am there and I am strong.
<3 br="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">15. When people at school didn’t accept you, or had problems with you, how do you react? I always acted cold, built my tower over my heart even higher and thicker, and went on with my life while pretending they didn't exist. Still healing from all of that...
16. Have you ever lost someone to death? Explain how you got through it. I am a Christian, so when I lose someone in my life who is also a Christian, I don't really get that sad. I feel sorrow for my family for the death because I feel their pain and sadness. But I am not sorry for myself because it's only a brief separation.

E – Experience

17. What jobs have you had? Any volunteer jobs? Serious jobs include: professor, substitute teacher, writer, and self-employed Virtual Assistant. I once volunteered at a food co-op.
18. Have you gone through a lot emotionally, or has life been easy thus far? Middle School was the worst chapter of my life, high school wasn't much better. Now I am thriving, happy, and healthy.
19. Do you think you are ready to be on your own (have your own home, job, etc.)? I've been on my  own (besides with Paul) since basically age 18. I'm big on independence.
20. How old do you act? Mature but silly. Can't think of an age that equates to someone who dances in the rain, kisses trees, laughs at nothing, but also makes wise decisions with finances/employment/etc.

F – Family

21. Is there anyone in your family you don’t talk to? Why? Most family members still in Michigan. Because I don't live there anymore and I hate phones.
22. If you had to choose, family or friends? Friends.
23. Can you tell your parents or one of your parents anything? Probably not. I don't have much in common with them (though I still love them lots).
24. Do you have any siblings? If so, do you ever get jealous of them? I have two brothers, and plenty of sibling-in-laws. I'm not jealous of any of them, though I pray that they all have blessed and enriched lives.
25. How often do you spend ‘quality time’ with family members? Once a month I will see my parents, twice a month I will see cousins.

G – Growing

26. How tall are you? How tall do you wish you were? I am just shy of 5'8 and I've always wished that I was 5'9.
27. As a person, do you think you are mature for your age or still act childish? Both (see #20).
28. Are you scared to think that one day you will turn 30, then 40, then 50? I am saddened of future old age. Hopefully if I stay active and fit, old age won't be a problem.
29. Do you believe you still have a lot to learn? I am always on a quest for learning about history, humanity, and nature. I also like to learn new hobbies all the time.

H – Hope

30. Love – real or not? Real. And amazing. So worth it. <3 br="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">31. Are you a pessimist or an optimist? I used to be an optimist. But I've become more sad and bitter as the years go by. I am a pessimist now, but Paul is still an optimist and I cling to his optimism like crazy.
32. Do you believe in fate, that everything happens for a reason, or do you think that our actions lead the way? I have complex beliefs in fate, karma, predestination, etc. Very complex...
33. Do you think that after we die our spirit is still alive? Yes. Very much so.
34. What gives you hope when you just feel like dying? Paul. And our dog Achilles. And God. I should have named God first. 

I – Issues

35. Do you suffer from depression or constant sadness/loneliness? YES. Not all of the time. When it happens, I know that I need to recharge in the mountains for a bit.
36. Do you have any type of disease or disability? I have some genetic bleeding disorders. It's more annoying than life-ruining.
37. Are you currently in a hard relationship or have bad luck with the opposite sex? No. I've been blessed with a wonderful love life and also some awesome guy friends.
38. Do you think that you are alone in this world? Sometimes, and when that happens, I become more and more hermit-like, which seems like the wrong way to deal with it.

J – Jokes

39. Say a word or phrase that would not be funny to anyone but you & one of your friends (an inside joke): "Congrats on winning the Wang." or "It's Quantum" there's plenty more.
40. Are you usually the one who makes people laugh,Or the other way around? I laugh at things. I am not the joke-maker, but people like me around when they tell jokes because I laugh at pretty much everything.
41. Do you cry when you laugh hard? Yes.
42. Write down a hilarious moment you had with someone that makes you laugh to this day! Rick's chair collapsing and crushing the bug spray is still one of the funniest moments EVER.

K – Knowledge

43. The purpose of school: to learn, to cause trouble or to hang out with friends? Learn. That's all I've ever wanted to do at school. Learn, learn learn...
44. Do people refer to you as smart, dumb, or average? I think people would consider me smart.
45. What was the highest grade you have received (full course mark) ever? Plenty of A's...
46. What was your last grade average?  High School: 3.7 (thanks a lot, science and math), undergrad college: 3.85, Master's was 3.9 or something.
47. What do you find the most interesting subject to be (to study or to talk about)? European History and English-Literature.

L – Love

48. Are you currently in love? If not, have you been before? Yes, madly in love with my husband.
49. Do people around you show you a lot of love (tell you they love you, hug you, kiss you, etc.)? My side of the family is very public with love (which I LOVE), but other family and my friends (mainly guys) aren't much into that kind of stuff.
50. Is love worth it? Absolutely. I cannot imagine life without it.
51. Does it take a lot for you to say you love someone, or is it just a word? It takes a long time for me to decide that I love someone, but once I do, I won't shut up about it. I love fiercely.

M – Money

52. Do you believe that money makes the world go round? No. I hate money. I find people who obsess about money to be slightly annoying.
53. Is your family on the poor side, average, or above average when it comes to money? Growing up, we were poor. Whoop. Paul and I are probably lower-middle class. Whoop again.
54. Would you rather win millions of dollars & be set for life, or find the perfect person to marry & start a family with? Perfect person to marry and NOT start a family. I would pick Paul over money every time.
55. On a scale of 1-10, how important is money to you? I would pick '3'. That's the highest I can go. Money is silly. Memories, laughter, love...those are amazing.

N – Naughty

56. Are you a virgin? No, but I was a virgin until marriage. Booya.
57. Have you ever tried drugs? No. I keep hoping marijuana will become legal here so I can try that. But I won't break the law.
58. Did you start drinking before you were 21? I sipped beers with my dad and margaritas with my mom. Other than that, I waited until I was 21.

59. Do you have any tattoos? Not yet. I want one, though...

O – Openness

60. How long does it take for you to open up to someone? A long time, but then, if I trust you, I'll tell you anything. ANYTHING.
61. What does it take for you to fully trust someone? Many years of careful observations.
62. Are you generally untrusting towards people because of past experiences, or any other reason? Mainly because I am a careful observer of people, and I see many people who are mean or untrustworthy. It makes me cautious.
63. When are you comfortable with someone sexually? When I'm married to that person.
64. When it comes to parents and close friends, what’s the limit of what you can tell them? I'll tell them anything. I wish my friends/family were more interested in heavy topics of conversation. Because I have loads of opinions about everything. And I like to hear other people's opinions because it can help me understand other perspectives and it gives me something to think about. 

P – Positive

65. Have you ever had an experience with someone that didn’t necessarily end positively? If so, would you rather erase the memory of that person because of the sad times or keep the memory of that person because of the good times? Wow, that's tough. Hmm, for the most part, I would prefer keeping those positive memories.

66. Do you agree with the saying: better to have loved and lost than not have loved at all? Sure. I am 100% a better person because of the love in my life.

67. Do you agree that something good can come out of everything? Yes, I've been watching it happen in the last few months with American politics. It doesn't mean that I like to see bad things happen in the first place though...

Q – Questions

68. When faced with a problem, do you ask for help or try to figure it out yourself? I always immediately ask Paul for advice. Then I figure it out.
69. Do you often question the world and how we came about? What are some things you would like to know about creation? I think about that stuff a lot. Here's my main question: Dear God, why were you able to use Jesus' death as a way to forgive humanity for our constant sins, but you aren't able to forgive WOMEN for Eve's original sin? Why must we have painful periods still? I am not Eve. I shouldn't be punished like this for such a large portion of my life.
70. Do you think the government is truthful? If you could ask the president one question, what would it be? I think the U.S. government has potential. I don't think we've ever gotten it right...yet. It's a process, and things go wrong only when people blindly assume we are the best. If we think we're imperfect and work on it, we are doing okay. I believe we are on the cusp of realizing our imperfections again. I have nothing remotely appropriate to say to our "president" right now.
71. When someone does something wrong to you, do you confront them and ask them why they did it or just let it go? Depends on the person. If it is a loved one, I will be upfront and let them know they're hurting my feelings. If it's not a loved one, I'll decide that person isn't worth my time. Like I said earlier, I'm working on my forgiveness issues...
72. What is one unsolved mystery about the world that you want answers to? Good grief. So many. Dinosaurs, Aliens. Disappearances of famous people (for real, Agatha Christie, what happened when you disappeared?!?). And so on.

R – Respect

73. How do you show respect? I am kind and courteous.
74. What can someone do for you to lose all respect for them? I have a hard time respecting people who show hatred/negativity to others, for being hypocrites, for being gossips, for being mean to other people.
75. Do you respect your teachers, parents, and other authority figures? I try to treat everyone with the same non-judged blank slate. It doesn't matter your role in society. All people deserve respect.
76. If someone is mean to you, are you mean back or do you kill them with kindness? I am coldly kind and then I act like that person doesn't exist.

S – School

77. When will you graduate high school/college? Graduate high school in 2002, I think. Then 2007 with my B.A., then 2009 with my Masters. Then another year for my PhD. Then stopped because my brain was fried.
78. After high school, what did you do/are you planning to do? I dreamed of being a teacher.
79. Do you like or hate school? What do you like/hate about it? I love learning. I kinda want to go back to school for the learning. I hate people. Socializing gets in the way of learning.
80. Have you ever been suspended, expelled, or dropped out of school? Nope. Never got a yellow card, blue card, breakfast club or whatever, nothing. Never got in trouble. 

T – Temptation

81. Have you ever done something wrong, knowing it was wrong, because something inside of you said it was okay? No. Not to sound "perfect" or anything, but if something feels wrong, I don't do it. I sin in the form of passionate 'spur of the moment' mistakes. Not falling for temptations.
82. Has anyone ever pressured you to smoke or drink? Did you do it? No one has EVER been able to pressure me into doing ANYTHING. I've never understood those people.
83. Do you give in to temptation easily, or are you more independent and strong willed? Independent and strong willed, baby.

U – Unique

84. Do you do a lot of things because your friends are doing it? No. I'm perfectly willing to try new hobbies that my friends like because it's good to have an open mind. However, if I don't like something, I won't do it.
85. Do you follow trends, wear whatever you want, or wear really unique pieces?  I wear whatever I feel like. Which is always comfortable. And usually blue.
86. What makes you different from people your age? I'm a fiercely independent feminist who followed the traditional Christian path of getting married young and as a virgin. I refuse to follow any traditions unless I like them (ex: I don't do typical Thanksgiving, Halloween, New Years, St. Patrick's day, or most other holidays). Another example: I got married, but in a blue dress. And I do not want to have kids. There's a lot of stuff to add here, really.

V – Value

87. What’s the most expensive thing in your room? Our TV, probably.
88. What’s more valuable: your life or the lives of your loved ones? Would you sacrifice your life for other people? I would give up my life to help refugees or strangers on the street. Of course I would give up my life for my loved ones.
89. What is something you value not because it cost a lot, but because it means a lot to you? Paul made me a ring out of a spoon. I treasure it. And our photos of our awesome trips are treasures to me.
90. If there was a fire in your house/apartment, what is the first thing you would grab? It used to be my thesis. Now, probably my homemade knitted afghan because it took around 10 years to make.

W – Wishes

91. If you had three wishes, what would they be? 1) for a few million dollars so that I can distribute it between my family and friends (2) For a farm over 30 acres (3) That Paul and I lived in another country.
92. Would you rather wish yourself to be happy, or your loved ones? My loved ones.
93. Do you believe that wishes come true if you really believe in them? Yes, I am a bit superstitious.

Y – You

94. Are you more independent or social? Independent and a hermit.
95. What is something that makes you very mad when you see it? Injustice and negative treatment of others.
96. Do you think that you have potential to do great things? Yes, but I just don't feel like it. I like an easy going life.
97. Do you think people are generally good ? I think everyone has the potential of doing good, but the temptation of doing wrong is strong for most.

Z – Zest

98. Are you currently happy with your life? Why or why not? I am happy with MY life. I am unhappy with the state of global affairs and society in general.
99. When change occurs, do you get scared or are you excited for it? I hate change. It takes a long time of adjustment.
100. What is the most motivational thing in the world? LOVE.

Paul and Cris: Our Love Story

My favorite photo of us

Since it's our 10 year wedding anniversary, I'm more sappy and mushy than usual. I got to thinking about how I LOVE hearing the 'how we met' or 'how we fell in love' stories from friends and family...and honestly, I even love hearing these stories from strangers. It's just so personal and sweet to hear these precious stories from people.

So, in case you have always wondered about me and My Paul and how we met and fell in love.

Here's our Love Story:

We met in high school. We were in the same grade.

Freshman Year of High School: I noticed Paul and his friends right away. They seemed very awkward and shy, and I have a soft spot in my heart for the awkwards. So I made sure to say 'hi' to Paul and his friends every day.

Sophomore Year of High School: Our friend groups merged into one. Paul and I had a blast hanging out in the courtyard and having contests to see how many sour warheads we could fit in our mouth at one time. There was lots of disgusting candy drool everywhere. This became a regular occurring contest. Sometime in the winter/spring, our school does a Carnation sale, where you can buy flowers for your friends (red = I love you, pink = I like you, yellow = admirer, white = friends). Paul bought me a pink carnation. It was the first flower I ever received from a boy. People teased us, and I told the world that we were just friends. The rest of the year was a little more awkward.

Junior Year: I was dating someone else during that time, so I didn't see Paul very much. However, at the end of the year, our friends and both of us went to Cedar Point. I'm a coward, so I didn't want to do more than just a few tamer rides. Paul hung out with me on most of those tame rides, even though he likes roller coasters. I thought it was very sweet.

Senior Year:

At the end of Junior year, our school did some random romantic compatibility test thing. I assume it was how they got grant money or something. Anyway, we started Senior year and everyone was given their individual results about who in the school they were compatible with. Mine was a list of 10 guys, mostly younger grade guys I had never heard of, and number 1 on my list...was Paul. I remember my heart beating weird. I remember panicking and wondering if I was on Paul's list. Would this ruin our friendship? Would people tease us? I left my class and wandered slowly to find Paul. It turns out, he was trying to find me. I will never forget the place in school where we awkwardly met up to talk about this dumb compatibility test. It is a special spot in a random hallway that will always be special to me. We laughed it off and mutually decided not to tell anyone about it.

For the rest of our Senior year, we hung out together almost every morning before school started. Sometimes with other people, sometimes just the two of us. It was the only part of the day I ever enjoyed. I still didn't think of Paul as anything other than a cool friend.

I asked him to our prom, and he said no, because he had another date. I was more bummed than I thought I would be.

Senior Prom: Not dates, but still awesome friends

The rest of the year went by, and I was excited about going to college. My goal was to start over with a fresh slate in college and never look back. For this reason, I never asked Paul what college he was going to, because I didn't want to know that about anyone. Still, graduation was coming up and I realized that I would miss Paul as a friend.

Paul came to my graduation open house, which was a Hawaiian themed party, and he actually dressed up in a Hawaiian shirt and hula skirt, even though no one else came dressed up besides my family. I thought he was the coolest friend ever.

At graduation, somehow, Paul and I stood next to each other in almost every single picture with all of our friends. At our school over-night party after graduation, I don't know how it happened, but Paul and I ended up hanging out almost exclusively for the entire night. It was so much fun. At the end of the night, I awkwardly blurted out that he should call me that summer to 'hang out if he wanted'.

High School Graduation!

I didn't think I would hear from him, but sometime in July, Paul called me on the phone. He asked if I wanted to play tennis with him. I had never played tennis before, but I said yes. I got there and realized that he had invited all of the high school gang to play tennis [side note: Paul later told me that he originally just asked me, but then got nervous, and quickly called others to join.]. Even though I was determined to 'start over' in college, at this friend hangout, I asked Paul what college he was going to. I found out he was going to GVSU, just like me. He also told me that he joined a non-drinking program that let him move in a week earlier than everyone else. I was in the same program! He didn't remember what dorm he was going to be in, but I'm a planner person, so I knew my dorm address. I wrote it down and told him that he should 'come visit' if he wanted.

Even though I was now weirdly excited that Paul was going to the same college as me and moving in on the same day, I still thought that I would never see him again. GVSU is pretty big, and I was still determined to start a fresh new life.

College Years

Day One of Freshman year: My parents helped me move into my dorm, and afterward, I walked them back to their car in the parking lot. They teased me about how I was probably going to fall in love right away and get married before I graduate from college. I will never forget this: I put my hand on my hip and declared to them: "I'm not even THINKING about love and marriage until I am in my 30s! I am here for school!" I then turned around and walked back to my dorm...where my new roomie told me that someone named Paul had stopped by to see me and left his dorm address for me. My heart did a bajillion somersaults. I was super nervous. I started walking to his dorm. Along the way, I had tons of thoughts running through my head, it was seriously chaos up there.

Once again, just like that random hallway in high school, I will never forget that random sidewalk where me and Paul met up. He was walking back to my dorm, with a phone number this time. I was walking to his dorm. We met in the middle. I seriously could pick out that slab of concrete if we visited our old college again. It was a weird moment, where I noticed nothing else but me and him. A perfect and beautiful moment.

That day and night, we hung out together, just the two of us... until 4am. I had never stayed up that late before. We talked and talked and talked about everything. It was the most amazing conversation ever. I had never hung out with Paul alone like this before; even in the school hallways it was a place loaded with people we knew. This was just the two of us, on a bench outside. When I crawled into bed at 4am, I said something along the lines of 'Crap' but a bit more crass. My declaration to my parents about not falling in love until I was in my 30s had been dashed within ONE HOUR.

Dating usually involved fishing

I knew right away that I was falling in love with Paul. Within 2 weeks, we were dating. By 2 months, we were talking about marriage. On our 1 year dating anniversary, we went ring shopping [sidenote; we ultimately decided that rings weren't our thing]. We married before college was done. I would have married him after 6 months of dating. For real. 

When Paul and I talk about our Love Story, it always clear that it is a story based on God. It fascinates me how there were so many little things that could have possibly changed everything. What if I remained stubborn and didn't boldly (and so unlike me) give him my dorm address? What if Paul had remained shy and didn't boldly (and unlike him) go find my dorm room? We are so thankful to God for how he let us find each other. What an incredible blessing.

I found a man who loves me for who I am. I am a non-makeup wearing tomboy who prefers football and fishing to flowers and romance. I am a strong feminist with bold beliefs about Biblical equality. I am strongly emotional and I hate traditions (hello blue wedding dress). My whole life, I craved a relationship with a man that was based on: God, Friendship, Humor/Fun, and Equality. I am beyond grateful that God led me to find my True Love so quickly, and in HIS time, and not my own.

I'll finish up here with one more story. When I was a child, I was homeschooled. One day, my mom dropped me off to spend time with my grandma. She lived on Homerich Ave in Byron Center, Michigan. On that day, for some reason, my grandma wanted to visit a nearby friend who lived a few miles down the same street. We entered the home, and my grandma's friend told me that I should go play by their backyard pond. The pond had lots of fish, she said, and when normal school got out, the neighbors' kids often played/fished in their pond. My grandma's friend told me there was a girl and a boy around my age, and that the boy 'fished in the pond all the time'. I sat by the pond for a few hours and I just enjoyed the sights. What a lovely spot. I was a serious-type of girl, and I daydreamed that the boy and girl wound come home and play with me by this awesome pond, and we would all be friends. Perhaps, I daydreamed, the boy and I would fall in love and I would never have to leave this pond again. Silly child dreams. Sadly, I never met that boy and girl that day. I forgot all about that pond and my daydreams, until I randomly mentioned to my grandma that 'my boyfriend Paul and his folks live on Homerich Ave., just like you used to!' After some investigation, my grandma reminded me that I had been at his neighbors house as a child. The very pond that me and Paul had had many of our dates going fishing and talking...Yep, Paul was the little boy that I daydreamed about for that one random childhood day. What a reminder that the world can be a very small place. It also reminds me that perhaps God has a sense of humor. :)

God Bless,
~Cris

To finish, here are a few more of my favorite photos:

Thank you, God, for a man who values a sense of humor...

We are so cool with our airsoft guns

Best. Engagement. Photo. Ever.

You shouldn't take your wedding too seriously. :)

Still making my dreams come true! <3 td="">

I am grateful for SO MUCH!

So this month, a lot of people on Facebook have been writing '30 days of gratitude' type posts. To be honest, I kept rolling my eyes at them. I've been bitter and cranky about life lately, and seeing these posts made me think 'well, I wish I had 30 things to be grateful for, but all I am thankful for is Paul and my dog.' Harumph.

Then the Darkness of Awful Sickness rolled in for the past 7 days. Maybe it was a way for God to say "Be Thankful!" to me. All I know, is that today, I woke up and I feel GOOD. I feel so thankful for being able to eat again, as well as just being able to DO THINGS, that I am bounding with gratitude-type energy. I even sang in the shower today, something I haven't ton for a few years now. Huzzah for happiness! :)

Enough rambling. Since I missed out on the '30 days of gratitude', I thought I would post all my thankfulness in one post (but it's not 30 things, just the most important). Yes, I know, it's not Thanksgiving and this would be a perfect post for then. But I don't care. I am bursting at the seams with thankfulness and I want to say it now. These are in no particular order.

Here it goes. I am SO thankful to God for...

1. Food
**Oh blessed food, I love you and I am so thankful that we can afford groceries and that I can currently eat. I am so thankful that I am happily addicted to trying new recipes (if you don't believe me, check out my Pinterest board! Yes, we have tried almost all of those items, or we will be within the month!) and that this is more of a hobby for me than a chore! I love eating you, oh beloved food. So many options! So little time!

2. My dog, Achilles
**Achilles, I am so thankful that you love snuggling. I love how intelligent you are, and your antics on the lake make me laugh every single day. If things go right, I hope to give you a puppy-sister before next Thanksgiving to double our fun! (hint, hint Paul!) :)

3. My parents
**I never realized until lately how lucky I was to grow up in a household so full of affection and honesty. I love how easily our family hugs each other and says 'I love you'. I am thankful to you both for giving me a safe, happy childhood. Mom, thanks for being one of my best friends. I love you both.

4. Paul's parents
**Thank you for making me feel like part of the family from the very beginning of me and Paul's relationship. It has never been difficult to call you 'Mom' and 'Dad', I am so thankful that we can play games, fish, and talk about knitting together.

5. My sisters
**I am so thankful to finally have sisters. Thank you Amanda, for being so generous, loving, and so spunky. Thank you Christy, for drinking wine with me and making me laugh with your sense of humor. Thank you Becky, for having one of the most beautiful, authentic laughs I have ever heard. Thank you Katie, for making me laugh and think. I love you all so very much.

6. My brothers
**I am so thankful that I grew up with two brothers that I actually got along with! The more people I talk to in life about siblings, the more I realize that what we have is rare and amazing. Thank you Jon, for letting me tag along with you and your friends throughout our childhood. It helped make me the tomboy that I am today. Thank you Jim, for being lovable and friendly all the time. It is so admirable and I love it.  Of course, there are my brother-in-laws, too. Thank you Chris, for being one of the most dedicated and loving dads that I have ever met. Thank you Michael, for always making me think about the Big Picture.

7. My nephews and niece
**I am so thankful to be blessed with three nephews and a niece. Thank you, my precious darlings, for filling my life with innocent laughter, hugs and kisses, and for renewing my imagination. I promise to never take you all for granted and I love you all so very much.

8. My extended family
**I am so thankful that I grew up with such loving and amazing aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents! I am so grateful that you have all showered me with praise and love. You have all helped shape me into the person that I am today. I cannot come up with the right words to express how important that is to me. Thank you.

9. Paul's extended family
**I am so thankful for all of Paul's aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. Even the ones that I still haven't met! You are my family now, and I am honored. Thank you for being in my life, even if only in Facebook-form. You are all important to me.

10. Julie
**You are the only female-friend that I have ever trusted completely and the only one that I have opened my heart to completely. Words cannot express how amazing that is, I will be grateful to you for your friendship for my whole life. You are beautiful and amazing. Thank you for your friendship, thank you thank you thank you.

11. Rick
**Thank you for being my best friend, even though society says 'guys and girls can NEVER be 'just' friends!' Thank you for being generous and loving and awesome to be around. Thank you for eventually moving down and living by us again (ahem). You are amazing and I am so grateful that you are in my life.

12. All of the other people I 'friended' on Facebook
**I am thankful for all of you. I truly and honestly wish that I could spend more time with each and every one of you. You are all important parts of my life in some way or another. I am honored to be your friend, acquaintance, co-worker, etc. I am deeply grateful for you all.

13. Paul
**You already know how I feel about you. What we have is crazy-awesome. How is it possible to work all day and every day side-by-side on the same couch, and when you leave the room, I miss you like crazy?! It blows my mind. There are too many things to be thankful for with you, but here's a few of them: Thank you for being so blessedly optimistic about our future, even when I am not. Thank you for working hard at TWO jobs to keep things stable. Thank you for being so good at making me laugh. Thank you for taking care of me when I am sick. Thank you for having more patience with me then I ever deserve. And, thank you for eventually getting me another dog...(?)  :)


I love you all, and I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Charleston Fun

Eesh, I need to get better at this blogging thing. My excuse is that I was trying to juggle two jobs and it was making me crazy. Thankfully, one of those jobs is no more, so I have time to focus on funner things again. :)

A few weekends ago, Paul and I went on a weekend adventure to Charleston, SC. Paul had some nerdy math school thing, where he and the other math teachers at his school did nerdy math games with various students in different locations around South Carolina. On Wednesday, they went to Greenville to do a nerdy math/history tour with those Greenville-centered students. On Thursday, they went to Columbia, and then on Friday they went to Charleston. We decided to make it a fun weekend in Charleston since Paul had to be there anyway. 

We left with our carsick dog on Thursday morning. While Paul did his nerdy math stuff in Columbia, I cleaned up the gallons and gallons of dog barf and drool and walked the dog in a nearby park. Paul was done by 3pm, so then we went off to Charleston from there and crashed in our hotel room. We found out two things on this trip: (1) Charleston is only 4 hours from our home! We are totally going again. :) and (2) There are hotels, like Red Roof Inn, that are pretty classy AND allow dogs for free! That was nice to know. We were going to camp, but we found out that the Red Roof Inn was going to cost the same price as camping, and a hotel sounded more comfortable. We aren't exactly super prepared for camping. For example, last time we went camping, we slept on a foam mattress thing that we found in our camper and after two days, we had huge bruises up and down our hips. Every year we buy more camping supplies, but until we have the right stuff, if a hotel room is going to cost the same as camping, hotel rooms win every time.  :)

On Friday, Paul had to do his final nerdy math thing, so we drove into downtown Charleston together, decided on a meetup place, and then went our separate ways. He had to work from 11-2pm-ish, so I had plenty of time to explore Charleston before we met up. I had already decided to walk up and down The Battery. The Battery is a long stretch of parks in Charleston that borders the ocean on one side and tons and tons of historic and super beautiful mansions on the other side. Here's a picture of one of the multiple fountains and statues located here:

I was drooling at all of the historic mansions. I had totally forgotten that Charleston was originally in love with England (before the Civil War) and they imitated the English with their homes and styles. I felt like I was in an European town because of the way the homes were put together.

I read every single plaque and sign, and soaked in hundreds of years of history. It was really cool. It was also nice to soak in the ocean breeze and the warm sunlight, and end my casual walk with some delicious chocolate gelato. :) Paul and I met by this fantastic fountain, I didn't mind waiting for him since it was so cool:

By the time we met up, we had both walked for many miles and we were sun-burnt and tired. We were GOING to do a historical carriage ride, but we were too tired. There's always next time! We ended the day with a tour of the Old Exchange Building (where historical events such as George Washington's visit and the decision to break from the North during the Civil War took place) and the Dungeon, where American patriots and famous pirates spent their last days. It was pretty nice, but they could have done a better job with the Old Exchange Building information.

On Saturday, we went to two plantations. First was Drayton Plantation, one of only two plantations that were not destroyed by evil Union soldiers during the Civil War. This plantation was kept in perfect form and was fascinating to see:

Can you tell that the Charlestonians were obsessed with England?!? This is a perfect imitation of an English manor from the 1700s. 

We then went to Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, which is just down the street. The house tour was both lame and depressing. Anyone who goes here, don't spend the money on the house tour, just go see the free video presentation. I swear the lady who did the house tour just watched the video a few times and quoted it back to us. However, the gardens were amazing. I want to go back later this year when more of the flowers are in bloom. 

After seeing the plantations, we went for a seafood dinner. YUM. There are all-you-can-eat crab legs places all over the place. Also, we ate she-crap soup, which is a famous dish in Charleston and it was SO GOOD. We also split a bucket of shrimp, mussels, clams, and oysters. YUM. And a crab dip appetizer. AMAZING. This is a really good town for seafood. The problem is that most of the restaurants do icky fried seafood. We had to do some research to find the good stuff. :)

We ended our trip on Sunday with some time walking up and down Folly's beach, a local hangout. Achilles loved that long hike! We left for home and made good time. It was a great weekend getaway, and I must say, it is so wonderful living this close to the ocean! Whenever we need a little break from the awesomeness of the mountains and lakes (or just crave fresh seafood), it's nice to know that a beautiful city like Charleston is only 4 hours away. 

We love it down here! Now please come visit. :)

~Paul and Cris

Trek to Mount Dumb

It has been a while since either of us has posted, which is all Cris' fault.  Don't worry, I'm here to remedy this problem in style.  We went home for Christmas this year and loved seeing friends and family, but by the end of the two weeks we were very ready to head back home (that's right, we call SC 'home' now unlike when we lived in Milwaukee).  After two weeks of gray Michigan skies it was nice to finally see our old friend sunny back in SC.
We took advantage of the nicer weather immediately by hiking and fishing as much as possible for a couple weeks.  Then my parents came to visit us for a few days at the end of January.  It had been almost an entire month since they had last seen us so they were naturally eager to hang out with us again.  Come to think of it, it has almost been another month so I expect them to drop by shortly.
I was excited to show my parents how awesome it is living down south with our warmer weather and lots of stuff to do in January.  Sadly, my mom gets frequent hankerings for icicles so they decided to bring cold weather with them.

On the Saturday that they were here, Cris decided to go milk and marry some goats and poke holes in cheese (I think that's what she said, after like 22 years together all her words mush together into cute white noise).  So, it was just my bachelor self and my parents going on a short hike.  It was just like high school except my voice squeaked less and my dad has hairier ears (sorry).  We went to one of my favorite parks by the Chattooga River to do some fly fishing and hiking to see awesome waterfalls (Kings Creek Falls is to the right).  It was pretty cold so there were icicles all over which was neato.  Also, along the path there were patches of what we later learned is 'needle ice'.  Apparently, when the earth is warmer than the air and wet, the water from the ground will seep up and freeze as soon as it hits the air.  It keeps pushing out and freezing until it makes needles of ice (thus the name).  Here is a picture, look at it:

After seeing King's Creek Falls we decided to do some flyfishing.  Chattooga river is pretty big and fast so it takes some pretty good skill to figure out how to get a fly down to the trout in cold weather like this.  I'm a natural flyfisher so I quickly got a fly deep down in a pool where a giant trout grabbed my fly and hooked it around a tree branch.  By that time (my third cast) my hands were freezing and it had started to snow.  I think I probably tied another fly on but I could really feel it, and moved further upstream while it snowed ever harder.  It was beautiful and serene and extremely freakin cold, so I figure my dad felt right at home.  As the avid flyfisher that I am, I found the best spot on the river where all the fish live but unfortunately I had to jump across a couple rocks to get there.  I think I made a bunch of perfect casts but I couldn't feel them, so after a while we decided to call it quits.  I jumped back across the rocks I had used to get to the middle of the river, but this time one of the rocks decided not to be as solid or I had gained weight from all the snow sticking to my shirt.  Either way, my foot found its way into the nice warm (compared to the air) water so I had a wet foot for the rest of the day.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank my parents for not stating any of the obvious things like "that's why you shouldn't wear sandals when fishing in the winter" or "maybe you're too heavy to be stepping on small rocks" or "your older brother wouldn't have fallen in the river".  We warmed up in the car and the rest of the day was nice: we went to Spoonauger Falls and ate hamburgers.
The next week, Cris and I somehow decided that it would be a good idea to climb to the tallest peak in the SC (thus the Mt. Dumb title).  A little background:  neither of us got nearly enough exercise when we lived in Milwaukee due to the weather, ugliness, and lack of motivation.  So, we have been working on slowly building up to longer and longer hikes.  Before Christmas we had gone on a nice six-mile hike and ended it feeling pretty good.  So, the next logical step was to go home and get a little fat over the holidays and then come back and climb a mountain.  The hike to Sassafras Mountain is 10 miles which didn't sound too bad, but I don't think we realized how hard it is to go up and down that much.  There is a 2200 foot elevation change from where we started to the top, but there is also a lot of down and then back up and then back down and then back up and then back down and up again in there so we probably actually hiked about 300 miles.  I'm going to blame our decision making on the formaldehyde that is leeching into us from our camper. Anyways, we struck out in good spirits from the lovely town of Rocky Bottom and immediately began to regret our decision.  The first half-mile was very steep and there were leaves all over that made it a bit treacherous.  After about an hour, we got to a bridge that I optimistically named the halfway point since I was already pretty tired.  Then an hour later we got to a sign that was at the halfway point.  It was really cool to walk along the sides of the mountains and slowly get higher so we could see further and further.  At one point we got to a really awesome spot where others had camped before where I climbed some rocks to see the scenery. This was almost at the top of one mountain so we were thinking that we were almost there.
Then, after we walked over to the next mountain and realized that we still had to get to the next mountain after that, we figured we had misjudged.  I was starting to wonder if we could make it up to the top in time so that we could turn around and make it all the way back to the car before dark.  Spending a night in January in the woods with a grumpy and hungry wife didn't sound fun to me.  So, fastforward one blister, a bag of granola and lots of breaks to catch our breath and we finally made it to the top of Sassafras mountain.  I was proud that I had made it to the top, but I was not excited to hike all the way back down.  It was absolutely gorgeous on the top of the mountain and it was cool to see all the lakes in the distance.  We could even see the part of Lake Keowee where we live.  We rested and ate and drank on the

overlook for quite a while.  It always surprises me how nice the people in SC are.  Several couples walked up to enjoy the view and struck up conversations with us.  My natural reaction after living in Milwaukee is to hide my valuables and look at the cracks in the sidewalk so that the crazy person will leave me alone, but I tried to be friendly.  Once we felt rested and sore, we scraped ourselves off the ground and made the trek back down the mountain. The whole trip took a little over 7 hours and did a good job of deflating my ego.  It turns out I'm not in as good of shape as I was in high school and my muscles don't recover as fast.  It was a great experience with beautiful views and good company, but I think our next few hikes will be less ambitious.  Maybe just a nice walk to the fridge next time.

 Besides these little adventures, not much is happening in our lives.  I already have all my yardwork done for the year and it's only February.  Cris is doing some nannying to make some cash, and my work is going great.  In a few weeks I'll be going on a math field trip for three days all around SC so I might make a blog post about that.  I'm sure all the math nerds will have some hilarious hijinks and puns that I will want to share.  It's also finally time to do some serious fishing and less serious windsurfing.  This coming year is looking like it will potentially be the best year of our life together: a couple of weddings to attend with awesome people, lots of hikes to go on, fish to catch, and driving back and forth to Michigan a little too often.  Stay classy San Diego.