Brian ratted the guys out on their little lake excursion and sent out pictures to the wives and girlfriends.

Here's Otis and Tim boating all Miami Vice style.

Don't they look hot? Especially the one on the left.

I haven't posted anything about the wedding to date simply because it's taken me this long to process everything that day was. The first few weeks after the honeymoon were more challenging than I expected them to be, with life throwing us curve ball after curve ball that we certainly weren't expecting to deal with so quickly. Luckily things have calmed down over the last couple of weeks and Otis and I have really enjoyed this thing called Marriage.

The wedding was perfect. Really. I couldn't have asked for anything more wonderful. It was everything I wanted and even more than I never expected it to be. Looking over the pictures the last few days, I've seen a wedding more beautiful than I could have ever planned, and I feel so blessed for that to have been my wedding. Plus I have a really hot husband.

Despite the first few trying weeks, I've really enjoyed being married. It's a ton of fun, but mostly very comforting knowing that I'm going home to someone who loves me every day, and knowing that person will always be there. The only downside I've been able to find is that now I instantaneously dissolve into tears if I watch something that has the male romantic figure suffering in any way. It's like some switch was flipped in me. A switch that causes tears to stream uncontrollably down my face.

I've gotten some curious comments regarding marriage from people. I think you can really tell how people feel about their marriage or certain periods of their marriage by the passing comments they make. Example: yesterday two separate people were shocked when, after asking me how I was enjoying marriage, I told them it was fun. Their response was that "fun" was not how they would have described their first year of marriage. I find that so puzzling. I guess it's just the dynamics of their relationships, but Otis and I have a ton of fun together, and I love knowing that we have our whole lives to share that fun. Some have said to me that the first 6 months were great, then it gets harder. Maybe. I don't know. We'll just have to take it one day at a time, something I think we're doing pretty well so far. I'm excited to live today with him, and to discover what each new day holds for us. And I hope that one day, many years from now, I can look back and say that, overall, being married has been the best experience of my life.

Today Otis and I have been married for 2 months, and I'm celebrating by re-writing job descriptions and editing our employee handbook. Woo hoo! Otis is celebrating by waiting to find out if he got a job in another department at work. I know. We're vicious party animals.

I'm sure you're expecting some comments about how married life is going, yada yada yada. I don't really feel like doing that, because truly, what could I say that would be any different from what every other married person has said 2 months down the road? I'll spare you the nauseating commentary and instead let you use your imagination. That's way more fun.

I realized I never gave my final update on the Scary Freckle, so here it is: they removed the remainder of the spot along with a bit of the cartilage on the rim of my ear. All labwork came back clear, showing they removed all of Scary Freckle's scary cells. The ear has healed quite nicely, and you really can't even tell anything was done.

Next weekend Otis and I will hit up Austin City Limits festival. It's hard to believe our lives together have come full circle. Last year this was the first major event we did together, and I'm excited that this year we'll be doing it married. (I know what you're thinking. Get your mind out of the gutter). And seeing as how this post and your imagination are digressing, I'll leave you with that.

As I sit here typing this in our dimly lit living room there is a gnat-like bug crawling across the screen. I keep trying shoo it away but I think it likes the blue glow of the iBook sceen.

Otis and I went camping last night at a little park on Lake Travis, about an hour outside of town. I think we ate practically every form of food you can roast on a stick over a campfire, including boudin, which actually doesn't roast too well on a stick. The casings are too thin and the insides end up exploding out and spilling all over the place. The Glory of the Lord did not shine down upon my stomach after eating all of that food.

Otis invented a new campfire dessert - S'mOreos. Roast a marshmallow and smush it between the two twisted apart ends of an oreo and you've got yourself a S'mOreo. It's your choice to eat the cream filling out or not. Otis preferred to leave the double stuff filling and just pile the roasted marshmallow on top. It might explain why he didn't sleep too well.

It was great to get away even if it was only for one night and we could hear the dull roar of cars zooming down 620 in the distance. It was a night filled with such adventures as running around on what is usually the water covered bed of Lake Travis, playing with fire, and narrowly avoiding the dog puking in the tent in the middle of the night. The best part is we were the only souls around, and we avoided paying the normal $15 camping fee since there were no park rangers around to pay. We definitely want to make a trip back there with a group of friends, and hopefully sooner rather than later.

I know what you're thinking. Three posts in one day?! What the heck! Let me explain - Otis is in Michigan until Thursday, so I have a lot of free time on my hands. A lot.

It's surprised me how much I miss him, and not in an "oh my God I'll never see him again" kind of way, but in an "I didn't realize how much he fills my life" kind of way. Otis left early yesterday morning. I had my day full with driving to Boerne and hanging out with the family for my brother's birthday, so I didn't think too much about it. But today. Today has been the first day since we got married that he wasn't there when I woke up. And it was weird. It's even weirder knowing he won't be coming home tonight and I'm left to my own devices to fill the void of time.

I guess I didn't realize how attached I'd grown to him in the three months since we got married. I am really freaking attached, people. I'm not complaining. Just surprised. And maybe a little scared/excited about the fact that I'll probably only grow more attached.

To the Juiceboxes, I have no idea how you did it this past summer. If there was an award for enduring the suckiness of being separated from your spouse, I'd nominate you.

Apparently the communication gods do not want me to speak with my husband while he's away. It's really pissing me off. I spent most of last night wondering why Otis didn't call me, and what was he doing that he can't even pick up the phone for five freaking seconds to call his wife and say hi?! Um, maybe I went a little psychotic. Maybe. A little.

I decided to call him one more time at 10:00 my time (11:00 his) to give him one last chance to redeem himself and be the good husband I know he is. That's when I found out he'd been trying to call me all evening and apparently my phone was going straight to voicemail. I totally blame this on Mr. Juicebox and his suggestion to update the software on my phone, which I did Monday night before going to bed. After making the discovery that Otis couldn't get through, I realized I hadn't received a call all day. (We won't go into the fact that not receiving a call all day did not surprise me. That's for another post, which I think I will entitle "PATHETIC LOSER".)

And now, NOW, Google Talk is freaking out and won't even let me sign in. Yet ANOTHER plot to keep me from communicating with my husband who is 1400 miles away. But the gods can't deter me. I still have e-mail, and if worse comes to worse, I'll send him a dang telegram! Stop.

Saturday night Otis and I attended Evans' Halloween party. Otis and I went as characters from the show "My Name is Earl". Can you guess which ones?

We won 'Most in Character' in the costume contest. Apparently I'm a natural at playing a low class, trashy white girl who lives in a trailer park. Considering my upbringing, that really doesn't surprise me.

This morning I was chatting with Otis over IM about how excited I am for him to return from Toronto on Saturday. It went a little like this:

me: I CAN NOT WAIT to see you.
There will be an embarrassing display of PDA in the airport.

Otis: Yay! PDA!

And then, simultaneously, we both typed:

me: I'm so whipping out my Blackberry.
Otis: Can I get a Blackberry instead?

And this is why we're perfect for each other. We both fall at about the same place on the dork scale.

Over IM...

Me: I know you want the Ninja Hand Claw.

Otis: or EVERYTHING!

Me: I especially like the sloth toed boots.

Otis: For stealthiness.

Otis and I have recently decided we need more living things in our apartment. I'm talking about the green, inanimate types of living things. Nothing that has legs or can poop. God knows we don't need anymore of those living things in our home.

So, this week I'm heading over to Home Depot to purchase some herb and tomato plants, along with some some pretty pots to plant them in. This will not only fulfill the desire for more life in our home (and my secret desire to buy pretty pots), but it will also complete the 'making caprice salad from scratch' circle we started this weekend.

This past weekend we made cheese. CHEESE! In our own kitchen! It was awesome. And yummy. I can't stop eating it, and I'm afraid I'm going to eat it all before Otis get's back from NY on Saturday. Good thing we still have supplies to make 29 POUNDS OF CHEESE.

And if I could time warp back to 1988, I would totally buy him a pair of these for his birthday.

Then Otis could look great and kick people in the face AT THE SAME TIME. There is no greater awesomeness than this.

From Dooce's post today:

"He’s still my best friend, and I have more fun with him than with anyone else and am so glad that at the end of the day I can turn to him to say I love you, but can you please stop grabbing my boob, I’m trying to brush my teeth."

Otis: I love how little you are.

Me: I love how big you are. I can call you Saskatchewan.

Pause.

Otis: I'm a Province?

Me: Um. I mean Sasquatch.

Done by my husband.

Earlier I picked a fight with Otis because I was tired. And hungry. And I was so much of both that I couldn't figure out which one I needed to take care of first. Instead of doing anything about either of them I figured it would be better to melt into an emotional puddle on the floor and blame it on Otis, because it's totally his fault that my body has been taken over by alien beings and rendered me incapable of making even the most simple of decisions.

He was a trooper, though. He even rubbed my forehead and said "poor little bunny". OK, maybe not the bunny part, but it would have been AWESOME if he had.

On Friday morning, as Otis and I were rushing around to get ready and meet the realtor on time, I realized I could not find my engagement/wedding ring. Not wanting to jump straight into panic mode, I did a quick scan of all the places I normally put it, but to no avail. At that point I was tempted to commence freak out, but knowing we had to be somewhere soon, I squashed it down and grabbed the cheap James Avery ring we bought for me to wear when I'm doing outdoorsy things. That way at least my finger wouldn't feel empty.

When I got home that night I resumed the search, this time enlisting God for help to find my irreplaceable ring, as in "God, please please please please please help me find my ring". This method has actually proven to be quite successful in the past. However, by the time Otis got home 15 minutes later the situation had severely deteriorated. I was crying, frantically turning the house upside down to find my ring, and slowly coming to the realization that I was not going to find it. Although I could tell Otis was equally panicked that his wife had, for all intents and purposes, lost the ring he spent months to design and $$$ to create, he did his best to reassure me we would find it and not to worry.

He was right, because about 1 minute later he did find it. At that precise moment in time, when he held the ring up to show me that he had in fact found it and then reached down to put it back on my finger, he was my hero. And I don't know if I've ever loved him more. I know it's just a ring, an object I won't be able to take with me after this life, but to me it means more than that. It symbolizes how much he loves me; that he would spend 4 months finding the perfect design and the perfect canary diamond, just so he could see the smile on my face when I wear it.

It was kind of like getting engaged all over again, only better, because this time we don't have to plan a wedding, and afterwards we got to 'celebrate'.

Tonight, for our early anniversary dinner, I made these along with charcoal grilled New York Strip steaks and salad with baby portabelas, tomatoes, and balsamic vinaigrette dressing. I highly recommend the sweet potato fries...they were delicious. We also enjoyed a bottle of Family Red from the V. Sattui winery we visited in Napa Valley this past January. It was the perfect celebration after a long day of unpacking and working on the house.

Tomorrow Otis leaves for Portland. He was so sweet and worked all day to get plumbing and connections for the washer and dryer, dishwasher, and bathroom sink working before he left. I am so grateful and amazed that he desired to leave the house extra-livable for me before he left. It definitely makes this first time alone in the house less ominous. (Dear God, please don't let anything break while he's gone).

I got a good chunk of the unpacking done today, and our kitchen is actually usable/not oppressive. I think I've also come up with a color scheme to make it attractive until we can afford to remodel it in a couple of years. It's finally starting to feel like a home. Imagine what it will feel like when we have pictures on the walls!