Half-iversay

Today marks 18 months since our wedding day, 2 years since the day we got engaged, and just over 11 1/2 years since our first date! On March 23, we celebrate our anniversary, and on September 23, our half-iversary. I am nothing if not the queen of made up holidays (birthdaykkah!), so no one should be surprised by this.

Last night, we went to one of our favorite restaurants in Norfolk that we rarely go to, Todd Jurich's. They do a lot of creative dishes (last night Harris had goat curry!), and everything is always amazing! We celebrated our recent news with a little bubbly (Prosecco for Harris, and sparkling water for me!), Harris gave me a beautiful sterling silver fleur de lis necklace that he had made by a local jeweler, and we reflected on the past year and a half, and talked about the excitement we have for our future. It was just a really nice moment in time to remember to celebrate all the good, and be thankful for all that we are fortunate enough to be blessed with.

I am so incredibly lucky to have spent the last 11 years, 6 months, and 2 days with this amazing man. It's incredible that I always think I couldn't possibly love him more, and find that I somehow fall more in love with him with each passing day. It is so important to us, as we prepare to bring new life into our family, to keep our marriage as the cornerstone of our family. Celebrating our relationship with both these big and little moments is something that I hope we continue to do for the rest of our lives.

I love you, Harris. Thank you for being my husband, my best friend, the love of my life, and the father of my children. Thank you for all the moments we have shared thus far, and for all the ones to come.

Taking Care of Lucy

Well, as someone who officially works from home 100% of the time nowadays, and does not have to travel, and writes for the livelihood of their family, I have been complete rubbish at actually writing on the blog! Since my last update, things have been hectic and a little bit crazy in the old Ligon household.

You might remember me mentioning the Lucy-pup having a corneal ulcer in my last post. Well, the morning after writing that post, we had a recheck with our regular vet. Dr. C took one look at Lucy's eye and said that she was going to go give an animal ophthalmologist a call. The ophthalmologist wanted us to bring her in right away, so off we went to the eye doctor. Upon examining Lucy's eye with special opthalmology equipment, it was determined that the original ulcer had gotten infected and had eaten away 99% of Lucy's cornea (where the ulcer was located). The doc said that while this condition can be treated medically, given Lucy's aversion to eye drops (which he couldn't blame her for because he said she was in a lot of pain..very sad face), and the fact that there was such a microscopic level of cornea remaining, surgery would be the best option. The surgery would create a corneal graft (taking tissue from her conjunctiva and placing it over the ulcer), which would, obviously close help heal the ulcer, as well as bring blood supply to the area, meaning we could give her both oral medication and eye drops. Long story short, we had surgery the next day and have spent the past two weeks in and out of the ER, vet's office, and opthalmology office - hence my absence. Fortunately, though, our little pup is healing very well! We had a 2-week recheck earlier today, and we are definitely up on the upward trend of things! Needless to say, it was a very stressful and scary time for us with her, and we hated seeing her in pain. Luckily, we pulled through well, are no longer functioning in a sleep-deprived stupor, and Lucy's spirits are wonderful!

Other than the Lucy saga, everything else has been going relatively smoothly! The new career-situation has been more wonderful than I could have imagined! It is so nice to have complete control over my schedule, time, so on and so forth! As I told Lynda (my old boss/friend, who is now just a dear friend!), if I needed one more reason to be grateful for this opportunity, I got it in Lucy's surgery - with my old job, I was supposed to be in San Diego the week everything went down, and would, of course, be facing the pressures of customers and travel and all of that. This move has been more of a blessing than I ever could have realized, and I am so thankful for that. In addition to getting to write loads of fun things, I am also taking on some editorial management of certain pieces, which has been great for that organizational piece of my brain / personality!

Harris is still working incredibly hard, but, thankfully, things seem to have calmed down to a dull roar, for the moment, at least! We have really worked as such a team the past couple weeks, and I am so thankful for all of his support and effort on top of everything he has to do at work. Totally gushing, but I am okay with that :)

I can't believe our one-year anniversary is in 11 days! It is crazy to think that a year has already flown by, but it has been a really, really great year, and I am so lucky to have that man by  my side every day. We are going to postpone any potential big anniversary plans until we have Lu at 100%, but I am just excited to celebrate our first year as husband and wife!

Now, it is time for me to go finish up dinner (we're having Thai Red Curry Lentils!) before the hubs gets home!

Special Moments

Today is a special day for us Ligons. 10 years, 6 months, and 2 days ago, we had our very first date. 1 year ago today, Harris proposed. 6 months today ago we got married!

I wish I had a snapshot from our very first date to share with you, but this was before the era of smartphones, or even camera phones (it was the era of these phones), so you will have to settle for one very old picture of the two of us. For perspective, our very first date was quite typical for teenagers growing up along the Carolina coast. We hopped in the car, threw a blanket in the back, and headed over to the beach to sit in the sand and talk about all the worldly things two teenagers could talk about.

And here is a picture from our engagement day. We spent a wonderful weekend in western Virginia last fall (who knew shortly after our engagement we would be moving to Virginia - serendipitous.) where we hiked in the Shenandoah National Forest, drank pumpkin martinis (okay, okay I drank pumpkin martinis, Harris drank beer, maybe pumpkin though!) at a magnificent Public House, and, then, on a beautiful farm in the middle of nowhere, cast up into the heavens where Harris asked me to be his wife. A most wonderful weekend indeed.

Finally, here is one of my favorites from our wedding day! Getting married in Mexico was one of the best decisions we could have made. Not only was it a virtually stress-free, seamless wedding planning process, but the whole experience was wonderfully fun, and every little detail was amazingly beautiful. At the end of the day, all I cared about was marrying this man, whom I had loved for so many years. As they say, everything else was just icing.

Harris, I love you more every single day.

Thank you for making the last 10 years, 6 months, and 2 days the very best days of my life.
I can't wait to see what forever holds for us.

Now That We're Married...

People keep asking, "So what's different now that you're married?". The first time it happened, it kind of stumped me, and I thought the person was making a snide remark about us living together before marriage, so forth and so on. But now that it has happened a few (several) times, I take less offense to it, and I have thought about the question and answer a bit more. Firstly, I guess the very basic things - day-to-day life, really aren't a lot different. Harris and I have been together so very long that, if we didn't know each other's little habits, idiosyncrasies, and routines by now, there probably wouldn't have been much hope for us. So I guess we have been very fortunate to not have to go through some of the growing pains I know a lot of other newlyweds talk about. It sounds cheesy, but at the very core, our relationship is founded on the fact that we are best friends. We argue, of course, but we are very fortunate to (usually) really understand where the other is coming from. That's not to say that the married life is easy. It's definitely not. I love how Kelsey and Eric Williams over at Words of Williams describe it - happily, not effortlessly married. I think that about sums it up perfectly - I am very happily married, but that happiness does not come without effort! Marriage is a life-long commitment, and, as with any commitment, comes work.

Back in my single gal-dom, decisions I made didn't usually impact anyone but me, and, occasionally, Lucy. If I wanted to save a buck or two and eat nothing but spaghetti for a week (seriously, the cheapest meal ever), I was the only one who had to suck it up and do so. Likewise, if I wanted to take that buck or two saved, and put it toward a new pair of shoes, well, great! Nowadays, every decision has a greater impact: on Harris, on our marriage, on our family (current and future). For instance, right now, I have a tab open on my web browser for some makeup I need (somewhat need, mostly want) from Clinique. Not that $50 is going to break the bank or anything, but I weigh those decisions more than I would have in the past (which seems hard because I was already the greatest example of buyer's remorse - I have been known to experience anxiety over a $4 latte from Starbucks.  I mean what?).

I digress. Back to the question at hand. So marriage is not easy, but it is fun! There is security and liberation in knowing that the guy sitting next to you over a bowl of your favorite Indian dish is here for the long run. The differences between now and the 10 years prior aren't so much in the things that other people would notice, but a culmination of all the little things that add up to the big things. The differences lie in the comfort of knowing he is my husband, and the joy of being his wife. I don't know what everyone expects to hear when they ask that little question, but those things are more than enough for me.

Yearly Rant About the DMV

So, everyone rants about the DMV, right? Well, most people, I feel, do not have to visit this little piece of hell on Earth every year. Luckily for yours truly, I have moved 8 (yes, eight) times since graduating from college 5 years ago. Within those 8 moves, I have lived in 6 states, which means, yep, lots of new drivers licenses, registrations, etc. When we moved to Virginia at the end of last year, obviously we knew that we would be getting married in less than 6 months, so I just decided that, rather than having a twice in one year visit, I would just wait until after the wedding to get my Virginia license and change my name on my license all in one fail swoop. Well, for those of you who have never changed your name, before you can get a new drivers license, you must first clear it with the US Government by getting a new social security card in your new name. Done! I am officially US Government approved Courtney Ligon material. Courtney - 1 , Government - 0.

So, imagine my surprise, when I headed to the DMV this morning, old license, marriage certificate, passport, and new social security card in tow, to wait in line, and then be told that I would have to get my marriage certificate translated from Spanish to English! What? How can this be? Uncle Sam had no problem with Spanish, but you are telling me that the great state (commonwealth) of Virginia does? Inconceivable!

DMV - 1, Courtney - 0.

Now, do any of you kind folk know how I go about getting this certificate translated?

Couples Who Cook Together...Love Blue Cheese

As a newlywed, I am finding many, many aspects of married life that I love, especially getting to use the phrase "my husband"! One of my favorite things to do with my husband is share time in the kitchen. I am fortunate enough to be married to a man who not only is an excellent cook, but who also really enjoys cooking. I will be the first to admit that I can easily get stuck in a rut of favorite dishes, or dishes that are easy to throw together, but Harris is always on the hunt for new things for us to try. While he was not thoroughly impressed with his blue cheese burgers yesterday (note to readers: don't stuff burgers with ooey gooey cheesy goodness, and then cook on a George Foreman grill, designed to strip all the fatty goodness away), I was still very pleased with his flavorful turkey burgers. Additionally, while I am almost famous (at least in my own mind) at crock pot cooking, Harris was the one who stumbled upon the buffalo chicken soup recipe, and encouraged me to make it. I made a few modifications - the original recipe would have made an absolute ton of soup, plus I really hate celery, and only buy it when absolutely necessary. My modifications still made plenty of soup - enough for at least 4 adults for one meal, with probably some leftover. I would definitely recommend serving this alongside a crusty bread!

What You Need:

- 1 pack chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (I used frozen tenderloins, and then shredded after they were cooked through)

- 16 oz fat free half & half

- 1 can cream of chicken soup

- 1/2 cup (or more) buffalo wing sauce

- 1/2 cup sour cream

- 5 small white potatoes, washed, peeled, and sliced

- 3 carrots, washed peeled, and sliced

- Blue cheese

What You'll Do:

- Spray your crock pot, and place chicken in bottom

- Pour in remaining ingredients, except bleu cheese

- Cook on low for 5 hours, or high for 3 hours

- At this point, if you have opted for frozen chicken breasts, shred your chicken in your crock pot

- Mix in blue cheese (I used about 3/4 of a regular container of blue cheese from the deli section)

- Cook another hour, serve hot!

It's about as easy as it gets, folks. While I am not going to chalk this up to my all-time top crock pot recipes, I will say it sufficiently and satisfactorily did its job - which was to provide yet another version of buffalo chicken "fill in the blank". This brings me to a random, yet related thought - when did buffalo chicken become a craze? I mean, first it was the buffalo chicken dip (albeit delicious, I will admit), and now I see everything from this soup to buffalo chicken macaroni and cheese, buffalo chicken quesadillas, and buffalo chicken hashbrown casserole. Don't even get me started on the variations of buffalo potato chips, or all the other things Doritos is up to these days. I guess when we Americans find something we love, we hold on tight, and don't let go...a good practice for marriage too, not just food.

Sunday Simmer

Marriage is a a lot like backwards cheeseburger. It is a composition of complexity. If you've successfully mastered the art of placing your favorite cheese inside your favorite burger, you've probably mastered marriage as well. Congratulations.

For those of us who still find ourselves in the step-by-step process of burger experimentation,  I bid you all the luck in the world. It occurred to me today that preparing and consuming homemade meals is a near ideal backdrop for the newlywed game. For the sake of brevity, three steps suffice: (1) Preparation (2) Execution and (3) Evaluation. Early this afternoon, I found myself elbow deep in perpetration and thought while attempting to prepare the elusive backwards blue-cheese turkey burger. The process was straightforward enough:

1. Mix turkey meat with traditional spices; shape patties around blue-cheese
2. Grill; wrap with iceberg lettuce.
3. Enjoy.

Not surprisingly, something was amiss. At some point the cheese instigated a pilgrimage to anywhere but the interior of the burger. By the time it was over, there was no cheese spared. The end result was mediocre at best. Luckily, Courtney had put the finishing touches on her  rendition of Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Soup which turned out to be as good as advertised, and worth a second tasting. Thus, our Sunday blue cheese duo was not lost in the kitchen. (Her post will follow soon).

However, as a new husband, the incident is not unlike many interactions that I've shared with Courtney over the years. By nature, I'm a planner in the most sincere meaning of the phrase. More importantly, I consider myself to be beyond proficient in my role, and, if James Bond was in a similar business, he would've happily accepted the numbers 000 after my results. Or, at least that's what helps me sleep at night. While reflecting on my role as activity / date / dinner / planner before, I never previously considered how I handled anything less than rousing success. In fact, I'm not even comfortable with the phrase failure.

Which led me to a stark realization: I'm horrible at apologies. 

Around the office, the jokes always carried three words at the centerpiece of their humor: "I'm sorry, dear". I used to think, I'll rarely do anything wrong. This afternoon, standing in front of the grill, I realized that the for all the effort I spend preparing and executing, I probably spend an awfully small amount on evaluating. Thus, I'm sure on some level, I'm the classic chest-beating guy who does nothing wrong because of all the things I did right. When, in reality, our marriage is better served by a review of all the things I could've done better prefaced with the age-old humility line: I'm sorry.

So, as I stood there over the grill watching the cheese purge itself from the chains of turkey meat and flax seed  I did what I should have been doing long before we said our vows. I apologized, laughed about the outcome, explained what I would do different, and offered to make something else. Luckily, like every great woman on earth, she was eternally kind and patient in her reception. 

To further my point, I would like to highlight Joe Queenan's article from the Wall Street Journal entitled "Who's Sorry Now? Everyone, Apparently" discussing Apple's Tim Cook and his recent apology to China. While the entire article is memorable, humorous, and not supportive of anything like a traditional apology the following pokes a bit of fun at the ongoing struggles of the U.S. Postal Service:

Particularly gratifying would be if the U.S. Postal Service posted a similarly worded mea culpa on its website.

"We are aware that a lack of communications…led to the perception that some of our desk clerks are inconsiderate, condescending, unhelpful, incompetent and just plain nasty," the apology might run. "We express our sincere apologies for the perception that we hate it when you losers walk into the building with your big, stupid, poorly wrapped boxes, or when you don't even know the ZIP Code for Richmond, Maine, or when you show up at 5 on Christmas Eve expecting us to still have Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer stamps in stock. We're sorry if we have created the impression that we despise you and wish you were all dead. We will try to do better in the future."