Six Months!

Can you believe it? It's been six months, exactly, since B and I were having our last dance before watching the fireworks and running through the sparklers to start our new lives together as our own family, a little, tiny extension of our own individual families. I can't believe it.

This past month has been fun and slightly calmer. By "slightly" I mean we only took two trips, but one was to California, so that kind of counts as more than one, if you're really into the balance thing. A month ago, we took off for California, exploring Berkeley, wine country, and San Francisco before coming home and spending a few days at the beach with my sister and her family. Then, shocker of shockers, we spent three straight weekends at home! We watched a lot of great football (Roll Tide! Go Jackets!), experienced a great Halloween, carved our first pumpkin, threw our first rotting pumpkin away (70+ degree weather!), and spent a little time with our nieces, introducing them to Duke and Guitar Hero (pictures to come!). I took another trip to Birmingham, meeting up with my high school girlfriends (two of whom are pregnant!) and one of my Birmingham ladies.

This month, B & I have been working on "adult" things, figuring out car insurance, health insurance, budgets (I should own Harris Teeter by now), and still working on loving each other. We had a great early celebration of the half-versary, staring with gorgeous roses from B on Friday, a delicious Indian dinner tonight, and another dinner out tomorrow night at our favorite Durham restaurant, courtesy of a very dear friend and her generous gift card.

We've finally, mostly gotten Dad's estate settled, and there have been fewer tears this month which have been replaced by more great memories. I'm so grateful to have these little gems come to mind!

It's hard for me to look at these past six months and say that they've been the best of my life, because they've also been the most painful. Losing Dad was like nothing I've ever experienced. But then I look across my living room at the man I married, the man who's working so diligently to provide a great life for us, at the home he set up for us here in Durham before I even knew I would share it, and at the plate of cookies I just finished to complement our 2004 Champagne (don't worry-- not expensive, just left over from my brother's wedding, I kid you not) and I remember that I am lucky. I am blessed. And I have this life, these six months, and I'm so thankful. As B says, "to many more." Amen, sweetie!