Seks år i dag (Six Years Today)

Hello there.

We're actually in Seville right now.  Right now. As you are reading this! The internet told me that I should get Paul a present that was wood, iron, or candy.  So I got him Spain.  I'm sure you can follow that logic.

But I thought I'd schedule this little notice to go up on our sixth anniversary, even though we're away.

Because this is something that should be noted.  I have been officialmente married to Paul for six years, officialmente partners for seven and a half years, officialmente friends for eleven years,  Muy officialmente romantico aaaaaaand that fake Spanish is going to stop now.

(I can't help it.  Because Spain.)

But seriously though, I don't get serious on this here blog because it's all public and junk.  I guess I just want to say that, well, I'll never be able to adequately say what Paul means to me (cliche.  always try and always sound so cliche.)  But, what I do know is that anyone who ever actually sees us together knows a bit what I'm trying to say.

We're just real good together, you know?  Paul is my best friend - and you can tell when you see us. Paul is the handsomest human to walk the earth - and you can tell when you see me look at him.  We're a team, we got each other's backs.  We respect each other's dreams and feelings and opinions and don't try to squash each other into stereotypes or expectations.  We're real, complex, human individuals to each other - we fascinate each other.  We just get it.  We're good at us.

So, six years.  Best six years of my life, you know.

Dive In!

Yes, I know.  This is weird.  I never, EVER post anything on the blog.  Heidi does such a great job of it, I really can't hope to compete.  But I just got to do something cool that Heidi didn't do.  To be fair, she wasn't offered the choice of doing it (although I have my doubts whether she would want to...).

This "something" was a commercial diving course which will allow me to SCUBA dive as part of my work.  It was one of the most exhausting, cold, and WET things I have ever done in my life.  And also one of the most rewarding and fun.

Want to know more?  Then suit up, make sure your gear is working, and enjoy the pictorial journey.
And remember: don't forget to breathe!

Week 1: Kjelst, Denmark (10-14 February)

Setting up the equipment for our first dives in freezing (literally, FREEZING) cold water

Getting the diver dressed

Tending the line (and enjoying one of the rare moments when it wasn't raining or hailing)

My turn to go in.  Yes, the gear does make you look sexy, but know this:
it comes with the price of a seriously sore back the next day

Please don't let it be as cold as last time!

Evenings were spent practicing other skills, like tying knots.
We would eventually have to tie all the knots underwater.
Wearing 5 mm-thick gloves.  Blindfolded.  Yeup.

On the last day in Kjelst, the sun came out.  It was glorious.

Week 2: Hemmoor, Germany (March 23-27)

Diving in Hemmoor was awesome for several reasons.  First, and most importantly, the water was much warmer:
a balmy 7 degrees Celsius (45 degrees Fahrenheit) .  Second, look at that view from the dock!

Monitoring communications during the dive.  We used these cool helmets that had microphones in them so that we could talk to the people on the surface.  Came in handy sometimes.

Here is the helmet in action

In addition to the helmet, we also always had a rope connected to us so that we could be found (or pulled back) if we got into any trouble.  Luckily, that was never needed except during our rescue drills.

Looking at your own bubbles rise to the surface is a pretty special thing

Week 3: Fredericia, Denmark (April 7-11)

Our last dive site was near the bridge that connects the island where Heidi and I live to the mainland of Europe

One of our tasks we had to complete underwater was to sketch something to scale.  Not an easy task when you A) can't draw to begin with, B) are wearing thick, neoprene gloves, C) can only see a few feet in front of you at any time, and D) keep dropping the board and have to swim down to get it

One of my favorite tasks was photographing the animals growing on the piers.  Here are some sea squirts, sea anemones, and assorted other hydrozoans

And a green crab

Our final exam involved doing a little underwater carpentry.  Here you see our tool basket, complete with saw, hammer, chisel, clamp, and ruler.  Notice how the wood floats.  Usually, that isn't a problem.  But when you are trying to work with the dang stuff underwater...it's a problem.

But despite the wood's best efforts to escape from us, we all managed to
complete our "Greek Crosses" and pass our final exam!

A great course with some great people.  Thanks for diving in!

Happy Birthday, Paul!

Yeah, we may use apple-scented tea candles instead of birthday candles.  Yeah, our lighter may have stopped working so we never lit the candle.  Yeah, we may not own a cupcake pan so we made blueberry bread instead of the traditional muffins.

But, that's how we roll here at the Aquahaus, and it's a party here today.

So Cool It's Not Cool

So, Paul came home yesterday.  And I asked him aaaaaalllllll about his adventures.

And then he was like, "You know that one night we got a tour of the Museum of Natural History?"

And I was like, "Yeah..."

And then he was like, "We ate there!"

And I was like, "Whoa!  Neat!"

And then he was like, "Guess where I ate in the museum?"

And I was like, "...The cafeteria...?"

And then he was like:

And then I was like, "THERE IS NO WORD TO DESCRIBE THE JEALOUS RAGE I AM IN RIGHT NOW!"

And then he was like, "But...I brought you some whoppers?...?"

Four: A Nice Sturdy Number

17 September 2008

Paul and I have been married for four years, as of today.

Four sounds nice, doesn't it.  Fouuur.  It just sounds like a good, hearty, solid number.  True, in German, it comes out something like "fear" (vier), which isn't so nice...so we're just going to ignore that and stick with the English for now.

We're going exploring today--one of the things we do best.  And we'll probably eat some pancakes at some point, because who doesn't want pancakes on their anniversary? (no one)  We're also going to eat at the fancy French restaurant around the corner because our gift to each other this year was a pair of plane tickets to Paris in November.

Turns out that Paris in mid-September is "the most expensive and crowded time anyone could possibly visit."  And right about the time we read that, Thanksgiving on the Seine started sounding super romantic.

You know, wedding anniversaries...they're important and everything, but sometimes I feel like they're a bit arbitrary.  Almost as if they are days to help our families and friends keep track of our commitment rather than for us to mark "THE DAY" (that something...was supposed to change?)  Well...the thing is...there was no huge change in our feelings or relationship to each other between the day before we got married and the day after.

We were already married before we were married, so to speak.

So, around this time of year, I find myself thinking of other anniversaries--other days that marked even bigger moments between us, that not many (if any) other people even knew about.

One example?  Well, I met Paul almost exactly nine years ago, when I was 19 years old.  I was sorting old manuscripts in the library archives and he came through with our boss to be introduced as the newest employee.

Or, there's the day five years and one month ago, when we were sitting on the porch of a little rental cabin in Oregon at 3am and Paul said, "You know...I feel like I could ask you to marry me right now.  Is that crazy?"  And I said, "Nope."

So, I guess September 17th, and maybe all wedding anniversaries, don't have to be just about that single marriage ceremony...Maybe a better way of thinking about it is realizing that they can act as a symbolic celebration days for all the anniversaries within each relationship.

With that, then, Happy Fourth (Fifth, Fifth and a Half, Sixth, Six and a Quarter, Sixth and a Half, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth) Anniversary to us!

This Is A Real Letter

Today, Paul.  


As in, just five minutes ago (though, technically, it could have been thirty minutes or an hour ago, it's all very unclear), I reached a level of culinary mastery that very few people ever aspire to, let alone achieve.

I have just succeeded in burning three boiled eggs to little, blackened, exploded, crispy, carbonized balls of ash.

I know, I know--what a marvelous thing.

Subsequently, I have lost all desire towards using the oven or stove or, in fact, entering the kitchen for any reason at all in the forseeable future.  This is, of course, because my mortal eyes cannot withstand the glory of my prowess that still glows brightly therein...also it smells like campfire and sour milk and ozone.

So perhaps, in celebration of my culinary achievement tonight, we could make a visit to our esteemed Edeka Grocer for no fewer than five Oreo Milka Chocolate Bars and then parade onwards to our Doberaner Kebab Shop where we will toast my bright, bright, ruined-saucepan future with some lamb-meat pitas and a shared bottle of schorle.

Triumphantly,

Heidi

Because PBS Media is Cheap Media

In the past six months, Paul and I have become media bargain-hunters.

This is because hulu doesn't like me anymore.  Also because netflix hates Europe.  So, we've come to discover that entertainment is now something that must be purchased via itunes.  Brave new world...yadda yadda.

So, we're really, incredibly good at finding itunes movie rentals for $2 or entire seasons of older but relatively awesome television (Amazing Race!  Anyone?  Anyone? Yeah?) for the price of a matinee movie ticket.  

Also, PBS.  They sell relatively good stuff for cheap.  Might I direct your attention to the fact that a season of The Office costs $45, but a season of, ohhhh, saaaaaaay, Downton Abbey?  A mere $10.

So, suffice it to say, we've been getting our partially-poorly-acted, period-drama, soap-opera on for the past few weeks.

I'm really trying to get to a point here, trust me.  The point I'm trying to make is that we've kind of got Abbey on our minds--because it's the only thing we can afford.

And so this happened:

Early morning.  The phone rings with a text message by our bed.  Paul turns to look at the phone, waits for a long while, is very quiet.

Me:  "What is it?  Is something wrong?"

Paul turns slowly, dramatically towards me...and very, very seriously says...with MUCH gravitas...

Paul:  "We are ... at war with England."

HAH!

There are a lot of "Paul" Signs in Europe.

Sometimes, life is too perfect.

Like when Paul, the marine biologist, walks under this sign.

Nanu Nanu.

Don't worry, it will make sense soon...

After about a month of waiting "till the conditions were right," Paul brought home three fishes to our little aqua-aquarium.

I told Paul that the aqua-rium was all his to go crazy with, but I asked him if I could claim a single fish as my own and I wanted an algae-sucker.  Algae-suckers are rad.

So I came home today to my first pet in a very, very long time.  Paul bought one algae-sucker (which is, at present, sucking contentedly on a rock immediately to my right) and two honey-colored gourami buddies.

I want to name my algae-sucker.  These are my ideas so far:

Herma (Short for Hermaphrodite, since we don't know if it's male or female)
Kuh (say it like "coo."  It means cow in German, since that's what it is pretty much.)
Herma-Kuh
Spazz (since it spent 20 minutes having what looked like fish-seizures when we first put it in the tank...I'm worried.  And yes, it has to be Spazz with two z's.  It's my vision.)


That's all I got so far.  I think I've lost every shred of creativity I ever had.

Paul doesn't think he'll name his two gouramis (because he thinks that if you name a pet, then it dies.  I think that if you name a pet it dies because all pets die...but maybe he's right.  I don't know.  Never tried not naming a pet).  As for me, in my head I've started thinking of them as "Mork and Mindy."  I don't even know why and it's completely out of my control now.  Just popped into my head.

Remember that show, Mork and Mindy on Nick at Night!?  How weird was that show, right?  Robin Williams as an alien that comes out of an egg-shaped spaceship?  I don't even remember anything about Mindy because my brain still can't get over the egg-ship.

A Short Vignette from the Life of Paul

Once upon a time, Paul was on an LDS mission in Germany.  This time was very, very long ago.

One day, Paul the Missionary went out into the German world to go visit people--because it was his job and stuff.

At one house, Paul knocked on the door and it was opened by a shirtless man.

Before Paul could say a word, this man did the following in rapid succession:

1. Held up his hand in a "stop" gesture.
2. Directed a forceful "peace sign" gesture toward Paul.
3. Emphatically bellowed, "VICTORIA!"
4. Shut the door.

And that is why this picture was taken:

Unfortunately, it was too cold to go shirtless...

The End.

We Are Romantic

Paul's checkin' me out.  Ha ha!  Nerd joke!

Yesterday Paul asked me out on a date.  It went like this:

"Blah blah words in German blah blah German German?"

And then I said, "I have no idea what you just said."

And then he said, "Fewer words in German on a Date some more German with me, eating fried foods?"

And I said, "Ja!"

Today, we went on our date.  It went like this:

::walk to what's left of the Christmas Market booths::

::see they are closed::

::walk home::

So, instead, we had a Grilled Cheese Sandwich Contest for dinner.

I made a mozzarella-tomato-tilsitzer on wheat.  Paul made a, I kid you not, a tilsitzer and raspberry jam sandwich.  Which actually didn't taste nearly as terrible as it sounds--points for creativity!

Then we watched episodes of the Amazing Race from five years ago (because you can buy those for cheap) and got into a very long (2 hour) "discussion"...which is as close as we get to a "fight."

They sound something like this:

"Love, sometimes I feel as if maybe our communication is slightly like __(insert very long metaphor)____ and I would like to talk about how we can find a solution to this problem."

"Excellent point, beautiful.  Though perhaps it is more like __(equally complicated metaphor)_____.  I was thinking that perhaps we could maybe try _________.  Do you have any other suggestions that I might implement in my own actions?"

Seriously, we sound like an HR video called, "Dealing with Conflict in a Professional Atmosphere."

We are very weird.

And very romantic.

Now we're going to kiss.

It's Paul's New Year's Present to Me!

I'm so happy.**

We plan on putting many more black dot stickers on this puppy by the time 2013 rolls around.

**Points for movie quote identification.

2011: A Retrospective

This was quite the red-letter year for us.  

Paul presented at SICB and I got laid off, then un-laid-off, then laid off, then un-laid-off again (yay!  take that budget cuts!) at SSNERR.

I got bangs and Paul more or less moved into a permanent, sexy-lumberjack, man-scruff look (Except for those three months when he grew "The PhD Beard").

We reached our goal for having a six-month emergency savings fund and our little coastal town got slightly hit by the tsunami from Japan.

In May, we both flew out to Germany so Paul could interview for the Max Planck Institute and I could play the employment field for a possible job.

Paul was offered the job.  I was offered part-time work.  And we agreed to take that six-month emergency savings fund and use it to move to Europe and travel.

Paul became Dr. Paul and we celebrated our 3rd Anniversary! (In style: On a Northwest Tour Extravaganza)


My sister got married in October and had the best reception (and bouquet) I've ever seen in my life.


Paul turned 30 (!!) and we celebrated in the Czech Republic and spent Thanksgiving in Turkey.  I found out that I was accepted into Penn State's MGIS program (woo! but...expensive!).

We moved into Aquahaus, in the old-city neighborhood of Rostock, which served as our base for an awesome first German Christmas.

I'm so incredibly grateful for everything we've been able to do and see this year, and especially that we have each other.  Paul is everything wonderful in the world and he tells me that I'm pretty cool too--I think I'm just cool by association then.  All in all, I have a feeling that 2012 is going to be The Year of the Hunn.   

Happy Silvester (as it's called here) to you and we hope you have a good slide (as they say here) into the New Year!

A Postcard from Germany

This postcard came for me this morning.

All it said was:

"HIIIIII!!!!!!"

 

You're welcome.