Moving Across the Nation?

As I am trying to return to school to obtain a professional degree, we had a family discussion about our options. We compared the traditional programs with accelerated programs and decided that the accelerated track was the right choice. In three years I can achieve what traditionally would take four. This means that we can begin our family sooner, but not too soon :)

New England

We also had to take out a map. Because these accelerated programs are limited compared with the traditional track we have fewer choices, and they are spread all over the country. We have a great program in our backyard. This is the easiest choice, and will likely be the front runner if I get an offer. But today I have only one interview... across the nation in New England! As winter approaches a snowstorm recently knocked out power to the school. So my email to accept the offer in still in cyber-space awaiting power! Our discussion about location included how my husband, who I have followed for his career, will likely have to follow me for the next move. While he is okay with the concept, the reality may prove different and we are trying to emotionally prepare for this difficult decision.

The pins in our map of possibilities include Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Georgia, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. We have rolled the dice and are awaiting interview offers. My first interview offer is a weight off our shoulders, we have a chance to make this happen. But it will be a whole new life in a whole new location. Let's hope I get more offers and have a wide range of possibilities from which to choose. We'd rather more options to make our decision difficult rather than being forced into only one option.

So, will we be moving across the nation? Tick-Tock... Time will tell :)

Mother-in-law at 1am?

My mother-in-law lives 3  hours ahead of my husband and I.  So, she does tend to be up and ready for the day before us simply because our wonderful sun rises for her before it rises for us.  She likes to communicate, though within her time zone, with no consideration of ours.  We receive text messages often at 3:30 or 4:30 in the morning.  Since we only have cell phones we sleep with them near us, just in case work calls about an alarm, or  often because we use them as our alarm clocks. But this is risky, because then there are 'her crisis' situations.

'Her crisis' is a much different definition than 'our crisis.'  Last winter we had mountain climbers who got lost in a snow storm. Sad & unfortunate, but certainly not a life threatening event for my husband or I. But the mother-in-law texted us at 3:30am and  insisted that we cancel all plans to scale the mountain in this storm! We don't scale mountains. We don't visit the snow during big winter storms. And it was the middle of the week, so we both had work the next day.  Why did she jump to the conclusion that we were going to join the lost hikers?

This year was our 1st Valentine's as a married couple! I wanted to be the first to wake my husband with a sweet kiss and ask him to "be my valentine."  But, no, 4:00am we got both the text message from her. What a way to start the day - with your mother-in-law saying 'I love you' to your husband before you.

And the most recent world tragedy, the tsunami in Japan.  Barack Obama received the message (his time 4am) 20 minutes before we received our text at 1:20am! Why, oh, why did we need to get an update on the world weather that early in the day? Her thought was that because we live on the Pacific Ocean we would be in danger. Her text was "WAKE UP!...Fill your gas tank up and drive away from the water!...Fill you bathtub up with water for drinking!"  In any scenario why would we simultaneously fill up our tub with water for drinking while driving away from our apartment?

This could be looked at as a sweet loving act.  But the facts don't make sense. We live 80 miles from the Pacific Ocean with a coastal mountain range between us and any possible danger. We were never in the path of destruction.  Even if we were living directly on the coastline, the after-effects of the tsunami wouldn't reach our coast until midday after the event. So, a message in the middle of the night demanding we get up and flee our apartment is not a logical, rational, or helpful suggestion.

We have decided on a logical solution of our own. Silent ring tone for her, and her alone. She will never again demand our immediate attention. She has cried wolf too many times and has now lost that privilege. So, we will return her phone calls and text massages when we are available. Do you hear it? Yes, silence, and good night's sleep :)

Good Night,
Mrs. Wife

Mincemeat Tarts

Happy Thanksgiving! Our family tradition is to home bake mincemeat tarts for the holidays. Mincemeat is a sweet filling mixture of raisins, apples, & currants. We make our own pie dough from scratch, but not like Grandmary used to make it. She was a lover of Crisco! It always did make her pie crust flakey, but I stick with butter. It's those little personal choices that shift family traditions, but in memory of Grandmary & my family I can't be with this holiday I will share these little tarts with the family that is near.

So this is our first Thanksgiving as a married couple! The Macy's day Parade is on & we will visit my cousin at his new house with his fiancée & other family. We are excited to share our wedding albumn & share our new life & love with everyone. We will Skype with family that is far away & it was requested that we dance the chicken dance, last year was the start of that tradition!

Enjoy this holiday & remember those family traditions from ages ago & the new traditions that can start at any crazy moment :)

My Lemonade Maker

There are many reasons I am marrying Marc, but one of his best qualities is making lemons into lemonade.  I have a feeling this may be a recurring section.  Planning our wedding we choose and compromised on so many details.  The weather, though, is something that no bride can choose.  The weather reports have looked like rain for the wedding, but they are turning around and we may have sunshine instead, yeah!

When I was at the height of my panic Marc suggested that if it did rain we reenact Jack Vettriano's painting 'Singing Butler.'  What a great man, making lemonade for me.

Loving My Life

Love the Life you Live, Live the Life you Love.  As silly as this sounds, I just found this saying to include here on the website and it made me realize I need to follow this saying. 

I dream about the future all the time.  About the career I want to have, about the house I want, about the dog I want, about the kids I want.  These are all wonderful things for which to dream.  But what about today? What about this afternoon, the lunch I will share with Marc? Will I enjoy that time, or will I just rush through it to get to my practice wedding hair appointment?

We currently live in 530 sqft, with no bedroom door and two crazy cats.  It is a small, but wonderful studio in the heart of Portland, Oregon.  We love the location and especially the western, sunset views.  Pink is our favorite nighttime color, as the sun sets behind city high-rise buildings and the coastal mountains.  But I do complain about the lack of storage space, and the lack of privacy, and the lack of good sleeping that occurs due to our wild cat Puma who lives for and loves 4:30 am!

I am living a wonderfully privileged life, and although there are aspects I love, I don't always show my gratitude for those, instead I complain about those things which I don't love.  Maybe today needs to be the day to start seeing this saying every time I log onto my blog and remember to be grateful for my blessings today, and to not worry so much about my future blessings.

I do love the life I am living, the life of Mrs. Wife.

My man's stomach

John Adams wrote in a letter (1814), 'The shortest road to men's hearts is down their throats,' and later came the saying 'a way to a man's heart is through his stomach.' I certainly have a stomach lover.

My mom came to visit over Memorial weekend to help with some of the last minute wedding details.  Though we didn't get everything on our list accomplished we did make great strides on our projects, and we managed to cook some wonderful meals for my husband-to-be.

Since he is Italian I have adopted his roots and learning to be the Mama in the household which includes trying to get my thin man a good square meal at least once per day.  Pork chops are one of his favorites, and I was able to learn a better way to prepare them so they look incredibly appetizing and taste a little better too.  We also made a chili-lime-shrimp fettuccine.  And with these meals we included a starch and a salad, which are often overlooked by Marc, but he seemed to really enjoy this weekend.

I am amazingly blessed with a future husband that loves ethnic food, can handle a little spice, and is willing to trying anything once.  He is a good sport and if he doesn't love something I have made he kindly encourages me to try again, but is somehow able to make diplomatic suggestions on how the meal could be improved.  He is wonderful with spices and seasoning and has encouraged me to be more adventurous in my cooking.  I don't mind being the primary cook, in fact I really achieve satisfaction from the smile and (nearly) licked clean plate.  I'm glad I have a champion in my corner encouraging me to try new dishes and techniques, and when he does help in the kitchen he is fantastic with meats and (again) seasoning.

Now I just need to learn how to prepare and shop for an entire week's worth of meals.  Always a new challenge ahead for the Mrs. Wife.

Options

Entering this new-to-me world of blogging I have entered the hearts and minds of many women broaching this same subject of 'wife.'  There are opinions on this issue ranging from livid that women are feeling the pressure of living up to a romanticized view of the Stepford Wife, to placid assurance that doing all the household chores and looking the part of a supermodel are obtainable on the one income that your husband must be bringing home.

I feel that life is a work in progress and that we are never quite there, but always can be striving to get there.  All aspects of life are ever changing as we grow as individuals and shifting as our wants and needs and social and economic status change.  Where is this 'there' that I want to be? Well, today I want to be a wife.  I want to get married to my fiance and be his partner, his Wingspouse as he climbs his own corporate ladder. And I also want to be a career woman. I am striving to build my own career before we have children. I want to have options, I want to choose my path, not just be forced into a mold. I am lucky enough to have a partner that is willing and able to let me live out my dreams.  Marc makes a good enough income that not only does he want me to pursue my dreams he will be able to financially allow me to follow them.  I never before thought I would be in this position, but here I am and I am grateful I have this choice.  Many women don't have the choice they are forced in one direction or another.  Right now, my 'there' is 'here' choosing to follow my dream of being a career wife while learning to be a good partner.