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.