Holy Matrimony

Day: 482

Photo taken on Saturday, November 26, 2011 on Asuma while playing Dynasty Warriors 6 at 1257pm. (Qoy? and Katie Jaye continue their quest for greatness.)

Like it wasn't bad enough he has to be married to me in real life, now his imaginary character is doomed to the same fate?!

Simply Meant To Be

Day: Two Hundred and Seventy Six

Photo taken on Wednesday, May 4, 2011 in the Time Out Room at 928pm.

This happens by accident and when I go to "undo" it, I stop.

I actually like it.

Despite the rough cut, the border getting into the picture, and not being what I had intended...it fits. It feels right. It's definitely us. All I want to do is shrink our outlines, smooth the edges, and plaster us over the last scene in Nightmare Before Christmas but I make a wrong turn and end up with this and that's okay. It is easily fixable and I have the time to play around more but I like the way the image lays inside of us. My eye is drawn to the curve of the hill and I think it's funny that we try to copy the silhouettes but do opposite handholding without even thinking about it.

Steve reintroduced me to Nightmare when we started hanging out back in our Genesis days and "Sally's Song" defined what I had been going through as his friend (that and Gavin Degraw's "Nice to Meet You Anyway" but Steve finds that song sadder than this one and also he doesn't like the fact that Degraw rhymes "special" with "special"). Obviously we worked through all the obstacles because we're together but back then, I really didn't know how long I would have to wait.

And honestly, I would have waited forever.

That is, unless he married someone else, then I would have taken a hint.

The Midnight Society

Day: Two Hundred and Sixty One

Photo taken on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 in my hotel room of Homewood Suites in Wallingford, CT at 11pm.

Not a fan of "the dark". Most of my childhood, night is pierced by a little light shining from the wall socket at the foot of my bed. My defense for undead intruders in the witching hour is pulling up my bed sheet so it covers my ear (also effective for keeping creepy crawlers from going in there). Closets are left open therefore nothing can materialize in there if it is empty before lights out. Squeezing my eyes shut is a great method for hiding from the night as well; if you can't see it then it's not really happening is it?

But I don't have to worry about these things anymore. I have Steve. He keeps the ghosts from haunting me, the spiders away from my ear, and the bloody man inside the closet inside the closet. Even though he's sleeping next to me like a rock, he's protecting me from my fears.

But tonight Steve is a state away and I have to face the darkness on my own. I have gotten used to sleeping next to him, feeling so unbelievably safe and comfortable, being able to reach out at any moment and feel him lying next to me that nights like this leave me edgy and restless. So to create the facade of Steve, I stack extra pillows to my right and cuddle up to them the minute I hit the lights. They're not grumpy in the morning and they definitely don't roll on top of me in the middle of the night but they do for now. And I'm sure back in our home, Steve has a barricade of extra pillows by him too. Whether he admits it or not, I bet he misses my nighttime verbal diarrhea and my Charley Horses that scare him out of a sound sleep and my pee breaks at 2 in the morning and one of my appendages touching him at all times and the dreams that make me jolt awake and my alarm that I forget to turn off when I get up at 5.

Yeah, there is no way Steve is getting a good night's sleep right now.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Day: One Hundred and Ninety Seven

Photo taken on Monday, February 14, 2011 in the bedroom at 952pm.

In my freshman year of high school if you paid them $2 (of course you had to pay them, nothing was ever free at my high school) you could fill out a pink form with a bunch of relationship type questions on it. Then they would enter all your information in a computer and on Valentine's Day you found out who in the school would be a perfect match for you. The most risque question on the sheet was:

Do you kiss with your eyes:

a) Closed
b) Open
c) Don't know
d) Who kisses?!

Maybe it was there as a trick question and whoever picked anything but D was immediately going to hell but the oddest choice to me was B. I could not fathom leaving your eyes open during kissing. Everyone in the movies closed their eyes and it was passionate and wonderful and just seemed like the right way to kiss. So anytime I kissed a boy I squeezed my eyes shut and on one occasion did it too soon and ended up colliding with his chin instead. I think I left braces marks on his skin too.

But then everything I knew about eye closing and kissing changed when I had my epic first kiss with Steve in the hotel room I was sharing with Christine down in Disney. The second our lips met my eyes snapped open and I watched him kiss me back. Even though I willed my eyes to close-they didn't-and remained open throughout the monumental kiss lasting 20 minutes (Christine took the longest shower in her history of showers because she hoped we would finally just get together already and wanted to give us enough time. Thank you, Christine! It worked!). I figured it was just the excitement of finally being with Steve and that eventually I would begin to close my eyes again but I never did. Then the wedding was around the corner and I worried I would look like a freak in the pictures because who on Earth kisses with their eyes open in pictures?!

Even now, I kiss him with my eyes open no matter what type of kiss it is. Sometimes I watch his face, sometimes I watch the TV behind him so I don't miss anything good, and sometimes I survey the area to make sure no one is witnessing this disgusting public display of affection. Ultimately, I think my eyes remain open because no matter how many times I kiss him, I'm still shocked that I found my soulmate.

With this ring...

Day: One Hundred and Twenty Three

Photo taken on Thursday, December 2, 2010 by the Manga Loft staircase at 844pm. (We had to put the Christmas tree over in the corner because no matter where we put it in the living room, a branch would block Asuma and we couldn't have that happen.)

My Aunt Geri made us a "First Christmas Together" ornament for when we celebrated our first Christmas together as a married couple. But when I was out Christmas card shopping last year I ran across these two ornaments and I decided to add this to our "First Christmas Together" ornament collection. Since Steve and I are huge Tim Burton fans, it just felt right to have the Corpse Bride depict our love for each other.

R.L. Stine

Day: One Hundred and Two

Photo taken on Thursday, November 11, 2010 in the bathroom at 937pm.

Steve is ruggedly handsome, with his wavy hair and four days growth on his face. It is because of this facial hair that I get a good dose of goosebumps everyday. All he has to do is give me a hug and brush against my neck and half my body will erupt in the tiny bumps. Depending on which side he's on, that is the side that gets it and the other side is totally unaffected. It's kind of creepy that my body does this.

Glitter in the Air

Day: Seventy Four

Photo taken on Thursday, October 14, 2010 on top of Steve's cocoon blanket while watching South Park reruns at 1123pm.

My new camera has a ton of cool features and apparently this frilly love frame is one of them.

Gross Tradition

Day: Twenty Nine

Photo taken on Monday evening, August 30, 2010 in the bathroom, over the toilet and the kitchen garbage pail.

It's been one whole year of marriage for the Reabs and we have yet to take our honeymoon. Steve and I aren't ones for traditions that other people have decided are traditions like the garter belt toss at weddings. Our ideal wedding is a cocktail hour that lasts for three hours followed by a dessert hour that lasts for two, though trying to find a reception hall that allows this is very hard. So we had no choice but to opt for a dinner at ours which turns out to be delicious anyway and the only thing I eat that day (until Pher and Kim come over to discuss our music choice and I neglect to eat as I explain how awesome it truly is to play the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack during the meal). My father/daughter dance is unique in that Dad picks the first half of the song and I pick the second. Everyone is horrified when Lonestar's I'm Already There turns off and Gnarls Barkley's Crazy comes on instead. They really thought the DJ had messed up! And the cake is no traditional cake either. The minute dad and I lay eyes on it during the final meal selection we know it’s perfect for our beach theme. I then snap a picture and send it to Moma down in Virginia and she agrees:

This is it then...

This is it now:

That is why some traditions should be left in the past. Why ruin such a delectable piece of cake just to be like everyone else and eat it a year later on your anniversary when dammit, I could have eaten it a year ago when it was fresh!