Fourth/Fifth Anniversary

Thursday was our fourth wedding anniversary and marked five years since Zach and I met.  :)

We had to work, but I did let my students go a bit early, and Zach surprised me by taking me out to Orange Leaf when he picked me up.  I enjoyed the brownie and raspberry yogurt with raspberries and white chocolate chips--heaven.  :)

Friday night, we went to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse to celebrate. They sure do know how to make you feel special! When we arrived, they kept greeting us with "Happy anniversary!" and our table was sprinkled with red rose petals (which is why I took a picture of the bread on the bed of roses *lol*).

Our food was so yummy--although Zach said the steak wasn't quite as good as what he had at Morton's that time in Boston--and I am planning on making the copycat sweet potato casserole very soon because it is CRACK.

At the end of dinner, our server Cornelius brought us a complimentary slice of flourless chocolate cake with a candle and took our picture. (We're not really sure what they do with those pictures. Zach thinks there's a creeper in the back with them...) We had him take one on Zach's phone as well.

I told Zach this should become our annual tradition! And we laughed and laughed when the valet opened Zach's door when we were leaving because he didn't realize I was the one driving...  (Zach's been on meds for his back, which makes him too loopy to get behind the wheel.)

We had kind of a weird year presents-wise:  I put together a brew-your-own-root-beer basket, and Zach got me some new silverware and a creation called bed-bands that helps your sheets stay on because we've been battling it out over getting some new sheets.  (The ones I love have shrank a little, so now we can use them a bit longer.)  We liked each other's presents a lot, but they were just...weird.  *lol*  I have to say the bed bands work great!  I've got to wash up the new silverwear, so they can go into rotation.  And I can't wait to brew the root beer and some ginger ale.  Apparently, homemade is where it's at... :)

We’ve been through a lot over the last five years: lots of dates, lots of fun, lots of love; and grad school and graduation, unemployment and job searching, moving across the state to new jobs, and getting more responsibilities that comes with the multitude of blessings and burdens of working to help others make their lives better; and enjoying more Netflix and Hulu than I can measure, far too many yummy meals, and not very many yucky ones, too much candy, not enough travels, so many LEGO bricks, and two fluffy cats who make our home complete; and immeasurable laughter, some tears now and then, a near-death experience, and a hope for a future together, bounded by an increasing love, forever and ever, in all times, in all places, in all ways. Forever.

Or, if you would like something a tad less mushy, here we (The Royal We) are BY THE NUMBERS;

5 years since we met

4 wedding anniversaries

3 homes (Baridon, Hot Springs, and Bentonville)

2 furbabies

1 life together

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my new blog! As I write this, I am sitting in the living room of our new home, watching season two of Gilmore Girls (Yes to Jess!) and drinking a cup of tea that has grown cold. From my seat on the settee, I can view our backyard through the doors opening onto the balcony. The December sky is overcast, and it must be a little windy because the half-bare trees are creaking, their branches gone bony. Our red and gold Christmas tree is lit up, and, in the back of my mind, I’m thinking about the ribbon I need to buy at Hobby Lobby today to make a tree topper. I’m also debating whether I should make spaghetti carbonara tonight, or wait until tomorrow. This is life in our new home, and life is perfect. :)

Wednesday morning: watching the sunrise outside our balcony. You probably can't read the temperature, but it was COLD!

I’ve had a Blogger blog on and off for a year and a half—give or take.

The first one I began followed our wedding plans and explored wedding traditions. I was rather snarky when it came to picking apart those so-called traditions. *lol* However, because we only had two months between our engagement and our wedding, and we were both in grad school and completing our theses and working and moving to Baridon…I quickly got off track. You win some, you lose some.

Then I started a daily photo album on facebook. I’ve actually kept this one updated for over a year. (The anniversary was November 30!) It is a lot of fun looking back over the year at everything I did and everything that happened—the good, the bad, and the crazy. About a third into the project, I decided to post it on here, too, because I could add more photos to each day directly. But I never publicized this new blog, and I continued to post the extra photos in their own facebook albums. That’s doing twice as much work for nothing.

In the past, I did XANGA, posted on Myspace, and did the notes thing a few times on facebook. Writing is integral to my life: I’ve kept a diary or a journal since third grade. It is intimidating to put your words out there for everyone to read, but I feel it is a necessary part of the process, especially within this modern age in which we live. My XANGA and Myspace were fairly well read, but they are of the past. Only when I started my Day-by-Day album did more people take notice. I know more people use facebook and use it more often than other websites, but I think part of the reason why my album has been of interest to my facebook friends is because I spend a lot of time photographing and writing about food. (“Food, glorious food!”) On more than one occasion, I’ve had a friend or acquaintance encourage me to start a cooking blog.

Now…this blog will not be ALL about food, as much as I love eating and cooking and talking about food. *haha* BUT food will be a B-I-G part. I promise. :)

Essentially I wanted to start another blog in order to remember this exciting time in our marriage when we moved away and began a new chapter in our life. Right now I’m taking pleasure in the smallest things, whether it is planning out our weekly menu or organizing our huge closets or watching Zach hang our pictures on the walls. (We have so much more space here!) I want to write about my adventures in the kitchen and decorating The Owlery, our little cottage, and searching for the right job. I want our family and friends back home to feel connected to our life here and to meet our new friends. I plan to write once or twice a week about the happenings here. For six months, our future was in the air, so it’s such a nice change of pace to have a home again. I haven’t been homesick since we moved…except when I was sick, but that was mostly the desire to be in my own bed. This is home now.

My daily photo Blogger blog was entitled “The Pharr Side,” and, because I loved the title so much (and thought it somewhat clever), I decided to title this blog the same, especially as NWA really is another state compared to central Arkansas. A professor at NWACC actually asked if I had experienced cultural shock moving here; thankfully Zach had prepared me for the move. Ha!

I thought of the subtitle “From Benton to Bentonville” before we actually found our place (in Bentonville). By the way, I’m a BRYANT girl through-and-through! My mama lives in Benton now, so that was my last home before Zach and I got married.

So, there you have it: what I’m doing and why I’m doing it. Hope you stay tuned! :)