One year down, many more to come

One year ago today, Ian and I faced each other at my uncle's house and, through the tears, try to explain our love both to each other and to our family and friends who'd gathered in a circle around us.

Julian, only 16 months old, was in my arms, and Ian, so handsome in his mustard pants and neatly trimmed hair, held my hand as we opened our mouths and let the words flow. Neither of us wrote vows, so we spoke from the heart.

365 days of marriage later, I'd bet a million dollars that the words would be different if we were doing it all over again.

Love -- and loving Ian -- is such an ever-changing, but ever-present constant. Every day it's different and rarely does it become easier to describe. (Sing it with me now: "Some say love, it is a river....")

It hasn't been easy, but today does feel worthy of a celebration. Being in a happy marriage is not a given, and all that we've experienced and all that we've grown is something to be proud of.


(And for all the wonderful new people who have come into my life in the past year, here's a link to more wedding goodness, including pictures of the pig we roasted, a story I'm never got around to writing for the paper. Hopefully that will change later this summer.)

Photos by Brian Diggs.

Another birthday without Troy

Happy birthday, Troy. I think of you every day, but especially today.

Today you would have turned 26. And we thought 20 was tough.

Well, it was, in its own way. Thankfully, there was music to help us through. I bring up music because Jane's Addiction and Perry Farrell, torn calf muscle and all, are playing in Austin tonight.

I'm not going. Here's something I didn't anticipate 26 would bring: Concerts just aren't the same. Remember when you called me when I was living in San Diego to see if I'd drive some weekday night to Kansas City to see 311? No one else would go. We went and loved it. I rarely even drive downtown for shows much less 2 hours for a band I only liked because you did, and this time it's actually legal for me to buy a beer.

But just because going to concerts isn't the same doesn't mean the music itself is any less powerful. That one line in "Jane Says" isn't any clearer, and the sting hasn't faded from Incubus' "I Miss You". Beth Orton's voice has only gotten sexier. "James" is as bittersweet now as it was then, just in an entirely different way.

Who knows where you would be or how you'd be celebrating this birthday. I'd probably have forgotten to send a card, but I know I'd have called you first thing. E-mail just wouldn't suffice. (I shudder to think what you would have thought of Twitter.)

It's hard to grow older and go through all these exciting things like tweezing Nerds out of Julian's nose and finally getting paid to be a storyteller and know that you only had 23 years.

But what a 23 years they were. I miss you.

(Update 5/12: I was wrong. Jane's Addiction is playing tonight instead of last night. Who else is playing a gig tonight in Austin? 311)

---

(For those of you who didn't have the honor to know him, Troy Schnelle, fellow Southwest Missourian and University of Missouri graduate, was killed after being hit by a car on June 23, 2006.)

My favorite kids' song ever

Children's programming has really changed, even in the 27 months that Julian has been around. We don't get Yo Gabba Gabba because we don't have cable, but we watch the zany show online. There's this wacky guy in an orange suit and these cute, totally silly characters that run around acting out skits and singing songs. The show is as famous for its special guests; Jack Black was just a co-host recently, for example. Elijah Wood does a dance. Hipster bands come and play tunes, and none of them is as catchy and magical as The Roots' song "Lovely, Love my Family." Here are the lyrics, but you really should watch the video yourself. It will make your day, I promise.

All we need, all we need. All we need.
Spread the love around, yeah

Sometimes when I am sitting by myself
Those quiet moments when not with no one else
I’m mesmerized by all the many good things in my life
I think about the time when I was younger
And the older that I get the more that I feel wiser
With the love of friends and family
Get stronger and it carries me on through

So I say lovely lovely lovely lovely lovely
lovely lovely lovely love, love my family

So I say lovely lovely lovely lovely lovely
lovely lovely lovely love, love my family

So I say lovely lovely lovely lovely lovely
lovely lovely lovely love, love my family

Sometimes when I am waiting for the bus
The sun shines bright and I feel peace like nowhere else
I know I'm in good health and life keeps going, I keep moving, I’m alright
I go to school and educate my mind, and the way the world is spinning
makes me want to turn around and start all over, hit the reset and go back in time.

Oh baby love me
Oh spread the love around, yeah

So I say lovely lovely lovely lovely lovely
lovely lovely lovely love, love my family

So I say lovely lovely lovely lovely lovely
lovely lovely lovely love, love my family

So I say lovely lovely lovely lovely lovely
lovely lovely lovely love, love my family
Lyrics: Lovely, Love my Family, The Roots [end]

Beer coaster-flipper extraordinaire

I have a few hidden talents, and with this YouTube debut, my beer coaster-flipping abilities won't be hidden any longer.

This was at the Port Aransas Brewing Company last month. I successfully flipped a stack of 26 coasters, my personal best.

Look how much we've grown!

Welcome to summer. April and May are in many ways the best part of summer in Texas. By July, when the rest of the country will be experiencing the heat, humidity and garden growth that we are, it will be too hot to play naked outside.





Julian's longest friend, Ruby, came over last weekend, and they got to pick carrots out of the garden together. (Isn't it crazy how much they've grown? The photo of them as infants was on their first date, when they were both less than three months old.)


Good thing they didn't hit the flowers on the tomato plants. You can see more garden updates on Relish Austin, where I blog once a week about how my garden is growing, what produce we're eating, etc.



Work is fun right now because so much is happening. CSAs are in full swing, as are the farmers' markets. The Hill Country Wine and Food Festival was two weeks ago (which is where I got to try some really great wine, including this one from the Paso Robles region of California. Ian and I are driving the coast of California this summer, and I'm ready to pass up Napa and its swanky sisters for Paso, which is halfway between San Francisco and Santa Barbara.)

---

Julian has been into drumming lately, following in the footsteps of his mommy. But I think he's already better at the drum set than me:

---

A few photos from April, including more fun in the garden with Ruby, Julian eating a "miracle fruit" that I blogged about this week and one of Julian's first representational structures, a ship made out of his favorite blocks/connnector thingys.