Archive for February, 2010

If you look back in the annals of Tuesday with Nate, some of my first posts were about me and Becka, the things we have in common, the things we disagree on, and someday I’ll do a post of all of her annoying quirks.  It’s been a while since I’ve done anything like that, and at the last wedding we shot, I realized that people may forget that we are a real couple that have a real life together, and I wanted to share a little insight about us with you.

We do a lot together

Yes of course we work together, we shoot, we plan, we dream, we travel.  But we spend a LOT of time together not working.  We adore road trips, food, and music.  We love Scrabble, wine, cheese (in that order), and actually agree on a few TV shows (“It’s Always Sunny” anyone?).  We just got bicycles, and the last two days we’ve ridden all over Orlando.  (Becka has defied the old adage of “it’s just like riding a bike”, and it was a little rough at first, but she’s really got the hang of it, and we’re going to try without training wheels later this week.)  And, believe it or not, Becka has even started playing “Little Big Planet” for the PS3 with me!  By the way, like the best game ever.

We Fight

I said that “I realized that people may forget that we are a real couple” earlier. I actually realized that when we were shooting a wedding while fighting. Obviously we would never blow our cover, no one else knew we fighting, no one stormed off or started yelling.  But we were.  It was resolved as fast as it started, and we danced together that night under a beautiful Florida sky at that same wedding.  Two of our biggest similarities are that we are both very smart, and extremely stubborn.  Combine that will a little bit of “hates to be wrong” and take us to the National “passive aggressive when I’m angry” World Championships and watch us bring home the gold.  Our fights are usually very passionate, very short lived, and end in us being very honest and sincere about how we feel.  Another fuel for the fire is that when I’m upset, I like to be left alone, and Becka likes to talk it out right away.   Our fighting styles are literally like oil and water.  On the plus side, we both hate to leave things unresolved for any real amount of time, so we rarely go longer than an hour before feeling so bad that we have to deal with it.

We Compromise

Ah, the key to any good relationship.  We compromise.  Becka let’s me make everything spicy, lets me be alone to play video games, lets me drag her introverted self out to meet other people, and watches more Family Guy/American Dad than she’d probably watch if I wasn’t around.  I let her hog Netflix with Roswell Season 3 (she’s never actually going to watch it), we pretty much eat Vegetarian at home, and we stock the fridge with diet soda.  Also, I’ve almost completely given up smoking crack for her (today is my cheat day).

We have a great relationship.  It’s sometimes hard to work with your best friend/roommate/fiance AND spend most of your non-work time (I don’t think we ever have free-time, so I don’t call it that) together too.  It’s one of the reasons I’m still part time at the “fruit stand”. In all sincerity, I wouldn’t want to work or live with ANYONE else.  She is the best friend and partner anyone could ask for.

So… What do you “compromise” to keep the one you love happy?

And… What else do you want to know about me and Becka?  ask us at our formspring. And since we hadn’t gotten the chance to share these yet, here are a few frames of us playing in the winter wonderland in Iowa a few weeks ago…

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A bunch of you have expressed distress over my lack of recipe posts recently. Well fear not beloved kitchen vixens! Nate and I bring you the only dinner recipe you’ll ever need. Sure to impress friends, neighbors, mothers-in-law, and even kids. It’s been in my repertoire for about a decade and it never fails to perform.

Since I don’t really like Valentine’s Day that much, (too much pressure) the only thing we had planned for the day was make a nice dinner together. Appetizer, entrée, and dessert. (We love cooking together, if you are new to the blog.) After waking up late and planning our dinner menu we allowed a quick diversion to go shop for bicycles for each other. (Sidenote: They say riding a bike just “comes back to you” and I’d like to just say a big fat “not really” to whoever started that ridiculous statement because, while I can get on and balance enough to stay upright, I can hardly start or stop without losing control. And don’t get me started on turns or narrow spaces. Needless to say, I’m a bit comical on it right now.)

Post bicycle shopping were still grocery-less, so we decided to break the bikes in by riding them to the Publix by the lake downtown (about a mile away). Minus a few near-disastrous spills and one really awkward traffic mishap we made it home alive with all the necessary ingredients for our feast.

Then it was time to make what Nate has dubbed “Mexintine’s Dinner“. It’s our own Mexican Lasagna, and it’s delicious! If you’d like to try it for yourself (which you totally should) you can download this recipe card here, made especially for you. (Who loves ya baby?) For those that need more step by step guidance (and lots of photos), read on…

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Today is one of those musical days, where there’s nothing that you can do except play through your favorite playlists at full volume and try to find the song for what you’re feeling.

I’m not sure if those sort of days happen for other people but they do for me, and they always have. I have a hard time getting emotions or thoughts out without music. I know that sounds odd because I’m fairly good with words so it’s fair to assume that I can articulate exactly what is going on inside myself as easily as I can write a blog post about a wedding. But I can’t. I’m usually at a loss for the right words to give my feelings validity. So music has always been my helper.

My music is categorized into playlists with names like “Beautiful Melodies” and “I LOVE Singing”. And each playlist contains mixtures of songs that describe a feeling. Feelings are never experienced exactly the same way twice, which is why no one song ever fits perfectly. That’s why I build these playlists. Because each song is a puzzle piece and when played all together they can express the inexpressible. Nate mocks the way I have my library laid out but it makes perfect sense to me. And I can push play on a playlist and it’s therapy. The music says what I’ve been unable to, so I sing along as loud as possible, sometimes making myself hoarse, until everything that’s been trapped inside of me is able to be let free.

Sometimes it’s all about the words. Sometimes it’s all about the minor chords. Sometimes it’s all about an emotional and extremely long build that makes your soul rise along with it. Sometimes I need a lot of drums. Sometimes I need a lot of violins. It’s different every time.

Today is a drums and builds kind of day so I’ll be hoarse by this afternoon. Maybe violins, I won’t count them out just yet.

Music has always been my first love. Even though I’ve never been talented enough at it to make it my job. Nate, however, is wickedly talented. Nate is an insane drummer. I’m a mediocre singer. But somehow I was lucky to get to be a part of a band I loved for about 4 years.The more people we meet the more we get asked about the band that Nate and I met because of. For those of you who didn’t yet know, we were in a band together in college. And so today, since it’s a musical day and because we’ve been getting more and more questions about it, I figured I’d share some images from a few of our performances. I’m easy to spot because I’m the only girl (and the only person with just a mic) Nate is a bit harder to see. ;)

Images above by Lauranne Boyd

Image above by Lauranne Boyd

“…To brave the night with our brothers and help them when they fall, to keep a watch out with our sisters and hold them when they weep. To take our tired and our broken and carry them till morning…”

“…Call me your beloved and tell me I am beautiful to you, despite my many scars. So take me by the hand and help me try to understand that you alone are all I’ll ever need…”

-From our lovely songs. The second of which was the only one I helped co-write the lyrics on so it holds a special place in my heart.

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