We had to make our first big purchase as a married couple. A new refrigerator. Our old fridge was on it’s last legs so we had to buy a new one. Thanks to Black Friday deals though, we saved A LOT of money on this.
It’s perfect. So much more room and so much more organised.
We put the tree up Thanksgiving evening and I decorated the following week. We are both Christmas junkies and couldn’t wait any longer to decorate.
We went to Cleveland this weekend to see the Christmas Story house and visit Castle Noel for our First Christmas Adventure Date of 2019.
This was our first Thanksgiving we spent together. Last Thanksgiving Melissa was in NC/VA with her family and I was with my family. Melissa had to work on Thanksgiving so I was on dinner duty.
This was the first time I ever baked a turkey by myself. It turned out really well!
“Do you, Melissa/Jessica, take Jessica/Melissa, to be the wife of your days, the companion of your heart, and the friend of your life? Offering her your love and encouragement, your trust and respect. To keep her in sickness and in sorrow and to be loyal to her forevermore? And to stand united in the face of adversity and bask together in the light of good fortune as together you create your future?”
“I do.”
“I do.”
Always.
We did a Harry Potter theme for our first time pumpkin carving together. Melissa made Dobby and I made Hogwarts.
I (Jessi) was struck down with a bad case of Strep Throat this week. Pain started Wednesday early morning (I woke up around 2am to a mild fever, swollen lymph nodes, and an extremely painful sore throat) and became so severe that I had to leave work an hour early on Wednesday. Melissa took me to Urgent Care shortly after I got home. Doc said she could “smell the strep” (gross) and could see the lymph nodes in my neck because they were so swollen. I had to call off work on Thursday and Friday as well. My fever broke late Friday evening but it wasn’t until Saturday that I began to recover. Thankfully I didn’t pass my germs to Melissa.
The boys were excellent nurses during my illness. Though they had a tendency to fall asleep on the job.
I was still on the mend on Saturday but I needed some frische Luft so Melissa and I decided to visit a local pumpkin patch (another “First” in our relationship!). We drank some fresh squeezed cider, ate kettle corn and fresh doughnuts, and picked out some pumpkins.
I’m thankful I’ve found someone who loves Fall as much as I do.
On Friday night, Melissa and I went to a group paint night at the local art studio. The paint night was part of a fundraiser for Suicide Prevention and Awareness. The theme was “Gab’s Bee”. Gabby was the daughter of one of my closest friend and who had also become a friend/confidante of mine. Gabby passed away on 7/31/18 at the age of 20. She was an amazing soul. The bee painting was modeled after a tattoo Gab had. The tattoo symbolised overcoming fear. One of Gab’s biggest fears was bees and so she got a bee on her forearm to remind her to always face your fears. She was amazing.
On Saturday night we went on a walk to the reservoir again. It was chilly but beautiful. What is it about water that makes everything feel so calm and peaceful?
Rusty’s favourite place to be in the whole wide world is snuggled between his two mum’s. Toby had already gone to bed (in his crate) so Mumsy (Melissa) and Mama (Jessi) gave him some one on one attention. He’s such a sweet boy.
Melissa had never been to a State Fair and I hadn’t been to the Ohio State Fair in years so, naturally, we HAD to go!
We took a tractor shuttle to the fair grounds…
We saw Touche, the Buckeye Big Boar. I couldn’t find any information on his size but the 2018 Big Boar was 1180lbs and this guy, based on photos I’ve seen, looked bigger than him…
We saw a mama pig and her teeny tiny piglets…
We saw the famous butter sculptures. This year they used 2200lbs of butter to make these sculptures. This year’s included a tribute to the Apollo 11 Moon Landing…
We checked out the Ohio Parks & Rec exhibit, which was a nice, quiet break from the craziness of the fair…
We saw some soon-to-be mama cows and some new additions…
And we watched them hitch the Clydesdales to the Budweiser Beer wagon…
It was hot, crowded, and dirty but we still had a blast. Melissa enjoyed her first State Fair experience. We ate some fried fair food, drank a gallon of iced tea (each, probably), and got sunburned.
It was another fun Adventure Date with my Forever Adventure Date!
Melissa and I took a few days off work to travel to Virginia to visit her family and see some amazing historical things.
Nana and Grandpa had a visitor. A beautiful peacock who was trying desperately to get the attention of a lady peacock. Maybe try a dad joke? It worked for Melissa.
We met up with Melissa’s Aunt Tina and Uncle Larry-Keith at their lake house. They took us out on the boat and treated us to a delicious lunch (I ate ALL the shrimps) and ice cream.
Melissa surprised me by taking me to Ferry Farm, George Washington’s boyhood home. They made a replica of the home on the existing foundation. It was AMAZING.
We visited historic downtown Fredericksburg. I AM IN LOVE.
The Battle of Fredericksburg historical battlefield.
Melissa and Jessi went on a double date with Jessi’s bff, Candyce and her boyfriend, Brye to celebrate Candyce’s birthday. We went to dinner and then came back to their house to play board games and enjoy some wine.
We were cold so they let us borrow these super warm and soft hoodie blankets.
An Awfully Big Adventure 