On Saturday morning Melissa and I went to Festifair. An annual craft fair hosted in the Uptown of Jessi’s hometown.
**The matching was accidental**
After Festifair we went wedding (mostly) shopping. Jessi found her dress, maybe. Obviously we had to have a Starbucks stop and then we went to the LEGO store made our LEGO selves.
On Sunday we met with the caterer and finalised everything. After that we did some more wedding shopping. We both found our wedding shoes! Two more things that can be crossed off!!
Today is the 1 year anniversary of our first date. A year ago today I had a moment of boldness and decided to ask Melissa out, not expecting her to say yes. Panic and nerves set in when she did actually say yes! I almost turned around at least a half a dozen times on the 1hr 20min drive. We met at a small Mexican restaurant in her town. We are both very awkward and shy so I’ll let you use your imagination as to how well it went.
Word of advice to the singe readers out there, don’t put too much stock on the first (or second) date. Unless the person is a jerk or rude to the wait staff, give them a second (or third) chance. I’m so glad I did.
Sometimes awkward first (and second) dates lead to marriage.
On Sunday I made a wreath while Melissa was at work. It’ll serve as wedding decor as well.
Toby went with Me (Jessi) to CrossFit tonight. He wanted to try to do a 5x bodyweight lift but I talked him out of it. Then he was so anxious about me leaving him periodically to do my runs that he had to be carried home (we walked to the gym).
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.
Since my birthday was on a Thursday this year, we celebrated on the weekend. On Friday I found a surprise in my cubby at the gym. A llama mug from my friend Nariana and her little boy, Oliver! Nariana and I have only known each other a short time, but we immediately clicked when we met. She and her husband have graciously allowed Melissa and I to use her farm as our wedding venue.
On Friday evening we went to the 200th birthday celebration of Jessi’s hometown and on Saturday we went back, this time with Jessi’s BFF, Candyce and her fiance, Brye. After the birthday celebration, we went to Candyce and Brye’s house for a game night.
MY BIRTHDAY SURPRISE!
Melissa and I are not really “things” people so we decided that for our birthdays we are going to do special adventure dates instead of presents. If you remember I took her to CoSi for the Harry Potter Wizard School event for her birthday. Yet another tradition we started that I love.
Melissa took me to the Franklin Park Conservatory! They have a Chihuly glass exhibit as well. His pieces are absolutely beautiful.
After the Franklin Park Conservatory she took me to one of my favourite restaurants, The Hofbrauhaus!
My 35th year Earthside is off to an amazing start.
We got a “love fern” (anyone know what movie that’s from?) to commemorate our adventure!
Sunday night always brings a feeling of sadness. Monday means we both have to return to our own homes. It’s really hard on us but it’s especially hard on the boys. We understand but the boys don’t. Both boys show signs of stress and anxiety when they realise the weekend has ended.
Last night we decided to take the boys on a nice long walk around the Reservoir. The sky was beautiful and there was a nice breeze. We can’t wait until we share the same space and can go on daily family walks. Only 82 more days.
Toby: “Mama, it’s getting late. When are Mumsy and Rusty going to be back?” Me: “It’s Monday, Toby. They won’t be back until Wednesday evening. We still have two more sleeps until we see them.”
This is the garden at Melissa’s house. She has a pretty decent sized backyard but, since we are planning on moving soon after we get married (fingers crossed) we didn’t want to build a permanent garden so, we decided to experiment with some pots and planters. Some plants have done well and others…well…not so great. But, it’s been a learning experience!
After months of waiting, we finally got ONE decent carrot…and some more deformed ones. We planted too many seeds and didn’t thin them out enough. We know better for next year.
Tomatoes and peppers. Our tomato plants fell victim to heavy rains in the beginning of the season which resulted in some Tomato Leaf Mold. We attempted to treat it but, as you can see, some of our attempts were futile.
Asparagus is our favourite vegetable and we’ve been wanting to try to grow our own. Asparagus takes 2-3 years before it can be harvested. Since we won’t be living in this house much longer, we decided to start this batch in a pot so we can transplant it later at our Forever Home. It seems to be doing quite well!
Here are our White Half-Runner Beans (Melissa’s Grandma says they’re the best). They can either be grown as a bush or as a vine. We figured vining them would make harvesting them easier. We had some issues with the trellis. Next year we’ll use twine and only make vertical lines vs a grid.
We are trying to use less chemical based products and are slowly switching over to natural products. We have started by making our own bug spray, sunscreen, and some topical ointments. We also buy natural detergent, body soap, and deodorants. We also use vinegar as our main cleaner and have added peppermint to help keep out spiders and other pests. Our long-term goal is to use entirely natural products for everything, making our own items when possible. Therefore, an herb garden is a must! Here is our lavender, which is thriving!
Our sad little lettuce plant. Through this process we have been taking notes on what has worked and what hasn’t worked. We also have the added issue of being gone so much and/or being busy. Since we don’t live together yet, we have been splitting our time between our houses, which are 1hr 20min away from each other. So, unfortunately, some of our less heartier plants have suffered. Hopefully next years garden will be much better.
Our second favourite veg, butternut squash! This plant has grown immensely in such a short time! Hopefully it yields a lot of squash for us!
Sweet potatoes! Not doing super great but we are hoping we’ll get a few good potatoes. Next year, hopefully, we’ll have a new house that’s a bit more permanent than this one so we can build some nice raised beds and potato boxes to help our 2020 harvest.
Basil! Another one of our herbs that has thrived! We’ve already used it quite a bit in some tasty recipes!
Here are some cute pics of the boys from the last few days:
Moping because Mumsy and Rusty went home.
Toby is patiently waiting for Mumsy and Rusty (this is at Jessi’s apartment).
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!
An Awfully Big Adventure 