Meet the Newlyweds J and K

Meet the Newlyweds J & K.  K and I have been blogging buddies now for a few months and she  has a super cute blog called From my Tiny Kitchen.  She has a weekly post called Movie Monday, where she reviews a movie, and suggests a menu, drinks or activities to do along with the theme of the movie,  really great ideas.  She also post fabulously delicious recipes like Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding!  I promise you will not regret visiting her.  Now on to the interview.

Wedding date: October 15, 2005

Blog: From my Tiny Kitchen

How did you meet? We met at college through a mutual friend in August of 2003. I was living with my sister and 2 other girlfriends; we were having a friend over to catch up after summer vacation and he brought his new room mate – J- for everyone to meet. I remember thinking the room mate had very pretty blue eyes & I loved his curly hair! We spent a lot of time around one another in group activities for 2 months before having our first official date.

When did you know he was the one? I’ve often wondered this myself….and my conclusion is I can’t define a single, specific moment. I was very nervous about dating – J was really my first boyfriend ever (I was 21) and I was scared of relationships. But he was incredibly sweet, romantic and slightly persistent. He definitely worked to ‘pursue and woo’ me, I think it was the pursuit that made me start to fall for him.  Within weeks of dating we knew we were headed for marriage!

What is one of your favorite things to do together? We love anything food related and traveling! We are both ‘foodies’ you could say – we love cooking, experimenting with recipes, exploring new restaurants, going to markets and specialty stores, all of it! And we both love to travel and try to do so as much as possible. Usually our two loves combine when we plan vacations around the places we can eat and the markets we can visit.

What is something new you learned about your spouse after you were married? He researches everything. Whenever we are about to make a purchase of any kind he looks at everything he can find online about the product, will ask around, shops for all the different options and prices in our town AND the surrounding towns! There are times when I want to buy something immediately – but he is very thorough. Even with grocery shopping – before purchasing something new he looks at every nutritional label for every brand of that product. Then prices – then the decision is made on which is the best option nutritionally and financially!

What do you do to stay connected during everyday stresses of life? Work on the little things; those small gestures that show we are thinking about the other person. Sometimes I leave J little notes on our bathroom mirror with a dry erase marker; or if he knows I’ve had a rough day he will meet me at the door with a drink, my current book and have a bubble bath waiting. Also, we try to have a date night once a week to make sure we have some time away from work, homework, chores, etc. to relax and talk!

What is your best piece of marriage advice? COMMUNICATION! I tend to bottle things up – which is never good. Immediately discussing an issue, or open communication about expectations, hurt feelings, pet peeves and with giving praises helps the entire relationship in so many ways.

What is your favorite quirk about your husband? How he completely becomes absorbed in a project. Once he gets an idea in his head and a project started he is completely focused on that one thing. It used to annoy me (he is not easily distracted!) but now I really love the fact that he gets so passionate about his interests.

What is something special you do just for your husband? Again, it’s the little things; baking his favorite cookies, grabbing a treat he likes when shopping, paying attention to his interests & finding little gifts to surprise him with.

Tell us something about yourself. I feel so blessed to have J – I was always so scared of being in a relationship and how I knew it would change my life and plans. And when I opened up and let him into my life it did change everything – but I wouldn’t change things for the world. There’s no one that can make me feel more loved, frustrated, angry, pampered, passionate, confident and special than J – and it is honestly liberating to be around someone that truly loves me for me.