Pin Cushion Catch Up: First Year of Marriage

The first year of marriage went by faster than I would have thought possible. Before I knew it, our 'newlywed' status was a thing of the past.

We packed as many trips and milestones into that first year as we could. Which is a good thing, since now that we're an old married couple (that's what you become after your 1st anniversary, right?), we plan to sit on our tushes and be lazy.

In the spirit of being lazy, may I share a recap with you of our last year while I sit on my couch in my pajameralls? If you answered yes, then proceed. If you answered no, then proceed to the next blogger who might be writing while not looking like a schlub.

In November 2010, we traveled to southern Japan. We ate new things (octopus tentacle balls), saw new things (a giant turtle walking around a temple wearing a diaper) and had a deer eat Mr. Pin Cushion's paperwork.

(Seriously)

Oh, and we got our zen on.

In the spring of 2011, we were lucky enough to visit a friend in the Peace Corps stationed in Morocco.

The Pin Cushions rocked the Casbah in our Fezes (top right photo), as well as ate delicious, authentic food. And then promptly got food poisoning (vomiting together can really strengthen a relationship).

This summer, we (very nearly) conquered Mount Shasta with my dad. Which included sleeping in the snow, waking up at 1 am to start hiking in the dark, and looking like cone heads while wearing our climbing helmets.

And Mr. Pin Cushion conquered graduate school and we somehow both lived to tell the tale. He's officially Dr. Pin Cushion, Ph.D.

We'd been together a decade before we got married, but our first year of marriage still had a lot to teach us. During our adventures globe trotting as well as our time being domestic at home, we learned 1) that talking is important, 2) that in order for the kitchen to be clean, someone needs to clean it, 3) that we don't like all the same TVs shows, 4) that we get stressed out by very different things.

But in addition to these things, we also learned that 1) when we talk, the other person will listen, 2) cleaning the kitchen isn't SO bad [alternately: we also found that we don't mind a dirty kitchen], 3) we have friends to watch TV shows with, 4) we can be there for each other when the other Pin Cushion is stressed out.

It's been a great first year! Bring on the lazy - matching sweaters - growing old together years!

What do you expect from your first year of marriage? Do you think you'll still be learning about each other as newlyweds?

Pin Cushion Catch Up: Honeymooning

Pin Cushions in Cancun!! Spring Break 2010!! Whooooo!!

When people asked where we went on our honeymoon, I'm always embarrassed to say Cancun. The word Cancun brings up images of girls going wild, heavy drinking and pool partying. But we had a relaxing, non-binge drinking time in Cancun.

We actually ate real food for sustenance (and not just straight vodka shots for our caloric intake [well, maybe a few blended drinks, but only after a hearty meal]).

I actually did have a mimosa every day with breakfast. But that doesn't constitute binge drinking, does it? Mimosas are way too classy for spring breaks . . .

Our daily breakfast.

We stayed at La Amada Hotel on Playa Mujeres. It was wonderful and delicious and luxurious.

The wonderful view from our hotel room.

Me and this outdoor bed became very close friends.

This photo leads me to a funny story. My mom always says that when something bad happens on a trip, that's what you will remember. And it's true. You don't tell people about the great time you had at the museum, or the great weather on your trip. You tell them about the hailstorm, or getting stranded or the other ridiculous things that happen while traveling.

So, back to the story of me and the hotel room deck. I spent a lot of time lounging out there, reading and napping. On the 3rd day of our honeymoon, a task took Mr. Pin Cushion outside for a few hours (the task being: getting our miniature rental car jump started by a cab because we [he] had left the headlights on and ran the battery down). Well, I happened to be outside on my favorite bed at the time. And Mr. Pin Cushion happened to lock the sliding glass door when he left the room.

I didn't realize I was locked out until that daily mimosa had made its way to my bladder. I tried to open the door to the room so that I could get inside and go pee. No luck. I laid back down. 5 minutes passed, 10 minutes, 30 minutes. 1 freakin' hour. I had to pee so badly. I started contemplating my options. I could jump off our second floor balcony and try to land safety, Angelina Jolie style. I could start yelling for help and hope someone would come open my hotel room door. Or I could squat over the drain in the deck floor and pee there. I seriously considered all three options. My new husband, by locking that darn door, made me contemplate peeing on the floor during our honeymoon!!

Thank goodness, Mr. Pin Cushion saved me from having to choose between breaking my legs or losing my dignity by coming back. I made sure to shove him out of the way as I ran to the bathroom. I am happy to report that my bladder did not burst on my honeymoon. But just barely.

While not locked on decks, we did other fun things. We visited Tulum, the Mayan Ruins just south of Playa del Carmen.

Sweaty honeymooners

We visited Isla Murejes, a small island right off the coast of Cancun, where we rented this baby:

I loved that scooter! When I don't have to make an 80 mile round trip commute, I am definitely buying myself something to scoot around on. Vroom Vroom!

Dorks!

Thinking back on your trips, do you remember the things that went smoothly, or the things that went awry?

(From hydroplaning for 10 seconds and almost running into a bus, to forgetting a camera and having to buy a crappy one at a Costco in Mexico, we have plenty of other things to remember from our honeymoon besides our bladder-busting, near porch-peeing incident.)

Pin Cushion Catch Up

Before I launch into recaps, I wanted to allow the newer members of the hive (bee-lings [much cuter than the actual term of larva]) to catch up on the Pin Cushion story (because nobody likes to come into a story halfway through it-what's going on?! Who are these weirdos?)

We met in high school. Which means we'd been together a decade when I started blogging.

The Pin Cushions went to college. Go Bears!

(Note the eyeball you can see in Oski's right eye hole-creeper!)

I moved to DC to go to nursing school.
Mr. PC visited me and proposed on the Lincoln Memorial.

I picked a dress (after trying on 1,256. Seriously.)

Wheee! Ruffles!

We made our Save the Dates.

We got a little wild, and then a little weird, with our engagement photos.

(Photo by Steep Street Photography)

I admitted that Mr. Pin Cushion wasn't my soul mate.

We picked our wedding colors.

(All sources found in my original post, link above)

We picked our perfect venue.

We made our wedding invitations.

(Photo by Steep Street Photography)

We DIY'd a Faux-to Booth.

We procrastinated. Then finally wrote our ceremony. And then our vows.

And then we done got married, which is what I'm back to tell you all about.

So there's the Cliff Note version of our relationship and engagement. Any questions? Have you done long distance for your relationship?

Newsbreak: Mrs. Pin Cushion Lives

Hello, my name is Mrs. Pin Cushion and I am a procrastinator.

I am so good at procrastinating that I have managed to put off writing wedding recaps for an entire year and a half. Now that is truly an impressive feat.

But I have gone to blogger rehab and have gleaned some valuable information, such as 1) if you don't blog for more than 6 months at a time, nobody will remember who the heck you are; 2) people aren't too interested in reading about people they don't know or care about.

I also was told that if you use more 20 parentheses in one post, people will get annoyed [I promptly ignored that, so be prepared for plenty more of these].

My hope is that I have successfully shaken the procrastination bug (scientific name: procrastinatus bacterium, a blood borne pathogen) and am truly ready to start my recaps. So, in the hopes that you will 1) remember me or 2) meet me and think I am weird enough to care about, I am going to do a few (re-) introductory posts.

To start off, this is me:

This is Mr. Pin Cushion (on his last first-day-of-school):

And this is what the Pin Cushions would look like if we grew up in the 1950's (and/or if Mr. Pin Cushion did drugs):

Friends, I'm so happy to be back. I hope that there are other long-term procrastinators in the hive and that my prolonged absence can be excused!

Then & Now: P to the C

Have you ever started looking through old photos with the intention of just perusing for a minute, then suddenly it's 2 hours later and photos are covering the floor in a 5 foot radius around you? Happens to me every time. This past time, I was looking for high school photos for this here post, and came found this gem:

I've been training for Weddingbee for years!

I actually did a "Now & Then" post before it became a series (right here). But this post will be a bit more egocentric and focus on . . . ME!

In high school, I was a bit of a goody goody. I don't think I skipped a single class. I got good grades. I wore suspenders and pocket protectors (okay, fibbing on the pocket protectors, but I seriously sported suspenders a lot). I didn't get a hotel room after prom. I played preppy sports. Nowadays, I'm still a goody goody, but I know how to have more fun then I did back then!

THEN: I was on the tennis and track and field teams in high school. I loved the ribbons I got to wear in my ponytail for all of my matches!

Spiffin' up the tennis court during a school match.

I ran in triathlons (does that count as preppy?). My friends ran the other legs, because let's be real, I would have fallen on my face if I had to bike ("you never forget how to ride a bike" does not apply to me) or drowned if I had to swim a mile.

NOW:

The only organized sport I play nowadays is flag football. Our team, Happy Ending Bed Baths, didn't win any games, but we definitely had the most enthusiasm.

THEN: I didn't drink a lick of alcohol in high school. I didn't go to wild parties. I didn't do drugs.

My crazy Y2K celebration involved spending the night with my best friend, donning awesome headbands and playing board games.

NOW: While I still love a good board game, I've also learned to enjoy a cocktail or two.

Who could turn down a cocktail that you get to drink with 2 foot straws?!


I'm still a lightweight and a glass of wine may or may not make me tipsy (though that wine stain was caused by a rude gentleman, and was not my own doing).

THEN: The craziest shenanigans I got into were going to a double feature but only paying for one movie (unlawful!), or hanging out in my room with Mr. PC with the door closed (shocking!). Or doing weird things with food. . .

Like putting a piece of spaghetti up my nose and coughing it out my mouth (yes, that's what's going on in the above photo [and yes, I did that on purpose]).

NOW: I'm smart enough now to not take photos of myself in crazy shenanigans (just kidding, I just figured all of you readers would have cooler shenanigans than I do).

THEN: I was super pumped to be with Mr. PC!

See? Is that one proud girlfriend or what?

NOW: Still insanely proud to be with Mr. PC! We're happier now then we were then, perhaps due to a combination of the leveling out of our hormones, and learning more awesome stuff about each other over the last 10 years.

And here are a few bonus photos from high school dances. They look so old because they have been carried in the mister's wallet for ten years. Seriously. Dorky.

If you were to stereotype your high school self, what group would you fit into? The jocks? Goody- goodies? Science nerd?