Until then, I had been living as a lonely 20-something cat lady in my 500 sq. ft. apartment in Austin, Texas. I was working as a private chef and nutritionist, and spent most of my days pouring over food blogs, eating lots of kale, and hanging out in yoga studios. I dreamed of traveling the world, but I usually ignored anything relating to the subject. It was tortuous to look at photos of paradise or to read stories of far off lands that seemed way cooler than Texas.
Then, one brisk morning, I received a phone call that woke me way too early.
I heard his voice. I instantly started to weep.
It was the voice of the man that I love and had never stopped loving since the day we met our junior year of high school. The funny thing was, I hadn't spoken to him in almost 10 years and here he was, calling from Afghanistan to wish me a happy birthday.
The next few months were a blur, but the best, most beautiful blur of all time. Our first meeting in almost 10 years was a 5 day road trip from New York to Texas.
By day 4, we were engaged.
And, just a few months later, I dissolved my personal chef business, slipped a stunning platinum wedding ring on my finger, became a stepmommy to two sweet little boys (ages 18 months and 4 years), and purchased a one way ticket for me and the kitties to good ol' Deutschland.
When we got to Germany, many things were unknown. But, there were a few things that we did know:
1.) We were probably more in love than any two people have ever been in love. Ever.
2.) We are both kind of allergic to avocados.
3.) The love of my life would deploying to Afghanistan again.
With the deployment looming and 10 years of separation to make up for, we have been trying to make the most of every second that we have together. As a result, we have created a truly fulfilling and symbiotic (in a healthy way) marriage that we absolutely know can hold up, and even thrive, through our first deployment together.
This blog exists for several purposes. One is so that my wonderful husband can see what I have been up to in his rare encounters with the interwebs. Also, it is to document my travels through Europe for all of you aspiring vagabonds. And, finally, its a way to share what I learn on this strange new journey of marriage, geographic separation, the joys of step-parenthood, the military life, self-exploration through yoga, and ways to come out stronger on the other side of a deployment.
Oh, yeah. And there will be food. Lots of food. It's kinda my thing. If you want more, you can check out my other blog where I post recipes only:
www.thefriendlykitchen.com
There are other things that I love, too, like gardening, my fat kitties, hiking, running. Those kinds of things. Don't be surprised if they make some special appearances, too.
