gothic elegance

This has been my project this week--to find a chandelier, paint it, afix candles, and hang it from the pergola. It's taken me days to accomplish this little list, and I am very pleased with the way it turned out. I also painted the chairs under the pergola, and N put the bench together. Can't wait for spring...we are adding a new rose garden, so I am diligently searching for the perfect hybrid teas and English roses.

getting to know you even though i already do

Loaded Questions: game gift from Suz. When asked, "Who would you want to be seated beside you if you were in a plane knew it was about to crash?" answers included: Jesus, my mother, my best friend, David. My answer? Thanks for asking. Fidel Castro. I mean, if you know you are going to crash...

BTW, Suzannah, I cannot see Danger's puppies at all in those pics. They look like a pair of black socks in your arms. I tried to comment on your blog, but it wouldn't let me. I like your poetic thoughts.

moving on

Thoughts from Christmas day:

1. I like earrings, and many people seem to notice this about me.

2. There's something off about a warm Christmas. The lights just don't twinkle the same.

3. Most people can't sleep the night before Christmas. I couldn't sleep Christmas night--stayed up reading Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground and marveling at Heather's pugs.

4. I have come to understand, again, that no matter how interconnected with other people we may be, on a purely human basis, we are really quite alone and unable to completely trust anyone.

year one: celebrated

Here's the first photo from the anniversary trip to The Grand in Fairhope. It was taken right before we went to Brad & Christie's wedding...I didn't know it, but their first date was our wedding last year. So...we'll have the same anniversary. They dated longer though. N&I only dated a good 4.5 months before getting engaged and were together only 10 months before being married. Everyone warned us the first year of marriage is ADJUSTMENT HELL, but not true for us. We are closer than ever, never experiencing a real rift between us. Perhaps it's because we've had to be strong together to face everything that's happened to us. Perhaps it's because we were a little older when we married than most of our friends and didn't have ridiculous expectations. Perhaps it's because we believe we're soulmates, meant to find each other and last. In any case, I'm glad it is not a rule the first year is full of fighting and getting used to one another.

Merry Christmas

with love from Buttercup

my brother in law

Okay...so I really have not written anything much about my brother-in-law here. A lot of my friends and even my family don't know him, so I thought I'd share some key thoughts. Usually, when I mention Nathan, I know he doesn't read my blog so I can write anything I please. Now Matt (aforementioned brother-in-law) reads my blog at times, but I still feel free to pen whatever. He's like that--able to handle whatever anyone says and knows himself pretty well.

The basics: he's the youngest (currently 26), lives in LA, likes to ski and make people laugh, is pursuing acting (the only program I've caught him in is a soap opera...I haven't seen the other film or tv work that he has done). Oh I did see a potential Match.com commercial he shot. His profile is on imdb.com, and he's good looking like the rest of his fam. Of course, there's much more to the concrete details of his life. But this is all you're getting from me.

How we match up as relatives: I probably have the most in common with him in terms of his whole family. We're both goofy and like to have fun and try not to take everything so seriously. We also share that history of competitive gymnastics. But then...there are the guns. His guns, of course. The kind that shoot sweet, innocent, beautiful deer and make them bleed.

What I really like about him: The fact that he is sooo fun and silly but can read people pretty well. He's in tune with the moments that need to be fun and alert to moments that call for serious conversation. He's actually a very good conversationalist...logical, well-rounded, and insightful. He doesn't hold fast to any belief because he was taught it; rather he's good about trying things on for size and then figuring out what he thinks about them.

What I suspect about him: I think he probably lies in bed at night and talks in funny voices or does impersonations. However, I've never slept in close proximity to him, so what do I know.

The sister-in-law pressure: Yes, I put it often on this CA bachelor. After all, my kids will be spending time with them every summer and holiday. And, I think it would be fun to have a sister-in-law who fits into the Wallace equation the same way that I do. Of course, once a wife enters the picture, we'll never again have classic Christmas moments such as the "You can do it in the microwave with your bed buddy" moment of 2005.

Matt's great, and I love him. Because I love him, I invite you to share your favorite Matt moment or memory...there have go to be some out there even better than the bed buddy...

my new cousin (Laurel's Lilliana)

Fall in the Garden

Even though it's fall and we've had some wintery days, there's still a lot blooming in our garden. Nathan plays on a men's serious, blood-drawing/ bone-breaking soccer team on Sunday afternoons (no joke, he had to have x-rays for his foot two weeks ago after he nailed a guy in the shins). Sometimes I go; sometimes I stay home. Today, I ate lunch in the backyard and took some photos of what's blooming and of Buttercup, who kept running up to the camera lens and sneezing on it. Here they are: our fall garden.

(creeping up to sneeze)


(achoo)


(lunch!)


(hibiscus)


(daisy)



(fragrant cloud)


(camilia)

(oranges and lemons)


(cabbage & lettuce: these are new to the garden)