Life Since the Wedding

The year flew by so fast! I can’t believe Lucas and I have been married for a year! It’s been an interesting year to say the least. For the week of festivities we had, I’m pretty sure we used the rest of August to recuperate. Man, were we exhausted! Since we had both started new work earlier that year, we decided to wait on our honeymoon to accumulate some vacation time. That Fall we decided to book a trip to Italy the following May, right before their biggest tourism season starts. We were so excited for our honeymoon and started planning what we’d do. We decided that we would rent scooters and/or bikes and ride around Rome. I planned a hike along the Amalfi coast and day trip to Capri. We booked reservations to a few Michelin Star restaurants.

Outside of the excitement of our trip, everything else had gone back to “normal.” We went back into our daily routines, but also preparing ourselves to buy a house the next few years, deciding when to start a family, and planning other trips and more! We had a great time in New England visiting family over Christmas. I’ve always felt very much included in Lucas’ family. Everyone is amazing, but the trip was different. It felt different being married and very much like I have been a part of the family. I absolutely love and adore them. I came back from back East feeling great about 2020. It was going to be the best year in my mind, Italy trip, hopefully a baby soon, and hopefully settling into a single family home.

Oh boy, did 2020 have other plans. When the word of Covid-19 started spreading, I still had a great outlook on going to Italy. Why would a virus in China stop us from going on our honeymoon to Italy? Then news came out of it hitting Italy hard. Still, I had a great outlook and kept telling others, “it’s hitting northern Italy, we’re going to southern Italy.” Then when it spread all over Italy, I would say, “It will be over and gone by the time we go in May.” End of April came along and we had to cancel our honeymoon. It was sad and disappointing, but I got over it too. Lucas, our family and friends were healthy and that’s really what mattered. We will be able to go to Italy, just not now. In the meantime, I figured we’d have a few “staycations” on the schedule.

In March, as California started seeing spikes in Covid-19 cases, both Lucas and I began working from home. Lucas had just switched from one company back to the previous company he worked for. We were both scared about layoffs and still are. Working from home together for 5 months was amazing. Who needed Italy? We had so much fun. When our kid(s) and grandchildren ask us about what it was like being together 24/7 for 5 months, the first thing that comes to mind is laughter. A smile is brought to my face thinking about our time together those 5 months. I’ve learned to cut men’s hair during the 5 months too; I’ve had my trial and error with Lucas. I even made him look like an alien during the first cut (LOL). He thinks he looked like an odd character out of the Game of Thrones. We’ve played plenty of games, especially darts. I’ve become quite the competitor. Lucas gets nervous each time. We’ve played scrabble and put together Lego cars. During my lunches, when I wasn’t running with Raji, I would hangout in the room where Lucas has his work area set up and all I can remember is him yelling at me, “Get outta here!” with his accent (ask me to do it in person, it’s spot on). Sometimes I’d actually listen to him and leave, other times, I’d lay next to Raji and set an alarm for 30 minutes and take a mini nap. Oh and the reading! I read so many books during those 5 months. I loved each and everyone of them.

After some time, working from home was getting to me. I was going stir crazy while at home. I missed the socializing with others. I mean talking to Lucas and Raji is great and all, but it is in human nature to thrive on socializing and talking to others, smiling and laughing with others. The feeling was like when I missed the interaction with coworkers when I owned the studio, it’s that same feeling while working from home. Do I miss a few things, oh yes! I miss my two mile runs everyday during lunch with Raji. I miss the little naps I could take during lunch. I also miss getting off at 2pm and being home at 2pm and the commute from bed to desk. And the most important thing I miss is Raji! Although I miss all those things, being at work feels great. Especially once the lightening complex fires started. I’m coughing out a lung just being in the intense smoke during the time I’m home. I can’t imagine how I’d feel if I were working from home.

Before the fire started, we went to Eureka for our 1 year anniversary. We had a great time and time there just flew by! We spent the day fishing off the pier, catching crabs and then fishing off the Pacific Ocean on Samoa Beach. While Lucas fished, I read and finished a book that was taking me a while to finish. The next day we took our time to head out and grabbed brunch and went hiking through the Redwoods in Mendicino.

Here we are a year later and a lifetime more to go!