Honeymoon, day 2

Day 2. We went to Fort Mackinac in the morning, and must have rented bikes in the afternoon so we could go see Arch Rock.

The harbor, in the morning. Later in the day it was sunny.

Crows Nest trail, through the woods behind Fort Mackinac.

A tenacious tree.

The harbor, as seen from one of the peep-holes in the fort wall. No British flags ... so we're all good.

The view from Arch Rock.

Honeymoon, day 1

Since I never posted photos of our spectacular honeymoon on Mackinac Island last year, I'm going to use our anniversary as an excuse to sift through them again.

Day 1

Rob mails the marriage certificate -- signed, sealed, and soon-to-be-delivered.

Leaving the mainland, and wedding stress, behind.

Ahead of us were four days at this resort on the Island.

Four rockin' rocks. Everywhere we went, people had left rock arrangements to ponder.

Happy Anniversary!

One year ago today...

(Photos by Beca Essing -- who we would both hire again in a heartbeat!)

Zellie's mad at us.

What cat wouldn't bask in the warmth of a stereo receiver? We even provided her a glass shelf to recline upon, so she wouldn't get fur in the receiver.

That all changed last weekend, when Rob hung our TV on the wall and mounted the electronicles next to it. No more kitty warming shelf!

Now Miss Girl must resort to lounging on sunny window sills, as Ceiling Cat intended.

Despite an abundance of sun, I still think she's mad at us for taking away her artificial warm spot -- especially during air-conditioning season.

Two years and counting

Two years and two days ago, Rob and I both reluctantly (and separately) decided to go to a July 4th singles party sponsored by a couple of local singles groups. There were about 40 people there. I had already bought my ticket but didn't want to go. I told myself that I had to at least go, and I could always leave if it wasn't any fun. Rob went to the party but tells me he was talking to another woman on the phone while he was there. Sigh.

Out first meal together (I'm in the purple t-shirt and Rob's shirt matches the table). I think we were talking about where we were from, and how much we liked the Midwest.

Rob is armed with a water balloon and he looks like he's about to use it. 

After the picnic we went to watch fireworks. He has his left arm around another woman who was following him around all night. She even invited him to sit on her blanket to watch the fireworks. Ugh! I guess we all know how that story ended...

We went to the bar after fireworks, and shared our first nachos and beer.  I remember him showing me all of the photos he had on his iPhone.

Two years later, here we are! I have a much better haircut now. Rob looks pretty much the same. :-) To celebrate, we went out for a delectable lunch at Il Fornaio in Reston, which had a surprisingly good variety of vegetarian options. We are both very lucky to have found each other.

And just like that, it's over.

Rob's retirement from the Air Force is finally upon us. He's not officially done until later this spring, but they had the official ceremony last week. Rob's mother, three of his siblings (all of his sisters), two nephews and a niece were here to celebrate with us.

The whole gang

Receiving the Defense Meritorious Service Medal

The retirement pin makes it official! But wait . . . It's not a going-away party without presents and cake! In addition to two very good bottles of wine (which we haven't opened yet), they got him a unique and thoughtful gift to enjoy long after the wine is gone. We now have a set of eight special wine glasses -- seven of them are engraved with a rank (and date) that Rob attained during his 24-year career, and the eighth is engraved with his entering and retiring dates.

We are all very proud of Rob, and excited for the next phase of his adventure.

Tinsel Trifecta part 1...

Rob and I have the good fortune to have three Fancy Parties to attend this year. I'm a contractor, so two of them are mine -- one at the home office in Detroit and one with my clients here in the DC area.

First up in the Tinsel Trifecta was my home office party. Rob was a trooper and flew with me to Detroit very early on Friday morning since I had important tedium to attend to before the festivities, and he flew back Saturday afternoon. I stayed until Monday for still more meetings.

Unfortunately Detroit had hardly any snow for us, but it's always good to visit the Great Lakes State and see old friends! And also to have cheap breakfast at a coney island in Dearborn. There aren't any $4.79 breakfasts to be had in Northern Virginia, unless it's just toast and juice.

Our first Thanksgiving

Rob is out of leave days this year to go visit family, so we had our first Thanksgiving dinner for two. It was also our first vegan Thanksgiving. I wouldn't call myself vegan, but I tend to cook that way at home. We had lentil loaf, mashed potatoes, candied yams (complete with vegetarian marshmallows), stuffing, cranberry relish, and dinner rolls -- all home-made! And a bottle of lovely Michigan wine, of course. Rob had pumpkin pie for dessert and I had a home-made cinnamon roll.

Even though we were only cooking for two, it still took about 3 hours of work in the kitchen to get everything on the table! And we still have abundant leftovers to last for a couple of days.

The big tree is all decorated but I don't have a good picture of it yet! Just this one of Miss Zellie resting underneath it. It's her favorite place -- and we can't begrudge a kitty for loving velvety hiding places.

November in Virginia = awesome.

Yesterday Rob and I went for an autumnal saunter at the C&O Canal NHP, on the Maryland side of the Potomac. It was in the mid-60s, sunny and golden! There was quite a line to get into the park as DC-ites squeezed the most out of the glorious weather. I didn't take any pictures of the throngs since we opted for wooded paths -- I still can't figure out why more people don't venture into the woods and stay on the towpath instead. The trails are well-marked for the most part, there are no bears, and the spongy dirt is much kinder on the knees. Come on in, everyone!

Then we came home and started putting together our 9-foot Christmas tree. We have tall ceilings that come with living on the 4th floor, so we figured why not take advantage of them? For those of you who think it indecent to deck a tree before the carving of the sacrificial turkey (or lentil loaf, in our case), we don't have nearly enough lights to have it decorated too much before Thanksgiving. And it gets dark so darn early here since we're so far east in the time zone, so it's soothing to have the lights on when we get home from work.

Good job Rob!

It's almost time!

The Michigoose Blog has been on hiatus while we moved to our new apartment and got ready for the wedding. Now it's almost here! We have our license and family is going to start converging today. Then we are heading north to Mackinac Island for a few days of relaxation before driving back to Virginia.

We are enjoying the cooler weather and the people who are Midwestern-nice wherever we go! Forgot about the hungry Michigan mosquitos though.

Better pics of the best apartment!

This is the view from our fourth floor balcony. The lighted dome is the food court at the mall next door. This is a newer area. It feels like we're closer to being in the country, but we can walk to the mall.

But on to the important part...

The view from the loft looking down at the living/dining area, and the floor view of the living room and spare room:

The patio and the windows in the kitchen and master bedroom overlook the pool, about which I have mixed feelings. It's okay when no one is in it but since it's been very hot for our first two days here, it's been packed with screaming kids. And yes, the noise does carry up to the fourth floor. But it does look nice at night and in the morning.

Zellie, stop letting in the heat!

I have four full days left in this apartment. My dining room table has been sold on Craigslist, and other furniture needs to find a new home before the move. While I'll miss being able to safely walk to the shopping center next door -- a real rarity in modern car-centered suburbia -- I will not miss the rickety wooden stairs or my noisy upstairs neighbors.

Rob and I are moving into an apartment next weekend that will be new for both of us. It will also be a new neighborhood. And we've both been living alone for a long time -- me for almost ten years and him for at least that long. Let the change begin!

... and, the DC weather has turned on its sauna just in time for packing. Today's high in northern Virginia was in the lower 90s! As always, Giselle does her best to thwart my attempts to keep my apartment below 80 degrees.

A BIG surprise for us both...

After a long week of traveling, planning, and celebrating, Rob and I were looking forward to a quiet late lunch on Sunday. My parents had made the 200-mile-drive from Gaylord to see us while we were in Detroit, and Rob was going to meet them for the first time. We were turning the corner to my Aunt & Uncle's house when I said to Rob, "It's really nice that you get to meet just my parents and my Aunt and Uncle now, instead of all of my sisters at the same time!"

Boy were we surprised...

My Aunt had planned a surprise engagement party for us. The first surprise was when we were standing in the kitchen chatting over a suspiciously large quantity (in hindsight) of food. My nephew ran into the kitchen and then three of my four sisters appeared out of the living room. Instead of lunch for 6, it was a party of 13. The next surprise was when we went to the basement to eat and there was a cake and a present! It was a great afternoon. Rob also has a large family, so he took it all in stride.

They got us a wine fridge for our new apartment, which raised a bit of a logistics problem. On the trip to Michigan, we thought we did pretty well to cram into the Beetle all of our clothes for a week, including a couple of sets of dress clothes for the wedding. On the way back, we learned that we still had room for a wine fridge, a case of wine, and a couple of potted plants -- even a very elegant orchid that rode right behind the center console and survived the trip unscathed.

We didn't drive home with the top down, but it sure helps with loading and unloading!

Rose Hill Inn

Today we finally visited the 150-year-old inn where we are getting married. Formerly the summer home of the founder of the Boy Scouts, it is now a 6-room B&B filled with antiques and owned by a former music teacher and his wife. Marshall is an adorable little town just outside Battle Creek.



Yesterday we drove here from Virginia. What a long day! But Rob manages to look rugged in the girliest of cars. He even willingly drove it for a few hours, despite its dearth of horsepower compared to his R32.

Zellie likes Rob.

Rob is a cat person. Giselle, apparently, is a Rob cat. She took to him right away and sometimes chooses his lap over mine. I try not to be jealous when this happens, and eventually Pumpkin will wander by and get on my lap to avoid a fight with Zellie.

A dainty engagement ring

 

Never has my left hand undergone as much scrutiny as it has since Rob and I got engaged on Valentine's Day. Sometimes I volunteer the hand when I tell people that we got engaged, but more often people tell me that they hear I got engaged and then they start furtively stealing glances at my left hand if I don't offer it. It's a curious habit, and I know that most people don't mean anything by it.

He gave me a promise ring because he didn't want to pick out the ring without my help. We finally found a ring that was the right balance of sparkly and dainty. I didn't want one that was too big and would get caught on everything, but of course I like sparkly things. Once we win the lottery and I only have to use my left hand to ring for "the help", I can spring for the 2-carat lump of fancy coal.

Now everyone who peeks at my left hand will have something more to look at! It is much prettier in person, of course.

Snowmageddon

People in the DC area were so afraid of the approaching storm, they called in the National Guard to shovel snow even before it got here!

Kidding -- that's just Rob doing some pre-emptive shoveling.

A generous 2 feet of snow fell at my apartment in about 36 hours of blustery weather, with only a few electrical flickers when I thought I might lose electricity. According to the National Weather Service, the total for Chantilly (where I live) was 28 inches. To me, once it gets over about a foot and a half, there's no point counting anymore unless it's up to my ears! We went outside Saturday afternoon once it quit snowing. We walked to the grocery store (yes, it was open!) and I made a snow angel. 

But the dig out was inevitable, because life goes on. My snow shovel grew legs and ran away after the last storm, so we were using Rob's shovel and a kitty litter bucket to clear out. Rob's shovel broke when we were almost done with his car -- not a good thing, since there aren't any shovels to be bought for miles.

While we were digging out, this Mercedes tried to make a run for it and got hung up on a little pile of snow left by the plow. It took 7 of us (including the driver) to get the car moving again because its drive wheels weren't making contact with anything solid. Where is a tractor and a good stout chain when you need one?

Mouse over (below) to see what was under all of that snow!

 My missing snow shovel had a wooden handle and an orange plastic blade that was worn down on the corners. Let me know if you see it!