Laura made me do it...

(This is Adam in his natural state...see below)

What is his name? Depends on who you ask. He goes by Braun, Cornfed, Adam, Dude...you get the point.

How long have you been married? a year and change.

How long did you date? Before getting married? 7 months.

How old is he? 27

Who eats more? It depends on what it is. Ice cream or popcorn, he wins everytime. If it's peanut M&Ms or brownies though, I own him.

Who said I love you first? Braun

Who is taller? Adam

Who can sing better? Depends on who you ask...but he does make up some dandy (sometimes barely English) lyrics to songs he doesn't know well.

Who is smarter? Probably him, but I make him pretend I'm as smart.

Who does the laundry? Adam

Who pays the bills? Also Adam. He's probably terrified of what I'd do if I got ahold of the money...and rightfully so.

Who sleeps on the right side? I do.

Who mows the lawn? Are you kidding? His first order of business on a Saturday morning is to walk laps around the inside of the house and then the outside of the house to find anything at all he needs to fix. And he's delighted when he gets to go to Home Depot to get the tools he needs to take care of whatever "man duty" he's determined to fulfill.

Who cooks dinner? Whoever gets home first. On Sundays, usually me. Most other days he does.

Who is a better cook? Oh Adam, hands down. Why do you think he cooks all the time?

Who drives? Oh that's him all the way. I think his nightmares are made up of road trips wherein he would be forced to allow me to drive. I'm a good driver, I swear, but I know he thinks I'm bound to crash and kill someone any day. Could it be because I use my blackberry while I drive?

Who is more stubborn? Um, I believe I am...but he sure gives me a run for my money when he feels like it.

Who kissed who first? Oh please, he did! What kind of a girl do you think I am?

Who asked who out first? He did.

Who proposed? Adam

Who is more sensitive? Me, for sure.

Who has more friends? I guess I do.

Who has more siblings? I do—5 brothers, 3 sisters. (He has 3 brothers and a sister)

There you have it. Next up...Lois, Katie, Stephanie Ryan, Molly, Stephanie Lisonbee, Becky and Emili. Spill it girls!

Doobie doobie doo.

On my way into work this morning, I heard on the radio (KIIS FM, if you must know and yes, that is a reliable news source, thank you very much) that nearly every politician in the race to lead our country has admitted to use, some of them admitting to frequent use, of marijuana and other controlled substances. So then the DJs go around the room asking who else in the room has similarly partaken. Pretty much everyone. They made the point that drug use really ain't no thing anymore and nobody should get worked up if the commander in chief wants to take a hit every now and again...

So I'm left to wonder. As you all know, I'm not that hip. I'm pretty sure I've got nerd written all over me so I would appreciate it if those of you who are cooler than I would inform me as to the following: 1. Am I the only one in the free world who does not walk around high for the better part of my day? 2. Is it concerning to anyone else that the otherwise at least arguably capable human with his or her presidential finger on the proverbial "red button" may or may not be under the influence of an illicit drug? and 3. Is it really that cool? Because if so, perhaps I should not knock it until I try it. Anyone???

Wee Little Braun - ETA August 12, 2008

No, I'm not kidding. Here's the proof! So my first proud moment of this process was when this little guy did the Robot right away when he popped onto the Sonogram screen. His little hands grooving, his head bobbing. I can already tell this kid is awesome. This little penguin here is how I told Adam. I wrote Baby's First Christmas on his belly, wrapped him up and handed him to Adam a few weeks before Christmas as an early Christmas present. Adam has not stopped smiling since. We're really excited! Terrified, of course, because we are sure we have no idea what we've gotten ourselves into, but extraordinarily humbled and happy for this next phase in the Braun story.

Does it get any better than this?

Do you ever have days that are so good, they make all the boring lame stuff in life worth it? Well I had three of them in a row. Hop on board, folks. I'll take you along. January 20 was our anniversary and Adam told me he was going to plan it. I thought "great! I don't have to make dinner reservations or plan logistics. SUPER!" Boy am I a slacker. The Wednesday evening before our anniversary, Adam told me that I would need to pack a bag for the weekend because we were heading out of town. I asked the weather and what type of activities I'd need to pack for, and off we went. Saturday morning at 8:00 sharp, we left the house. We stopped by Starbucks for a hot chocolate. (I still had no idea what we were doing or where we were going!) As we drove through Dallas, Adam pulled off the freeway at an exit I'm unfamiliar with. I'd been hinting around at wanting to go to the Farmer's Market in Dallas forever and Adam decided since this would be the one Saturday I'd actually voluntarily be out of bed in time to go, it would be perfect! And it was. We were bundled up, sipping our hot cocoa and perusing the freshest fruit in Dallas. See? Here we are with fresh picked oranges. Mmmmm.Then we hopped into the car and Adam finally spilled that we were going on a road trip (which I love, because then he is my captive audience for as long as it takes to get there!!) We took a few road trips while dating and so it brought back fun memories. ANYWAY, we ended up in San Antonio (and I've been begging to go since I saw a brochure about the Riverwalk there so it was a happy surprise for me.) Adam was such a rock star about it! He had an entire itinerary of things to do and see. We took a stroll down the beautiful walking district of downtown en route to an IMAX about the Alamo. Then we walked around some old buildings, museums, historical sites and this amazing river front mall! I only remebered to get pictures of our tour of the old school governer's mansion from back in the day. Check this out. Look at how little the door is. Adam can't even walk through it!
Here I am pretending to be the lady of the house serving up some hot cocoa. Look at how skilled I am in the kitchen?
Here are the gardens in the back patio. It's amazing because this place is pretty well right down town in San Antonio but the gardens are perfectly serene and lush. It didn't hurt that the weather was brisk and cool but not cold so it was perfect to just take a stroll. LOVED IT!
We went next to dinner at a restaurant that **GET THIS** had a celiac menu! (Does this man miss a step ever? Adam RULES!) And then we went up to the observation deck of the Tower of the Americas. It's like the highest point in San Antonio and it's gorgeous. It was a clear night so you could see everything from up there. Plus there was a museum in the observation deck so we got to learn all about the six flags over Texas. It was so fun. I love history and Adam just humored me all day letting me read every historical marker and sign. You can just barely see the lights out the window behind us here in the tower.
The next day we went to the Alamo! (Of course we slept in because we had to watch the tennis match at 2:30 in the morning since this was in the middle of the Australian Open.) But I digress. You guys, it's the coolest looking place. I can't take it. I mean, there's a little excess Texas love there with the locals but you can't help but think it's cool. We got to see the barracks and the old chapel and where the last stand at the alamo was. How fun, eh?

Here's us out front. Dig the detail on the facade and on the door. Super pretty.
We also got to take a drive up out to the temple in San Antonio which is in an amazingly pretty neighborhood and the stained glass windows are beautiful! And we went to this museum primarily focused on the heritage of the Azteca theater which was a famous hot spot for latin dance so you can imagine how my heart sang going through there. Adam was so great to think of all these things to see and places to be that would just make my day. He seriously thought of everything. Below you'll see us fulfilling my Texas dream of taking the river cruise in the Riverwalk. For sure it was the highlight for both of us. Our sweet tour guide told us all kinds of neat facts about San Antonio and we got to see parts of the city we hadn't seen the whole rest of the time we were there.
Here's one of the cool views from the tour. The weather was perfect. And the history of that city is so rich. It was neat to hear how the riverwalk was constructed (and why).
And, the next day we bid adieu to our adorable bed and breakfast where we had been staying. Adam found a victorian house just outside of down town that was over 100 years old. He even called the inn keepers there to ask them to make me gluten free breakfasts. I couldn't have asked for anything more. It was so fun and so thoughtful. And best of all, it's a surprise! And now you know why I have no motivation to plan any of our trips. When I leave it up to him, he knocks it out of the park every time. Thanks Braun. One year down, eleventy billion to go!