R&R Stands for Ridiculous & Rad!

Here's the post I've been dying to write and post, but just couldn't bring myself to write it and admit that John's leave has come and gone. Lame, right? I know. But as I was flipping through pictures that are now more than a month and a half old, I couldn't help but smile and feel absolutely, over-the-moon happy. Somehow we managed to fit so much awesome into 15 days that it pained me to have to choose between photos. (So you'll just have to look at a lot of photos of food and us. Sorry.)

Food

If you know anything about me by now, you know that I love food. So does John. (This is most likely the largest reason why we're perfect for each other.)

While he was home, John grilled out, we ate sushi (twice!), ate piping hot, tiny doughnuts in the car while snow swirled around us outside, and John got the Reuben sandwich he had been lusting after for the previous seven months. That doesn't even include the two Christmas dinners we had at each of our folks' houses, the Thanksgiving dinner John's mom made, or homemade treats we chomped down.

 Wedding

One of our gigantic goals was to make sure that we did as much wedding stuff as we possibly could. We (hold onto your hat) found and bought wedding rings, tasted and chose our cake and icing, met with the wedding coordinator at our venue and figured out most of the reception's big details, met with our pastor and figured out most of the ceremony's details, picked out invitations, got John fitted for a tux, and took two dance lessons. And that doesn't even include Steven. We did battle with an over-zealous wedding registry consultant who held us hostage at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. (Steven didn't let us hold the beepy remotey thing! The horrors we endured!) Eventually, we found our way to Macy's where they gave us chocolate and the beepy remotey thing. And yeah, we picked out china. That was pretty darn cool.  (And that crazed look in my eye? That's what happens when you spend three hours in Bed, Bath, and Beyond and only register seven items. Because you're not allowed to touch the beepy remotey thing. Yes. Seven. Items.) 

Adventures

And we definitely, definitely, definitely did our part to try to make up for the year John had been and would be missing. I have too many favorite memories to label them as such. 

We went to see the symphony. We saw Les Mis. We had one of the best dinners of my life (I didn't even know cornbread croutons exist! They do and they are delicious. Delicious.)  We traveled to Penn State to see one of my sisters, enjoy a day at our alma mater, and finish up our engagement photos (and knocked off #65 on my 100 in 365).  We went to a spa and got pedicures. We went shopping-- it is remarkable how exciting Kohl's and American Eagle can be when you're with someone you haven't been with for a long time! 

We enjoyed hanging out with both sides of our families-- from watching movies to playing charades and dominoes to going to a school board meeting to talking late into the night.

And, our friends surprised John. We lured (that's the only word that works in this instance) him to a breakfast place under the false pretense that he and I were going to spend a whole day together. When we walked into the restaurant, about ten of John's closest friends from college were there. He wasn't expecting to see them during leave, and he definitely wasn't expecting to see them all together.We spent almost the entire day hanging out-- going to a really need conservatory and a craft brewery and restaurant. But the best part was getting to see all of them joking, laughing, and smiling together. I really need to devote an entire post to it: it was one of the coolest things ever.  I say that without any hyperbole.

And then, too soon it was time for John to go back for another [insert number of months here]. I already wrote about that, but if you missed it (and want to read a thoroughly sad, weepy post, you can check it out here).

I cannot wait for John to come home.  The fifteen days of leave were the longest span of time we've been together consecutively (unless you count four years of college and we don't). I can't wait to marry my up-for-anything, even-gets-pedicures-with-me buddy and spend my life with him. I can't imagine anything better!

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