It's been a very long time...

Well, to say I've been a blog slacker would be an understatement of epic proportions. For that I apologize, and I will try to do better....don't hold your breath though. Here is a catch up of the year so far...

watching Grizzlies hockey

Most importantly, things have been going really really well for us so far this year. We spent the first months of the year at soccer, hockey, arena football, and even a very very cold baseball game between the Bees and the U of U baseball team. It was a good way to pass the time and stay entertained, while I continued searching for a new job (talk about a long few months). At the end of March I started as a study coordinator at the University of Utah. I work for a couple of immunology and rheumatology doctors, studying childhood immune deficiencies and diseases. While there is still a whole lot left to learn, it feels really great to be challenged in what I'm doing once again. It's starting to maybe even feel like all those years of college were worth it.

So for the past 5 months, our lives have revolved around work. It's not all that bad though, since my sweet husband works on the floor just below mine; we get to have lunch most days, and ride home together after work. It's pretty awesome.

On May 6th, Andrew and I finally had graduation. Even though we graduated back in December, the University of Utah only holds commencement and convocation exercises in May, a whole 5 months later. So we left work early, and headed to the Huntsman Center to watch Andrew's best friend Camden Burd graduate. 2 hours later we headed home to change, and then met up with Nicole and the kids, who came up to the Huntsman Center with us to visit and take pictures before convocation started. Then we met up with my parents, and took our seats with the rest of the college of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Technically, due to the fact that we were graduating in BOTH Behavioral Science & Health and Economics, we had the option to sit with and walk with either group. We chose to sit directly between the two, because we couldn't pick. So we walked at the very end of Behavioral Science and Health, which was also the front of the Economics group, led by our other very good friend Brian Trick. It felt very surreal to walk down the stadium steps with people I've spent the last 4 years of my life with, especially with my husband right beside me. We were handed our diploma covers by a lady that the group of us eventually figured out was an Econ professor that not a single one of us had taken a class from, and then my very favorite professor at the U, Norman Waitzman, gave me a giant hug and told me congratulations. Andrew and I were extremely bummed to find out Norm wasn't announcing names this year, as last year's graduation had the feeling of a baseball stadium more than a graduation thanks to Norm's serious announcing skills. I'm pretty sure they banned him from announcing this year because of it. Total bummer. Aside from that, graduation was a great experience, and officially marked the end of our undergraduate college careers, even if 5 months late. We ended the night with dinner with my parents.

At the end of May my baby brother, Josh, graduated from Rich High School. It was so fun to watch him graduate. I never thought he'd be old enough to leave high school, and it makes me think about the fact that my own high school graduation was exactly 5 years ago. So proud of that boy!

On the way up to Josh's graduation, I threw Andrew a rediculous proposition that entailed us leaving Randolph after graduation (about 9 pm) and driving through the night to Seattle to see his family for the holiday weekend. We'd already packed to stay in Woodruff for a few days, so after shooting down all the good reasons that we shouldn't go, we opted to go for it. So after Josh's graduation ceremony ended, we rushed out to the line of graduates and hugged him goodbye, and then took off. We drove straight through to Seattle, and arrived at noon the next day, taking turns napping through the night. When we arrived, Andrew called his mother and told her that we had sent her a belated birthday present and she should look outside to see if it had arrived today, because he wanted to be on the phone with her when she opened it. When she came out to see there was no package on the front steps, we screamed surprise and jumped out from behind the garage. Oh how I wish we would have videotaped her reaction, because it was HILARIOUS! We stayed in Seattle through Monday, just enjoying time with the family. We of course made time to watch the Mariners beat the Orioles, and then we made the long trek back to Utah on Tuesday morning. I've been going through withdrawls of Seattle and Pike's Place ever since....

As for June...it was pretty boring, and consisted mostly of work. We did get to spend some awesome time with my cousin Jessica and my Uncle Kevin, who were in town from Colorado. They joined us on our family vacation up to West Yellowstone for a weekend. Although I'm 23 and I've lived in Utah my whole life, I've never actually been to Yellowstone until that weekend. It was beautiful, and the weather was perfect. We only spent a quick day there, and than drove down to Idaho Falls to watch my brother, Matt, bless my sweet baby neice Bethany. She was born 4 weeks early and spent a few days in the NICU, but is doing fantastic now and is ridiculously beautiful. It was fantastic to spend time with their family, and hold sweet Baby Bethany (even if she did projectile vommit all over me).

Uncle Kevin and Jessica with Kadence and Kash

Beautiful Baby B

Baby B in her blessing dress

The rest of June and most of July consisted of AAA baseball at the Bee's stadium. This will be our 3rd summer in a row together, and every single one has consisted of a lot of time in that stadium. We spent the 4th of July in Woodruff of course, and then headed back to catch the Sugarhouse fireworks for the 3rd year in a row. There's nothing better in the world than fireworks, so I take advantage of every opportunity I can to watch them!

This is the only picture we have of the 4th of July, watching the Woodruff parade

The rest of July was pretty uneventful, but August has been AWESOME! I've been waiting for August for MONTHS! Not only was our very 1st anniversary on August 7th, but we got to spend that anniversary in Hawaii, so that was pretty awesome too!! Post on Hawaii to come!!...along with more pictures when I get around to getting them off of Andrew's computer.

Catching up...

I know, I know. It's been forever since I posted and I need to catch up. It's hard to find the motivation when there's actually stuff going on such as the holidays....even if that was a month ago. BUT we've been busy.
-We spent Christmas with my ENTIRE fam in Woodruff this year.
-We stayed in Woodruff for a couple days, and had birthday dinner and took family pictures.
-I got sick on the 26th and stayed that way until the 2nd.
-I turned 23 on Dec. 28th, and my sweet hubby took me to dinner and temple square to see the lights, but not for long because I felt like I was either going to pass out or throw up or both, so we went home and stayed in bed all night.
-Andrew got sick about the 29th, and stayed that way til about the 2nd.
-So we spent New Years at home sick until about 11:45, when my hubby insisted we load up in the car (me in PJs of course) and drive up to Legacy Bridge to watch the fireworks at midnight. We got there about 11:58, stayed til they ended at about 12:03 and then drove home and got back in bed. Definitely not my worst New Years though. Last year I flew up to Seattle for Andrew's 25th birthday, and we spent new years at the space needle, but he didn't even kiss me at midnight. Let me reiterate that, I bought a ticket and flew up there to spend a whole week with his entire family, and he didn't even kiss me at midnight. It seems really funny now, but it sure wasn't at the time lol. But that definitely wasn't my worst new years either.
-Andrew turned 26 on new year's day as well. For some reason 26 just seems SO much older than 25.
-We of course were in bed sick still and didn't celebrate his birthday for a few days.
-Oh I don't remember if I mentioned that Andrew and I both finally graduated on December 17th, and we got our diplomas in the mail just yesterday. Yay!
-Andrew also started a new job at the first of the year. He got promoted from clinical study assistant to study coordinator in the GI department at the U, as far as I know he seems to really be enjoying it. It does suck that he's working full time now and I'm home all day, but it's awesome not having homework and getting to hangout in the evenings. Still no job for me, but I'm feeling like something will happen soon. I don't mind being at home so much anymore. I've become pretty good at keeping myself busy and productive and entertained all at the same time.
-Andrew got us season opera tickets for my birthday, so we went to Hansel and Gretel a couple weeks ago at Capital Theatre, and we get to go to Little Women next month, I'm so excited!
-Lastly, Monday (February 7th) marks our 6 month anniversary. I have mixed feelings about it. By which I mean, that it's hard to remember before we were married, because I was so busy for literally YEARS and never had time to breath; at the same time though, I can't believe I've gotten to spend every spare second with Andrew for the last 6 months. I still get so excited to see him when he comes home from work, and I still think about him constantly and feel very much in love. I keep waiting for the exciting newness of it all to wear off, but it just hasn't yet. Maybe after we've spent a whole year of holidays and stuff married, then it won't all feel so new and exciting. I'm pretty skeptical about that though. It still amazes both of us every day that we can spend so much time together and not get sick of one another. I think Andrew is the absolutely only person (definitely only boy) on Earth for whom that is true. After spending nearly every day together for what is just about 2 years now, I keep waiting to get sick of him, and I just haven't yet. Obviously, I hope it never happens, but I think at some point it's bound to right?

My new years resolution is to take more pictures, because we don't really have any at all since we've been married, and only a handful from our dating days. So for now that's all, and if I can dig up the camera I'll post some family and holiday pictures later on today. Like I said, I'll try to be better about pictures this year.

Four whole months...

So tomorrow Andrew and I will have been married for 4 months. November flew by, thank heavens, and in 10 days we'll both graduate from school. 10 days! I can't believe it! I thought we would never get to this point. For months we've been holding on for December, and now it's finally here! However, for the next 10 days Andrew remains a slave to school and work. So once again it's been a pretty boring month around here. It's been nice to change things up a little bit with some Christmas shopping and decorating. We spent Thanksgiving with my whole fam up in Woodruff this year, which is always awesome and a full house. We dropped by Park City on our way home that night for some quality midnight Black Friday shopping at J Crew, which happens to be our favorite store on Earth. Then we proceeded to stay up for another 5 hours to really get into the Black Friday spirit, eventually giving up on Target at 4 and crawling into bed until 1 PM. We put up our very first Christmas tree last week too! It's a sad little gangly thing, but it's completely perfect for our first tree in our tiny little house. We even got to hang up our ornament from our honeymoon in Disneyland! It's finally starting to feel like Christmas season! Tomorrow the sisters and I are getting together for a quality Christmas baking day! I'm trying to remember the positive events of the week, because our bishopric finally tracked us down and we're talking in church Sunday :( We've inadvertently been succeeding in flying under the radar at church because Andrew's 4's look like 9's and they've had the wrong phone number on our records since we moved into the ward haha. On top of that I have to give a presentation on measles on Thursday. Public speaking is not my forte. Especially not twice in one week. Especially not with my dear husband present on both occasions. Not excited...SO I'm holding on to the good things like Christmas trees, shopping, and baking day. And the fact that I, and my dear husband, graduate in 10 days. :) Here's some pictures of our cute little tree and some random photos my sweet husband took, perhaps to convince me that I should do my hair and get dressed at some point during the day, or maybe because I'm a freakin good cook. 

3 Months...

As of Sunday, November 7th, we have been married 3 months. In a way it feels like time has flown by and feels like we just got married, and in another way it feels like we've always been married and I can't imagine anything else. As of now I love being married. It's fun to just sit and do nothing at night together. It's fun being married and still having one last class together that will finish our undergrad careers. At the same time, it's been a really hard few months, as I've been trying to find a job in a terrible economy, and Andrew has been working, going to school, and doing homework for the last 3 months straight. It's been tough and disheartening, but we know that in December it will finally end. We'll both have finished 2 undergrad degrees each, and Andrew will finally be able to breathe. Andrew will start a new full-time awesome job, although we aren't sure which of the 3 he's been offered that he will end up with in the end. In addition, it's possible that I could finally have a job really really soon. It's still up in the air, but at least there's a tiny bit of hope left in the world, because MAN AM I SICK OF BEING HOME. I feel like I've been given back all the spare time that I never had in the past 5 years. By the end of those years, I was feeling pretty broken and exhausted in every way possible, and it really has been some much needed down time. I've filled it will learning to cook, and more recently learning to coupon. I actually really like to do both at this point, and it's not bad being a stay at home wife, although it's pretty boring and pointless if you don't have children to occupy your time, and that's not changing anytime in the near future.

We have found time to do a few fun things in between the madness of the past few months. We spent our honeymoon in California at Disneyland and baseball games, and it couldn't have been more perfect or fun. We loved it, and I'm wanting to go back already. In September, on what happened to be our 1 month anniversary, we headed down to St. George for some camping in 105 degree heat. Not the most brilliant planning on our part, but we had fun anyways. We made our way over to Vegas for a night as well, and had dinner at one of our favorite places, Dick's Last Resort. My feet were massively blistered by the end, from walking so much, but as always Vegas was fun for a day...and about a day only. At the end of October, Andrew left on a fishing trip, and left me alone for the weekend for the first time since we've been married. It ended up not being a big deal in the end, because I spent a full day shopping and having dinner with all the girls, and was only bored for a few hours on Sunday before he came home. I was pretty sure when he came home though that he was rethinking bachelorhood and the things he missed about being with boys all the time.

Other than that, there's not a whole lot going on around here. Work and school with football on the weekends. We've gotten through weeks by living for Ute football on the weekends. It's been a really fun season up until the TCU game last Saturday. We were all so excited, and our hopes and dreams fell a little short that day. Every player was having a bad game, and in the end we were lucky to score a touchdown and keep from having it become a complete blowout. But, ya win some, ya lose some, and the Utes will win another day. It does make me feel better that BYU has had such an atrocious season though, so that regardless of how terrible we played against TCU, we're still better than BYU this year.

Now I'm off to run errands, write a paper and make dinner. Andrew's at work and then has homework. It's a typical day for us. We're just living for December and enjoying being married....

The day I sabotaged Andrew's proposal...

I have an insomnia problem. I got it from my mother. Of that I am CERTAIN. Most nights it's manageable, but when I have a lot on my mind it's almost impossible to sleep. Tonight, I have a lot on my mind, and thus a blog is born. So as it's 5 AM and I to my chagrin I am STILL awake, I thought I would throw down a few more memories before they disappear into the fog of forgetfulness.

Last March, Andrew and I took a trip to Honolulu, Hawaii. Technically, we were supposed to go with Erin and Jeremiah, but the wonder couple who had been together for a million years, broke up prior to our trip. I would have been mad, except that who could complain about spending a week in paradise alone with the person you love. So, it ended up being Andrew and I in Hawaii. By the time we left, we had solidified the fact that we were going to get married at some point in the near distant future. We'd even picked out the ring (and yes I mean WE not HE). I knew he had it, and I figured that he was just waiting for the perfect time in paradise to pop the question.

We had a perfect week. Lots of lying on the beach and relaxing. We visited the Dole pineapple plantation (twice actually). We spent some time at North Shore. We spent a day at the Polynesian Cultural Center and went to the luau and a show.  We ever spent a day driving around the whole island and stopping at random places. It was just what we needed. But after walks on the beach at sunset and lying on the beach and watching the stars, still no proposal.

So the day before we were to head home came, and what does Andrew want to do?? Hike all the way up freakin' Diamond Head. Not only was the heat uncomfortable in the middle of the day, but he wants to hike straight up a big giant freakin' mountain in it. Aside from that, I have a little asthma problem. It's no biggie. The only time it is EVER a problem is when I decide to hike straight up to the summits of mountains. I'm not kidding. And the ONLY time I ever hike up summits and have asthma attacks is when dear sweet Andrew FORCES me to. It's happened MORE THAN a couple times in the past...and as chance would have it, I hadn't brought my inhaler with me across the Pacific....  So....was I excited to hike up the gigantic mountain that towers over the island in the middle of a sweltering day, on what was to be our LAST day on the island WITH NO INHALER?? The day I had planned to relax and lay scantily clothed on the beach for the entire day??? No. No, I was NOT excited. Andrew knew that, and yet he persisted to convince me to climb the freakin' mountain. In my mind I knew that there was a chance my sweet boyfriend would become my fiance on top of that little mountain, and that was the reason I put on my hiking shoes and got in the car, trying to be a good sport, regardless of how loud I was screaming on the inside.

We got in the car, and Andrew put the car in reverse.... and that was the point where I snapped. I couldn't do it. I just couldn't. Not even if chances were that that was where I would finally get my fiance after weeks of waiting. I just couldn't get my mind past the horrible reality that was climbing that freakin' mountain in the heat with no inhaler ON MY LAST DAY IN HAWAII!!! Instead, and to Andrew's disappointment, we spent the day on the beach, just where I had wanted to be all along. He's a good man. Really he is.

BUT I got what I deserved. The next day we left for reality. And my boyfriend went home my boyfriend. And he went home with my ring after a week of carrying it around the island. I deserved it. I know I deserved it. And I promised about 15 million times that the next time we go back I'll clime the freakin' mountain.

I've been thinking about this particular memory, because we just made plans for going back next August and I just know he's going to make me clime it. I JUST KNOW IT. Almost a year later, and I STILL don't want to, Guilt and all. But he's a good man so I'll do it. He's a good man, so he'll pack 2 extra inhalers just so I can't get out of it. I'll do it 'cuz I love him, but at no point did I say I won't complain about it painstakingly until next August AFTER we reach the top.

Here's some pictures from our trip that we didn't spend climbing Diamond Head.

It never should have happened...

Andrew and I never should have ended up together, not in a million years. It's a monumental feat that we even became friends, because Andrew did everything possible to make me hate him. We are the 2 absolutely most stubborn people on the face of the planet, and there's a million and 1 reasons that things never should have ended up the way that they did. But obviously they did. I thought I'd take this opportunity to tell a very SMALL portion of that very long and frustrating story that was our dating life. THIS WILL BE A VERY LONG POST, I'm sorry and hope you have better things to do than read this post...

It was sophomore year of college. Andrew and I each had a best friend. I had Erin, and Andrew had Jeremiah. Those best friends of ours happened to be boyfriend and girlfriend, and Jeremiah and Andrew also happened to live together. For about a 6 month period, Erin tried to bring Andrew and I together. Her reasoning for this, was simply the fact that she loved both of us, and that we were the only mormon friends that she had. So obviously since we were both single and mormon, it was the right thing to do. Nothing else really mattered in the larger scheme of things. As I said earlier, Andrew and I are the 2 most stubborn people on the planet and there is nothing in the world this applies to more than to dating. Being set up was the most off the table option that ever existed. Neither one of us would have anything to do with it. So, Erin did what Erin does best, and engineered a situation in which we were bound to meet. It happened to be a concert on the Union lawn at the U. To say things between us started a little icy would be an understatement. To say that I thought Andrew was a jerk is an understatement. To say that I wanted to kill Erin would be the understatement of the century and oh did I let her know it. He wasn't rude or anything. He just wasn't anything. Literally, he just stood there the whole time at the concert not saying anything at all and making the situation oh so very awkward. Eventually I caved and took off to spend the rest of the concert crowd surfing and falling into the arms of Roberto Telford (the 1 single other sole from my high school to attend the U), and then taking off with other friends. Needless to say I didn't think about Andrew and certainly had nothing to do with him.

Part 2 took place the next semester, when horrible, punishing fate would throw us into the same Intro to Economics class. That class changed the course of my life, as it was the deciding factor in throwing my nursing carrier and then my business career out the window in exchange for my new found love of graphs, models, and everything else Economics. Funny, how I ended up majoring in something that I kid you not, I had no idea what the definition of was until I was at least 19 and a sophomore in college. Seriously. The things you DON'T learn in high school. Anyway, it was a huge amphitheater class, and Andrew and I made VERY sure to sit on opposite side of the room with a minimum of 40 people between us. It really bugged me though, that he didn't want to sit by me, when we very obviously and awkwardly knew each other. It bugged me that he didn't care that we weren't friends. I was allowed not to care, but he wasn't. Plus there's the fact that he's seriously hot. That didn't hurt. So one day, I got to class early, and sat on the side of the theatre that he always sat in, just to see what he'd do and to see if the avoidance was all in my head. I sat on the row that he always sat in too. And what does he do? He goes and sits on the other side of the room. Seriously! So that was the end of that. I was done. It didn't help that we got put in the same discussion group and ended up ignoring each other though that much smaller class as well. Thus, my decision to classify Andrew as a jerk was feeling pretty final.

However, fate wasn't done yet, and it just so happened that the very next semester we ended up in Health Economics together. Seriously. I actually considered switching classes because I had had it with the awkwardness, but I loved the professor and Health Economics was precisely what I wanted to do with my life. Thus, I accepted that it would be another semester of pure-cut it with a knife-awkwardness, and that was how it began. However, it actually got worse. You see, Erin made dinner one night, and Jeremiah, Andrew, and their roommate/best friend Camden came over and we had a little dinner party. It was a pretty awkward situation, in which Andrew and Camden kept playing this game on Andrew's iphone over and over. We had a conversation about it, and I ended up playing with Cam all evening on Andrew's phone. Andrew of course, said about 3 sentences, while Cam and I talked a lot, but it was an improvement. So, I walked in to class a couple days later and took a seat next to him. I said hi. He said hi back, and then proceeded to play on his iphone and pretend that I didn't exist. Seriously! I again said to heck with it, and ignored him back, going back to sitting a safe distance away the next class. Well, chance would have it that Erin and I ended up at Jeremiah's house a few days later. I was only willing to go because Cam and Jeremiah were there, and I didn't figure Andrew into the equation at all. Andrew and I sat on different couches all night, and pretended not to notice the other existed. Then as chance would have it Andrew got into a conversation with one of the other roommates about class or our teacher or something and asked what my take was on it...or something to that effect...the important thing was that Andrew and I ended up having a whole conversation about economics and other nerdy junk. Well, he wasn't such a jerk when he decided to actually talk, which was rare in my experience.  and I again talked about Economics stuff and had a long conversation about the MHA program and double majoring. However, come class time, it's ice cold Andrew all over again. Rinse and repeat, weekend talk followed by jackhole of the century. About this time, Erin and I were talking about Spring Break plans. Erin, Jeremiah, and Andrew had all gone to Montana together the previous break, and we decided the perfect thing to do would be for the 4 of us to go somewhere for break. This could obviously only happen if Andrew and I could stand each other long enough to spend a week together. Why would I ever agree to this plan when I thought Andrew was such a tool?? Because I like to win things. I'm stubborn to the core and dag-nab it I was going to make this boy like me, just so that I could give him the cold shoulder afterward!

THAT was when I made the decision that I was going to make this boy be friends with me if it was the last thing I did. Not because of spring break, but simply because he was making it so freaking difficult and I just couldn't for the life of me figure him out. So, one day as we were leaving class, I caught up to him and feigned concern about classes that I'd just signed up for (or something equally stupid related to school...fuzzy). He talked to me and walked with me all the way to my next class. Our next class, I sat by him and picked up the conversation with the decision I had made about my classes and what not. Again he walked me to class. This started a cycle, and for the next couple months we sat together and he walked me to class afterwards.

If a picture says a thousand words...this was the physical awkwardness that was mine and Andrew's friendship....
this was the day we left for spring break

Spring break came, and the 4 of us headed to southern Utah for some camping and relaxing in Las Vegas. This was the trip on which I learned that at times you couldn't shut Andrew up, and other times he was happy to just be a silent member of the conversation. We did some hiking and golfing (which Andrew LOVES and I HATE) and following golf we opted to go see a movie. That was the night I saw the worst movie I've ever seen to this very day. It was called "The Wrestler", and Jeremiah and Andrew picked it. It was about a washed up WWF wrestler and was absolutely horrible. I'm sorry, but no movie should be made where people staple each other in a ring. HORRIBLE. Well Jeremiah and Erin ended up getting in HUGE fight because of the movie, and Erin told him she wanted to break up.

That night, Erin and Jeremiah spent about 3 hours yelling at each other in our tent. Andrew and I were stuck outside and with nothing else to do, we opted for some card playing and conversation meant simply to drown out the yelling so we wouldn't feel so much like intruders in their conversation. After a few games of war, we left camp to give them some privacy and climbed a huge bolder a little ways away from camp. For the next few hours, into the wee hours of the morning, we laid on the top on the boulder and talked under the stars. That was our first night we ever spent just the 2 of us, and it turns out Andrew was pretty awesome when he wasn't being a total douche bag. We buddied up for the rest of the trip, and talked a lot. Especially for a few awkward days spent in Las Vegas as house guests in a very uncomfortable and unmormon house of college boys. We were really glad to have each other at that point.

We eventually made it back home, and the following night I texted Andrew with some kind of excuse that I think had something to do with me owing him cobbler and ended up with us watching movies.  .

This is my favorite picture of Andrew from our spring break trip. It shows his utter nerdiness that is one of my all time favorite qualities that he possesses. <3 (In case you're wondering what the heck he's done...because I sure was....he's impersonating Will Farrell in "Talladega Nights". Nerd.) 

From that night on, Andrew and I were either together, or having one gigantic months long text-message conversation in between. I had succeeded. As I always do, and Andrew and I ended up as best friends. But to say that it was like pulling teeth and that it never should have happened is the understatement of the year...

Of all the things...

Out of everything that I've had to adjust to with marriage, I think the biggest pill to swallow has been my new name. You see, Megan Ann Cox was such a very short and easy name. Never misspelled or mispronounced. Sure, you get the occasional immature giggle at the name Cox, but ultimately I didn't mind. My entire name...11 letters long. 4 syllables. Easy. Now though, my new last name is GRANDEMANGE...11 letters long on its own. 3 syllables all of its own. It's a beast. and OH DO PEOPLE SAY IT WRONG...and spell it...NOT ON YOUR LIFE. Not only do I have to spell it for people an average of 3 times, but in fact, when I write it, I still have to double check that I, myself, spelled it correctly. But, 3 months later I think I've final accepted it. I've grown to not only accept it, but I'm...starting...to maybe even like it. Starting. Plus, it's a really good conversation starter. Oh have there been weird conversation since I became a Grandemange!! It's French, don't you know. And it means "Big Eater", which I think is the source of my complete certainty that our children will be exceptionally obese.

Before Andrew and I were dating, we were friends, and I used to tell him that he was lucky because he would always know that the girl who married him loved him, because no girl would be willing to take that name for anything less than true love. Later when we were engaged I told him I was thinking I would just keep my last name. I mean seriously!! My name nearly freakin' doubled in length!  I was half kidding when I told him, but he turned and looked at me as serious as I've ever seen him and simply said "that would make me really, really sad". That was the moment I began breaking myself into the thinking that Grandemange would be my last name for the rest of my life. and nearly a year later, I've finally accepted it, and as I said before, I'm starting...to actually like it. And at least he'll always know that I obviously really really love him.