DINKs

I've known the term DINK (dual income, no kids) for quite some time, but I guess I never really thought of it as something to describe James and I. Maybe because we're young or maybe because there's a posibility of us having kid (yes, singular). But the truth of the matter is, we're in our late 20s, we both (some of us more than others [; ) have paying jobs, and we've been married for (23 days shy of) 5 years. We are DINKs.

So I recently joined a site called DINKlife, and while I'm not fully active and engaged, I am at least reading the reports of active discussions coming into my email. One of today's top forums is "What do you say when someone asks you when you're going to have kids?" My dad has a good response to this when people ask when they're going to be grandparents - he tells them that only old people are grandparents - but I don't have a good retort. I typically say "We'll talk about it when I'm 30." But I may adopt some of these...

"We tried to raise some plants, but they died, so we didn't think it was a good idea to move on to something more difficult."

"Who knows, but we are having fun practicing!"

"Oh? Is there a shortage of children somewhere?"

"We don't have the budget for it. We've maxed it out on airline tickets."

"Why do you want to know?"

Flank Steak & Cheese Sauce

In July, we went to St. Maarten with my dear college friend, Melissa, and her husband, Mark. We stayed on the Dutch side by Cupecoy, which is very near the French border on the opposite side of the island from the cruise ships (good choice!). On our first full day, we were headed on a drive around the 37-square-mile island when we came to Grand Case, which is supposed to have the best authentic French food on the island. It was just lunch time so we weren't scoping full meals (except James, who is, of course, always hungry) but we scored front-row beach chairs at a nice looking restaurant on the water. It was the perfect place for sun, a dip in the clear blue bay, Carib beer and flank steak.

Wait, flank steak?

Yes. As we're all munching light snacks in the 85+ heat and humidity, James ordered an all-out meal: baguettes, flank steak, noodles, cheese sauce (now that I'm thinking about it, I hope there was a vegetable in there somewhere). To this moment, James will swear it was the best thing he ever ate. He even made us go back another day, but that's another story.

The whole point of all of this is that James has developed an obsession with flank steak and cheese sauce. So one Friday after work, I was feeling adventurous and incredibly nice, so I asked James to join me at Your DeKalb Farmers Market (love!) to pick up the fixings for his favorite meal. I took some creative liberties with the help of Bon Appetit and its Filet Mignon with Gorgonzola Sauce, and we had an absolutely phenomenal meal. While it was not authentic to whatever deliciousness we had in St. Maarten, the cheese sauce was to die for. The mushrooms added a little extra flavor and the chipotles gave the tiniest hit of heat at the finish. We rounded out the meal with non-descript grilled asparagus and warm bread, but the star of the sides was a Wild Arugula Salad with Garlic Croutons, Shaved Parmesan and Lemon. Even James thought was delicious, and he normally avoids arugula like the plague. It was light & fresh, and the dressing was the perfect complement to the parmesan. We also snagged a yummy, under-$10 bottle of Mouton Cadet Bordeaux, which we will pick up again. There were even leftovers for the next day, though I will caution that the fat in the cheese sauce nicely separates from the cheese sauce upon reheating, which could be a good or a bad thing.

Overall, it was a wildly successful adventure and it's re-ignited my desire to cook. Watch for more yummy dishes coming soon!

Smelling the Proverbial Roses

Last night, Ryan, James & I were debating the attributes and design of BMWs versus Mercedes - the former being Ryan's mode of transportation and the latter mine. This conversation had followed a discussion of how unfortunate it was that Ryan's parents no longer stock their refrigerator with Dom.

What happened to me?

Once upon a time, I was a small town girl growing up in a family where money was tight. I lived in hand-me-downs, and my dad worked two jobs for most of my childhood so we'd have enough money to do fun things like play softball or take our now infamous educational vacations. We drove modest cars, shopped at discount stores and rarely went out to eat without a coupon. And I didn't have any less happy of a childhood for any of this.

Now I wouldn't buy a house without granite, hardwoods and stainless steel appliances, and I HAD to install crown molding because who the heck built a condo without it? When it came time to replace my car, I didn't look at anything other than Mercedes, and my handbags have to have a designer tag. James & I think it's acceptable to go out for dinners with price tags at which my mother and father balk.

How, and when, did I become this way?

I'm still painfully proud of where I came from -- but it wasn't a good enough place to stay. I listen to country music about simple lives in small towns, and while it touches a cord in me, it does not portray who I actually am today. After working so hard to stop being so judgmental and be a better, more genuine person, I think I've lost hold of those attributes. Instead, I feel like I've gotten caught up in the drama, the city, the competitive young professional circuit... and in the process, I'm forgetting the important things in my life.

I've regained my focus on my marriage, which had been suffering until last fall but is now stronger than it's ever been. I should take it as a lesson learned that progress can be made, but it will take time and effort. I want to focus on my friendships, exploring the history & culture of Georgia, going outdoors, reading books and reigniting the passion I used to have about so many things and people in my life. I want to rediscover the hobbies I used to have and find new ones, new interests and new people.

There is so much to love, enjoy and explore as we travel through our lives, and you don’t have to be driving a luxury car to get there.

Day 16 – Your first kiss

I plead the fifth. It wasn't with DH, so I don't care to re-hash.

Instead, I want to say how wonderful my husband is.... I love you, boo!

 

Georgia Tech Football: Whiteout vs. Miami - September 2009

 

Oysterfest 2010

 

Hoover Dam - Feb. 2010

NYC - June 2010

Destin, Fla. - July 2010

August 2010

Auburn beats Alabama - November 2010

Park Tavern -  December 2010

First Anniversary, August 2008

Mini-honeymoon, September 2007

August 25, 2007

 

Georgia Tech - September 2009

Bienvenue vers Paris!

Sooo... DH & I are headed to Paris!

I have to go for work Monday through Wednesday, so I thought I'd tag on a weekend before and half a day Thursday to explore the city since I've never been. I looked into how much it would cost for James to go, but $1,600 for a coach ticket was feeling unrealistic -- that's one whole class + books (is it sad I think of money in terms of grad school costs?).

Low and behold, a simple mention of my skepticism in front of my dear FIL resulted in the donation of Delta Sky Miles and therefore -- a trip to Paris for James & I. Best part? It's two days after our third anniversary. Perfect, right?

I'm trying to plan out what we're doing, but I am so overwhelmed, I just want to see it all! These places are on our must-see list (when I say ours, I mean mine ;):

- Champs-Elysees
- Eiffel Tower
- Arc de Triomphe
- Harley Davidson (for my uncle)
- Le Moulin Rouge (maybe? I'm not a huge fan of the movie, and it's kind of far out. Is it worth it?)
- Hermes at 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré - this is one of the most fashionable streets in the city; it's also home to French Vogue!
- Laduree at 16 Rue Royale for Macarons
- The original Chanel location at 31 Rue Cambon
- Avenue Montaigne - for shopping!
- Hotel de Ville
- Place Vendôme
- Place de la Concorde
- Église de la Madeleine
- Elysee Palace
- Louvre Museum
- Musée d'Orsay
- Abbaye de Saint-Germain-des-Prés
- Stanbridge, the maker of wonderful men's shirts (www.stanbridge.fr)
- Sainte-Chapelle
- Notre Dame
- Panthéon
- Catacombs
- Place des Vosges
- Place des Bastille
- Statues of Liberty on Île des Cygnes and in Jardin du Luxembourg
- Sainte-Chapelle
- Les Invalides
- Palais des Tuileries (Tuileries Palace)
- Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, Paris(Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Paris)
- Palace of Versailles
- Conciergerie

I think we can hit most of these along the Axe Historique. Anything we're missing?

Weekends are NEVER long enough

I've been meaning to post this since Sunday, but marathon study sessions for today's accounting test took precedence, unfortunately. Fortunately, the test was tonight, and despite the fact that I slept for just over an hour last night, gave myself a tension headache from clenching my jaw all day today and nearly had a panic attack before the test... I think it went well!

I don't know what my deal was with this test -- I've never been one to have test anxiety, but wow! Today was the prime example of why I'm glad it's been an experience I've lived without for 24 years. I think I'm still apprehensive after I had trouble in finance, but I must persevere! :) I realized today that I have TWENTY FIVE months until I'm done with school. GAG. All I know is that I'm going to have one heck of a shindig when I'm done. I didn't make a big deal of anything when I graduated from undergrad, so I'm going all out...in 2011. Save the date!

At any rate, James & I had a fabulous, albeit uneventful, weekend. We're members at the High Museum here in Atlanta, and once a month they have Friday Jazz, so we headed off for a nice, relaxing evening. It's a little loud and crowded downstairs, but we found that if you go up and browse the galleries or sit in the upstairs lounges, it's much more enjoyable. Monet's Water Lilies are there right now, so we checked them out, though I saw them in Cleveland with a much larger collection of his work. I was disappointed -- for this being the High's big exhibit -- 3 paintings + three Water Lilies panels was disappointing. Cleveland did better than that, even while they were under renovation! We liked the Terracotta Warriors better.

And speaking of Terracotta Warriors... General Tso has moved into our apartment. We went to see that exhibit three different times because it was just so interesting, and more than once we had to resist dropping a couple thou on a four foot tall, hand-made replica warrior. They were awesome. So when we dropped into the gift shop on Friday and saw this nifty little 20-inch version for a tiny fraction of the price, we could.not.resist. He lives on our bar for now, but I need to find him a better home... in my free time.

Anyway, that's all for tonight -- sleep is calling! G'night.

UPDATE: Recycling: it's so hot right now

We're full-swing into recycling over here at the McBride household:

You can't see them all, but I have four bins stacked in the corner of the balcony -- one each for paper, glass, cans and plastic. This small effort and investment has already cut our waste down from two to three bags per week to one every week to 10 days. It'd be even better if I had a bin for cardboard, but it's only recommended to stack four, and I couldn't reach if I had another one on top, anyway. I just need to find a place to stash one more bin, and we'll be all set! :)

Recycling: it's so hot right now

I intended to post this in honor of Earth Day, but a final and two group projects followed by one gloriously sunny three-day weekend got in the way of even my best-laid plans...

At any rate, my most recent purchase is super exciting: four 14-gallon stackable recycling bins! Despite the fact that it took me two trips to fit all four in my car, they're definitely one of the best purchases I've made in a long time. I've been wanting to recycle since I moved down here, but I never had a) bins b) somewhere to put the bins c) someone to take the bins d) somewhere to take the bins.

After much searching, I've found somewhere to take my goodies AND coerced James and the big white bus to take them. But the hardest part was the bins -- I'm sure I could have found some or just used some kind of plastic storage container, but the challenge is finding the space to keep four to five of them. My dad built a handy dandy rack at the old house and now has brackets on the wall at the new house. Unfortunately, we have neither the interior space to do this, nor the exterior walls that can take nails (stucco and hardy plank are HARD).

Then, one day, at the store at work -- there they were! Beautiful green and black recycle bins with lids, that stack!. Now we're the proud owners of four neat, clean, stacked bins for paper, glass, plastic and cans. Call me a nerd, but it makes me feel a lot better to know all that garbage isn't going into the compacter each week! :)

Gar, Babies!

A couple years ago, I wrote a blog titled "Say NO to Kids." It detailed all the reasons my 21-year-old head could come up with about why I didn't, don't and won't want kids. My explanations fell into categories ranging from disinterest to vanity, and none of them were particularly impressive.

Fast forward two years. I've been married for 16 months, which is just long enough for people to stop asking me, "So, how's married life?" There should be a news bulletin about how much newlyweds HATE that question. Especially me. That question brought on a harsh reality check every time someone said those four words with a sweet smile on their face. The truth was, I's moved 800 miles away from the only life I've ever known, I had no friends, no job, I missed my family terribly and I'd found that living with my husband was very, very different from visiting every few months. But who the heck wants to hear that? Instead, I became very well-versed in "Oh, it's great! It's an adventure, but I love it!" ::Cue cheesy smile::

So we've moved past that. I've made friends, started my own company, am going back to school and have learned enough about life here that I'm surviving. James even learned to (sort-of) help around the house. Slowly but surely, I see the, "So, when are you having kids?" question beginning to creep into my life. Thankfully, my friends from Ohio know me well enough to laugh that thought right out of their heads. As for everyone else, well, the sugar coating has apparently been sucked clean off this newlywed. I have started laughing, albeit polite laughter, when someone asks me about children. Then I tell them to ask me again in seven years.

When a friend told me that James and I needed to get busy so we could be pregnant together?

Seven years.

When my sister-in-law said she wanted a niece or nephew?

Seven years. Or find a new brother.

I suppose I don't mind that people ask, because I recognize that I'm definitely in the minority with my lack of interest in children. I thought that maybe as I get older, I'll become more interested, but it's not happening. As I hear/read/see more and therefore have a more realistic view of pregnancy and life with a child, I'm even less interested, if anything.

(Thankfully, I have extraordinarily unusual parents and in-laws, who all whole-heartedly support w.a.i.t.i.n.g. I don't know if they'll be as patient in a few years, but for now, at least they don't particularly care.)

What has changed is the fact that I now realize things may be different down the road. I know that there is the possibility that we may decide that it's time to grow our family. In fact, James and I have actually had conversations about babies (Ok, maybe not real conversations, just about how I want to be able to pick what my child looks like. I I want him/her to look like James. Seriously, he and his sister were the most precious children ever, and they grew up into lovely adults, as well.). So while we're not ready now, the point is that we're making progress. We know it's a possibility, and we know that it's up to US and when WE're ready, not when everyone else wants it to happen.

But I'm still Saying NO to Kids... for now.