A Rose By Any Other Name...

So this morning I found myself killing time on the Social Security Administration website.  I finally got my hands on our marriage certificate (for some reason, the state of Virginia does not automatically send out one's marriage certificate, unlike most other states I've heard about) and it's time to start the whole name change process.  I'm dropping my middle name (I was given the same middle name as my godmother and while I appreciate and understand the significance, I've always hated it in combination with my first name), shoving my maiden name over to be my new middle name and taking the Mister's last name.

And did you know that the SSA keeps track of popular baby names?  The Mister & I are nowhere near close to having a little one, but I've always been fascinated by names.  I always thought my own name, Sarah, has been popular since the beginning of time.  But looking at the statistics over the last 100 years, while it mainly stayed in the top 100, it didn't really soar in popularity until the 80s when it jumped into the top 5 and stayed in the top 10 through the 90s.  But I guess my name is on the outs.

An interesting anecdote from the plane a few weeks ago:  A young mom was walking her infant up & down the aisle during the flight and I said hello to the baby because I have Baby Rabies and this is what I do.  The mom says, "This is Sarah!"  And I got confused, thinking maybe she read my name tag and was introducing me to her baby but then I said, "Oh, is HER name Sarah?  MY name is also Sarah!"  And she immediately says, "Do you love your name?"  And I was kind of taken aback and she continued, "Because we wanted to give our babies traditional names.  I'm a Rachel and my husband is Benjamin and we liked having traditional names but I worry she might hate it."

And I wasn't sure how to answer that question.  Because I like my name okay.  But as I was growing up, I always wished I had a more unique name.  My sister's name is much less common than my name and, in fact, has never reached the top 100.  There wasn't another kid at our school with her name.  Whereas for me, there was always at least one other Sarah in my class and one year on my softball team we had Sarah A., Sarah B., two Sarah Cs and a Sarah D.  It was ridiculous!  And I hated always having to be Sarah B. on all of my homework.  So while I didn't exactly hate my name, I always wished I had a name that was a little less popular.

Of course, I didn't say this to the new mom because, really, what is she going to do?  Change the kid's name?  I just said, "I like traditional names too because I could always find personalized pencils and whatnot and I didn't really have to tell anyone how to pronounce it or how to spell it."  Besides, with Sarah on the outs, it's always possible that this little girl, unlike say, a Sophia, will be the only one in her class.

As for the weirdest trend...I just do not understand how this is a thing.

Nevaeh is "heaven" spelled backwards.  And it beat out my name for the LAST THREE YEARS.  Seriously?

If you are also fascinated by the trends in baby names, you can access the database here:  SSA Popular Baby Names.  Also, does anyone else out there find boy names to be kind of difficult & also boring?  Because I find myself waaaaay more interested in girl names.

Crossin' Things Offa Mah List

So I've been diligently/half-assedly attempting to cross things off my 30-Before-30 list for the last few months.  I haven't even STARTED the one where I wanted to read 25 books & instead keep filling my Nook with a bunch of Eloisa James Regency Romance novels.  Don't judge.

I DID pay off my consumer credit debt, but then since I've been based in NYC I've had to put a few hotel rooms on my credit card and also a few things for the wedding so I've got to work on that again.  I could probably just ask the Mister for the money and pay it off again but sometimes I'm stubborn and I get all "I wanna do it myself!"  We'll see how that shakes out.

The whole "take at least one photo every day" was a little overambitious and I've sort of already failed at that.  I'm super jelly of people who are all into Instagram and have all these little moments documented for future perusal.  I could spin it like I'm SO into the moment as it happens that I don't want to step back to take a photo, but that's BS and we all know it.  I just don't have the thought until after.  Or I feel like an ass.

For Christmas, my mom gave me an herb garden starter kit, but I'm so clueless when it comes to plants that I didn't know when I was supposed to start it and now I feel like it is too late to start from seeds and I should just go to Home Depot & have them set me up but that would involve having to talk to people and have I ever mentioned that I hate talking to people sometimes?  Like, not just making polite conversation.  That's fine.  I mean like, walking into a place and being all, "Hello, I need assistance with this thing that you probably know a ton more about than I do."

Case in point, I've needed new running shoes for months now.  MONTHS.  And after the half-marathon, the Mister was all, "We are going to go the running store and they are going to fit you out."  I don't think he realizes sometimes a.) how picky I am and b.) how fussy my feet are.  And by that I mean, all shoes hurt my feet.  Seriously.  I have never worn a shoe that felt great for more than, say, fifteen minutes.  Maybe I just have super sensitive skin on my feet, but just about any shoe will rub my feet into blisters after half an hour.  Or if it doesn't rub, it feels too tight.  Or the shoe aggravates my Morton's Toe.  So yes.  We went to the running store.  And I tried on AT LEAST a dozen pairs of running shoes.  And they made me go outside and run in them.  And it was like Goldilocks.  This pair was too soft.  The pair was too firm.  This pair pinched my feet.  And finally I think I just got frustrated and picked a shoe, any shoe.  And it wasn't the correct choice.  They hurt the sides of my feet.  But I've worn them half a dozen times now and I'm not sure what the return policy is so I'm probably just going to keep them and continue wearing them because the alternative is going back into the store and doing it all over again and just no.

But!  There are some things that I've done!  Like joining a CSA!

Oh my gosh, you guys.  So many vegetables.  We kind of don't know what to do with it all and we feel bad because we keep ending up tossing a bunch of it on Tuesdays before the Mister has to go pick up the next box on Wednesday.  Sometimes we are really on our game, but then there were the weeks when the kept giving us giant yams, like, way too giant to just bake and by the time I thought about making them into gnocchi or something, they'd started to get all soft & weird.  So last week, in an attempt to not be wasteful, I decided to use our brand new food processor to shred up all the zucchini, thinking I'd make a loaf or two of zucchini bread.

The recipe I was going by called for three cups of zucchini.  I just sort of started shredding until the food processor bowl was full.  And that was only like 1/5 of the zucchini.  And it made something like 6 cups.  So then I was like, "Oh okay, I'll just shred up the rest and make more bread."  You guys.  I made TEN LOAVES of zucchini bread.  And 2 dozen zucchini muffins just for something different.  It took FIVE HOURS.  By the end of it, I had used up an entire container of cinnamon and I didn't ever want to look at another zucchini.  AND THEN THEY GAVE US MORE.  In hindsight, I still love the idea of the CSA as far as supporting a local farm and having delicious farm fresh produce.  But these boxes are too much for two people, especially since I have been flying so much because it is the summer and summer is the worst.

And because this entry is super light on photos, here is a photo of my mom & step-dad at Chatham Manor here in Fredericksburg.  My parents are super adorable.

My step-dad wanted them to pose with a canon but my mom was like, "I am not posing with a canon!"  So I told Mikey to pose with the canon by himself.

Adorable.

Three Weeks Post Wedding

Goooooooood morning!

Woah...time has just FLOWN by since the wedding!  I can't believe I haven't updated in so long!  Well, actually I can believe it because it is certainly not the first time.  But still.  Crazy!

As for the wedding, it went off without a hitch!  We had beautiful weather (although it was mighty hot under the pavilion during the reception!) with sunny skies and a cool breeze.  The ceremony was blessedly short, although there was a lot of "Repeat after me" which we weren't expecting and which got a wee bit ridiculous toward the end.  And the chaplain made me repeat the phrase, "You are the wind beneath my wings" to which I almost turned to him and said, "Seriously?  I am NOT saying that!"  But I said it anyway, haha!

But I know y'all are really here to see the photos!  And I would hate to disappoint!  We got a lot of photos from friends & family and a handful of "sneak peek" photos from our photographer, so this is a bit of a hodgepodge of all of that!  Enjoy!

I can't really say that life feels all that different as a Mrs instead of a Miss, but then, the Mister & I have been cohabitating for a little over a year now.  It still feels weird to call him my husband and it is especially weird to think of myself as a wife!  Am I even old enough to be someone's wife?  Says the girl turning 30 in 5 short months, haha!

Speaking of, I guess I can officially cross "get married" off my 30 Before 30 list!  I've crossed a few more things off the list in the last few weeks as well, but I'll save those for other entries!