4 Years Today

Some of our many selfies together, at various degrees of hairy and adorned with an exciting array of spectacles

Today, you and I have been together for four life-changing years, and exactly 5 months from now, we will be married.

Yay us!

Darling, I am constantly amazed at what we've been through over the last several years, since the first moment I opened that loooooooooong Facebook message you (my dear friend) had bravely composed, divulging the depth of your feelings for me. The decision to leave our strong friendship behind and move forward into romance was something out of a song. I'm thankful every day that when you asked, I said yes. (Twice!)

I marvel at the amazing things we've celebrated, the difficult times we've pulled ourselves out of, and the day-to-day normalcy that is the foundation of our simple, happy, bickering, smoochy, animal-hair-filled, human life together.

We aren't perfect, and darling, I wouldn't want to be, because those people are so boring. You know me at my best, but still love me at my worst, and the latter is what's important. It has kept us grounded. It is what keeps us checking our comfort at the door, and continuing to build a stronger love, a more beautiful place in this world that we can share, and into which we will grow.

Jonathan: I shudder to think of my world without your kisses, your stupid jokes, your beard, your wicked smart brain, your warmth. I love you, every day, and cannot wait to be your wife.

xx
s

Food Friday: Big-Ass Sandwiches | The Richwich

The last four months have passed so fast, it's a blur. A mix of business and boredom, travel and stasis... I'm just now re-acclimating my brain and body to healthy thinking, movement, rest. I've been awful at updating even though I've had loads to write about.

To make up for it, I'm bringing you a peace-offering: a sandwich so comfort-food-delicious, its innards filled with roast beef, bacon, grilled onions, Bechamel cheese, habanero sauce, and overflowing with salty french fries, I'm having a hard time even looking at this picture and not throwing all my diet resolutions out the window. See that gooeyness taking up 70% of the sandwich insides? Yeah, that's Bechamel-drenched-but-still-crunchy french fries. I know. Take a breath; it's going to be okay.

This is the Richwich from Big-Ass Sandwiches food truck in Portland, Oregon, voted the #1 Sandwich in the Northwest by Travel Channel when they featured it on "Best Sandwich in America." Adam Richman ate this sandwich on television and I vowed to one day try it for myself.

Just after New Years, Jonathan and I found ourselves in Portland for our dear friends' wedding, and it seemed like the perfect excuse to eat everything we could. Big-Ass Sandwiches was our last stop of the trip. With a half-growler of cider, we braved freezing temperatures and sat at a picnic table next to the food truck, shamelessly shoving salty sandwich simplicity down our gullets. Looking at the ingredient list, it may not seem all that simple, but it is. It's the Every Man's sandwich, the sandwich for the picky-eater. I have a hard time imagining anyone who eats meat NOT loving this sandwich.

My only regret is splitting the damn thing with Jonathan. If you go, get your own -- just don't eat anything beforehand.


* Image property of The Sleepy Peach