the one about a pup named {Huck}

Elise Orlowski Photography

Three months ago, this little fella came into our lives. We have learned lots of things since getting our Olde English Bulldogge -- but here are 10 of the most important.

1. There's no time to {pee} like the present -- House-training puppies is not for the faint of heart. Waking up in the middle of the night, taking him out right after he wakes up (after napping approximately every single hour), learning that barking gleefully is actually a strangled cry for emergen-pee, stopping every conversation with house-guests 10 times per hour to let pup out, clean up pee, or exclaim, "PLEASE! NOOOOO! JUST HOLD IT....aw, dangit."...and clean it up all over again.  

2. One man's trash, another {canine's} treasure -- Toys are fun, bottles are significantly MORE fun. Probably because they seem like something forbidden to the little terror. At one point in young Huck's life, he was up to at least 5 different size plastic bottles scattered around the house. He continues to sneak into the pantry, steal bottles, and trot out like he has conquered his own personal Everest. 

3. Snoring with your eyes open confuses the humans -- So does grunting like a little piggy. 

4. Who's your Alpha? -- Playing Who's the Boss? with your 11 week old puppy is a lot less exciting than it seems and you find yourself googling Cesar Milan tips and pinning puppy training tricks for a solid couple of hours per week. Eventually, he looks at you with those sad puppy dog eyes and you have to pin him down in spite of yourself.   

Huck thinks he owns the place. Specifically, my cozy, birthday fort.

5. I found the friendly New Englanders -- Usually, Bostonians follow a strict, "Don't-Smile / Don't Wave" policy when walking down the street. But ever since we've gotten Huck, all of that has gone out the window. People smile, girls shriek, and everyone reaches out their hands for a pet, snuggle, and tummy-rub. It's the weirdest, most delightful way to make friends I've ever experienced. I'm savoring my pup-ularity for as long as it lasts. 

6. The Case of the Pink Sock -- Three days ago, I lost a pink sock. Today, we thought Huck vomited  up an internal organ. And then, we realized it looked remarkably like polyester. Five minutes after sanitizing the fake-organ, Huck pranced in the room with a blue sock in his mouth. We are currently accepting Sock-Rehab Center recommendations. 

7. No lap is too small for a ever-growing, snuggle-loving bulldog -- Huck's face describes exactly how you feel when your mother has the audacity to suggest you're getting too big for her lap. 

8. If you can take your baby, I can take my puppy -- I smuggled Huck into Target. There, I said it. No regrets. 

9. It Takes a Village -- Letting a dog out every four hours is HARD. How do people with normal jobs have puppies?!! Thank goodness for friends, college students, and neighbors who have a love for you (or maybe just your freckled-nose bullie) that is completely undeserved. 

10. Puppy Paws, Wiggle-Bottoms, and Sad Eyes -- It's been a tough few months for the Ghoman family, and although puppies don't make everything better - they certainly make most things better and all things more bearable. Thanks for making our hearts happy and our home more messy, Hucklebaby. We're glad we get to keep you. 

Fergie Medar Photography

xoxo

A+J

the one about our {second year}

Two years! Today marks two years married and I can't believe it. 

We just got back from vacationing in sunny and perfect Florida. For the first time ever, I'm fairly tan and for the millionth time ever - Jesse is incredibly dark. While we were there, we celebrated our anniversary at the Breakers Resort in Palm Beach. I can sum up the Breakers in one word and three syllables: AH-MAZ-ING. We turned off our phones and enjoyed the finer things in life - beautiful pools, delicious food, a TV inside the mirror of the bathroom (yes that's a thing, yes it's frivolous, and yes I want one). We are sooo thankful for friends with hotel discounts -- we had a wonderful time! 

The Breakers at night. Stunning!

Our view from the pool looking out onto the Atlantic.

My favorite thing about Year 2 as Mrs. Ghoman? Really and truly becoming best friends with my husband. That may sound weird but I mean it. Before we got married, I thought we were best friends - but to be honest - I was still probably closer to my mom  and bridesmaids than my spouse. After all, I knew my mom and my sister my ENTIRE life and my bridesmaids for years longer than I knew J.  That's a lot to compete with! During the first year we experienced so many transitions in life and in our new roles as husband and wife that it wasn't until this year that I could truly appreciate the friend I have in Jesse. Our friendship is in the little things: he pretends to love HGTV and Once Upon a Time and I respect his shark/whale/everything-animal obsession; we've created our own language of weird accents that we only use around each other (embarrassing, but true); we laugh a LOT and we comfort each other when we're sad; we have traditions and favorite meals/places/restaurants/movies; we know what the other person is feeling with fewer and fewer context clues AND we know how to help them through it; we don't just love each other -- we thoroughly and completely like each other. 

As I've considered this idea of friendship in marriage, I've thought a lot about the "profound mystery" that Paul describes in Ephesians 5. Paul talks about a man and his wife leaving their own families and "becoming one flesh" in their new family. I think this idea of becoming one isn't just something that happens instantaneously. Becoming one is a lifetime pursuit and process! We became a unit on August 12, 2012 when we said our vows before a barn-full of witnesses - but through God's grace we have the capacity to become even more unified with each passing day and year. What an incredible gift:)

So, here's to our second anniversary! I can't wait to see what Year 3 will bring. Thank you for following my journey as an incredibly imperfect wife and a grammatically woeful writer!

xoxo

A+J

{the one with the bad beach day}

First off, I want to thank everyone on the crazy encouraging feedback I received on my blog post last month! I can't tell you how much it meant to me to read your comments and hear your responses in person. It was honestly surprising to see how many others are thinking about health and fitness right now -  I guess we're all realizing that we're no longer 18-year-old's:) But this post is not about health - I'll save a follow-up post for another time. This post is about establishing family traditions. 

Or at least it was supposed to be.

When you first get married, people are always telling you that you need to establish familial habits. So you can imagine how great I've been feeling about our new, once-a-week beach and picnic tradition this summer. I mean, come on - that's a pretty awesome tradition. Especially when you add in the fact that I'm literally summer's BIGGEST fan after the winter we endured. 

Anyway, here we are on our third free Monday of the summer and we're looking up directions to a new beach, checking out the weather, and gearing up for another country music filled trip to the shore. I heard of a beach south of the city that seemed promising so we headed out the city, crossing our fingers for sunny skies and discussing our wonderful new tradition. To be honest, I was also imagining the yet-to-be-written, perfectly adorable, summery beach blog post complete with picnic advice and cute little couple photos. {I know, gag}

However, when we arrived, things didn't quite go according to my vision. The beach? Well, it wasn't really there. High tide removed almost all of the sand and left us with approximately 6 feet of rocky (and I mean ROCKY) shoreline. The sun was also hiding and it even felt a bit too chilly for bathing suits. My wonderful husband was starting losing faith in our plan. He suggested finding another beach or (gasp) going home. I, of course, refused to allow this perfectly perfect and quite bloggable moment to be thwarted by a lack of sand and sun. I even got offended that he would suggest abandoning the beach that I found (can you tell that my day was starting to go downhill?)!

I soldiered on and tried to lay out our beach blanket on the last sliver of sand. We sat down and began eating our packed lunches in a state of mounting tension. Before I could fully state my defense for the beach, the waves came up and we scrambled to get out of the way in time. Jesse started laughing hysterically at the sheer ridiculousness of our ill-fated beach day and encouraged me to give up and laugh it off too. And I wish I could say that I joined in and moved on - but we all know that a woman of my caliber of stubborness and complete lack of flexibility could do no such thing. While J surrendered to the picnic tables away from the beach, I defiantly put my towels on the rocks - yep the rocks - and laid down, bent on proving my point. Pretty soon after he walked away, I realized that my crazy had officially come out. I spent the remainder of my time at the beach praying and adjusting my attitude. 

Ah, traditions! So beautiful, aren't they? 

So anyway, I've been planning on telling you about our oh-so-cool beach tradition, but God had plans to humble me instead. And to be honest, I think my diva moment made for better post anyway. Sometimes I can get so caught up in the "perfect" day that I miss out on the entire point of such special times - who I'm spending my day with! So who cares if we didn't have a very instagrammable day? We laughed, we cried (ok, I cried), I learned a lesson, and we shared a strawberry frappe on the way home. 

It's the little things y'all:) 

By the time we left, the sand was finally starting to show :) Just our luck.

{the very first year}

It's hard to believe that it's been ONE WHOLE YEAR since I became Mrs. Alexandra Ghoman! I mean, really, how did that happen?!

Photo by Vanessa Embling

People say that your wedding day is the happiest/most perfect/most amazing day of your whole life. And well - it is pretty incredible:) But it's not quiteeee perfect. Case in point: I woke up that morning to a charlie horse in my right calf muscle freakishly early and screaming. How's that for birds chirping and waking you up with the morning's light? I look back on my wedding day and I love the way it was, the way it felt - from the beautiful barn that was ridiculously hot (ok, that I would change), to the parade of flower children that walked down the aisle, to the cookie and lemonade mini-reception, to the yard games next to the apple orchard, the personalized Jones' sodas made by mother-in-law, and the twinkle-light reception - it was an amazing day. When I planned my wedding, I didn't quite know what I wanted it to look like - that part came later - but I knew what I wanted it to feel like. I wanted it to feel like family. I wanted it to feel like a reunion. And it totally did. Every detail came from that desire - the location, the food, the decorations, the music, and so much more. 

But mostly, when I think about my wedding - it was a means to an end. That special day led me to become the wife of my favorite person on the planet. Before we met, I was terrified that I would never find someone like him. I was worried that all the righteous, attractive, and interesting people were married already (or definitely not interested in me) and that I would have to settle for a lesser candidate (optimistic, I know). But then - I met Jesse. And he was more than I could ever hope for. He still is. 

I know that many of the girls who read my blog are married (solidarity, sistah) -- but I'm also aware that many are not. Maybe you're still waiting for your prince. And allow me, on this one year of marriage to give you a little piece of advice: wait for the right person - not just a willing person. Marriage is too amazing, too crazy, and honestly too difficult to enter into it with anyone other than a spiritual man who really loves you as Jesus does.

As I look back on our first year of marriage, I'm pretty amazed by how far we've come. It's been a rollercoaster of emotions, adventures, and lessons that I wouldn't trade for anything. I feel so thankful for J and that he picked me to spend his life with. I also feel so grateful for all of you - my family and friends who have patiently given me advice, cheered me on, and made this first year even more fun (whether in person or through this blog)! I'm forever grateful.

A glimpse at our day for those of you who may have missed it:) Thanks to our dear friend, Jonny Havens, videographer extraordinaire for capturing it.

Here's to many more years and many more anniversaries! 

xoxo

A+J

the one where i said yes!

Once upon a time (March 25, 2012), my dreamboat of a half-Indian boyfriend proposed. And then he became my betrothed (I'm saying "betrothed' because I don't know how to do the accent on fiance...#embarrassing). And then we proceeded to have the fastest, craziest engagement known to man. And it was all delightful. 

Before we got engaged, I actually lost my mind. I was going crazy with the whole waiting game and did what any totally weird, former journalism major would do - I wrote about it. And now, for the first time ever, I share with you the inner-workings of my pre-engaged, desperate mind. Prepare yourselves. 

That moment when: Every casualhang-out becomes a question mark; you suddenly care how your nails look; youfind yourself opening a secret word document for wedding ideas.

That moment….is now.

Every call, every look, every changeof plans has become a massive conspiracy and a ruse for a pop-proposal. When,how and again...WHEN is he going to say those four magic words that are destinedto change my life for good?!

Don’t get me wrong – I’m glad that I’mthe girl who gets to relax, look pretty, and merely accept a diamond ring. Buthonestly, our gender was not designed for such a testing time period. SurelyGod meant for us to do the asking for the simple reasons that: 

a) we like toplan hospitable parties (especially of the engagement variety) 

b) pickingout our own jewelry is our fave.  

However,I suppose nothing can prepare a woman for submission like the mind-numbing(rather, mind-racing) process of pre-engagement. If I had a nickel for everytime I nearly mentioned the words,“marry,” “wedding,” engagement,” and “future child,” (just kidding on the lastone – gross), I could afford a much nicer wedding!

Alas, I sit here in anxious, happyanticipation. And by sit here I actually mean jog-in-place. Because after all,I’ve got to be hot for my big day.

And now that I've fully let you in to the inner-workings of my ridiculous mind - here are some photos from the day that I finally got to stop freaking out:) 

I love happy beginnings:) 

xoxo

A and J

six months.

Today marks six months married for J and I. I feel like we have packed more life into the last six months than I did in about 5 years put together. Marriage, thus far, has been a wild ride of new adventures, big victories, many mistakes, and a steady, ever-growing adoration for this one special person. Here are 12 things we've learned about marriage and each other...cause you know, we're experts now:)

1. We don't know anything about anything.

2. Combining two full-time incomes somehow means you have far less money than before.

3. The best cure to a hard day at work is anything on the HGTV network.

4. The gym is very far away (even when you find one nearby).

5. Whereas Jesse gets a second-wind at midnight, Alexandra turns into a glass-case of emotion.

6. Everything about our life looks cooler when Instagramed.

7. Target is our favorite place in the world.

8. We have great friends. Like really, really great friends.

9. We aren't ready to have babies but we do want a husky puppy.

10. Love and laughter are the perfect combination.

11.Traveling together is a blast but coming home is the best:) 

12. Our dreams are better when they match.

Thanks for coming along on this journey with us - here's to many more lessons and many more pictures to come:) 

A + J

the one behind the blog name

When I was 9 I planned my wedding inside out and up and down. But I could never quite picture the groom - What would he be like? What would he look like? What would be his favorite movie? His favorite band? What would his last name be? But now, having met the Mr. who made me a Mrs. I can honestly say that my groom is much more than I could have ever asked for. Alexandra truly loves Jesse - and I thought it only fitting that the inaugural post of A Loves J to say just that. So here's to the man who makes my life an adventure and who gives me the sweetest "good mornings" and the happiest "goodnights". I love you, J :)