'paper year' potluck

     instead of having a private dinner for our 1st anniversary (our civil ceremony in HaGersTown, mD took place on Feb. 11th last year), we wanted to share it with our friends + throw our first potluck in our STL home.  this past sat. night, we held the 'paper year' (paper is symbolic for the 1st year of marriage) theme for our celebration in our humble abode.  this would be our first 'real' party thrown together as a married couple and it would be the first major event where eLLie (our 6-month-old lab puppy) would be exposed to a bunch of strangers in our home.  we knew from the get-go that it was going to be pretty memorable.  our guests were only asked to bring a paper copy of their dish recipe to the potluck; but some brought additional cards and paper-based presents.  so thoughtful and cute!

in addition to our guests' dishes and desserts, M + i cooked-up appetizers, entrees and created a festive non-alcoholic punch.  with all the food we had, no one was hungry to the point, we sent food home with everyone that would take it.

     the guests consisted of friends from graduate school and church, of which many had never met each other.  the mix of people was amiable and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, especially when  M + i gave a rendition of 'thriller' from MichaeL jacKson's dance game on the Wii.  many had not seen our engagement and wedding slide shows created by our wedding photographer, so they were able to see that as well.  i know that this past year has been a bit strained since M + i are in a long-distance marriage.  i think it's been hard on both of us to be apart, especially with everything that has been going on with our families and my health.  when i watched our slide shows again during the party, it reminded me how lucky M + i are to have each other.  God-knows we are not the 'perfect couple' (even though how hard we try).  like every other couple, we have our spats, disagreements, and pet peeves.  i think the secret (at least ours) on keeping it together as a couple is God.  i think that if we were left to our own carnal and human devices, we'd be in ruins.  i know this sounds so cliche, but we believe that it's been God Who is the glue that's kept M + i together throughout our relationship.  watching our slide shows with our dear friends made me wrap my arms around M even tighter.  i was just happy to be with him and to be able to share our happiness with our friends, crowded in our living room.

eLLie chillaxin' on her fave perch: our leather couch

     a slight mishap DID happen:  during the potluck, we had to put both dogs in the bedroom, since both were starting to 'beg' for food scraps from our guests.  while we were showing some friends the bedroom and the dogs, eLLie split through the cracked door.  within seconds, we heard surprised screams from the living room where the rest of our guests were seated and eating.  apparently eLLie made a bee-line to the couch and toppled a plate of food, several cups with lime-green punch and some of the others' plates.  as our guests scrambled for paper towels and M 'captured' eLLie and returned her to the bedroom, friends scattered and described how eLLie 'jumped and contorted her body to turn on the couch', laughing while they told their recollections.  couscous was all over the leather couch and lime-green punch was being soaked-up with paper towels while i grabbed the vacuum to do a quick sweep of wayward couscous.  even though this 'setback' happened, our friends seemed pretty chill to laugh the whole thing off.  i'm sure they'll be talking about it whenever they think about our potluck.

   when our last guests left almost to midnight, M + i were able to quickly clean-up and settle in for our last night of sleep together before he would drive the next day to head back to the DC area.  remember what i said about long-distance marriages??? saying goodbye and letting go of a bear-hug grasp is so bloody hard.  this upcoming weekend, we'll both be heading to CaLi for Dad's 65th birthday (which is the same day as our civil anniversary).  maybe we'll get to 'sneak off' and do a 'couple thing' to celebrate 'us' again.