It was one year ago today...

I moved to DeKalb.

Tim and I had spent the day before packing the truck, my brothers nowhere to be found. We'd had dinner at Vincent's Pizza Park, then back to his place for a few hours sleep before driving overnight to my new home.

It'd been a month since I'd seen Julie, and I missed her so much. When we got off 88, we stopped at the store where she worked and she was so happy to see me. We got there earlier than expected. She still had to work, while Tim and I went to my new home.

Tim grabbed a few hours sleep on the couch while I took Cory to the store to get a gift for his girlfriend. I was still running on pure adrenaline and wouldn't crash for another 12 hours. By the time we got back, Julie was off work, and her and the rest of the troops were there to unload everything. What took me a day to load, just the two of us, everyone got done in a matter of hours.

The party that night at Fatty's was a great time.

In the year since I've moved here, there have been a number of firsts. Julie and I watched the first African-American President elected. We celebrated our first Christmas and New Years together. I was there for the birth of Julie's first grandchild. I made her eggs (something I have no stomach for) for breakfast, cooking them for the first time. I got a job after being out of work for a year and a half.

I buried my mother.

Even today, we still have firsts, although, as Julie said, those firsts are fewer and farther between. I made her muffins yesterday, for her lunch at work, and I've never made muffins before.

There's still so many more things we have to do. Cory and Hailey's graduations. Jessica and Brad's wedding. Our wedding. Moving...somewhere.

There will be good times, but there will also be bad ones. Her cat, Rico Suave, one of the finest models I've had the good fortune to photograph, is dying, and will likely be put down tomorrow. It's better than his suffering, I know, but it won't be easy on Julie. I will be there with her, by her side, as we say goodbye to one stubborn cat.

I hope there are many, many more good times than bad ones. The future is still wide open ahead of us, but for now...it's just been one year.

On a quiet Sunday evening...

...I'm sitting in Julie's living room, writing a blog entry.

Hailey's upstairs, gone to bed early. She's got to get up early tomorrow to get ready for school (it takes her longer nowadays, since she's gotta look good for her new boyfriend).

Julie's downstairs, also in bed, more than likely asleep (unless the phone rings again). She's got to get up early to go to work at 8 tomorrow morning.

No one else is around, save for Kadie Madison (the dog), asleep in the chair next to me and Bob (the cat) asleep on the floor near my feet. Frederico Suave (the other cat) was here a moment ago, but has stepped out of the room. Odds are, he's getting rest as well, so he can wake us up sometime in the middle of the night with his "mrowing".

Wait. I take that back. I hear him in the kitchen, mrowing, and Julie downstairs yelling at him to shut up.

This past week saw two anniversaries. First, Monday marked the one-year anniversary of our engagement. It's not a lie when I say I love her more and more every day. We marked the day in a simple way: She gave me a skillet. I gave her a small heart and a chocolate bar. We're so romantic.

Today marks her friends Troy and Amy's one year anniversary. Julie was looking for a date for the wedding, and I offered to be that date. Look where we are now.

Yeah, the house in Pittsburgh still hasn't sold. Once it sells, I can use the money to pay off my bills (and get the collection agencies off my ass), but until then, I'm making enough to keep my head just under water.

Old news, I know. Sorry if I repeat myself.

Today was nice. We slept in (even though I was up for a little while overnight, that extra hour made up for it) and got up somewhat early to go out for breakfast. It was nice. Julie and I hadn't had much of a chance to do that as of late.

We came home to enjoy a quiet day around the house, even though I did sneak off for about a half-hour to get everyone some caramel apples from Jonamac Orchard. Julie'd been wanting some for awhile, and I figured today was a good day to run out there.

We watched the race at Talladega , which was...boring. Yeah, there were a couple crashes, but no one was hurt. Julie was even bored, and she loves watching the race from Talladega.

Dinner was simple. Julie wanted ice cream. Hailey and I had some leftover sausage biscuits from last night.

Now everyone's gone to bed, and I'm sitting here, enjoying the quiet with the dog and cats.
It's been a good day.