Four.

We started dating in college, my senior year and his junior year.  By the time I graduated I was head over heels for Bob Chuck {one of Charlie's many college nicknames}.  We stayed together after graduation, and Charlie joined me to spend the summer working on a guest ranch out in Wyoming.  Charlie headed back to school in Tennessee, and I moved back to Richmond where I began teaching and attending graduate school.  We dated long distance for three years.  In 2008 Charlie proposed and we began planning our wedding for the following spring.  After several months of planning, some family problems came up and we decided to put the wedding on hold for a little while.  But we were ready to get married, so we decided to take the leap.

During a hot week in July, Charlie and I each packed a bag and headed to the Eastern shore of Virginia.  We checked into a cute bed and breakfast with amazing food, picked up a marriage license at the courthouse, and visited the national park's headquarters to pick up a permit to be married on the beach.  

I threw on a white J.Crew sundress {my sister's graduation dress, which I snagged from her closet} and my cousin's pearl necklace, and Charlie put on a white button down and blue seersucker pants,  and we headed to the beach in Chincoteague where we met up with Captain Spider {ship captains have the power to marry people} and were married on the beach.  We came home, greeted by the fellow B&B-ers and the owners, who treated us to wine and champagne, and we giddily called our family and friends.  It was a Wednesday, and it was wonderful!

It's hard to believe that was four years ago.  Happy anniversary to my sweet husband! I look forward to many more years filled with love and adventures!  

Cheers to 3 years!

It's hard to believe we've already been married for three wonderful years! The time has really flown by. In those three years, we've had so many adventures. We've . . .

. . . lived in 3 different countries.

. . . lived in 4 different apartments.

. . . attended post-bacc. and grad school courses on 5 different colleges campuses.

. . . traveled to 5 countries together.

. . . mastered public transportation systems in 2 countries.

. . . learned to crack/hack open coconuts ourselves to drink the coconut water.

. . . visited some of the world's most beautiful beaches.

. . . had a few "pets": a pack of feral cats (Richmond), curly tailed lizards (Bahamas), and a rat, an anole tree lizard, and a frog (Dominica).

. . . studied our butts off (me, attending grad school full-time during my first year of teaching art and our first year of marriage; and Charlie, now and ever since he began the whole med-school experience last August).

. . . learned that we can survive pretty much anything {and anywhere} together!

Happy anniversary to my amazing, handsome husband. Thanks for being so sweet and for always supporting me and making me laugh!

Wedding Day in Chincoteague 

Honeymoon in France

Enjoying an evening out after completing our first semester here in Dominica

Today Charlie is studying and I am laying low, but we'll be celebrating tomorrow with an afternoon at the beach and a delicious dinner at Red Rock, one of the tastiest restaurants on the island. Cheers!

Our Guilty Pleasure

At home, I am a sucker for Starbucks.  Specifically a grande, nonfat chai.  I love them.  This was especially dangerous when I lived on Hanover with Starbucks right around the corner... luckily I always had a few gift cards from my cuties at school to subsidize my addiction.  Here, there's no Starbucks.  There is a coffee place called Rituals which is good, and while their chai latte is tasty, it's just not the same.  So, I have discovered my new, latest and greatest guilty pleasure here in Dominica, at the Shacks, from the Juice Man: a low fat iced coffee with a little bit of chocolate.  I don't know how they make it, but man is it good.  I also am a sucker for their juice: you can get passion fruit/mango/orange/grapefruit/guava juice alone or mixed in any delicious combination you fancy (Charlie loves to mix passion fruit and grapefruit; I prefer passion fruit and orange or orange and guava).  I love it.  Charlie does, too!

[caption id="attachment_137" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="The Juice Man's Shack"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_144" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Get your coffee or juice and enjoy it on the beach (campus is right on the beach!!!!!)."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_141" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Juice + Beach + World's Best Wife = Perfect Study Break"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_142" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="This is heaven!"][/caption]