When we last left off, Husband and I had just gotten married. That cute little house with the family of pumpkins was our first home. We rented it from a couple of professors for less than a pittance. I did my very best to turn the cold and damp plaster walls into a warm and cozy home. Since we were still in school when we got married, we spent (no exaggeration) about 21 hours a day together. The time we spent in this house was the most precious time, filled with slow days and carefree nights. Friends were always just a walk away, and we had so few responsibilities.
And yet, no one has ever accused me of shirking responsibility. As a child I could not wait to grow up. I had always longed to be the boss of me, and finally…I was. So, in a sweeping moment of commitment (and optimism) I talked Husband into getting a dog. He was hesitant at first, but honestly how can you resist a cute little Puggle puppy?
But, almost immediately my allergies to dogs proved problematic. I felt flu-ish constantly and we were also noticing our new puppy was acting strangely as well. She started walking with her head cocked to the side and seemed to have coordination problems. A handful of vets were stumped and wanted us to send the puppy to The Ohio State University for a full radiological workup. Well, a couple of young married college students don’t have thousands to invest into a puppy. So, we ended up giving the puppy to a vet student who promised to look into her bizarre symptoms. I was happy again and felt well for the first time in a couple months.
I didn’t feel well for long, however. We soon found out we were expecting a whole barrel full of responsibility. A baby! Just six months after we got married, we got the shock of our lives when we found out we were going to be a family of 3. We already knew were were going to be moving to Charlotte (where Husband got his first big kid job), and now we were going to become parents shortly thereafter. As soon as the two lines showed up, I became violently ill. My sickness lasted morning, noon, and night. Days and nights blurred into each other as our sweet baby grew and grew.
In June, we moved to Lake Norman just north of Charlotte, North Carolina. Husband traveled six out of the first eight weeks we lived in NC. I, still very sick, simply slept, ate, shopped, and purposely got myself lost and tried to find myself again. I had no friends, no family, and no one that I knew within 600 miles. Husband and I learned one lesson really quickly…there is no reason to argue with your spouse when you don’t know anyone else in the state.
The early days in North Carolina were sweet for our marriage.