3 years?!

Absolutely cannot believe that it's only been/already been three years!

In these three years:

1. We have had over a dozen jobs.
2. We have lived in three places.
3. We have had two pets.
4. One of us has wet the bed once.
5. We have laughed til we cry, and literally cried til we laugh.
6. We have been really really angry at each other, and have even gone to bed that way, but have never spent the night sleeping apart because of it.
7. We have had to sacrifice for the other.
8. Of the 36 months we have been married, we are going on 27 of those months spent living with other people. Holy moly!
9. We have watched the entirety of 30 Rock, Arrested Development, Lost, Friday Night Lights, Prison Break, 24, Scrubs and more. (Netflix is the new cable!)
10. We have followed gender norms-(like mark is the breadwinner and still doesn't seem to know , not only how to start a load of laundry, but also that dirty clothes go in the hamper and are not to be strewn all about on the floor). And we have created our own norms (like Alissa pays the bills, and still doesn't seem to know, not only how to cook, but also that if you want to make a shepherds pie, or something of the sort, you DO have to cook the ground beef prior to baking it in a casserole dish.

And since our arrival to tonga, we have already had to grow and support each other in new and difficult ways. We have seen some lower lows, some higher highs, and some uglier versions of already unattractive aspects of us. We are ready to take Tonga by storm, and pretty prepared for Tonga to take us by storm.


This year will be the first since our wedding night that we don't celebrate our union serenaded by Over the Rhine. Truly heartbroken by that. Here's to a new year, and new traditions!

Alissa