I offer you this as a follow-up to my previous rather dramatic post:

My husband and I clearly have different needs, and I unfortunately become quite selfish when mine are not met.  If only my week in France hadn’t opened my eyes to so many new thoughts and feelings, leaving me wanting more from this life.  Perhaps I am too demanding, have ceased to understand the realities of the world, but the current pace of things is gravely insufficient. 

Good communication is the key to a healthy relationship, but how does one proceed when it is no longer possible to interpret the language of the other?

Je veux me sentir vivante et légère.

Well, Dave and I finally tied the knot on July 24th. There are many more photos, but I’m not sure I’ll ever get around to updating the blog like I should.  If anyone is interested in seeing or knowing more about my current life, let me know. I’ll send you the link to my Facebook photo albums. Hope everyone is doing well and has had a wonderful summer.

This just made my entire day.  Humans are amazing when they work together towards a common goal. 

If my job didn’t consume every minute of my life or if I were more inspired by life in general, maybe I’d have more content for this blog.  But until something truly excites or interests me, I’ve decided to not write. This particular entry is, of course, the exception, as I  feel obligated to document my European travels. 

Have you ever been to Prague or any other Central/Eastern European country? If so, what was your overall impression of the city and its people? I found the city quite charming, mysteriously beautiful architecture at each corner. But the people? Without exaggerating, I don’t believe a single person smiled at me during my 3-day trip, and that includes the staff at our 4-star hotel.  The women, especially, looked as though they’d rather be dead than perform whatever job it was that they were doing.  In short, Czech friendliness gives even Parisians a good name.

Despite that, Dave and I spent a wonderful Easter weekend together in the City of a Hundred Spires. We drank lots of delicious beer, ate lots of fattening food and spent each evening walking hand-in-hand across the Charles Bridge.  Escaping the daily Dutch routine was quite nice, especially the way it allowed for the two of us to reconnect.  For me, vacation isn’t just a luxury; it’s a necessity. 

Saint Vitus Cathedral

Astronomical clock from the 15th century at Old Town Square

Friday evening’s dinner, or why I might not be able to fully lace up my wedding dress

Dave and me with the Prague Castle in the distant background

A view of the Charles Bridge/Prague Castle

Baroque statue on the bridge

Hope everyone had a lovely Easter weekend.

In case you, too, like to lovingly poke fun at the French:

http://www.o-chateau.com/blog/

This has been the most wonderful and most productive vacation I’ve ever taken.  In ten days: I’ve nearly finished the final wedding details, ate tons of delicious food, saw all my grandparents, including my great-grandmother, spent time with friends I hadn’t seen in years, bonded with my mom, had lunch with a former teacher, experienced my first ultra sound (my sister’s baby) and ran a total of 22 miles. There is more… but those are the highlights. I’m truly not ready to leave tomorrow afternoon, but at least I have my lover and the Isabelle Boulay concert to look forward to.

Quelques photos:

Power-hungry woman with a drill… or my mom helping to make the center pieces for my wedding reception

My GG with Charlie (who is pretty much so cute you could eat him, right?)

My favorite French-t-shirt-wearing toddler

Rubbing baby Diego’s back until he fell asleep on my chest? Ahh… priceless. Really can’t wait to have my own… sigh.

The highlight of my trip: Stephen and Sarah driving up from Lexington to spend the weekend with me.  We had a splendid reunion…especially since it had been nearly two years since our last meeting.

And, finally, in poor Blackberry sound/visual quality, a video of Sarah and me singing Sheryl Crow’s Favorite Mistake. Our other performances included: Shoop, Say You Love Me and Gangsta’s Paradise. I heart karaoke, but only after several glasses of wine.

There is truly no place like home.

I’m stealing this from Dooce and reproducing my own answers here:

What are your middle names?
Mine is Lynn and his is Andrew.  Maybe we’ll be more creative with our own kids. 

How long have you been together?
It’ll be six years as of March 8.

How long did you know each other before you started dating?
We met unofficially in a French class during the 2002 Spring semester but didn’t actually become friends until the Fall semester of that same year.  We started dating in March 2003, so I guess about six months.

Who asked whom out?
That’s a difficult one and depends more on your definition of “asking someone out.” We hung out and had coffee as friends several times before we actually dated… but I did make many of the first moves.  I’m the one who invited him to attend an art exhibit with me in Louisville and am also the one who invited him to a Mardi Gras party at my place, where I ever so subtly revealed my feelings for him. 

How old are each of you?
I’m 25 and he’s 27.

Whose siblings do you see the most?
Well, seeing as how we both live so far away from our respective siblings, we don’t see them much.  I, however, am much closer to my sister than Dave is to his, so I probably end up seeing her more often.

Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
In general, Dave and I communicate very well with one another, making our way through most situations with few bumps and bruises.  The one thing that does trouble our couple, however, is the disagreement on our current living situation.  He is happy and fulfilled living here in Holland; I am not.  I need my family and friends to feel complete; I don’t think he does.  But as long as he is the supposed bread winner, I kind of have to follow him like some lost puppy dog…

Did you go to the same school?
We both graduated from the University of Kentucky.

Are you from the same home town?
Luckily, yes.  It makes Christmas so much more manageable. I don’t see how international couples do it.

Who is smarter?
Dave is without a doubt smarter than I am. And in fact, I’d even say he is one of the most intelligent people I’ve ever known. Maybe I’d have a chance if I, too, had the memory of an elephant.

Who is the most sensitive?
Did I mention that I just cried watching a friend’s baby video on Facebook?

Where do you eat out most as a couple?
Since living in The Hague, we’ve been pretty boring.  When we stay in, we love to order from our favorite Indian restaurant; when we go out, we almost always hit up Vapiano–a fabulous and very inexpensive Italian restaurant right in the center of town.

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Furthest from which starting point? I guess I’ll say either Edmonton or Copenhagen.

Who has the craziest exes?
Thank the Lord neither one of us seriously dated anyone before meeting each other.  No crazy exes to speak of.

Who has the worst temper? That would be me, even if it has calmed down since we’ve been together.

Who does the cooking?
Whoever has the most free time… but we usually try to cook together.

Who is the neat-freak?
Unfortunately, neither one of us. . . consequently, our apartment can get pretty disgusting sometimes.

Who is more stubborn?
You can ask Dave that one.

Who hogs the bed?
I often awake wrapped up in a cover cocoon.  Poor Dave.

Who wakes up earlier?
Dave wakes up early 99% of the time, whereas I like to steal as much sleep as I can possibly get away with.

Where was your first date?
An art exhibit on Impressionism at the Louisville Speed Art Museum.

Who is more jealous?
It might be equal, though I am much more vocal about my jealousy. 

How long did it take to get serious?
I can’t speak for Dave, but I always felt serious about him… even when we were just friends.

Who eats more?
For this question I will provide a picture of a note left for me on the kitchen table a few days ago:

Who does the laundry?
I do, thank goodness.

Who’s better with the computer?
Given the five thousand updates my computer tells me I need, I’m guessing that would be him.

Who drives when you are together?

We let the tram driver do the work for us… or we each ride our own bike. It’s kind of nice living in a country where you don’t need a car to get around.  No car insurance + any and all accompanying fees= more money to travel!

How similar/different are you from the one you love?

My life has become an unbearable monotony.  There is nothing exciting to report, and that is perhaps why I haven’t posted anything of real significance in weeks.  While there are occasional moments of enjoyment in my job, such as witnessing children marvel at the world around them or my being showered with affection on a daily basis, I feel bored with what I do.  In the rigidness that is the système français, it’s death by worksheet for both me and the kids.  Despite effort on my part, creativity is hindered thanks to a rigorous curriculum which must be followed to a tee.

And, while perfectly nice, I feel as though I have very little in common with my French coworkers.  With the exception of maybe two people, the women with whom I work are all over the age of 45 and have kids who are not much younger than I am.  Because of that, I automatically get left out of many conversations, and even when the discussion is not about one’s children, they probably assume that I lack the life experience to fully participate.  Moreover, some of them treat me more as a daughter than a coworker.  While at first I maybe appreciated it and thought it was sweet, now it drives me insane.  I am a big girl and can do just fine on my own, thank you very much. 

So, when Dave told me that he had a new 20-something American coworker, I jumped for joy at the possibility of making a new female friend.  We have now hung out with her and her husband several times, and there is just no connection whatsoever.  The husband is quite nice, laidback and interesting, but she comes across as highly arrogant every time we get together.  I used to pride myself on the fact that I thought I could get on well with basically anyone, but that’s not so true anymore.  Maybe I’ve changed as I’ve grown older… or maybe I’m simply finished with ego stroking.  In any case, I feel lonelier when we’re all hanging out than if I were sitting here all by myself in front of this computer screen. 

What’s my point? Never in my life have I felt so completely bored and lonely.  Connecting with others is what makes me truly happy, and sadly, I only get a recharge of that sensation once every several months, when I go back home to the States.  I wonder how many other people feel as awfully pathetic as I do…

This posting of 25 random things is currently circulating on Facebook, but I thought it might be more fun to put it here and to tag a few of you.

1. I have lived in four different countries and have felt at home in all but one of them.

2. Whether it’s turning a few shades of crimson or crying in public, I am incapable of hiding my emotion.

3. I have only felt “complete” once in my life, and that was last summer in Switzerland.

4. I tend to cling too strongly to the past.

5. I openly admit to really liking Céline Dion.

6. Debussy’s Clair de lune is my all-time favorite song.

7. I have thoughts that I know I can never share with anyone.

8. I believe that adults have much to learn from children.

9. Middle school was so bad that I contemplated suicide more than once.

10. There is little that makes me happier than opening my mailbox and finding a letter from a friend.

11. The older I get, the less I trust other people.

12. I have always been self-conscious about my body.

13. One reason I love teaching very young children is because I know that I can be 100% myself and that they won’t judge me.

14. I wish some people cared as much about me as I do about them.

15. I have done nearly everything in my life the “right” way but wonder how my life would be different or even better if I had veered just a little off path.

16. Despite not playing an instrument, I am very musically inclined.  Around the house especially, I make up songs and rhymes as if it were my job.

17. Though I was teased for it in elementary school, I have grown very fond of my last name (especially when it’s pronounced in French!) and don’t really want to give up part of my identity once I get married. 

18. I miss being a student.

19. I once got out of a speeding ticket by promising the cop we’d go for coffee.

20. I enjoy drinking to the point of feeling light and fuzzy.

21. I know the lyrics to every Isabelle Boulay song by heart.

22. I’m pretty pissed that over 25% of the people on our guest list for the wedding are people I’ve never met.

23.  I enjoy erotica.

24.  I oftentimes feel more European than I do American.

25. Rain or shine, I ride my bike to work every day.

You are, of course, not obligated to partake, but I’m tagging the following people:

babyamelie, christao408, yoyocello, UR_MUSE, ZSA_MD, Ailanna, skibum137 and Dezinerdreams