Have I mentioned that I like winning?

Patrick and I got this game for Christmas:

I am always a bit skeptical about new games, never sure if I will like them. I like sticking to what I know, which is why I love Christmas 'just so' and, I think, have never been able to get into Mad Men. But getting games for Christmas is a great way to overcome that, because you can test it out immediately with the whole family. After playing once or twice, I still wasn't sure (and the rules didn't help either, making it really unclear as to how to actually play). We left for home, taking the game with us in it's nifty bag and played a few times just the two of us. I started to love it. Then, after a conversation with the In-Laws, we understood the rules better and then really started to play for reals.

As it is with all games we play, Patrick lures me in by losing at the beginning, making me think that the playing field is even. And by even I mean I get to win. And then, all of a sudden, I never win. Ever. It's so depressing. But I still play, because every once in a blue moon I will win and that keeps me going. Patrick knows that this gets frustrating for me (all the losing, not the winning every once in a while) but seems to get some kind of enjoyment out of my desperation to win. (Seriously, this one game, Manhattan, we have played so many times I cannot even guess but I know that I have won maybe 10 times. If that. So. Depressing. Why do I still even play with him?! [I was just reading this out to Patrick, got to this part and he screamed "What?! What?!" I thought he was going to tell me off for over-exaggerating my losing and that I had won more than that, but instead he helpfully pointed out that I have "won twice if that". Thanks, honey])

So, now you know the backdrop we can get on to the other day. We haven't been playing very much recently because I have been crocheting a blanket for my soon-to-see-the-light-of-day nephew (I actually just spelt that nefew. I like it.) Last Friday I was in the mood to try and win Qwirkle so we played. I lost. I got annoyed. Then I just sensed that I was going to win if I stuck with it and didn't mope around like the 12 year old Sarah used to (or cry because Matt and Grandma Bowles accused me of cheating when I didn't or cause I lost. For some reason that always happened at Grandma Bowles' house). So I challenged Patrick to the next game, confident in my victory, and maybe boasting just a wee bit. And I was really good! I was getting 6, 7, 8 point when he was only getting half that, I was getting Qwirkle after Qwirkle! It was awesome. But then, the inevitable happened. Patrick won. What the heck?! How does he do that?! And by like something stupid like 3 points or something (and to make matters worse I would have lost by more if he hadn't put his piece down in a way that I could get a sympathy Qwirkle in the end).

So... I got angry. And mopey. And maybe I threw a pen at him twice. He just wouldn't stop chuckling! "Ach, Schatz" he says in a loving, don't be stilly voice. "Ich bin so genervt, weil ich schon wieder verloren habe! (I'm so annoyed cause I lost AGAIN)" I said in my mopey annoyed voice. There was a pause where Patrick considered me and I waited for him to say something encouraging. And then came this, with a crooked smile - "Aber schon mit dir selber, ja? (Annoyed with yourself right)" I was gobsmacked. Let out a stunned 'Huf' and then shook my head in amazement at my husband's inability to know when NOT to say the truth, or remind me of the truth. I had expected some kind of "You'll win at some point" or "You're always a winner to me" but for some reason he always chooses the opportunity to make sure my feelings are what they should be and remind me that I have no one but myself to blame for sucking at Qwirkle and therefore can only be annoyed at my own self. Thank you, Patrick.

Boy oh boy. I think it must be something to do with me, though, cause when I told my mom a few weeks ago that I keep losing at the game she bought me for Christmas she responded with "Well, it is a strategy game..."



Crocheting and Qwirkle.

Oh. Earlier this same day: My loving husband poured water on my head while I was trying to relax on the floor by cuddling (after I asked him not to) because he "had made a commitment". It's a good thing he's pretty.

Gawking to Growing

Since the wedding, I have become an avid 'gawker'. While we were planning the wedding, Mareike found www.weddinggawker.com and we instantly became hooked. It developed into being my only real internet source, from whence I garnered all my wedding inspiration. Since being married I have moved on from gawking at weddings to gawking at foods and crafts. Oh boy. I'm sure I will be writing quite a bit about both of those new obsessions hobbies of mine. I have so many tabs open on Opera all the time that the Hons has decided, in order to relieve him of frustration and questions like "can you please close some tabs so that the Internet works faster!", that Opera is mine and Google Chrome is his. Fine by me! I am now free to tab it up all I want! And believe me, I do.

So today I'm going to show you one of the tabs that I have open, just waiting for the right moment (the right weather conditions, planet alignment, ok, just mood) for me to crack on and make.I would love 5 of these in total - 1 for our balcony where there is a blank view-blocker thing just begging for this to hang on it, 1 for our terrace and 3 for the blank wall against which our sitting area in the garden backs. (Whoa! Crazy sentence structure. I blame the german. Not the Germans. The German. Language. Not Patrick.)

Check out this loveliness! (I got all of this off of Design Sponge here)

Seriously.

I have a thing for vertical gardens since watching some of the classic Australian show The Renovators. Google it if you don't know what you were missing. They did this awesome challenge of making vertical gardens and it totally caught my imagination. It may have even started earlier when I read an article in National Geographic about buildings with vertical gardens and then I went to the new Anthropology store in London (where I would buy pretty much anything if I had the money) where they have a full triple height wall covered in living, breathing plants:

I found the picture here: http://weewhiskeywoman.blogspot.com in the archive

The building site across the road is slowly winding down and they have a bunch of these pallets kicking around so I am thinking of sending the Hons over to ask them if we can take a bunch off their hands. I will not ask myself because I am chicken and did not marry Patrick for no reason.

Once the pallets are acquired I will go about the business of following the instructions on the blog I found them on (cover back and bottom with landscape paper, fill with earth, plant with plants of choice, let rest for a few days, place in the vertical wherever appropriate). I would really love to have it look exactly like either of the walls I have posted on here, but who am I kidding. I could never afford that many succulents (unless I start growing them now for planting next year). But I will find something beautiful. Unfortunately veggies are not ideal because of the chemicals that are nesting in the wood, just waiting for some unsuspecting, vegetable-garden loving Canadian-German to come along and unwittingly ingest them in her body. Well not this time, you sneaky pallets.

Aren't they lovely? Do you have space in your life for a vertical garden? Would you go through the extra effort to line it well and then plant it with herbs or the like (ooooh I love that idea! Maybe that will be the terrace one...)

What are your gardening plans this spring?

Marrying the Hons, um wait, didn't you already do that?!

Yes I am married, and have been for, well, almost 6 months now. Any one want to work it out exactly for me? Maths was never a strength of mine. Nor was counting come to think of it. Anyways, I'm getting off topic. Geez, I let this blog slide, eh? Sorry about that. Getting married turned out to be more time consuming than I expected it to be and I am also just very bad at carrying things through. Yet another thing for me to work on - so far in just a few sentences: math and finishing things. I wonder how many will be listed by the time I'm done here tonight? There's a prize for whoever can find the most! Just kidding. There is no prize. Except honour.

So. Anyways. I've decided to restart blogging, and to keep blogging on this particular blog. "But," I hear you ask in confusion, "this blog is called 'Marrying the Hons' and you've already done that. Doesn't that make the blog a bit passé? Shouldn't you just move on?" And that is where you would be wrong.

The other day Patrick and I were listening to a Tim Keller (ooooh we love Tim Keller) talk about marriage where he described sex as the act of renewing the marriage covenant with each other. How beautiful is that image? It also really resonates with me. From the very beginning I have often said that marriage for me is deciding to marry the Hons every day afresh. There haven't been times where that has been hard yet (the other day, ok today, I told someone that every day is Valentine's Day in our house. To which the man responded "You celebrate the beheading of a Christian every day?" ha. ha. No, Sir. We don't. And you just ruined the admittedly slightly sickening romance of my sentiments.) I do know that the times will come where it has to be married. I want to put in the practice now of actively making the choice to marry my husband every day. So that is how I can justify keeping the blog up on this place.

So much to that. What I really really really wanted to do is go through the craftiness I got up to before the wedding for the wedding but my laptop has bitten the dust and refuses to do anything but make me angry so I can't get at the pictures. I will one day though so be ready to read all about how Mareike did a lot of crafting. And I sometimes helped. This is not only for your amusement, but also mine.

So there you have it. Another slightly boring (sorry about that but I am hurrying. Why am I hurrying? No reason really except now my husband is done showering and I want to spend some time with him) "I-stopped-blogging-but-now-I-am-back" justification. I will post something much more thrilling tomorrow, I promise!