A Happy Marriage, well, 7 years of 9 anyway.

Last week DR and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary! And what do you know, that husband of mine gave me the very best present! A stainless steel coffee pot, one that will never break! I must say, it's probably the very best present I've ever received. (I'm just a little addicted to my coffee!) 

As we were congratulating one another on our 9 years together DR asked if I'd been happy in our marriage. 

"Not always." I answered truthfully. "I've been happy for 7 of the 9." 

He raised his eyebrows questioningly and I went on to explain. Our first year of marriage wasn't happy, but at the time I was too stupid and inexperienced to realize I was miserable. I was a newlywed, pregnant with twins who just happened to spend six months of that first year separated from my husband. Of course our marriage wasn't tip top! My husband was in Delaware while I was in Indiana pretty much on my own. We barely even knew one another before we were married and that first year didn't provide the opportunities to get to know one another the way newlyweds should. 

A couple of years after our boys were born we lived in southern Indiana and although we were living very near DR's hometown we were miserable with one another. His job was extremely stressful with a lot of personnel conflict and long, long working hours. I was an isolated stay at home mother of twin toddlers far from any of my friends and family. DR and I barely saw one another and when we did we were usually grumpy. 

Luckily we only lived in Southern Indiana for one year (the second unhappy year) before we moved to Illinois for another job position for DR. Illinois offered a pay cut and a demotion in the company. DR's job was less stress, but also less money. Money was pretty tight. We were at least three hours from any of our family. Our house was old and drafty and out in the middle of nowhere. Illinois battered us with snow, snow drifts, ice and wind. I was still a stay at home mom but I was able to venture out into the world a bit. Sounds stressful doesn't it? Yet, for the three years we lived there it was easily some of the happiest years of our married life. 

Later DR mentioned to me that he never understood why I stayed with him after those hard years, especially the first. I didn't have an answer for him other than..."Because that's what you do when you are married." 

I didn't marry DR with the belief that life was always going to be peachy. I realized that everyone has their good days and bad days, though I hadn't anticipated entire bad years. DR isn't the happiest person to be around, neither am I. But we love each other; happy or grumpy, good or bad. I believe that DR and I have to work together and help cover each other's weak spots to make our marriage work. 

I feel extremely blessed to have met DR and married him when I did. I am thankful everyday that DR is the father of my children because he's very good at it. I'm ecstatic that DR loves me despite my oddities and weirdness. We've had 7 really great years of marriage. Yes, two of those years were lousy but honestly, I'm glad we endured them. The bad years have made us stronger and resilient. I think every couple needs some "bad years" because it makes those good years grand! 

Can you relate? 

Kansas Cuisine - Bull Nuts

Before moving out to Kansas, I didn't think food would be a big issue when settling into our new home. However, Purse Gurl has pointed out that Kansas food is NOT Indiana food! Of course she also gets to eat out more than I do so she would know. First off she complained after our first church dinner that there were no noodles.

"How can it be a church dinner without egg noodles?" she cried!

For the love of noodles I made a giant batch, 3 doz. eggs worth for her. I cooked up a big old pot of beef and noodles and delivered them to the elevator last week for dinner. Purse Gurl was so giddy I thought she was going to pee her pants! Later she reports though that no one else at work seemed nearly as interested in eating them as she was, as though the thought of mixing beef and noodles together was absurd. Purse Gurl, DR and I all grew up on homemade noodles and Amish made noodles. DR even sneaks the dough to eat before I'm even done making them! Egg noodles are everywhere back home! Kansas? Not so much.

Purse Gurl is also extremely upset by the lack of pork tenderloins out here. Granted it is beef country but the owner of a local restaurant didn't have any idea how to fix a pork tenderloin! I think Purse Gurl was about to have a coronary. Are you a Hoosier? Then you know a good pork tenderloin; breaded golden brown, twice as big as the bun with pickle, onion and mustard. Pork tenderloin is now on my shopping list. And sweet corn...if I can find it.

Kansans have good food no doubt. There are great steak houses I've eaten at all over the place and DR is always singing the praises of the town cafe down the street from the grain elevator. But Kansans also seem to have popular 'strange' foods. The biggest difference in cuisine here in Kansas would be Bull Fries also known as Rocky Mountain Oysters. Deep fried bull testicles. Sigh....one of these days I'm going to go to a "nut fry" for dinner. It just might take a while to work myself up to it. Purse Gurl won't even consider the notion! I guess you just have to not think about what it is that you're eating when pulling up to a plate of Bull Fries. Or maybe the secret is a really big bottle of barbeque sauce....and beer. Maybe they taste better drunk.

Usually I love traveling the country and trying new foods. On our honeymoon in to New Orleans I lived on gumbo and when we drove through Louisiana the barbeque ribs were out of this world, even the ones we bought at a gas station! Delaware was famous for their giant buckets of crabs restaurants offered. It always amazed me how full I would get on only a few crabs while the locals could literally eat dozens!

Bull Fries.....well, I'll try anything once. And I'll let you know once that ONCE rolls around! For now, I'm going shopping for pork tenderloin. Purse Gurl and I are homesick.

What about you? Do you have any good stories about regional foods?