Smells like nostalgia.

I'm one of those people who associates their life with objects, smells, sounds and tastes.  ..In that, some things transport me back in time faster than you can say flux capacitor.

I love unwrapping Christmas ornaments every year. A million things remind me of the time before I was married, but when I unwrap our ornaments, I get to relive the story of the last 5 years.  Pictures say it better than words, so:



This actually looked a little like us. I think of our wedding day and how it poured rain for an hour and then magically let up as we climbed in the limo to go to the church. It reminds me of Brandon at the end of the aisle and how my dress was so tight that I couldn't even eat at the reception.  It reminds me of the party after the reception and how my whole family was there and everyone was happy and healthy and drunk and I couldn't imagine life getting any better and then realizing that we were leaving the next day for a long honeymoon and that it would get even better.






This was actually the first ornament I bought. Brandon worked long hours in med school and in a town where I knew practically no one, I was usually left to my own devices. I bought it because it reminded me of North Carolina and everything I missed so terribly back home. Now it reminds me of how brave I was.



This reminds me of Brandon's first day of his first surgery rotation in medical school.  I dropped him off that morning before I went to work and I've never seen him so nervous.  After 10 years together, that's saying something.  I'd like to say that it was a kickass day for him, but he broke the surgical field with his forehead and got yelled at.





This is a mini pizza box that I may or may not have paid for at Uno. We ate there all the time in Milwaukee.  It reminds me of cold, snowy nights in Brandon's huge truck.  After dinner, we'd ride around just because we could.

This is from 2007, our second year married and second year in Milwaukee.  I loved my job, I loved my friends, I was comfortable and absolutely dreaded the thought of leaving the next year. Mom bought us this, and it seems random, but Hallmark calls it "Toast for Two." ..Which is what we were and I loved being "two."



A loaned executive gave this to me at the conclusion of the 2007 United Way Community Campaign.  When I see it, I think of Annette, Ritu, Dianne and Haya. They worked my Business Partners Central accounts during the campaign.  It reminds me how awesome it felt to be good at my job.

This is an earring I wore when we had a costume party at our house about three or four weeks after we moved to Maryland.  I lost the other earring that night. I look at it and mostly just remember the hangover, so I'm glad we took pictures of flip cup, a pirate with a parrot on his shoulder, a viking who repeatedly flexed his muscles and a snake charmer. The hangover was worth it, because now that everyone is settled or married or bechilded, we still talk about that night.



Harper was 6 months old for her first Christmas.  She liked watch us play Wii in the basement, she liked sweet potatoes, prunes, one-piece outfits, her glow worm and being bounced to sleep.  She sat on the couch and watched me string lights on the tree and I remember telling her how different it would be next year (this year). ..and it's better than I could have ever imagined.



This is a lobster buoy we bought in Maine, this summer.  We were lucky enough to spend 6 wonderful weeks there while Brandon took an Ophthalmology course at Colby College.  It's the most beautiful place I've ever seen. We visited Acadia National Park, trekked to the big city of Bangor to meet up with our long lost friends Paul and Kelley and took several trips to Freeport, where we bought this for 50 cents.