Annie Oakley and Pistol Pete

So the strangest thing happens when you get married... you change. And I guess that's life really BUT I've found myself doing things I didn't think I would EVER do... for example I was anti digital scrapbooking until I ran out of time to do the physical book. I also never used to brush my teeth before bed. I feel like it makes my breath taste like mothballs in the morning but now I do it anyways. I never understood why people talked about baby names or whined when their husband was out of town. I get it now. I hate it when Parker isn't home and our list of baby names has grown exponentially. It's ridiculous, I'm aware because chances are we really aren't going to name our kid Roanoke Jupiter Alleman but it's fun to giggle about now. That brings me to the giggling. I love playing with Parker. I knew that we would play, but I don't think I realized that sometimes we would be literally 5 years old playing tea party or whatever I talked him into. It's happy. 

I've always thought of myself as a free spirit, in the general sense of the word. I do what I want, I fight for what I want and I do my best to make myself happy. It would seem however, that I am perfectly comfortable with my comfort zone and I don't want to go too far out of my bubble. I always order the same thing at Applebees, La Frantera, and the Pastry Pub. So Parker has been trying to get me to "try new things..." which really means do something that he's comfortable doing... but it's good for me. The biggest fight since marriage has been about... GUNS! My mom NEVER allowed guns in our home. Until we were married I'd only held a firearm two times and I'd only fired it once... with my eyes closed.... supposedly pointed at some target. Hand me a bow and arrow and I'm a Native American Princess. Hand me a gun and I look like some poor Victorian Era socialite with a poor constitution that whimpers when made to walk to the stables. The point is, the make me uncomfortable and scared and when we got married I most definitely did not want them around. I mean it seems completely unnecessary. 

Anyways, after much persuasion Parker has taken me shooting several times, the latest time with some of our "married" friends. We at "man-burgers" and shot our pal Bryce's handgun. I'm more of a rifle kind of girl but to my surprise I'm kind of getting the hang of this whole gun thing.. and I'm even starting to like it. Am I going to go out and kill little living creatures? Probably not. BUT I've definitely learned that knowledge is power. I'm not scared of them just going off because they feel like it anymore and I know what I'm doing, so that's a huge help in accident prevention. There is a kind of power in being able to protect yourself and your family if something happens. Besides that it's kind of fun and it turns out I'm a pretty good shot. I guess the point is maybe we should be more open to trying new things... You might surprise yourself.

Happy trials on all of your new adventures!

Love from my home to yours!

-Sydney L