My good friend Harry Potter…er…Paul…got married last Saturday. During the ceremony, I was sitting in the crowd thinking about how nice it felt to not have any responsibility. I’ve been to 15 weddings in the past year and this was the first one where I wasn’t doing the official photography or the official officiating. They considered having me cater the event for them, but I’m so glad they didn’t. It was a beautiful thing to sit with my friends as we watched other friends get married.

It was one of those times where it kind of felt like you could see what was really going on and not just what appeared to be going on. I’m not sure if that makes sense, but the veil gets pulled back every now and again – and then you see it. It wasn’t just two people standing in a church while other people watched them promise things to each other. It was a group of people who came together to support the thing that God was doing in the lives of these two people. The emotions and words of the bride and groom’s parents spelled out clearly just how proud of their kids they really were. It was also so meaningful since her father and his father shared the responsibilities of performing the wedding ceremony together.

A good wedding can be a reminder of why you got married in the first place. A truly great wedding can inspire a fire, give rise to the sleeping, or even awaken the dead. Paul and Lauren, thank you for inviting us to a truly great wedding and being a truly great couple. I can’t wait to see where God takes you together.

Last night Allison and I went to Palomino’s in downtown Cincinnati. It was great…not wonderful, but great. It did seem a little pricey for what you were actually getting. The food was tasty, but you had that feeling that you could get something equally as good somewhere else for less money…the view was kind of worth the expense though. The restaurant overlooks Fountain Square and what can I say, it’s always fun to spy on people.

Appetizers:
Crab and Artichoke Dip ★★★☆☆ – It was decent, but it was also super expensive and I could barely tell there was crab in it. Nothing set this apart from any other artichoke dip I’ve had…they’re all pretty good.

Crispy Fried Calamari ★★★★☆ – This was really good. It came with a Diablo sauce as well as a Marinara sauce, both of which were delicious. I’m knocking one star off because I had to pick up the salt shaker a few times to season it properly. Haha. It’s true though. For realz.

Entrees:
Deconstructed Lamb Lasagna ★★★☆☆ – Reconstruct this back into real lasagna and it would be 4 stars. I don’t like deconstructed food.

Trenne Pasta ★★★★☆ – This was delicious. Prosciutto, Fresh Peas, Cream, Reggiano Parmesan, White Truffle Oil – too rich, but delicious. I’m only giving it 4 out of 5 stars because a homeless woman stole my leftovers before I could get them to the car. Okay fine, she asked nicely for them and yes I realize my rating system is flawed.

Last night I had a strange dream that I was making Egg Salad. Not just any Egg Salad, but specifically an Egg Salad sandwich that I made 3 years ago while on vacation in Florida. It was a good sandwich. I remembered that I blogged something about it 3 years ago, but something has happened with the post and it’s not in my recipe tutorials. This morning I searched through my Flickr account and found a few of the photos. There seem to be a few missing, but I’ll walk you through the process of this Egg Salad…mostly because I’m craving it badly now.

{ Imagine a photo of eggs…it doesn’t matter how many…let’s just say 2 per person. }

{ Imagine a photo of the eggs in a pot of water – enough water to cover the eggs by an inch }

Put this Pot O’ Eggs on a burner and crank it to high. Once the water has reached a boil, remove the pot from the burner and allow the eggs to sit in the hot water for 12 minutes. Once they’ve sat in the hot, but not boiling water for 12 minutes you can begin to rinse them with cold water….wait…I think I’m starting to see it…

Run cold water over the eggs for several minutes to cool them down. Oh look, I guess I made 9 eggs. I must have been cooking for 4 and a half people.

Chop up some Cucumber…

Then we’ll need some Mayonaise and seasoning.

Of course, you can just use salt and pepper if you like. But I went with Old Bay and it was a good decision. One tablespoon of Mayonaise for every two eggs should do it just right. Season to taste.

Peel eggs, add cucumber, mayo, and seasoning. Then just mash everything together until you’ve acquired the consistency you like.

Toast up some bread and find yourself a nice piece of lettuce. You know what to do from here.

Mmm…I think I know what I’m making today.

On March 22nd of 2003 I made the smartest decision I’ve ever made…I married Allison.

I was only 20 years old when we got married. To me it felt like I was as mature as I’d ever be in my lifetime, despite the fact that I couldn’t drink alcohol at our wedding. It’s funny now – I officiate weddings – I’ve performed nearly 40 ceremonies in the past 5 years – and I freak out in my head when I find out that the couple is under 24 years old during our pre-marital counseling. I can’t imagine what I’d say if 20-year-old-me showed up wanting to marry 21-year-old-Allison.

My wife is 9 months older than I am. We like to act like she’s an old bag because of this 9 month difference. This joking will probably cease when we reach 40. Nah…it probably won’t.

Our first date was at a Kroger’s grocery store late at night. I drove Allison to our romantic destination in my 1987 Ford Tempo…oh how I hated that car. It had some sort of sucker or hard candy melted into the center console when I bought it and I could never get it cleaned out all the way. Allison stuck her hand right in the sticky goop on first-date-night. It was apparently so gross feeling that she got out of the car and began wiping her hand off in a puddle in the parking lot. Man I hated that car.

Whenever something tastes even remotely off, Allison or I will say “Taste like it was poured from a ole’ boot!!” Thank you Little Rascals for providing years of material for our marriage.

We once played the Newlywed Game in front of about 2,000 people. It got hairy when they asked how romantic I was on a scale of one to ten and our answers didn’t match up. I said I was an eight and Allison said I was a six. Boom. Roasted.

When I was living in my apartment before we got married, I cooked Chicken and Dumplings for Allison once. She barfed. I didn’t realize just how much she hates chicken and dumplings but also just how much she loved me to try to choke them down anyway. To this day, she still hates all forms of chicken and dumplings. I recently cooked some Gnocchi that were delicious, but as soon as I tasted them I realized they were the texture of a good dumpling. No go on Gnocchi either. That’s okay though…I hate Sour Kraut, Olives of any kind, and Pickles on sandwiches.

We’re a good couple. We like to laugh a lot and play pranks on each other. We don’t fight very much at all, but when we do it’s over in about 7 minutes because we don’t like staying mad at each other. We have kids…and that makes things tough sometimes. Even though you’re parents you can forget how to be adults – our kids rule a big part of our lives right now, but they’re not always going to need this much attention. There will be time for time.

One of the best parts of getting married early is seeing just how long the distance will go. Today, we’ve been married 8 years. If I make it to 100 years old, we will have been married 80 years. Can you imagine being with someone for 80 years? The possibility is exciting.

1/10th down
9/10ths to go
Happy Anniversary Allison.