Here we go!

I have been a blog stalker reader for a few months now and had intended on starting my own once we found out we were pregnant. What better way to tell family and friends than through our very own blog? So at this time we’d like to announce….

We are NOT PREGNANT!!!! Yet…

And welcome to our Blog!

With the encouragement of a favorite blogger Babblingabby, I decided why not join the fun now. I can’t promise it will be the most interesting, but it’s a great way to keep in touch with loved ones and record our newly wedded stress bliss.

To begin, let me take you to a previous time in my life…

A time of seemingly effortless beauty or charm.

A characteristic of quality, pleasing for its charm or refinement.

This is what defined me for 21 years. GRACE. Although I am sure my parents and Mr. B would argue the fact that Grace did NOT define me, but rather, a quality that I occasionally possessed. So I will put it out there that it may or may not have been my number one characteristic, but it was in fact part of me, who I was, my identity, every single day of my life. My last name.

On July 24, 2009, the day I said "I Do", that all changed. (Technically it wasn't until December 28, 2009. Yes I am that much of a procrastinator. Can you blame me?? Surrendering such a beautiful name…it’s quite the internal process to go through). Grace was no longer a part of my every day life. Sure there is the once in a blue moon that I will show some grace (I may be a grudge keeper), but it was no longer there to make me feel extra spiritual (don’t judge), extra beautiful, extra cool because my last name was also a first name, and the part of me that made me feel girly since my parents so kindly blessed me with a popular boy name...all of this → GONE. Are you beginning to think that I may have been a little too attached to my last name?

Although I love my husband to death I do not love his last name. Luckily for him, this was a sacrifice I was willing to make and he is well worth the last name. It has taken me about 6 months to come face to face with the reality that my name is no longer beautiful, that my planned children’s names don’t quite have the same ring, that I have to tell people how to spell and pronounce it. This is all very foreign to me. Even though I may or may not still be embarrassed when asked my last name, reality is I don’t think anyone cares or even notices! It’s kind of like when you just get a hair cut that you hate and you have to do some errands and you feel like everyone is staring at you, like they know you just got it cut and it looks horrible. Like somehow they knew what you looked like before. Or maybe I am just vain, care too much about what people think about me and think that the world might possibly revolve around me??

Anyways, I began to face this reality when I was 17 years old and met the man boy of my dreams. This boy, who has grown into a wonderful, handsome man and husband, swept me off my feet and was beyond what I ever expected….in taking on as my last name that is! After years of practicing my signature (don’t pretend you never did that!) nothing could have prepared me for such a unique, if you will, last name. Thomas – definitely (J.T.T hands down number one man for years! Isn’t he gay now?? That would’ve ended differently than I expected..) Hanson-sure (aside from beautiful blonde locks shinier and longer than my own, Zac could sing MmmBop to me whenever his little heart desired), Lachey – you betcha! Smelser- nope. nadda. Do I even know how to make a capital S in cursive??

I try to remind myself daily that it could be worse. What if his last name was Grubb, Hairy, Woody, Butt etc. So I decided, what better way to take charge of this last name then to incorporate it into my blog. Be creative. Be proud. Write with confidence. Breathe in the fresh air of “Smelser”. You may be asking yourself, “How do you pronounce that?” Well, it’s as simple as saying the question “Do you SMELL SIR?”.

I have been brainstorming all day on a name for our blog. Let’s just say my creativity juice is just about gone. Not sure where it went, but it’s been used. So here were my options:

Smell-town USA (I had “Small-town USA” by Justin Moore stuck in my head so that’s my excuse for that creative name)

Smelicious (No words to justify that one…I told you my juice was low)

Once upon a Smell (Because it’s telling our story like a book. Is an explanation even needed??)

And the winner….dunt da dunt daaa (how do you spell a drum roll? Actually that’s more like the trumpet sound, not sure how to spell that either)

The Smelly Life.

I think it has a nice ring to it, yeah? It incorporates our last name, it’s obvious it’s about our life, it’s a little creative and well basically that’s about as many names as I could think of and unfortunately the creative genes don’t run in either one of our families so help was limited.

Hopefully through out the week I will post some pics of our wedding, honeymoon, apartment and highlights of life thus far!

The past few days we have been going through serious Internet withdrawals. The guy below us who we steal share Internet with has been out of town for some time now and his wi-fi has been out for almost over a week! With three months left in Fl, we gave in and bought our own Internet service, it will be set up tomorrow! Wohoo!. I am still coping with the fact I was unable to watch Project Runway this morning on Hulu while Mr. B brought me breakfast in bed (Saturday morning tradition- cute huh?) and I will be missing The Miss America Pageant tonight! Life is tough, I am aware.

Seriously though, God has blessed us tremendously. We are so excited to share what’s going on in our lives! We have a lot of plans coming up over the next few months:

Next weekend is Mr. B’s 21st bday and we are spending the weekend in Clearwater Beach

The weekend after the in-laws are coming for a visit and it’s our 1st Valentines as a married couple!

In March my mom is coming for the Strawberry Festival. My aunt and Grammie will be visiting for the weekend too.

We are going home to NH for a few days for Easter and bday celebrations.

In April we are going to Naples to visit my grandparents (that’s where Mr. B proposed!)

May 1st Mr. B graduates!!!!

May 3rd Bye-bye Florida!!!

Enjoy your weekend!

Smelly Love <3