Wax on, wax off…

Bonjour, tout le monde! Today, I want to talk about relationships. They can be great. They can be mediocre. They can be less-than-wonderful.

What I will say, is that when they work, they are awesome.

Soldier Boy and I (and I'm sure many of you and your significant others) have had ups and downs during the course of our/your relationship. There were times when I lived in Chicago and he was in Germany (we were long distance for almost 2 years!) that I was sure things would fall apart simply because the giant body of water known as the Atlantic Ocean had been rudely placed between us.

There were times after I moved to Germany that I was sure I would never fit into military life, there was too much that I didn't understand, and I was too isolated from what I knew to be in a place where I was willing and/or able to make our relationship work.

After Soldier Boy's last deployment, something changed. I don't know if it was because now we live together and I was in his house alone while he was gone and I started to miss him, or because the ghost in our house (which I will tell you more about in a few days!) was driving me crazy to the point that I had a co-worker move into our house with me for the last few days of the deployment, but something in me just clicked.

I love this boy. I mean, I pretty much always have in some capacity (childhood puppy love, friend love, nostalgic for childhood puppy friend love, rose colored-I-have-an-across-an-ocean-realtionship love), but now it is deeper. And even though he still drives me insane when he says he'll do the dishes after I've cooked dinner and ends up just putting plates, knives, and forks in the dishwasher and leaves all the nasty pots and pans for me to do (and then says that he's never ever done this), I'm happy.

… so happy, in fact, that now, instead of staying home and doing my own things while he runs his errands, I actually want to go with him… hence these photos, taken (by SB, who didn't complain about taking them one bit) in the self-serve car wash on base while SB's car ran through the touchless next door!