jamieGObrightly

Hey Ty, let’s go hang out on the beach, and take a hike, and drive downtown, and wander the streets, and see some icons, and ride the Great Wheel, and fill you full of sugar, and be sure to return you to your mom as soon as you start to lose your shit. We love you, and Uncle Erick is right – you’ve got me wrapped around your finger.

It’s not that I don’t have words, it’s that I have too many. Sometimes, when my life gets too chaotic, I have a hard time blogging. All that buzzing causes a Costco sized word sald to be tossed around in my head and I find it hard to string those words together in proper order. All these goals! and ideas! and challenges! are slamming against my temples and ricocheting off my heart, till I have a headache, and need a glass of wine or two to slow things down long enough to try and sleep for a few hours. So…there’s that. And that doesn’t really leave me very capable of writing witty, thought provoking essays.

While I’m over here processing my place in the Universe, allow me to takes us back to basics. No words; just pictures. We begin at 8am on a recent Saturday and continue once every hour…

What about you? What have you been up to? How is your Saturday going?

I have an old gmail account with my maiden name. I rarely check it anymore as it mostly receives spam. Sometimes though, I like going there just to reread one of my favorite emails of all time. It was sent to me on 10/6/11 – just 48 hours before I eloped with Mr. Bright. I’ve never been able to move it out of my inbox. It’s always there at the bottom of the page and makes me swoon every time I read it. The title of this post is the subject line of his email. I think you’ll agree, it’s anything but poor.

Jamie -

Where do I start? How do I put into words what I feel and have felt since the first day I met you? I think my actions speak above and beyond any words that I speak or write. Words that come to mind when I think about you: Best friend, lover, girlfriend, fiance, wife, confidant, baby, the shining part of my day…everyday. The impact that you have made on my life is truly unmeasurable Jamie Neilsen. In the time that I have known you I feel that I have become a better person and my drive has never been higher in my life. Thank you for that. Thank you for seeing me and accepting me for who I am, no sugar coating, you take me for what I am and there is something so beautiful about that in a world full of frivolous and fictitious bullshit.

You are unique, weird, smart, joyful, lively, beautiful, stylish, driven, caring, tender, selfless, fun, creative, family oriented, organized, sexy, petite, funny, personable, authentic, impressionistic, radical, profound, inspirational, pragmatic, realistic, vivacious, attractive, dainty, elegant, fascinating, shapely . . get it? No? Oh, ok, here are some more . . spirited, ravishing, apt, capable, wise, talented, observant, ingenious, precocious, gifted, straightforward, trustworthy, pure, exemplary, amiable, tactful, hospitable, gracious, sociable, elegant, cheerful, courteous, witty, persistent, gentle, considerate, determined, humble, tolerant, resourceful and loved.

Jamie, I told you this once before (actually several times) and that is “I’ve been waiting for you my entire life, welcome!” And I have always meant that but no more than right now. In less than 24 hours you and I will be boarding a train, not for Portland, but for the next chapter of our lives. We both have ‘been there’ before which makes me feel even better about what we have. We have a ‘gauge’ of sorts to compare this to anything else you and I have had in our lives. I think that is more valuable than anything else. Experience, more than anything else, is the portal to a long and fulfilling life together. We both know what we want in this life and it just so happens that the universe has connected us in order for us to live out our plans together. I couldn’t be happier with my life right now and you are such a significant part of that. Like you said yesterday, “The truth is that it is not because I can’t live without you. That’s not true. It’s because I don’t want to live without you.” Words have never been more true. I suppose that is why I get so emotional and weird sometimes because I don’t want to live without you, ever. It’s so nice to hear reassurance from you about us, it always makes me feel good. You, period, make me feel good.

Marriage is a risk, no doubt about that. But I feel that risk is lessened when two people have the communication skills and the raw, natural love that you and I have for one another. I mean, we both appreciate the small things in life so much which is transparent of how much we really do enjoy being together. Standing in the kitchen after work and talking, hanging out with your family, going grocery shopping and laughing most of the time, telling each other stories of our childhood, laying in bed having pillow talk, it goes on and on. I told you that I am a horrible writer (as seen in this letter) but I had to give it a shot. You, my love, make me the reasonable and happy man that I am today. You are going to be my wife in just about 48 hours and it makes me ecstatic just thinking about it. No shred of doubt pollutes my mind, I am 100% in, 100% committed and no monkey business flirting from me, I am so seriously committed to this relationship to let stupid shit like that take it all away. You have one of the most committed men on earth in your life right now, know that to be a fact sweetheart. Well, I think you know how much I love you and how much this weekend means to the both of us. Here’s to your Friday going quick and both of us getting home in all our giddiness. I love you so much Jamie Neilsen, forever and a wake up.

Yours,

Erick

Happy Valentine’s Day Internet. Happy Valentine’s Day Friends. Happy Valentine’s Day baby. Thanks for letting me share the best and brightest of our lives with the whole world wide web.

There are three kinds of adults you’ll see at any given time within a half mile of our doorstep: the dog walker, the jogger, and the cyclist. I blame it on the nicely kept, well lit neighborhood, with small streets and wide sidewalks. That, and it’s proximity to the beach. In our neighborhood, the child to dog ratio is unofficially 1 to 10. If there are children nearby, I never see or hear them.

One weekend, while walking our precious Boogie {Monster}, we passed a cluster of colorful balloons pulling away from a sandwich board in front of an apartment building. Taped to the sign was a fluorescent pink poster board. In bold, black, Sharpie ink were the words, “Chloe’s Puppy Party! Everyone is welcome!” And by “everyone,” I guess they mean anyone that can read, which is one part charming, and two parts stranger danger. I don’t know who Chloe is, but I’m fairly certain she’s a spoiled bitch.

The thing is, I’m the type of neighbor who makes fun of all the other neighbors behind their backs. They’re easy targets. You know, the jogger who grunts and makes orgasmic groans as she whooshes by in her bright pink and yellow “gear.” Don’t even get me started on the fancy fanny packs they use to hold their multiple water bottles. Or there’s the spandex clad cyclists who travel in packs at 20mph while having casual conversation amongst each other. Of course, I really want to make fun of the neurotic, baby talking, dog owners but…it seems we’re one of them.

It’s true that we shell out $20 a day for Boogie to attend a doggie day care once or twice a week. A day care that he had to be “by appointment only” interviewed and vet certified for in order to be admitted. You’d think we were trying to get our child into a private prep-preschool with all the stress and paperwork involved.

He takes up more room on the bed then we do at night and he demands only the best, fully carnivorous, food and treats. Unless of course, you happen to leave a bag of dark chocolate covered pretzels on the table. Then he’ll go out of his way to drag the entire bag on the floor and devour every crumb as if to erase the evidence.

On walks, he sports a fancy harness and a glowing light for when it’s dark. But at least we weren’t the kind of parents that dress our dog in outfits!! Until now. At first we were just being good parents by showing concern for the well being of our potentially cold pup on walks below 35 degrees. I don’t know if he was actually cold or not, but he did shiver (which actually looks about the same as a nervously excited Jack Russell Terrier in any weather condition). To be safe, we bought him a jacket. We honest to goodness just wanted to make sure the lil guy was warm on our walks. But as soon as we turned the corner to the “accessories” aisle at the pet store, it opened the flood gates of dressing our precious pooch. It’s embarrassing how many jackets, coats and hoodies we had him try on. Oh! So handsome! So adorable! Aren’t you justthecutestlilguythateverwas!

And now, we’re that kind of dog owner parent. We Skype him when he’s home alone. We can’t leave the house without tossing treats in all his favorite spots to mask our guilt for his probable future loneliness. He listens to KEXP on streaming while we’re gone and he naps the day away in a king size bed or the couch or chair of his choice, layered in throw blankets for him to nest in.

And for all that, he acts as though he’s never fed, never loved, and never appreciated. He sneezes at us in disgust and growls when we try to gently scoot him over in order to make room for ourselves in our bed. He does not like it when mommy and daddy kiss or hug. He would prefer we only show affection for him. He will not accept free dog biscuits from drive-thru windows and absolutely cannot stand it when another dog walks near our presence without him clearing it first. Also, he once peed on a friends purse.

And for all that, we still love him and love to spoil him. It warms our hearts the way he greets us when we get home. It’s nice to be so needed and wanted and loved. It’s also nice to know we’re in good company here. From the water dishes and dog stops in front of homes and shops, to the awkward small talk we humans do while our dogs sniff each other’s butts, we’re among dog folk. And dog folks get it.