Keep going!

"Keep going! Keep going!"

I'm sweaty, panting and my legs are burning.

"How much time do I have left?"

"Keep going! You can do it!" Mr. Graff encourages from behind. He's doing double duty: pushing the baby stroller and being my personal cheerleading squad.

"How much TIME do I have LEFT!??"

"You're doing great," he says.

"TELL ME NOW!!!"

"Okay, you're done."

"When was I actually done?"

"Twenty seconds ago."

Being married to someone who thinks you are better than you are is a mixed blessing. Take running for instance. I am not a runner--though I want to be. Mr. Graff pines for warmer days so he can continue his barefoot running. He encourages me in my goals and tries to push me a little harder. It's good, even if exasperating at the time.

I guess that is the whole point about marriage: it's a challenge. It's also probably why we prepare for marriage by receiving our endowment in the temple. Endowment: a gift of knowledge and power from on High.

In the first few months of our marriage, we made a "Rich and Famous" list. A list of things that we would get around to getting when we were rich and famous. An umbrella, a new mattress, a colander, and a blender. Mr. Graff inherited a blender from one of his apartments ages ago with the inscription, "Mindy" on the bottom. Poor Mindy, we have her decrepit hunk of something formerly known as a blender.

A few days ago, I asked Mr. Graff to bring home some baby food for Studly--who is starting to refuse bottles a couple times a day in favor of food. He brought home baby food alright, and a new blender. It's sitting in pristine glory on our kitchen table.

Yup, we're rich and famous.

Small things make us happy. Mr. Graff's been busy making bread today. Not just bread, but massive quantities of wonderfully glutenous bread. He broke out the big Sam's Club frosting bucket and ground up cups and cups of wheat. I think he would enjoy owning a little bakery. Our apartment smells like baking bread.

It's happy. It's home. I'm glad to be here.