Candi and I got married in the winter of 2003. After enjoying our free honeymoon at the El Dorado Royale in the sunny Riveria Maya, we quickly settled in to new life as a married couple. OK, "settled in" might be pushing it a little bit. We didn't quite kill each other, but came pretty close a couple of times in those first couple of months. I think the false expectations set by a couple in that first little while after they say "I do" sort of creates this hyper-sensitive reality. Every little thing wrongly said or done leads the offended spouse with the fear that "this is how my marriage is going to be!" At least that's how it seemed to us. You might be thinking to yourself, "wait a minute, did he say, 'free honeymoon?'" Long story, but there are definitely perks to being on staff at a church.
Because the wedding was so close to Christmas, I think was important to get each other gifts that would be meaningful and memorable. For instance, I got Candi a box set of the Chronic-what-cles of Narnia because it was so important to me as a child and she had never read it. Candi wanted to get me something special also. She thought long and hard about it, and came up with a great idea. In an attempt to celebrate her new name, she would get a metal plaque that we could hang on the outside wall. You know, "The Jansen's Live Here" or "Welcome to the Jansen's." The end result wound up being much more comical. Apparently someone got the order wrong, and we ended up with a plaque that says "House of Jansen." I'm not exactly sure why it's so funny to me, but it could be that everytime I read it in my head I am speaking with my best Sean Connery as King Arthur accent. "Welcome to the House of Jansen, may I interest you in a chalice of mead and a boar's leg?"
I'm pretty sure it hurt Candi's feelings on that first Christmas morning when I laughed out loud as I opened her present, but she's probably over it. Probably.
3 comments:
That is awesome! I'm definitely jealous of your cool sign ("House of Holt?" "HoH?" Hmmm...might be offensive to women of ill-repute.) It kinda looks like a historical marker ("Here we have the House of Jansen, a well known safehouse for tortilla makers, abusers of pillows and people who collect clothes hangers as they follow the North Star to Canada. It would eventually become the last stop on the Utterly Useless Underground Railroad, stopping well short of it's goal.")
Eh, what can I say? It's Monday.
Love the sign and the story more. I would have laughed too. We have a plaque, but it lamely just has our street address on it. ; )
I am laughing!!! We love and miss the House of Jansen!!
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