Triumphs of Love

Okay, ya'll, this might get a little cheesy - but hopefully you expect that and are totally into it. Eric & I have been engaged for exactly four months, and for almost as many months, the nation has been anxiously awaiting some big Supreme Court decisions about marriage equality. This morning I woke up, read about my new feminist hero Senator Wendy Davis, and then watched the internet explode with news about the decision to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act and then the decision to keep California's Prop 8 overturned. While neither of these decisions guarantee marriage equality for all, it is a huge step in the right direction.

In the last year, Washington (my adopted home state) legalized same-sex marriage, Colorado (my real home state) legalized civil unions, Jason Collins came out on the cover of Sports Illustrated, Obama spoke in support of gay rights for the first time, three GOP senators have announced support of same-sex marriage - all of this is so, so inspiring. Our country could legalize same-sex marriage in my lifetime, maybe even in my parents' lifetimes! Even two years ago this would've seemed impossible.

There are still a LOT of injustices that our nation needs to address, but I have learned that you gotta take the small victories as they come. Eric & I have been talking lately about how the US seems to be moving backwards in regards to some things - health care, incarceration rates, etc., so it is heartening to see us moving forward in recognizing love and marriage rights for all. Here in New Mexico, our awesome Santa Fe Mayor David Coss is getting the ball rolling, and I did have a dream the other night that same-sex marriage was legalized in Santa Fe... triumphs like today's give me a little more room to hope.

It's also a good reminder for me to check myself.
Eric & I have started the very beginnings of wedding planning and I am already feeling a little stressed and overwhelmed about all there is to be done. Amid all the hype and materialism around weddings, it's easy to forget that not everyone can do this. Not everyone can plan a wedding knowing that after the fact, they will be legally recognized as spouses by the state and the country. Not everyone can announce their engagement without fear of backlash, estrangement, or violence. And I'm worrying about what people will think if I don't wear a white dress? Ridiculous.


What else have we been doing besides discussing US politics, you might ask? Quite a bit!

We went to our first Santa Fe Fuego game:

We were 2 of about 50 spectators, and they lost to the White Sands Pupfish!

We saw our favorite band from Colorado perform for FREE in a park next to the train tracks:

Paper Bird - check 'em out!

We took Assisi for a walk around our parking lot:

Very different than walking your average dog.

We explored our neighborhood on our bikes:

We went on a hike in the Santa Fe National Forest with some friends and some dogs:

And we did a bunch of stuff that we don't have photographic evidence of: celebrated my half birthday, cooked some delicious food, saw some free jazz music in the hills, attended the craziest art exhibit of our lives, and began our foray into amateur taxidermy. Oh, and I joined a weekly writing group! So we have been keeping ourselves busy and, aside from all the forest fires, summer in Santa Fe is going pretty well.

And of course, Assisi is keeping us entertained with his kitty antics and cuteness:

Zeezy likes to pretend that he is dying of hunger even when he has food right next to him. Silly kitty.

In just a few days we leave for a rafting trip with Eric's family to celebrate his parents' 30th wedding anniversary! Now that is pretty awesome.