Romance: Fiction vs. Reality

It's not very often on this blog that I do a post more personal in nature, but I know I like it when the blogs I love and visit frequently post a little something that gives me a small peek into their world outside of books and blogging, so I thought I might give it a whirl. Mostly this came about as a result of something I saw on Twitter last week; something that, put simply, spoke to me. That sounds a little lame, I know, but when I saw the image I'm about to share with you I knew I had to write about how perfectly it represents my life. And if you can't share these types of profound moments with the entirety of the internet, who can you share them with, you know?

Confession: I love romance. I do. I actively seek out all genres of romance, from contemporary to paranormal, young adult to adult, historical to steampunk. If the book has some sort of sexy, charismatic, funny, sweet, and a-whole-slew-of-other-adjectives hero, I want to read about him. I have an entire list of fictional boyfriends I often tell my husband I would leave him for if they were real (he oh-so kindly takes such statements with a heavy dose of skepticism), and I love nothing more than falling in love with these boys over and over again.

What does this have to do with my moment you ask? The one that made me sit back and go "this is my life in a nutshell" and find a sense of deep peace seeing my exact world put into beautiful, expressive words? Well, here's what led me to that special place people:

THIS. It's like this card was written specifically for me. I saw it, nearly wet myself laughing at its accurate depiction of my day to day life, and then decided it had to be shared, complete with a few snippets of conversation between me and Kevin as supporting evidence that sometimes, just sometimes, the romance of fiction and that of reality can be so very far apart.

Nothing amuses me more than being so deeply involved in the romance between two characters that I feel compelled to share the fictional love with my husband, and then take it one step further by questioning him as to why our real love isn't nearly as dramatic or epic as the one about which I'm reading. This is usually what happens:

(For those of you who have not read the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward, this conversation might not make much sense. Basically, when the Brothers find the person they want to spend the rest of their lives with, they give off a scent of dark spices - a vampire bonding scent that essentially tells everyone around them who the person responsible for inciting that reaction in them belongs to. It sounds weird out of context of the books, but it just works when you're in their world.)

ME: Kevin?

KEVIN: Yeah.

ME: How come when you're near me you don't emit a scent of dark spices?

KEVIN: What?

ME: When you look at me or are in close proximity to me, how come that doesn't trigger any sort of bonding scent from you?

KEVIN: What the hell are you reading?

ME: Nothing you need to concern yourself with.

KEVIN: Clearly I do given you just asked me why my body doesn't leak a weird spice smell upon seeing you.

ME: I'm just saying maybe there's something physically wrong with you that that's not happening.

KEVIN: I think it's more likely there's something wrong with you mentally that you think it should.

ME: I'm almost positive that's not the case. Bonding scents are sexy! You should have one.

KEVIN: I think I'm done talking about this.

ME: Fine. But if you were a Brother, you'd have a bonding scent. And also, you'd tattoo my full name in monstrously large letters across your shoulders so everyone could see the depth of your love for me in ink.

KEVIN: Jesus.

These types of conversations happen fairly often and usually deteriorate rather quickly because Kevin just can't grasp what real love is supposed to be like ;-) I try to share my expertise in this area given my extensive studying of the subject matter, but he, for some inexplicable reason, does not find my knowledge useful.

I was doing a reread of the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning when a new question for Kevin popped in my head. I'd just read the following line:

"One day you may kiss a man you can't breathe without, and find breath is of little consequence" - Jericho Barrons

ME: Kevin?

KEVIN: Yeah.

ME: Do you love me so much you find it difficult to breathe without me?

KEVIN: I don't even want to know what you're reading to make you ask me that.

ME: This is me opening the door wide for you to say something exceedingly romantic about how much I mean to you. Now you just need to walk through it.

KEVIN: How very considerate of you to open that door for me.

ME: I know. Please dazzle me with a statement brimming with so much love that it reminds me in glorious detail of all the reasons I married you.

KEVIN: Right. I do of course love you, however, I've discovered I'm capable of breathing all day at work when you're not present. I'm kind of amazing like that.

ME: You're also a bit of an a-hole. Compliment fail.

I have to admit the lack of constant drama-filled, swoon-worthy romance in our reality is not the fault of Kevin alone. I may contribute a tiny, tiny bit ;-)

ME: Okay, I'm ready to go run errands.

KEVIN: Wait. Did you seriously just go upstairs and change from one pair of sweatpants to another?

ME: Uh, yeah. These are my "going out" sweatpants Kevin. I can't go out in my pajamas now can I? I want to look nice for you when we're out and about. Obviously.

KEVIN: I'm pretty sure you slept in that exact pair of sweatpants last week.

ME: Yes, I did. However, I've washed them since then and have not yet worn them to sleep this week, so they are now, officially, daytime sweatpants. The ones I just took off are nighttime sweatpants. Now that I'm in my daytime sweats and clearly looking my best, we can proceed with our daytime activities.

KEVIN: Jesus.

In all seriousness though, I'm a lucky woman. Kevin is extremely supportive of me, the business I run from home and this blog, and he makes me laugh on a daily basis. While there are no bonding scents or telling indicators of love like an inability to breathe when not in my presence (honestly Kevin!), I wouldn't trade him or my life for the world (well, maybe for Jericho Barrons ;-)

I figured I'd conclude this rather lengthy and rambling post with a few family pictures. Yes, there are WAY more pictures of our dogs than there are of us because Kevin and I almost never take any pictures together and our boys (Gatsby and Griffin) are our babies. We're behind-the-camera type of people and we're both good with that. Hence, the wedding photos below from 5 years ago. They're the only decent pictures I have of us together. It's both funny and pathetic really that we have so few pictures of us as a couple, but here's our little family: