Revealing a Few Secrets You Didn’t Know

With the sound of a hammer as my background music today, I thought I’d take up Amy’s challenge and show you the man behind the tarp in our kitchen remodel and a few of our secrets.  This is my husband, Martin:

At the Hot Pots of Yellowstone National Park

He’s spearheading our kitchen remodel.  Building cabinets has always been his dream.  A dream kitchen has always been mine, so we’ve become a great team.  hehe.  We talk out our ideas, and he takes the charge in making this happen.  We both know our roles and how to keep each other motivated. 

Secret One. 

Our biggest challenge is communication.  He uses technical words like radial while I will say something like pancake-shaped, so we never know what each other is saying.  We still can’t agree on how you define the word shelf, and we will be arguing about molten butter versus melted butter until death.  We think a little differently. 

He has made things like this for me:

And I have made things like this for him:

And then we’ve stored them away in our personal memories.  Until now. 

Secret Two. 

It’s been really weird for us to share our German adventure with all of you online.  We’ve always been introverts.  We’ve also always been very passionate about life and the environment.  I dream of building a book of children’s poems and making poetry feel interesting, and Martin studies power electronics with plans in renewable technology fields.  I’m not sure if we’ve really told people that before, especially the poetry part.

Secret Three. 

I only knew one German word when we moved here:  haselnuss eis (hazelnut ice cream!  my favorite), but I never felt worried or scared because I had my husband.  If you ask, Martin will say he speaks a little German.  And a little Czech.  But he’s fibbing.  My brother says you have to ask Martin three questions about something before he’ll start talking.  Then you’ll realize his technical skills and language skills and… He’s been a wonderful crutch and translator for me in Germany while I learn, and he is never boastful about it.

I tried to show off my new German skills to him the other night and casually asked, “Welches?”  My American accent was pretty heavy.

He looked at me with a wrinkled forehead and said, “Grape juice?”

Sigh.  He had no idea I was trying to speak German.  I was asking him, “Which one?” 

Secret Four.

It’s impossible to study with a fluent speaker and be married to him, people, especially when he can’t visualize pancake-shaped in English.  Technically, he argues that a pancake is never perfectly round.  How are we supposed to communicate and AGREE in a second language?

And yet, he makes me laugh.  He comes home with stories of his coworkers asking which is the thing you eat:  beagles or bagels.  And sometimes, he even sits down to read a poem to me.  He’s my guy.  He’s the one who gives me the courage (and technical support) to share ideas with you.  He’s also the one who deserves some help in the kitchen right now, so I must run.

Meanwhile, tell me your thoughts.  On your guy.  On our decision to reveal this house and us.  On what love means to you.  

Thank you for supporting us.