April Confessions

when I look at this I want another puppy.

... i LOVE the rain.

... I was more excited about going to the bar before the baseball game than the actual game itself.

... I'm a little nervous about hiking Pikes Peak this summer. Ok, make that a lot nervous.

... the reason I have yet to buy shoes for our wedding is because I plan on wearing flip-flops and I don't feel like arguing with my mom about it.

... The other night I made dinner out of noodles and broccoli. No sauce, no spices, nothing. It was literally the only thing we had left. If you look in our refrigerator right now you'll find beer, coffee, and bread. And I went shopping on Sunday.

... I cannot wait to plant flowers outside. And get a hammock for our patio. And drink beer in the hammock while staring at my planted flowers.

... I'm actually kind of glad our T.V. broke. It's amazing how much time I don't waste now.

... I could listen to Kenny Chesney 24/7.

... My favorite thing to eat for breakfast are Boca "sausages" dipped in syrup.

... I cannot stand Walmart. Not exactly sure why.

... I'm actually kind of upset we didn't get tickets for the O.A.R. concert in June.

What a weekend.

We had a fabulous weekend. I actually managed to get a lot done and have a lot of fun. Something I'm not usually good at finding a balance between. I was completely stressing about term papers, book reviews, and essays that I have to finish this week since I won't be around next week. But I managed to get enough of that stuff done and clean the apartment.

Saturday we went to the Rockies game which turned out to be an all day affair despite how freezing it was. I think it helped that we spent the first three hours at the bar preparing for the cold. Our seats were waaaay up in the Rockpile which actually turned out to be quite amusing. We saw 6 drunk people get escorted out by the police (one girl was quite underdressed), a dad beating up his 10 year old son, and watched C eat more food than I thought humanly possible. But really, you can't beat $4 tickets. Especially because we were so cold that we left after the 6th inning for another bar.

Sunday I thought I was going to be stuck at home writing papers while C went off and celebrated Easter without me. But ... I got so much done [it's amazing how productive I can be when I have motivation] that I went with him. We went over to some friends' house who hosted dinner. We brought Entenmanns Coffee Cake and a case of Coors. Clearly we are not the friends you want to have over for a dinner party. I was quickly shown up by people who actually baked dishes. I blamed school on not having enough time to cook but let's be honest. Even if I did cook I probably wouldn't have made anything people actually wanted to eat.

This is what I brought to the table.

We are now into the crazy two weeks where I see C all of two times. I'll be a happy girl again come May when I actually get to see the man on a regular basis.

It's the little things ...

can't wait for some more of this...

... going home in 1 week!

... watching Marley and Me cuddled up with both my Marleys. [Even though I thought the book was way better than the movie.]

... the boy was here all week long!

... Barnes and Noble. I could spend hours there.

... Walks with my dogs in the rain.

... Donations to the Salvation Army.

... B-day presents for people. :)

... Sweet C who leaves sweet notes.

... Plane rides all to myself. All that reading time.

... Planning camping trips for the summer.

... Planning hiking trips for the summer.

... Planning beach trips for the summer.

... Planning details for our wedding.

... fresh, clean laundry.

... clean dogs. [which I will have this weekend.]

... Henry chewing on a bone for hours.

So much to do!

Don't you just love those days where you wake up having a million things to do and then your mother calls and reminds you of about 10 other things you have to do. ;) That's pretty much what's going on with all this wedding stuff. My mom is throwing me a shower [this is what happens when your 15 year old sister is your MOH] in 2 weeks and she keeps adding to my "To Do" list. I'm far more stressed about this trip back home than I should be. There's so much to cram in and so many people to try and see. Because you care about this I'm going to break it down for you. Things I have to do while I am home for 4 days:

1. Have final dress fitting [pray dress fits because there is no time for another one]

2. Help Mom with shower

3. Attend shower

4. Figure out how I'm supposed to get the gifts home

5. Have sister's 16th Birthday Party

6. Get marriage license

7. Have walk-through at venue with caterer

8. Have brunch with friends

9. Have drinks with friends

10. Entertain out of town guests

11. Meet with florist. Pick EVERYTHING.

Also, my flights to get home and back, suck! I get in at midnight [I couldn't leave any earlier because I have class] and I leave at 5 am. AND, C is going to be out of town some of the same days that I am so I don't get to see him for 2 weeks. :( If my flight is delayed getting back to Denver then I'll either a. miss my classes or b. won't have enough time to run home and let the dogs out which means they'll be home alone for about 20 hours.

Now, I'm excited for the shower and to see everyone. I just hope everything goes smoothly because I don't have time to fix anything if it doesn't.

Oh, and did I mention I also have to write a 15 page paper in between all that? And I, uh, have yet to pick a topic.

it's all worth it. most definitely.

The story of Love Part 4: The year of living in sin

So when we last left off [Part 3] I had some decisions to make about my future. As I neared the end of my first year teaching I realized two things: 1. I really liked teaching and wasn't ready to give that up and 2. I wanted to be closer to C. We had been dating for 2 years and were more than sick of the long distance thing. So we decided to move in together. We got an apartment in Virginia and I moved down after the school year was finished. It was a little stressful, leaving friends I had just made and quitting my job without having another one lined up yet, but it worked out. I got several job offers over the summer including one at a great school, teaching only Biology, and I was really excited about it.

A few months after moving in together we decided to add another dog to our family. Crazy? Yes. And so we brought Henry home 2 months later. Best decision we ever made. I love being a two dog family and it was definitely a bonding experience going through puppy training together. My mom joked at the time that it was like we had a baby, since we were getting up in the middle of the night to take Henry out.

irresistible

I also applied to grad school in various states that fall. We didn't really discuss what would happen if I got in since I thought my chances were pretty slim in most places and there were so many options. I figured we'd cross that bridge when we came to it in the spring.

all dressed up for my sister's confirmation

I loved that first year of living together. It was hard at times but we had so many firsts. Our first big purchase (a bed), raising our first puppy, cutting down our first Christmas tree ... I loved how when we moved into that apartment it seemed so big and empty and over the months we filled it with animals, books, food, music. Our balcony overlooked beaver habitat and being the Animal Planet lovers that we are we spent a lot of time out there watching the beavers, listening to thunderstorms, and drinking coffee on Saturday mornings.

burry, imperfect but ours

Towards the end of the year we talked about moving. We knew if we stayed in Virginia we wanted to move somewhere to shorten both of our commutes and we knew if I got into grad school there was a possibility of us leaving the state. Which leads us to, [Part 5], when we make all of those decisions.

It's the little things ...

... a cup of tea.

and that's all I've got tonight. Too tired to think of more.

If you're sick of spring...

... you can have some of Colorado's.