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Weekend (with pics!)
Sep. 1st, 2020 06:19 pmSteve and I had an AMAZING weekend. It was just so relaxed and nice.
Friday Steve streamed his curation of his top 10 Games of the Decade (2010-2019). It was so fun, and I teased him a ton. The only thing I hard disagreed with was how long he kept Pokemon Go on his list. He has a channel points incentive called Memory Card, which is where someone asks a video game related question and every tries to answer it. For example, name 10 games where you can jump. I redeemed one after he'd curated his top 10, and as is customary, he asked if I had a question for the group. I said something like, "Name one game that stayed WAY too long on his list" and it was hilarious. Also at one point Courtney said,
and I could not stop laughing. So good.
Overall his list was great for him. There were a few surprises but I know Steve is always true to himself. Me mock harassing him won't actually influence him at all.
Saturday we declined trying any socially-distant hangouts with Courtney, Scott and Nick, and opted for a cute day instead. I slept until 10:30 and then spent the day relaxing and knitting, and playing hearthstone. We ended up watching like 8 hours of Chris Chike streaming Guitar Hero. It was awesome. We also finished our Hearthstone puzzle FINALLY this week!
Sunday I basically knit and played Hearthstone all day, and Steve was surprised into going to Noah's to do the podcast, which disrupted our plans to finish Last of Us 2. We had time to bang one out though and that was 10/10. I need to finish this test knit by like Wednesday and I have a long way to go, so I started just watching all of TL Yarncrafts videos while I worked because she is amazing.
Yesterday while working I heard a super loud THUNK!!!! And it only took me a second to realize a bird MUST have hit one of the windows. I looked out front and didn't see anything, so I went to the back sliding glass door and sure enough, a big pile of feathers was facedown on the ground.
So much excitement for an afternoon!
I meant to focus HARD on the knitting last night, but we got impromptu invited by Ben and Sean, who were visiting for Sean's sister's wedding? Maybe? to sit outside Dmac's house and watch him play ITG. We ordered World Street Kitchen and Milkjam and sat in different parts of the yard and it was a good time.
78// Bad food, good Steve
Aug. 5th, 2018 01:52 pmToday we woke up a little late, and were both frisky right away in the morning so we decided to take advantage of that!
Then we relaxed with coffee before needing to head out to lunch with Steve’s parents and grandpa, who just turned 92. We planned to get to Roseville a little early so we could stop at Half Priced Books. Today was a bust for me, no cheap SK hardcovers, no Murakami I don’t have, no manga that seemed interesting and no humor books that caught my eye. I was feeling flirty with Steve though so I made my trip interesting that way. He ended up finding a DS game he wanted and a manual for a Castlevania game he was missing. Score for Steve! Then we needed to go over to Baker’s Square.
When we first started doing lunches with his grandpa, it was at an Applebee’s, and that sucked. Now we go next door to Baker’s Square, which still sucks, but at least the pie is good. The food itself is bland and mushy. I opted for the in-season peach pecan pie, which is like a cheesecake with peach preserves on it. It was pretty yummy. The conversation was fun this time, everyone appeared to be in good moods and we planned for Steve and maybe me to go up north the weekend of the 19th for four-wheeling. Steve’s parents talked about plans for an RV so they can drive around the country during the cold months. I knit on my second Totoro sock, woo.
Next on our agenda was MilkJam. We had planned to go there since we wouldn’t be far from Minneapolis, but the drive ended up being like 25 minutes anyway. The weather was good and the being with Steve was awesome so I didn’t mind. I parked us a few blocks away, and we were surprised to find that there was like no line... score! We each got waffle cones, me with Cereal Killer and Steve with the mango sticky rice. I loved mine, but also I wanted the mango. I’ll probably get that next time. We walked and ate our cones, and just enjoyed each other’s company.
Finally we headed home. I had thought maybe I’d play ITG, but I was not feeling it at all by the time we got home. Too much sugar for the day, so sleepy and lazy. So I knit on my sock and Steve played his game (which he eventually beat) and we watched The Office. Soon after, Ben started streaming, so we watched him try some Fantastic Beats songs and then some officials. It was a great time. Steph was in the Twitch chat and Dave was chatting with her a bit and maybe I got protective of our Officialz group when she was making comments about officials songs (we all usually communicate via the fb group vs in twitch. I’m working on it, but it’s obvious that Ben is also protective of the four of us (him, Dave, Steve and myself) and our work on Officials. So.
After he finished playing, Steve and I went back to a show and I finally went to bleach my hair so I can dye it lavender for Bethany’s wedding. Steve beat his game and we watched a few more episodes of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. We realized Netflix started us on the last season. I really enjoyed the Dana Carvey episode, and the Kate McKinnon episode even though she was so intense.
We ended the night continuing to watch Seinfeld while I iced my arms. Before that though we talked about the nuances of yoga and did a few postures. I’m super excited for Monday yoga, can’t wait to get back to the stuff I crave.
Then we relaxed with coffee before needing to head out to lunch with Steve’s parents and grandpa, who just turned 92. We planned to get to Roseville a little early so we could stop at Half Priced Books. Today was a bust for me, no cheap SK hardcovers, no Murakami I don’t have, no manga that seemed interesting and no humor books that caught my eye. I was feeling flirty with Steve though so I made my trip interesting that way. He ended up finding a DS game he wanted and a manual for a Castlevania game he was missing. Score for Steve! Then we needed to go over to Baker’s Square.
When we first started doing lunches with his grandpa, it was at an Applebee’s, and that sucked. Now we go next door to Baker’s Square, which still sucks, but at least the pie is good. The food itself is bland and mushy. I opted for the in-season peach pecan pie, which is like a cheesecake with peach preserves on it. It was pretty yummy. The conversation was fun this time, everyone appeared to be in good moods and we planned for Steve and maybe me to go up north the weekend of the 19th for four-wheeling. Steve’s parents talked about plans for an RV so they can drive around the country during the cold months. I knit on my second Totoro sock, woo.
Next on our agenda was MilkJam. We had planned to go there since we wouldn’t be far from Minneapolis, but the drive ended up being like 25 minutes anyway. The weather was good and the being with Steve was awesome so I didn’t mind. I parked us a few blocks away, and we were surprised to find that there was like no line... score! We each got waffle cones, me with Cereal Killer and Steve with the mango sticky rice. I loved mine, but also I wanted the mango. I’ll probably get that next time. We walked and ate our cones, and just enjoyed each other’s company.
Finally we headed home. I had thought maybe I’d play ITG, but I was not feeling it at all by the time we got home. Too much sugar for the day, so sleepy and lazy. So I knit on my sock and Steve played his game (which he eventually beat) and we watched The Office. Soon after, Ben started streaming, so we watched him try some Fantastic Beats songs and then some officials. It was a great time. Steph was in the Twitch chat and Dave was chatting with her a bit and maybe I got protective of our Officialz group when she was making comments about officials songs (we all usually communicate via the fb group vs in twitch. I’m working on it, but it’s obvious that Ben is also protective of the four of us (him, Dave, Steve and myself) and our work on Officials. So.
After he finished playing, Steve and I went back to a show and I finally went to bleach my hair so I can dye it lavender for Bethany’s wedding. Steve beat his game and we watched a few more episodes of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. We realized Netflix started us on the last season. I really enjoyed the Dana Carvey episode, and the Kate McKinnon episode even though she was so intense.
We ended the night continuing to watch Seinfeld while I iced my arms. Before that though we talked about the nuances of yoga and did a few postures. I’m super excited for Monday yoga, can’t wait to get back to the stuff I crave.
71// What a Saturday
Jul. 28th, 2018 03:06 pmLast week I was really feeling like I wanted to do something with Steve on Saturday morning. I initially thought Minneapolis Farmer’s market, but we weren’t sure if there’d be time after he got back from garage sale-ing. Then on Thursday or Friday I got the notification that Saturday was the beginning of the East Side PEEP Shawl. PEEP is a thing where 6 of the east side (of the twin cities) shops hold 1 of 6 pieces of a shawl pattern and yarn, and you travel to each shop picking up the pieces. You even get 1/6 of a digital code if you don’t want 6 pieces of paper. Each shop also makes a sample of the shawl, and you can buy that particular color base if that’s the shawl you want to make. I’ve never actually participated, mostly because I’d miss it or wasn’t sure about the final shawl. I thought it was perfect timing for this year though. So instead of farmers market, shawl!
I started in the nearest town, and made a loop. The trip for me is 66 miles, and some people BIKE their route. Crazy!!
I’m so glad I went to my closest shop first, because they cheated and made TWO of the shawls, and their second version didn’t make it onto the picture of samples, and that one was my favorite, so I bought the base color from there. Then I went to Stillwater, which wasn’t that far but took a really long time due to construction, a wedding, and general idiocy of the people in town. Parking was a nightmare but I parallel’d my way in. I did get a great view of the St. Croix river and the weather was gorgeous.
This was cute.
One of the women said she thought my shawl “looks like a StevenBe original.” I told her the pattern was the local yarn shawl but that the yarn did in fact come from StevenBe!
After Stillwater was White Bear Lake. This shop turned out to be near Andy’s old tattoo studio, so parking was easy, though it was Dog Days so still busy, with the added bonus of puppies everywhere. The shop was not a shop I’d ever go to again, with grouchy signs about cell phones (Steve called me while I was in there and I started sweating) and a grouchy old lady running the place.
I talked to Steve while I headed to the next place, an area of Mahtomedi (mah-toe-meed-eye) I’d never been to before and super close to my house. Beautiful backwoods drive. Got lucky with parking. Enjoyed the shop, will go there again. Lots of compliments on the shawl, friendly people, good snack and drink selection (though I didn’t take any, I made a note for the future).
Ben and Sean had been in contact with us about possible hangouts, and after I stopped at home they confirmed they wanted to hang because they were in town for the weekend. I mentioned dragging them to two yarn shops and they were in favor of the detours.
After they picked us up, to Grand ave in St Paul we went! Got my yarn, bantered about the best color on the wall (Steve and I chose the same color - a teal - though I didn’t know his choice prior), and Sean argued the case of a burnt sienna and Ben voted for a navy blue. We determined there was hunger and walked over to Brasa. I’d only been there once before for my grandma’s birthday several years ago but it left a bad taste in my mouth because there are no vegan options and my mom complained about the lack of even vegetarian options (the logo IS a rooster, to be fair). Knowing that I could probably find something to eat as a vegetarian vs vegan, I wasn’t concerned. I chose the one vegetarian sandwich and the group got a bunch of sides in addition. I got the seasonal mango lemonade to drink, and I don’t even like lemonade but this was delicious. I was only able to consume half my sandwich, some plantains and chips, and I was bursting full.
Last yarn stop, 3 Kittens in Mendota. Another cute shop, signed up as interested in a shawl class by an intense old lady who was incredibly interested in a lot about me. She wrote down the name of my shawl and talked to me about the shop expanding. It was another good shop I’d like to take more time in. Sean and I walked around commenting on the yarn before the group headed to our actual destination: Mall of America of course.
For some reason, 5 star raids on the weekends always start later in the afternoon, but during the week they’re ready to go promptly at 8am. So weird. We got to the mall around 3pm, and after everyone went to the bathroom there was a raid ready to go right by us! We were all able to catch crappy Registeel, and then we sat at a table chatting and Pokémon Go-ing for like an hour. I was talking to Bethany and Haley about wedding stuff and to my cousin Morrigan about food stuff (he wants to lose weight but doesn’t want to try hard at all, mostly it was me confirming that NO KETO and giving suggestions). Eventually we got coffee (and Ben went and got Sean some Very Bad Tea because they screwed up her order) and wandered around the mall. We did stop into Air Traffic for awhile and Ben tried some of the juggling bags and we looked at the various silly puzzles. Soon after, I was feeling soooo tired and suggested we get moseying. I wasn’t trying to end hangouts by any means, but I wasn’t wearing the best walking shoes (converse) and my pinky toes were hurting. Steve reminded me that I needed to pick up my bridesmaid dress, and the lady made me try it on. It fits so much better with the strap shortened by like 2 inches and the hem brought up like 6 inches. The Asian lady said she loved the lace on my waist and said it made my curves look good, Steve and Sean approved, and Ben said it “is a very purple dress”. Hahaha.
When we got to the van, Sean mentioned something about wanting shelving from Ikea, and I was like, “well IKEA just so happens to be RIGHT THERE, wanna go??” And after some discussion about whether Ben’s friend/coworker Dustin was still playing in a magic: the gathering tournament, Ikea it was.
We wandered slowly around the living room and bed section, trying like every single couch and bed and chatting. Steve and Ben apparently talked about ITG and friend stuff (like that Ben wants to stream to ONLY US and why he doesn’t like other people, even other friends, to view the stream), and Sean and I talked a lot about housing desires, locations for living, future plans, and of course, The Compound*.
We cut the IKEA trip short when Dustin announced he was ready for dinner, and Ben drove us to Minneapolis to a place called WSK (World Street Kitchen), another place with basically one thing on the menu I could eat and yet sounded amazing (a crispy tofu dish). I was still somehow incredibly full from earlier even though it was like 9pm, but I suspected it was in part due to the fact that Steve ordered me a large coffee and I drank all of it. We met Dustin and Stacy, who were kind of geeky and maybe not the kind of couple Steve and I generally hang out with, but they grew on me over time for the most part. Mostly it was that Stacy made a few lame comments indicating her disdain and boredom while Dustin played in his tournament, and Steve and I are not the kind of people who participate in disparaging each other’s hobbies and interests and don’t like when people in couples do that. Be with someone you can support!!!! Otherwise, though, the conversation was good.
After we ate, it was noted that we were DEFINITELY getting ice cream, and the place to get ice cream was attached to WSK. It’s called MilkJam. And it is top tier ice cream. They have rotating flavors of amazingness, and the line was out the door. Ben said that the line was pretty short, less than 50 people, probably because it had just finished raining. Because we couldn’t each just try one flavor, Steve and I opted for the “flight of 4” which were smaller scoops to sample. You COULD order a scoop of all the flavors (like 12) for $58. We agreed on all the flavors to try, and in order of favorites: Cereal Killer, Mango Sticky Rice, Thai Tea and Uma Thurman. The cereal one surprised me at how good it was. It was a lightly orangey/milk flavored ice cream with crunchy (NOT stale or soggy) fruity pebbles in it, and I was brought back to my childhood so hard. The mango sticky rice was exactly like it sounded but the rice was firm and delicious. The Uma Thurman was a tart passionfruit something, and it was good, but it wasn’t my favorite. Now. The ice cream was suuuper creamy and yet not so rich it would give you a belly ache, and I definitely wanted SO much more immediately. Sean got the “dark” which was a decadent dark chocolate that tasted like the most perfect brownies you’ve ever eaten (again, smooth and creamy and yet not bellyache creating). I can’t believe I’d never been there or heard of it!!
Finally it was time to go, and Ben and Sean dropped us off. We weren’t ready to give up on the day though, so I worked on my current sock (using the Mei/Satsuki from Totoro colorway by Canon Hand Dyes) and he played some more Yakuza Kiwami. He’s made a lot of progress and is definitely getting close to the end. We finally called it around 12:30 and hit the hay.
*The Compound is a gigantic homestead that the four of us invented for our Ideal Housing Needs. It’s small enough that we live in the same area and can hang out all we want, but big enough where we can have our individual privacy and aren’t expected to spend all our time together. The idea is that with four of us, we can afford exactly what we want without breaking the budget, and because we’ve already tested (several times) smaller living together scenarios and they’ve been successes, we think we could actually be viable housemates.
I started in the nearest town, and made a loop. The trip for me is 66 miles, and some people BIKE their route. Crazy!!
I’m so glad I went to my closest shop first, because they cheated and made TWO of the shawls, and their second version didn’t make it onto the picture of samples, and that one was my favorite, so I bought the base color from there. Then I went to Stillwater, which wasn’t that far but took a really long time due to construction, a wedding, and general idiocy of the people in town. Parking was a nightmare but I parallel’d my way in. I did get a great view of the St. Croix river and the weather was gorgeous.
This was cute.
One of the women said she thought my shawl “looks like a StevenBe original.” I told her the pattern was the local yarn shawl but that the yarn did in fact come from StevenBe!
After Stillwater was White Bear Lake. This shop turned out to be near Andy’s old tattoo studio, so parking was easy, though it was Dog Days so still busy, with the added bonus of puppies everywhere. The shop was not a shop I’d ever go to again, with grouchy signs about cell phones (Steve called me while I was in there and I started sweating) and a grouchy old lady running the place.
I talked to Steve while I headed to the next place, an area of Mahtomedi (mah-toe-meed-eye) I’d never been to before and super close to my house. Beautiful backwoods drive. Got lucky with parking. Enjoyed the shop, will go there again. Lots of compliments on the shawl, friendly people, good snack and drink selection (though I didn’t take any, I made a note for the future).
Ben and Sean had been in contact with us about possible hangouts, and after I stopped at home they confirmed they wanted to hang because they were in town for the weekend. I mentioned dragging them to two yarn shops and they were in favor of the detours.
After they picked us up, to Grand ave in St Paul we went! Got my yarn, bantered about the best color on the wall (Steve and I chose the same color - a teal - though I didn’t know his choice prior), and Sean argued the case of a burnt sienna and Ben voted for a navy blue. We determined there was hunger and walked over to Brasa. I’d only been there once before for my grandma’s birthday several years ago but it left a bad taste in my mouth because there are no vegan options and my mom complained about the lack of even vegetarian options (the logo IS a rooster, to be fair). Knowing that I could probably find something to eat as a vegetarian vs vegan, I wasn’t concerned. I chose the one vegetarian sandwich and the group got a bunch of sides in addition. I got the seasonal mango lemonade to drink, and I don’t even like lemonade but this was delicious. I was only able to consume half my sandwich, some plantains and chips, and I was bursting full.
Last yarn stop, 3 Kittens in Mendota. Another cute shop, signed up as interested in a shawl class by an intense old lady who was incredibly interested in a lot about me. She wrote down the name of my shawl and talked to me about the shop expanding. It was another good shop I’d like to take more time in. Sean and I walked around commenting on the yarn before the group headed to our actual destination: Mall of America of course.
For some reason, 5 star raids on the weekends always start later in the afternoon, but during the week they’re ready to go promptly at 8am. So weird. We got to the mall around 3pm, and after everyone went to the bathroom there was a raid ready to go right by us! We were all able to catch crappy Registeel, and then we sat at a table chatting and Pokémon Go-ing for like an hour. I was talking to Bethany and Haley about wedding stuff and to my cousin Morrigan about food stuff (he wants to lose weight but doesn’t want to try hard at all, mostly it was me confirming that NO KETO and giving suggestions). Eventually we got coffee (and Ben went and got Sean some Very Bad Tea because they screwed up her order) and wandered around the mall. We did stop into Air Traffic for awhile and Ben tried some of the juggling bags and we looked at the various silly puzzles. Soon after, I was feeling soooo tired and suggested we get moseying. I wasn’t trying to end hangouts by any means, but I wasn’t wearing the best walking shoes (converse) and my pinky toes were hurting. Steve reminded me that I needed to pick up my bridesmaid dress, and the lady made me try it on. It fits so much better with the strap shortened by like 2 inches and the hem brought up like 6 inches. The Asian lady said she loved the lace on my waist and said it made my curves look good, Steve and Sean approved, and Ben said it “is a very purple dress”. Hahaha.
When we got to the van, Sean mentioned something about wanting shelving from Ikea, and I was like, “well IKEA just so happens to be RIGHT THERE, wanna go??” And after some discussion about whether Ben’s friend/coworker Dustin was still playing in a magic: the gathering tournament, Ikea it was.
We wandered slowly around the living room and bed section, trying like every single couch and bed and chatting. Steve and Ben apparently talked about ITG and friend stuff (like that Ben wants to stream to ONLY US and why he doesn’t like other people, even other friends, to view the stream), and Sean and I talked a lot about housing desires, locations for living, future plans, and of course, The Compound*.
We cut the IKEA trip short when Dustin announced he was ready for dinner, and Ben drove us to Minneapolis to a place called WSK (World Street Kitchen), another place with basically one thing on the menu I could eat and yet sounded amazing (a crispy tofu dish). I was still somehow incredibly full from earlier even though it was like 9pm, but I suspected it was in part due to the fact that Steve ordered me a large coffee and I drank all of it. We met Dustin and Stacy, who were kind of geeky and maybe not the kind of couple Steve and I generally hang out with, but they grew on me over time for the most part. Mostly it was that Stacy made a few lame comments indicating her disdain and boredom while Dustin played in his tournament, and Steve and I are not the kind of people who participate in disparaging each other’s hobbies and interests and don’t like when people in couples do that. Be with someone you can support!!!! Otherwise, though, the conversation was good.
After we ate, it was noted that we were DEFINITELY getting ice cream, and the place to get ice cream was attached to WSK. It’s called MilkJam. And it is top tier ice cream. They have rotating flavors of amazingness, and the line was out the door. Ben said that the line was pretty short, less than 50 people, probably because it had just finished raining. Because we couldn’t each just try one flavor, Steve and I opted for the “flight of 4” which were smaller scoops to sample. You COULD order a scoop of all the flavors (like 12) for $58. We agreed on all the flavors to try, and in order of favorites: Cereal Killer, Mango Sticky Rice, Thai Tea and Uma Thurman. The cereal one surprised me at how good it was. It was a lightly orangey/milk flavored ice cream with crunchy (NOT stale or soggy) fruity pebbles in it, and I was brought back to my childhood so hard. The mango sticky rice was exactly like it sounded but the rice was firm and delicious. The Uma Thurman was a tart passionfruit something, and it was good, but it wasn’t my favorite. Now. The ice cream was suuuper creamy and yet not so rich it would give you a belly ache, and I definitely wanted SO much more immediately. Sean got the “dark” which was a decadent dark chocolate that tasted like the most perfect brownies you’ve ever eaten (again, smooth and creamy and yet not bellyache creating). I can’t believe I’d never been there or heard of it!!
Finally it was time to go, and Ben and Sean dropped us off. We weren’t ready to give up on the day though, so I worked on my current sock (using the Mei/Satsuki from Totoro colorway by Canon Hand Dyes) and he played some more Yakuza Kiwami. He’s made a lot of progress and is definitely getting close to the end. We finally called it around 12:30 and hit the hay.
*The Compound is a gigantic homestead that the four of us invented for our Ideal Housing Needs. It’s small enough that we live in the same area and can hang out all we want, but big enough where we can have our individual privacy and aren’t expected to spend all our time together. The idea is that with four of us, we can afford exactly what we want without breaking the budget, and because we’ve already tested (several times) smaller living together scenarios and they’ve been successes, we think we could actually be viable housemates.
62//Independence Day? Or regular day?
Jul. 4th, 2018 12:03 pmBecause of my ongoing body issues, I woke up far too early with far too much pain. I was up at like 6:30, in and out of the bathroom. I attempted to wake Steve up around 8, but he seemed pretty “out” so I let him be. I wasn’t doing anything of note anyway. It turns out he was having a dream where we were robbed and Dream Steve thought he needed to catch the culprit before waking up because if he didn’t, we wouldn’t get our stuff back. I love funny dreams like that.
Steve gave up the chase somewhere around 10, and we noticed that it was storming out. Storms put a damper on normal 4th of July plans, so I just kind of assumed we weren’t doing anything. During this time, Steve played on the big tv and I played Hearthstone on my iPad. But in the early afternoon, Nick texted saying we should come over. His sister Megan throws a couple gatherings a year, most notably Halloween and lately has been inviting us to 4th of July*.
First, coffee. Second, Name of the Wind audiobook because Megan and Ross live a good bit away. Steve drove us, which was great. Uh, I forgot (and continue to forget) to mail in my tabs request. I ALWAYS do that, where I fill out all the info, get a check written and a stamp on... and then I just. Don’t. Mail it. I don’t really FEEL like getting a ticket for expired tabs though.
When we got there, we noticed that people were not outside. I was more surprised when we walked in and it was just Nick’s family. It was his parents, himself, and Megan, Ross, their two kids, and Nick’s grandpa. And us. I know it wasn’t a big deal and obviously Nick wanted company, but I was super anxious about all the pressure. Nick’s dad was particularly comfortable and happy to see us, making quasi-inappropriate jokes (he even started to make a small-dick joke at Steve at one point and then trailed off because I think he got self-conscious, but I appear to be the only one who heard) and appeared to really enjoy the banter. I know Steve has known them basically his whole life, and I do like Nick’s parents (Nancy is particularly entertaining and anyone who doesn’t like Ernie/Scott is just wrong). I was just oddly anxious. Even though there was like NO ONE there, Megan put out a TON of food she bought for the occasion. Ross was kind enough to cook my Beyond Beef burger on the grill**, even adding grill marks for the full effect.
The biggest benefit/downfall of Megan and Ross’ is the “treats”. Everyone who ever goes to these parties appears to be a baker. Megan bakes, Jennifer bakes, and Lindsay bakes. This results in WAY too many sweet things to eat, and because they all bake well, the treats are delicious and addictive. I made the mistake of agreeing to split this bar that Megan made. Let me be more specific. It was a 3-layer bar made out of raw cookie dough, gooey peanut butter, and a thick layer of chocolate. Yes, it WAS as amazing as it sounds.
Eventually Courtney and Scott showed up, and the 5 of us sat alone talking. Andrew and Jennifer, and Lindsay all showed up and legit did not even acknowledge us? For me personally, I didn’t acknowledge them either. Like, I was having a bad anxiety day, no way was I going to feign interest in their children and their gripes about being parents. But I guess Courtney said hi to all of them and no one responded. Weirddd. Soon after, we decided it was time to go, we had to get home to give Nero his shot, and we planned to continue hangouts in a more relaxing environment. When we were leaving, Lindsay was complaining about how ridiculous her husband is, and explained that he didn’t come because he felt sick, and went on a rant about what a baby he is when he’s sick. Somehow that got Megan talking about how everyone wishes they could date/bang Ross, which comes up far more often than you’d think. It’s like she knows she won the jackpot and Ross is way out of her league (and ours), and likes to brag about it. Lol.
We dropped Nick off at his house so he could gather his materials and take care of some things and headed home. Most of the night was spent doing our various games. Courtney was playing Fez again, Nick was working on... work I think, Scott was playing the new South Park game, and Steve was playing Dragon Quest VIII. I played Hearthstone. Haley came over for a bit too to apply for jobs, but she mostly kept to herself.
Everyone packed up and left around midnight, and off to bed we go!
*In the past, I used to always go to Grandpa Jack’s, until he moved to Florida. Then Steve and I kind of either hung around here watching fireworks or going to my parents’, and then I spent several years in Cincinnati for the 4th (seriously, why do they ALWAYS have Montessori training over a holiday? I swear they do it on purpose to test people’s will and dedication to the program). Last year for sure we went to Megan and Ross’ though.
**It’s hilarious how nervous people get about cooking veggie burgers on the grill when literally all you need to do is heat them up. Like, you don’t even have to make sure they’re cooked to a certain temp or for a certain length because you won’t get sick from an under cooked veggie burger. Just warm it up! So easy!!
Steve gave up the chase somewhere around 10, and we noticed that it was storming out. Storms put a damper on normal 4th of July plans, so I just kind of assumed we weren’t doing anything. During this time, Steve played on the big tv and I played Hearthstone on my iPad. But in the early afternoon, Nick texted saying we should come over. His sister Megan throws a couple gatherings a year, most notably Halloween and lately has been inviting us to 4th of July*.
First, coffee. Second, Name of the Wind audiobook because Megan and Ross live a good bit away. Steve drove us, which was great. Uh, I forgot (and continue to forget) to mail in my tabs request. I ALWAYS do that, where I fill out all the info, get a check written and a stamp on... and then I just. Don’t. Mail it. I don’t really FEEL like getting a ticket for expired tabs though.
When we got there, we noticed that people were not outside. I was more surprised when we walked in and it was just Nick’s family. It was his parents, himself, and Megan, Ross, their two kids, and Nick’s grandpa. And us. I know it wasn’t a big deal and obviously Nick wanted company, but I was super anxious about all the pressure. Nick’s dad was particularly comfortable and happy to see us, making quasi-inappropriate jokes (he even started to make a small-dick joke at Steve at one point and then trailed off because I think he got self-conscious, but I appear to be the only one who heard) and appeared to really enjoy the banter. I know Steve has known them basically his whole life, and I do like Nick’s parents (Nancy is particularly entertaining and anyone who doesn’t like Ernie/Scott is just wrong). I was just oddly anxious. Even though there was like NO ONE there, Megan put out a TON of food she bought for the occasion. Ross was kind enough to cook my Beyond Beef burger on the grill**, even adding grill marks for the full effect.
The biggest benefit/downfall of Megan and Ross’ is the “treats”. Everyone who ever goes to these parties appears to be a baker. Megan bakes, Jennifer bakes, and Lindsay bakes. This results in WAY too many sweet things to eat, and because they all bake well, the treats are delicious and addictive. I made the mistake of agreeing to split this bar that Megan made. Let me be more specific. It was a 3-layer bar made out of raw cookie dough, gooey peanut butter, and a thick layer of chocolate. Yes, it WAS as amazing as it sounds.
Eventually Courtney and Scott showed up, and the 5 of us sat alone talking. Andrew and Jennifer, and Lindsay all showed up and legit did not even acknowledge us? For me personally, I didn’t acknowledge them either. Like, I was having a bad anxiety day, no way was I going to feign interest in their children and their gripes about being parents. But I guess Courtney said hi to all of them and no one responded. Weirddd. Soon after, we decided it was time to go, we had to get home to give Nero his shot, and we planned to continue hangouts in a more relaxing environment. When we were leaving, Lindsay was complaining about how ridiculous her husband is, and explained that he didn’t come because he felt sick, and went on a rant about what a baby he is when he’s sick. Somehow that got Megan talking about how everyone wishes they could date/bang Ross, which comes up far more often than you’d think. It’s like she knows she won the jackpot and Ross is way out of her league (and ours), and likes to brag about it. Lol.
We dropped Nick off at his house so he could gather his materials and take care of some things and headed home. Most of the night was spent doing our various games. Courtney was playing Fez again, Nick was working on... work I think, Scott was playing the new South Park game, and Steve was playing Dragon Quest VIII. I played Hearthstone. Haley came over for a bit too to apply for jobs, but she mostly kept to herself.
Everyone packed up and left around midnight, and off to bed we go!
*In the past, I used to always go to Grandpa Jack’s, until he moved to Florida. Then Steve and I kind of either hung around here watching fireworks or going to my parents’, and then I spent several years in Cincinnati for the 4th (seriously, why do they ALWAYS have Montessori training over a holiday? I swear they do it on purpose to test people’s will and dedication to the program). Last year for sure we went to Megan and Ross’ though.
**It’s hilarious how nervous people get about cooking veggie burgers on the grill when literally all you need to do is heat them up. Like, you don’t even have to make sure they’re cooked to a certain temp or for a certain length because you won’t get sick from an under cooked veggie burger. Just warm it up! So easy!!
48//Pool day
Jun. 20th, 2018 11:52 amI woke up not feeling as bad as the day before, but I was super concerned because I knew that I was going to the pool today, which would mean putting in my diva cup aka putting pressure on my urethra.
It was mostly cloudy, but the temperature was good. I met Tealie, Anne, and Steph at the Highland pool in St. Paul. One of our old students, Tenecia, just started a job there. She looked so mature and cute! She complained of being bored. Lol. We made it about 5 minutes before it turned to work gossip, which has an undertone of apprehension and sadness, as Anne and I are leaving and Tealie and Steph are staying. We talked about the various room dramas (people being assigned different rooms based in whatever reasons), including the fact that Jocelyn wants Steph to move into Andy and Molly’s rooms and house Denae in the choir room in order to add another gym class in the auditorium (talk about ghetto). Tealie will probably move into our old room. We also talked about which people haven’t left but might leave, and bitched about Jen too.
Tealie sold her house for $30k over asking price, Anne is thinking about moving to Washington DC in a year, Steph is going to South Carolina in a week for CMStep Montessori training (as a teacher leader), and they encouraged me to continue my planning to move to Cincinnati, including Anne asking me to sit with her this summer so we can write our Montessori papers and see if we can still get certified. I said if it doesn’t work, when I move to Cincy I’ll beg Barb or Katie to let me finish my credential. Honestly though, Barb lost some of the observations she did on me and I don’t know how serious they are about making me redo all that. It might be a completely moo point.
Funny enough, while we were there, Michael Miller showed up! The three of us were all awkward, and Michael is so dopey that he didn’t notice us RIGHT NEXT to where he and his friend set up their chairs, until he literally almost ran into us and we all had to act surprised to see him. Per Michael’s personality, he stood around catching up with us for like 10 minutes while his friend just stood there quietly. He said he did want to catch up with us and talk some more, and mentioned that UWRF will have the doctorate Montessori program soon and encouraged Tealie and Steph to take it. Steve is so funny, I told the girls that we were JUST talking about Michael (because he lives right by the pool), and I texted saying we ran into him, and he texted back, “Is that the hunky Lost man?” Legit Michael looks JUST like Richard Alpert. Steve does not disappoint. Later, Michael’s wife showed up and he introduced us. Soon after, we left.
Even though it was very cloudy all day, the sun sure showed me and I have a decent sunburn. It’ll turn into a tan in a couple of days. I hope it gets better in time for Saturday so I don’t look dumb with Steve at Andy’s wedding.
I spent the rest of the night in horrible pain after I took out the diva cup and switched back to Thinx. Steve and I had planned to go eat at J Selby’s, but I was just in so much agony. He was a sweetheart and got me food and let me mope in bed all night.
It was mostly cloudy, but the temperature was good. I met Tealie, Anne, and Steph at the Highland pool in St. Paul. One of our old students, Tenecia, just started a job there. She looked so mature and cute! She complained of being bored. Lol. We made it about 5 minutes before it turned to work gossip, which has an undertone of apprehension and sadness, as Anne and I are leaving and Tealie and Steph are staying. We talked about the various room dramas (people being assigned different rooms based in whatever reasons), including the fact that Jocelyn wants Steph to move into Andy and Molly’s rooms and house Denae in the choir room in order to add another gym class in the auditorium (talk about ghetto). Tealie will probably move into our old room. We also talked about which people haven’t left but might leave, and bitched about Jen too.
Tealie sold her house for $30k over asking price, Anne is thinking about moving to Washington DC in a year, Steph is going to South Carolina in a week for CMStep Montessori training (as a teacher leader), and they encouraged me to continue my planning to move to Cincinnati, including Anne asking me to sit with her this summer so we can write our Montessori papers and see if we can still get certified. I said if it doesn’t work, when I move to Cincy I’ll beg Barb or Katie to let me finish my credential. Honestly though, Barb lost some of the observations she did on me and I don’t know how serious they are about making me redo all that. It might be a completely moo point.
Funny enough, while we were there, Michael Miller showed up! The three of us were all awkward, and Michael is so dopey that he didn’t notice us RIGHT NEXT to where he and his friend set up their chairs, until he literally almost ran into us and we all had to act surprised to see him. Per Michael’s personality, he stood around catching up with us for like 10 minutes while his friend just stood there quietly. He said he did want to catch up with us and talk some more, and mentioned that UWRF will have the doctorate Montessori program soon and encouraged Tealie and Steph to take it. Steve is so funny, I told the girls that we were JUST talking about Michael (because he lives right by the pool), and I texted saying we ran into him, and he texted back, “Is that the hunky Lost man?” Legit Michael looks JUST like Richard Alpert. Steve does not disappoint. Later, Michael’s wife showed up and he introduced us. Soon after, we left.
Even though it was very cloudy all day, the sun sure showed me and I have a decent sunburn. It’ll turn into a tan in a couple of days. I hope it gets better in time for Saturday so I don’t look dumb with Steve at Andy’s wedding.
I spent the rest of the night in horrible pain after I took out the diva cup and switched back to Thinx. Steve and I had planned to go eat at J Selby’s, but I was just in so much agony. He was a sweetheart and got me food and let me mope in bed all night.
Seeing as I didn’t get much sleep this weekend, I was due for a ton of sleep for today. This was not my plan, however. I had intended to get up and start making this place look presentable again. I’m not the kind of person who thinks/needs my house to be immaculate, but I do start to get increasingly stressed out as clutter builds on all surfaces and more clothes get dirty and clean ones don’t get put away and everything builds out of control until I can’t find ANYTHING. It doesn’t help that when we have events or go out of town, our stuff doesn’t get dealt with right away and instead gets left on the living room floor for several days, usually in the middle of walking areas because we are trash and not actually real adults.
Did I actually get to cleaning like I wanted? Nope, sure didn’t. I got up around 10, wandered around the house for awhile, scrolled on social media, texted Steve, and basically sat around doing nothing. The cats were being super needy, and I legit kind of just sat around in different spots of the house with a cat or two on my lap at all times. I did cut up a watermelon and cantaloupe and heat up some coffee, but other than starting one load of laundry, I did nothing. I thought maybe listening to something interesting would encourage me to move, but since I had such comfy kitties I ended up just listening to Mindy Kaling’s Why Not Me? While laying on the couch with both cats.
The second Steve got home though, I was motivated to at least do a LITTLE picking up. So we started tidying up the most egregious affronts, like dishes that had no business being all over the place and random papers and whatnot. I have a missing Thinx shipment and he has a wedding invitation that’s missing. So far no luck on either front but the upstairs looks marginally better.
Steve was laying on the bed while I cut up the rest of the melons and put them away, and I curled up on him for long enough that a nap was decided. We laid there for an hour, Steve falling asleep shockingly fast for a nap. I fell asleep for a little bit, but not super long. Mostly I watched Hearthstone.
At 7 was plans to meet my dad, Tammy and Jack for dinner at Catrina’s. I didn’t see that they were running late, so we got there a bit early and played Pokémon Go and chatted. Dinner itself was good, I mixed it up and got a quesadilla. Yum. It’s always nice to spend time with them, and I wish I had remembered to remind Jack to hang out. I did notice that he was wearing the Hylian shield necklace I gave him for Christmas or something. He was probably wearing it at the grad party too. It’s a nice necklace!
One we got home, I knitted for a bit and Steve worked on finishing up Moss, a really neat looking VR game that is also played with a controller (as opposed to super active). Then Ben and Sean called us to talk about plans for Universal in August. It appears that they will be there for about a week and a half, will take our luggage down using Southwest (while we fly crazy cheap with nothing with us on Spirit), will provide hotel accommodations for us, and help us have the most fun while we’re there. So we’re apparently just responsible for food, flight and tickets??? Insane. That cuts so much money off our costs. I think we're planning on being there for 5 days, with two of those being flight days and three days dedicated to the two Universal parks. Neither of us have been there and are super looking forward to it.
Did I actually get to cleaning like I wanted? Nope, sure didn’t. I got up around 10, wandered around the house for awhile, scrolled on social media, texted Steve, and basically sat around doing nothing. The cats were being super needy, and I legit kind of just sat around in different spots of the house with a cat or two on my lap at all times. I did cut up a watermelon and cantaloupe and heat up some coffee, but other than starting one load of laundry, I did nothing. I thought maybe listening to something interesting would encourage me to move, but since I had such comfy kitties I ended up just listening to Mindy Kaling’s Why Not Me? While laying on the couch with both cats.
The second Steve got home though, I was motivated to at least do a LITTLE picking up. So we started tidying up the most egregious affronts, like dishes that had no business being all over the place and random papers and whatnot. I have a missing Thinx shipment and he has a wedding invitation that’s missing. So far no luck on either front but the upstairs looks marginally better.
Steve was laying on the bed while I cut up the rest of the melons and put them away, and I curled up on him for long enough that a nap was decided. We laid there for an hour, Steve falling asleep shockingly fast for a nap. I fell asleep for a little bit, but not super long. Mostly I watched Hearthstone.
At 7 was plans to meet my dad, Tammy and Jack for dinner at Catrina’s. I didn’t see that they were running late, so we got there a bit early and played Pokémon Go and chatted. Dinner itself was good, I mixed it up and got a quesadilla. Yum. It’s always nice to spend time with them, and I wish I had remembered to remind Jack to hang out. I did notice that he was wearing the Hylian shield necklace I gave him for Christmas or something. He was probably wearing it at the grad party too. It’s a nice necklace!
One we got home, I knitted for a bit and Steve worked on finishing up Moss, a really neat looking VR game that is also played with a controller (as opposed to super active). Then Ben and Sean called us to talk about plans for Universal in August. It appears that they will be there for about a week and a half, will take our luggage down using Southwest (while we fly crazy cheap with nothing with us on Spirit), will provide hotel accommodations for us, and help us have the most fun while we’re there. So we’re apparently just responsible for food, flight and tickets??? Insane. That cuts so much money off our costs. I think we're planning on being there for 5 days, with two of those being flight days and three days dedicated to the two Universal parks. Neither of us have been there and are super looking forward to it.
37//Weaving class and amazing bakery
Jun. 9th, 2018 01:38 pmWe woke up and Sean wanted to go to a farmers market. I can’t remember which market she wanted to go to and which Ben wanted to go to. Whoever wanted which one, we ended up at the smaller market. I got really excited about this bakery stand, and ended up hating the caramel roll I got, so Steve graciously ate it for me. I bought some mustard greens with flowers (my fave) and some strawberries. Then we were all hungry, and Ben and Sean brought us to this AMAZING bakery called Bloom, where they had tons of vegan and gluten free pastries, as well as delicious pop tarts and tea. Since I couldn’t order everything I wanted, and we were on a time crunch, I decided I am going to go there again tomorrow. For today though, I got a sweet vegan pop tart as well as a savory hummus “pop tart” that ended up being more like a pastry sandwich but tasted AMAZING. it was all super delicious.
We got to the yarn shop right at 11, and the boys left. The weaving class was... interesting. I was cranky and belligerent most of the time, because the lady would not. Stop. Talking. We’d get started in one thing and she’d interrupt us every 4 minutes. She redirected the two other ladies multiple times to pay attention and not try to do the things at the same time she was doing them, even though I’m sure some people learn best by imitating while they learn. She seemed VERY concerned that people might miss something and *gasp* ask for an instruction to be repeated. There were only four of us. I was super irritable because the boys kept texting asking for updates, and I felt like a child who couldn’t use her phone even though it was important for them to know when to pick us up. We had barely gotten started on any ACTUAL weaving after the 4 hours were up! It was madness. So I was kind of cranky when we left, because it felt like holding in a sneeze.
I worked through my annoyance though because we were going mini golfing afterward and I knew that would be fun and we’d have time to weave in the evening.
Mini golf WAS fun, we did the course we don’t usually do, and Steve and I tied for second place at the end. We all did terribly except for Ben of course. I got an RNG (lucky) hole in one, much flirting was had, and it was just a good time.
In the evening, the boys played ITG and VR and I worked on weaving. Sean took a nap and then weaved some. DMac and Mike came over at some point and Dmac cutely asked for relationship advice, and it was funny to hear Ben give relationship advice when he’s had one girlfriend his whole life, that he started dating when he was like actually 12. But I appreciated that Dmac feels safe enough with us to be vulnerable like that.
For dinner it was Cafe Hollander again, and this time I ordered something better than the burger, and the uneven table made several people spill their drinks. Dmac spilled his into his lap and got pretty grumpy about it for awhile. We got pretty into the women’s heptathalon? Some college thing that was mostly women doing various running challenges, and we talked about how we’re all so old now compared to people in sports and how weird it is to follow basically teenagers in professional arenas.
After dinner we chatted for awhile but I was BEAT. SO tired. To couch pod!
We got to the yarn shop right at 11, and the boys left. The weaving class was... interesting. I was cranky and belligerent most of the time, because the lady would not. Stop. Talking. We’d get started in one thing and she’d interrupt us every 4 minutes. She redirected the two other ladies multiple times to pay attention and not try to do the things at the same time she was doing them, even though I’m sure some people learn best by imitating while they learn. She seemed VERY concerned that people might miss something and *gasp* ask for an instruction to be repeated. There were only four of us. I was super irritable because the boys kept texting asking for updates, and I felt like a child who couldn’t use her phone even though it was important for them to know when to pick us up. We had barely gotten started on any ACTUAL weaving after the 4 hours were up! It was madness. So I was kind of cranky when we left, because it felt like holding in a sneeze.
I worked through my annoyance though because we were going mini golfing afterward and I knew that would be fun and we’d have time to weave in the evening.
Mini golf WAS fun, we did the course we don’t usually do, and Steve and I tied for second place at the end. We all did terribly except for Ben of course. I got an RNG (lucky) hole in one, much flirting was had, and it was just a good time.
In the evening, the boys played ITG and VR and I worked on weaving. Sean took a nap and then weaved some. DMac and Mike came over at some point and Dmac cutely asked for relationship advice, and it was funny to hear Ben give relationship advice when he’s had one girlfriend his whole life, that he started dating when he was like actually 12. But I appreciated that Dmac feels safe enough with us to be vulnerable like that.
For dinner it was Cafe Hollander again, and this time I ordered something better than the burger, and the uneven table made several people spill their drinks. Dmac spilled his into his lap and got pretty grumpy about it for awhile. We got pretty into the women’s heptathalon? Some college thing that was mostly women doing various running challenges, and we talked about how we’re all so old now compared to people in sports and how weird it is to follow basically teenagers in professional arenas.
After dinner we chatted for awhile but I was BEAT. SO tired. To couch pod!
"You can't beat the power of love"
Jun. 4th, 2012 11:24 pm
This weekend Steve and I, awkwardly accompanied by my old friend Isaiah (mentioned several times in 2008, and definitely mentioned in my high school years as well... the ones that made it into LJ, anyway [fuckin' GJ]) and his date, drove 4 hours down to Iowa and back for our good friend Tessie's wedding. This was the second wedding in which I saved Isaiah's ass and brought him, btw.
During the time in Iowa and on the way back, Steve and I spent the vast majority of the time discussing things we like and don't like, and what we'd want at our wedding (as we have done at all four of the weddings we've been to together and will likely do at the 5th, at the end of the month) - Like: songs like "Wonderwall" by Oasis, "Hallelujah", and "Soul Meets Body" by Death Cab for Cutie composed orchestrally. Dislike: Hay bales as seats. We consistently discuss the merits of dancing, as people these days do not seem to want to dance at weddings. We discussed our wedding party, and have this amazing plan for it. We know what song we're likely to dance to as our "first dance" and have a choreography plan as we will not be awkwardly slow-dancing, looking meaningfully into each other's eyes.
We ended the night listening to the mix Steve made me two months into our relationship and decided we could easily play it at our wedding. It's really, really good.
Then tonight, after over 3 years of dating, I finally went with Steve on one of his nighttime bike routes. There's this one area, a stretch behind a field that he calls "the heart of his bike ride", where it's dark and quiet, with fireflies everywhere and that earthy smell of a marsh nearby. It was incredibly romantic, and he said it reminds him of the scene in FFX with Yuna and Tidus in the water - beautiful, breathtaking, and it's only you there (of course we all know they totally did it). My heart swelled with love and we spent the rest of the ride making lovey-dovey eyes at each other and talking about how amazing our life is.
Whenever I think of him at night, alone, it reminds of this time he texted me while at this park we passed on our ride, like a month into dating, something like, "You make me want to CRY. in joy. And DIE. from cute." Of course in trying to find the exact quote in my text dump entries I read about a million heart-melty things he has said to me and I died over and over again.
He's just... the best. I love him so hard I could squeeze him to death and then be like an excited kid crushing their taco. Or something. I completely stole that idea from the Office. Only it wasn't a kid. Anyway, point being, Steve is for me, no doubt about it.
During the time in Iowa and on the way back, Steve and I spent the vast majority of the time discussing things we like and don't like, and what we'd want at our wedding (as we have done at all four of the weddings we've been to together and will likely do at the 5th, at the end of the month) - Like: songs like "Wonderwall" by Oasis, "Hallelujah", and "Soul Meets Body" by Death Cab for Cutie composed orchestrally. Dislike: Hay bales as seats. We consistently discuss the merits of dancing, as people these days do not seem to want to dance at weddings. We discussed our wedding party, and have this amazing plan for it. We know what song we're likely to dance to as our "first dance" and have a choreography plan as we will not be awkwardly slow-dancing, looking meaningfully into each other's eyes.
We ended the night listening to the mix Steve made me two months into our relationship and decided we could easily play it at our wedding. It's really, really good.
Then tonight, after over 3 years of dating, I finally went with Steve on one of his nighttime bike routes. There's this one area, a stretch behind a field that he calls "the heart of his bike ride", where it's dark and quiet, with fireflies everywhere and that earthy smell of a marsh nearby. It was incredibly romantic, and he said it reminds him of the scene in FFX with Yuna and Tidus in the water - beautiful, breathtaking, and it's only you there (of course we all know they totally did it). My heart swelled with love and we spent the rest of the ride making lovey-dovey eyes at each other and talking about how amazing our life is.
Whenever I think of him at night, alone, it reminds of this time he texted me while at this park we passed on our ride, like a month into dating, something like, "You make me want to CRY. in joy. And DIE. from cute." Of course in trying to find the exact quote in my text dump entries I read about a million heart-melty things he has said to me and I died over and over again.
He's just... the best. I love him so hard I could squeeze him to death and then be like an excited kid crushing their taco. Or something. I completely stole that idea from the Office. Only it wasn't a kid. Anyway, point being, Steve is for me, no doubt about it.
Tags:
"You can't beat the power of love"
Jun. 4th, 2012 11:24 pmThis weekend Steve and I, awkwardly accompanied by my old friend Isaiah (mentioned several times in 2008, and definitely mentioned in my high school years as well... the ones that made it into LJ, anyway [fuckin' GJ]) and his date, drove 4 hours down to Iowa and back for our good friend Tessie's wedding. This was the second wedding in which I saved Isaiah's ass and brought him, btw.
During the time in Iowa and on the way back, Steve and I spent the vast majority of the time discussing things we like and don't like, and what we'd want at our wedding (as we have done at all four of the weddings we've been to together and will likely do at the 5th, at the end of the month) - Like: songs like "Wonderwall" by Oasis, "Hallelujah", and "Soul Meets Body" by Death Cab for Cutie composed orchestrally. Dislike: Hay bales as seats. We consistently discuss the merits of dancing, as people these days do not seem to want to dance at weddings. We discussed our wedding party, and have this amazing plan for it. We know what song we're likely to dance to as our "first dance" and have a choreography plan as we will not be awkwardly slow-dancing, looking meaningfully into each other's eyes.
We ended the night listening to the mix Steve made me two months into our relationship and decided we could easily play it at our wedding. It's really, really good.
Then tonight, after over 3 years of dating, I finally went with Steve on one of his nighttime bike routes. There's this one area, a stretch behind a field that he calls "the heart of his bike ride", where it's dark and quiet, with fireflies everywhere and that earthy smell of a marsh nearby. It was incredibly romantic, and he said it reminds him of the scene in FFX with Yuna and Tidus in the water - beautiful, breathtaking, and it's only you there (of course we all know they totally did it). My heart swelled with love and we spent the rest of the ride making lovey-dovey eyes at each other and talking about how amazing our life is.
Whenever I think of him at night, alone, it reminds of this time he texted me while at this park we passed on our ride, like a month into dating, something like, "You make me want to CRY. in joy. And DIE. from cute." Of course in trying to find the exact quote in my text dump entries I read about a million heart-melty things he has said to me and I died over and over again.
He's just... the best. I love him so hard I could squeeze him to death and then be like an excited kid crushing their taco. Or something. I completely stole that idea from the Office. Only it wasn't a kid. Anyway, point being, Steve is for me, no doubt about it.
During the time in Iowa and on the way back, Steve and I spent the vast majority of the time discussing things we like and don't like, and what we'd want at our wedding (as we have done at all four of the weddings we've been to together and will likely do at the 5th, at the end of the month) - Like: songs like "Wonderwall" by Oasis, "Hallelujah", and "Soul Meets Body" by Death Cab for Cutie composed orchestrally. Dislike: Hay bales as seats. We consistently discuss the merits of dancing, as people these days do not seem to want to dance at weddings. We discussed our wedding party, and have this amazing plan for it. We know what song we're likely to dance to as our "first dance" and have a choreography plan as we will not be awkwardly slow-dancing, looking meaningfully into each other's eyes.
We ended the night listening to the mix Steve made me two months into our relationship and decided we could easily play it at our wedding. It's really, really good.
Then tonight, after over 3 years of dating, I finally went with Steve on one of his nighttime bike routes. There's this one area, a stretch behind a field that he calls "the heart of his bike ride", where it's dark and quiet, with fireflies everywhere and that earthy smell of a marsh nearby. It was incredibly romantic, and he said it reminds him of the scene in FFX with Yuna and Tidus in the water - beautiful, breathtaking, and it's only you there (of course we all know they totally did it). My heart swelled with love and we spent the rest of the ride making lovey-dovey eyes at each other and talking about how amazing our life is.
Whenever I think of him at night, alone, it reminds of this time he texted me while at this park we passed on our ride, like a month into dating, something like, "You make me want to CRY. in joy. And DIE. from cute." Of course in trying to find the exact quote in my text dump entries I read about a million heart-melty things he has said to me and I died over and over again.
He's just... the best. I love him so hard I could squeeze him to death and then be like an excited kid crushing their taco. Or something. I completely stole that idea from the Office. Only it wasn't a kid. Anyway, point being, Steve is for me, no doubt about it.
Tags:
Mm, Just sitting at work.
I met with the head of the department or whatever for Human Services, and he told me I only need one class to graduate plus figuring out an Incomplete I have. So, I called the old professor and he left me a message listing what he wanted me to do for a grade, and I finished that stuff tonight and sent it off. Then I talked with my parents and they said I still have money in my 529 plan, assuming some was leftover after they banned me from using it for always failing/dropping classes, and Dad called and left me a message saying that it could cover most of my semester, which would mean no more loans! That then means I would not only graduate in December, but that I'll graduate with only like $7,000 in debt!
On Friday Steve and I met with Nick, Pat, Faith, and Joe Waid at the Taste of MN for Minus the Bear, POS and Atmosphere. I was really going to the social activities and being outside. It was so hot so Steve and I stayed in the back and laid in the grass during Minus the Bear and met up with the rest afterward. We walked around and talked and got refreshments (SO THIRSTY) until POS came on. Nick and Joe Waid sat with Steve and I off to the side while Pat made Faith go with him into the crowd. Steve and I left when POS brought some unknown friend to rap with him. I enjoy rap live but not so much any other time. I also love Minnesota Pride. People are adorable.
My family held their Independence Day celebration on Saturday at Como Zoo. It would have been a lot less stressful if there wasn't a HUGE Hmong Freedom Festival going on at Como Park. OMG was parking awful. I ended up giving up on parking close and parked in a nearby neighborhood. I didn't mind the walk, though. It was so hot, like 90, all day and so sunny. Perfect, in my opinion. But I got sooooo sunburnt. I was wearing a halter so the top half of my back is also burned. I don't mind, I just hope I have minimal peeling and that it'll turn into a tan line. My family all wanted to see my fourth tattoo, and I was surprised when it received a fairly warm reception. I was expecting hate because I heard Dad made a stink about Bethany's lilies on her ankle even though they're very tasteful and really well done (of course, I don't think I showed him so maybe it's just he who doesn't approve of the tattoos).
( Here's a sneak peek at the unfinished tat... )
We ate and socialized before some of us headed to the zoo. I mostly hung out with Bethany and her baby Cayden because I love both of them so much! She briefly addressed her upset over the perceived negative comments about her son, and I tried to tell her I meant no harm. I love that child! I can't wait til he's old enough for me to babysit him and stuff! My cousin Danny is a couple years older than I am and we used to be really close when Bethany and I stayed at grandma Ann's all the time, but once she and Ronnie divorced we stopped being in contact. I don't know why but he followed me around all day. I just thought he'd end up with Kiana and Della, because he knows them better. It would be fine except I am TERRIBLE at small talk. It just makes me incredibly uncomfortable and all I really wanted to do was spend time with my sister. So I kept trying to find ways to avoid him without hurting his feelings and Bethany kept shooting me sly grins from afar (another one of our male cousins does this exact same thing to me at holidays and she finds it incredibly funny).
Grandma (my mom) and baby Cayden, about 4 and a half months.
Now I just can't wait to get home to Steve. He's incredibly adorable and took Thursday-Saturday off so we could have more than a day together. Is he a great boyfriend or what? <3
I met with the head of the department or whatever for Human Services, and he told me I only need one class to graduate plus figuring out an Incomplete I have. So, I called the old professor and he left me a message listing what he wanted me to do for a grade, and I finished that stuff tonight and sent it off. Then I talked with my parents and they said I still have money in my 529 plan, assuming some was leftover after they banned me from using it for always failing/dropping classes, and Dad called and left me a message saying that it could cover most of my semester, which would mean no more loans! That then means I would not only graduate in December, but that I'll graduate with only like $7,000 in debt!
On Friday Steve and I met with Nick, Pat, Faith, and Joe Waid at the Taste of MN for Minus the Bear, POS and Atmosphere. I was really going to the social activities and being outside. It was so hot so Steve and I stayed in the back and laid in the grass during Minus the Bear and met up with the rest afterward. We walked around and talked and got refreshments (SO THIRSTY) until POS came on. Nick and Joe Waid sat with Steve and I off to the side while Pat made Faith go with him into the crowd. Steve and I left when POS brought some unknown friend to rap with him. I enjoy rap live but not so much any other time. I also love Minnesota Pride. People are adorable.
My family held their Independence Day celebration on Saturday at Como Zoo. It would have been a lot less stressful if there wasn't a HUGE Hmong Freedom Festival going on at Como Park. OMG was parking awful. I ended up giving up on parking close and parked in a nearby neighborhood. I didn't mind the walk, though. It was so hot, like 90, all day and so sunny. Perfect, in my opinion. But I got sooooo sunburnt. I was wearing a halter so the top half of my back is also burned. I don't mind, I just hope I have minimal peeling and that it'll turn into a tan line. My family all wanted to see my fourth tattoo, and I was surprised when it received a fairly warm reception. I was expecting hate because I heard Dad made a stink about Bethany's lilies on her ankle even though they're very tasteful and really well done (of course, I don't think I showed him so maybe it's just he who doesn't approve of the tattoos).
( Here's a sneak peek at the unfinished tat... )
We ate and socialized before some of us headed to the zoo. I mostly hung out with Bethany and her baby Cayden because I love both of them so much! She briefly addressed her upset over the perceived negative comments about her son, and I tried to tell her I meant no harm. I love that child! I can't wait til he's old enough for me to babysit him and stuff! My cousin Danny is a couple years older than I am and we used to be really close when Bethany and I stayed at grandma Ann's all the time, but once she and Ronnie divorced we stopped being in contact. I don't know why but he followed me around all day. I just thought he'd end up with Kiana and Della, because he knows them better. It would be fine except I am TERRIBLE at small talk. It just makes me incredibly uncomfortable and all I really wanted to do was spend time with my sister. So I kept trying to find ways to avoid him without hurting his feelings and Bethany kept shooting me sly grins from afar (another one of our male cousins does this exact same thing to me at holidays and she finds it incredibly funny).
Grandma (my mom) and baby Cayden, about 4 and a half months.
Now I just can't wait to get home to Steve. He's incredibly adorable and took Thursday-Saturday off so we could have more than a day together. Is he a great boyfriend or what? <3
