It is at least 80 minutes past my bedtime and I am feeling foggy in the head, so please excuse this post. I should be asleep right now, but to be quite honest, I'm afraid of the dark (I know, I know, the big 3-0 is coming, I should be all grown up by now. Shut up). So I'm trying to wait up for Zack. I am reading strangers' blogs and feeling thirsty because I am too lazy to get up and get some water. My sofa is so cozy, so cozy you see.
And just where is Zack? Long story. It started with Bryson and Chase Correa planning a caffeine-fueled all-night service oddyssey. Yesterday Chase was calling around, trying to sign up enough guys to fill a van. There was talk of blitzing the downtown streets, pouring out of the van like government agents, cornering homeless people in their cardboard boxes. The gloves come off during all-night service.
Fyi, Chase is Bryson's younger brother, and he's auxiliary pioneering this month. He needs a load more hours, as you always do at the end, when suddenly you realize that the 28th is bearing down on you and how silly it was to sign up to auxiliary during the shortest freaking month of the year. We regulars do not have that particular worry. We let things slide for months on end, and wait till the last sweltering weeks of August to pull our all-nighters. As I type this, I can already sense it looming on the horizon, the month of coffee and desperation, when I will be staggering around like a crazed victim of the zombie apocalypse.
But I digress. Back to Chase and Bryson's all-nighter. I lost no time in telling Zack about it. This seemed a golden opportunity to win friends and influence people. A few hours in a van, and they will be all charmed by his rapier wit.
So last night, Zack texted Chase and asked if there was room for him in the car group. Chase texted back asking, "Who is this?" (Apparently he never reads to the bottom of a text because Zack's name was RIGHT THERE). So he texted back, "Zack Sjoden." We had just sat down to dinner and a movie. About half an hour later, Zack was like, "Chase never texted me back." We both felt all deflated until Zack checked his phone, and in fact, there was a text waiting! His phone had never notified him. The reply was, "All right man, for sure there's room." I read it leaning over Zack's shoulder, and then we were both like, "Yes!!!" and we proceeded to bask in a glow of happiness. He was IN.
So he came home tonight, ate macaroni with me and watched the latest person get kicked off The Biggest Loser (Shannon, I can't say I will really miss you), and then took a shower, shaved, and put on his suit. It kind of messed with my head for me to be sitting on the couch in my pajamas, watching him get ready to go out in service without me.
I think he must be enjoying himself, because he just sent me a photo of Luke wearing Becky's Slanket. (Plus also, I texted, "Having fun?" and he answered "Yeah :)."
And so, mission accomplished.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Rain, Service, Lavender Tea, etc.
I stayed home today. This morning I just could not make myself get out of bed for the life of me. It's been a very busy week. I am quite proud of myself for finally creating and sticking to a morning routine. I've been getting up at 6:30 to brush teeth, etc. and fix breakfast. At 7:00 I wake up Zack, and we have a half hour of leisure time on the couch to eat breakfast, read the daily text, snuggle and talk. After that, Zack takes his shower while I wash up and pack our lunches for the day. At 8:00 I get the bathroom. Zack leaves around 8:15 (ideally), I get ready for service and walk out the door between 8:45 and 8:50. This gets me to the Kingdom Hall just on time.
I worked out the schedule in my head over the weekend, trying to give myself plenty of time, because I'm so sick of always feeling rushed in the morning. Monday we did a trial run, and it went just as smooth as could be. On my way to the hall that morning, I couldn't believe how good I felt. Zack and I had eaten together and read the text, I had had plenty of time to get ready, I'd left the house all tidy and clean, and I wasn't running late. I didn't feel stressed, I felt really good. It was amazing. I felt like I'd made this huge discovery, and wondered why it had taken me so long to get my act together and get organized.
Anyway, so we were able to keep the routine up pretty well Monday through Wednesday. It was great coming home, too, because I'd walk in to a tidy, clean house, no clothes or towels on the bathroom floor, no dirty dishes, the bed all made and everything. It made dragging myself up at 6:30 totally worth it.
Yesterday things didn't go quite as smoothly because I woke up feeling really sick to my stomach. Zack was very good to me, though, and helped out with cleaning up after breakfast so I could lie on the couch for a little while. I forced myself to get up and go out, and I'm really glad I did, I must say. It was a day of icy wind, with the weather constantly alternating between light rain, heavy rain, and sleet. We still managed to do some door-to-door however, working a couple of apartment territories. Of course we stopped at Starbucks twice over the course of the day, and the second time I tried the London Fog. It's flavored with lavender, which sounded intriguing, and I have to say loved it. It was a hot drink and aromatherapy all in one, the perfect cozy pick-me-up on a day when you walk in chilled and damp, with cold fingers and toes, needing to warm up.
In the afternoon, Connor Orino came out with us. Connor is twelve, but looks younger because he's so short for his age. He's very outgoing and talkative, and says funny things without knowing it. Yesterday he asked Luke very seriously if he (Connor) might be considered a "teenybopper." "Ive heard the term before," he said, "but I'm not quite sure what it means." Luke kept a straight face and told him it usually applies to young girls who are swept up in pop culture. A minute later, as we were stuck in traffic, some kind of vintage Mustang drove by in the other lane, and Connor gave this huge, agonized gasp and then started going, "Oh! Oh! Oh!" We thought he had ruptured his appendix or something, but he just pointed at the disappearing car, and said, "That's the blahblahblah (some car name), worth $78,000! It has 360 horsepower!" And then he proceeded to rattle off a list of specs which I didn't understand and don't remember now. The quintessential car-crazy kid. I was quite amused.
After service, I was feeling better, so I put in a solid hour at the gym. I was very proud of myself, needless to say. Tate came over for dinner and a movie (we had rented The Astronaut Farmer at his request). Zack's brand new driver's license had finally come in the mail, and so he and Tate went to get a couple of pizzas, and then hit a liquor store on the way home, to celebrate. Zack brought home a bottle of rum, and talked about how clean, brightly-lit, and well-organized the store was, with a couple of friendly old ladies at the cash registers. "It was totally not what I expected at all," he said. "I was expecting it to be dark and confusing, with a mean, gross, scary guy behind the counter, glaring at us like we were about to steal something."
All in all, a pretty good evening. I had a mojito, light on the rum, and a bowl of chicken soup, and was very proud of myself for only having one bite of pizza.
Today, though, I just couldn't get up and do the schedule all over again. I don't know if it's because I'm still fighting off a bug or what, but after a few days of the normal routine I get really tired and hit the wall. I'm learning to listen to my body, take it easy when I need to, and not stress out as much. I will get all my hours in somehow, and everything will work out fine.
The End
I worked out the schedule in my head over the weekend, trying to give myself plenty of time, because I'm so sick of always feeling rushed in the morning. Monday we did a trial run, and it went just as smooth as could be. On my way to the hall that morning, I couldn't believe how good I felt. Zack and I had eaten together and read the text, I had had plenty of time to get ready, I'd left the house all tidy and clean, and I wasn't running late. I didn't feel stressed, I felt really good. It was amazing. I felt like I'd made this huge discovery, and wondered why it had taken me so long to get my act together and get organized.
Anyway, so we were able to keep the routine up pretty well Monday through Wednesday. It was great coming home, too, because I'd walk in to a tidy, clean house, no clothes or towels on the bathroom floor, no dirty dishes, the bed all made and everything. It made dragging myself up at 6:30 totally worth it.
Yesterday things didn't go quite as smoothly because I woke up feeling really sick to my stomach. Zack was very good to me, though, and helped out with cleaning up after breakfast so I could lie on the couch for a little while. I forced myself to get up and go out, and I'm really glad I did, I must say. It was a day of icy wind, with the weather constantly alternating between light rain, heavy rain, and sleet. We still managed to do some door-to-door however, working a couple of apartment territories. Of course we stopped at Starbucks twice over the course of the day, and the second time I tried the London Fog. It's flavored with lavender, which sounded intriguing, and I have to say loved it. It was a hot drink and aromatherapy all in one, the perfect cozy pick-me-up on a day when you walk in chilled and damp, with cold fingers and toes, needing to warm up.
In the afternoon, Connor Orino came out with us. Connor is twelve, but looks younger because he's so short for his age. He's very outgoing and talkative, and says funny things without knowing it. Yesterday he asked Luke very seriously if he (Connor) might be considered a "teenybopper." "Ive heard the term before," he said, "but I'm not quite sure what it means." Luke kept a straight face and told him it usually applies to young girls who are swept up in pop culture. A minute later, as we were stuck in traffic, some kind of vintage Mustang drove by in the other lane, and Connor gave this huge, agonized gasp and then started going, "Oh! Oh! Oh!" We thought he had ruptured his appendix or something, but he just pointed at the disappearing car, and said, "That's the blahblahblah (some car name), worth $78,000! It has 360 horsepower!" And then he proceeded to rattle off a list of specs which I didn't understand and don't remember now. The quintessential car-crazy kid. I was quite amused.
After service, I was feeling better, so I put in a solid hour at the gym. I was very proud of myself, needless to say. Tate came over for dinner and a movie (we had rented The Astronaut Farmer at his request). Zack's brand new driver's license had finally come in the mail, and so he and Tate went to get a couple of pizzas, and then hit a liquor store on the way home, to celebrate. Zack brought home a bottle of rum, and talked about how clean, brightly-lit, and well-organized the store was, with a couple of friendly old ladies at the cash registers. "It was totally not what I expected at all," he said. "I was expecting it to be dark and confusing, with a mean, gross, scary guy behind the counter, glaring at us like we were about to steal something."
All in all, a pretty good evening. I had a mojito, light on the rum, and a bowl of chicken soup, and was very proud of myself for only having one bite of pizza.
Today, though, I just couldn't get up and do the schedule all over again. I don't know if it's because I'm still fighting off a bug or what, but after a few days of the normal routine I get really tired and hit the wall. I'm learning to listen to my body, take it easy when I need to, and not stress out as much. I will get all my hours in somehow, and everything will work out fine.
The End
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
I = >:(
Rawr at blogger. I just wrote a really long, awesome post, and blogger ATE IT AND THEN BLAMED IT ON ME.
There are some days when I just hate the internet. I have to go to the gym now. I will try reconstructing the post when I get back.
RAWR!!!!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Our First Anniversary
Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since my last post! February has been a busy month. It's already been a week Zack and I celebrated our one-year anniversary. I wasn't able to blog about my preparations, because they were very secret, but we had a very awesome weekend. For about a month and a half beforehand, I had been making plans to surprise Zack on our three day celebration weekend. I wanted to show how much I love him, and also say thank you for my amazing anniversary gift - the trip to New York! One of the things I did was make a book with 366 reasons why I love him - one reason for each day of our first year together. (We got married in a leap year, so it was 366 days long). That was a really awesome gift to make. It took quite a while, but I enjoyed every minute, and I couldn't wait to give it to him.
I also started collecting a bunch of other little presents - a sketchbook, a package of Polaroid film (super expensive, so we rarely buy it), a Touchabubbles kit, etc. I made a set of Beartato magnets with funny moments from the comics. I also wrote my own Beartato comic, in which Beartato and Reginald help me find a perfect anniversary gift for Zack. Beartato suggests a pet, and so after traveling to the ends of the earth and bringing me a lion, an elephant, etc, they finally decide that betta fish make the best pets. Friday night, I gave him the comic along with a real betta fish that I'd just bought that day. He was really surprised and happy - he loves fish, and he absolutely loved the comic that came with it.
Saturday morning, I let Zack open his bag of presents, which was really fun. I think I was more excited about it than he was. The Touchabubbles weren't as durable as we had hoped, but they still present opportunities for some cool photo sessions, I think. We had a nice breakfast and watched a romantic movie, and afterward Zack was worn out from the work week and spent most of the day sleeping. That was ok with me, because it kept him out of the way while I went on with my plans. I had been sick for a few days and gotten behind in the chores, so I cleaned like a maniac, and then later while Zack was out at the store getting me chocolates and Martinelli's cider, I decorated the whole house with roses and candles. Roses are, unfortunately, outrageously expensive during the week of our anniversary, because of Valentine's Day. But my sister had lent me her Costco card, which was a total Godsend. (Thursday, while I was really sick with a sinus cold, I dragged myself around to a bunch of shops, collecting stuff, and lastly stopped at Costco where I saved at least ten dollars on two dozen roses. I brought them home and hid them in our shed for a few days, in a bucket of water, and Zack never knew. It was great!).
I still had a bunch of the vases and ivy bowls from our wedding, so I divided up the roses and put them all over the house. Then I floated tea lights in the ivy bowls and put those everywhere. I moved the dining table in to the living room and put a red satin tablecloth on it that my mom gave me, and then set it with roses and candles, and it looked really beautiful. When Zack got home, he could hardly believe his eyes. It was so fun to surprise him!
Monday, the day of our actual anniversary, I gave Zack the book I'd made him. He really, really loved it. He said that weekend was one of the best of his life, and I was so happy that I was able to make it special for him. I love him so much!
I also started collecting a bunch of other little presents - a sketchbook, a package of Polaroid film (super expensive, so we rarely buy it), a Touchabubbles kit, etc. I made a set of Beartato magnets with funny moments from the comics. I also wrote my own Beartato comic, in which Beartato and Reginald help me find a perfect anniversary gift for Zack. Beartato suggests a pet, and so after traveling to the ends of the earth and bringing me a lion, an elephant, etc, they finally decide that betta fish make the best pets. Friday night, I gave him the comic along with a real betta fish that I'd just bought that day. He was really surprised and happy - he loves fish, and he absolutely loved the comic that came with it.
Saturday morning, I let Zack open his bag of presents, which was really fun. I think I was more excited about it than he was. The Touchabubbles weren't as durable as we had hoped, but they still present opportunities for some cool photo sessions, I think. We had a nice breakfast and watched a romantic movie, and afterward Zack was worn out from the work week and spent most of the day sleeping. That was ok with me, because it kept him out of the way while I went on with my plans. I had been sick for a few days and gotten behind in the chores, so I cleaned like a maniac, and then later while Zack was out at the store getting me chocolates and Martinelli's cider, I decorated the whole house with roses and candles. Roses are, unfortunately, outrageously expensive during the week of our anniversary, because of Valentine's Day. But my sister had lent me her Costco card, which was a total Godsend. (Thursday, while I was really sick with a sinus cold, I dragged myself around to a bunch of shops, collecting stuff, and lastly stopped at Costco where I saved at least ten dollars on two dozen roses. I brought them home and hid them in our shed for a few days, in a bucket of water, and Zack never knew. It was great!).
I still had a bunch of the vases and ivy bowls from our wedding, so I divided up the roses and put them all over the house. Then I floated tea lights in the ivy bowls and put those everywhere. I moved the dining table in to the living room and put a red satin tablecloth on it that my mom gave me, and then set it with roses and candles, and it looked really beautiful. When Zack got home, he could hardly believe his eyes. It was so fun to surprise him!
Monday, the day of our actual anniversary, I gave Zack the book I'd made him. He really, really loved it. He said that weekend was one of the best of his life, and I was so happy that I was able to make it special for him. I love him so much!
Monday, February 9, 2009
A Long Catch-Up Post
Well, I'm back. I got sick last Tuesday, and just ended up staying home all week, feeling lousy and not doing much of anything. No, I amend that: I watched a lot of Sherlock Holmes.
Saturday evening we went to a housewarming party at Kody and Ashley Ague's new place. We met new people, ate gluten-free snacks (Kody is allergic), and watched a lot of YouTube videos. Zack suggested "Old Guy vs. Skaters," which nobody else had ever seen, and Luke laughed so hard he almost hurt himself. He was hoarse afterward for the rest of the party.
Luke wants to make a movie, so we tossed around ideas. I mentioned this theory we heard last week, from a guy we met over at Ed and Ishi's house: the speculation that Jonah may have been a midget. It sounds strange at first, but the more we discussed the idea, the more plausible it seemed. A midget would have fit into the big fish a lot easier. Also, it would explain why Jonah had to ask the other sailors to throw him overboard: a midget might not have been able to climb over the side of the boat. Third, it makes the whole bottlegourd plant episode a lot easier to imagine. Just picture it: a little tiny guy hanging out under the vines and leaves.
I was finally able to make friends with Nisha, a girl I've never gotten to know because she's very quiet and shy, and for that reason seems standoffish. I was always a little bit intimidated by her, wondering in the back of my mind if she secretely hated me. (She doesn't). She mentioned that she has her 21st birthday coming up this month. I asked her what day, and she said the 20th! She was born on the same day as Zack! So I told her we would have her over for a little cocktail party sometime soon.
I also got to know Missy Orino, who is very sweet and closer to my age. She works at an "aesthetic surgery" clinic, and so I was able to get all sorts of interesting details about things like breast augmentations and abdominoplasties (otherwise known as boob jobs and tummy tucks). It was gross but fascinating. Apparently there are people who come in who are, like, addicted to surgery. It's very sad. I'm glad I am not that way.
Sunday, Zack and I drove out to Graham to have dinner with his parents. They wanted to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. Ron made fried chicken, and Juanita made mashed potatoes, gravy, and stuffing, etc. Also, there were presents! Zack got a gift card to Best Buy, so he can finally get a new tripod for his camera. I'm happy for him, but I love my presents even more:
1) a little photo album full of pictures of him growing up. He was the most adorable baby in the history of the world, I swear. His older pictures are all really cute, too. I love, love, love them, and I will scan them ASAP.
2) one of those flower blossom tea sets! I got the little glass teapot, and a whole bunch of the dried flowers that bloom in the hot water. I have wanted one of these forever, and at some point was telling Juanita about them, and she remembered! And got me one! I am so, so happy. I can't wait to use it! I plan to try one of the teas out soon, and take pictures.
We had a nice evening just spending time with Ron and Juanita, and the dogs. We really need to go out and visit them more often.
Today I did service, the gym, and then came home and made spaghetti sauce from scratch, did laundry, etc. Around 6:00 Zack called because his car battery was dead, so I drove downtown to give him a jump. We got home much later than usual, had dinner, and now I'm writing this and feeling sleepy already. I need to catch up on sleep - Saturday night we were at the Agues' till after midnight, and I never got back on track. So, more later.
I leave you with this hilarious video, which we watched at the party:
Saturday evening we went to a housewarming party at Kody and Ashley Ague's new place. We met new people, ate gluten-free snacks (Kody is allergic), and watched a lot of YouTube videos. Zack suggested "Old Guy vs. Skaters," which nobody else had ever seen, and Luke laughed so hard he almost hurt himself. He was hoarse afterward for the rest of the party.
Luke wants to make a movie, so we tossed around ideas. I mentioned this theory we heard last week, from a guy we met over at Ed and Ishi's house: the speculation that Jonah may have been a midget. It sounds strange at first, but the more we discussed the idea, the more plausible it seemed. A midget would have fit into the big fish a lot easier. Also, it would explain why Jonah had to ask the other sailors to throw him overboard: a midget might not have been able to climb over the side of the boat. Third, it makes the whole bottlegourd plant episode a lot easier to imagine. Just picture it: a little tiny guy hanging out under the vines and leaves.
I was finally able to make friends with Nisha, a girl I've never gotten to know because she's very quiet and shy, and for that reason seems standoffish. I was always a little bit intimidated by her, wondering in the back of my mind if she secretely hated me. (She doesn't). She mentioned that she has her 21st birthday coming up this month. I asked her what day, and she said the 20th! She was born on the same day as Zack! So I told her we would have her over for a little cocktail party sometime soon.
I also got to know Missy Orino, who is very sweet and closer to my age. She works at an "aesthetic surgery" clinic, and so I was able to get all sorts of interesting details about things like breast augmentations and abdominoplasties (otherwise known as boob jobs and tummy tucks). It was gross but fascinating. Apparently there are people who come in who are, like, addicted to surgery. It's very sad. I'm glad I am not that way.
Sunday, Zack and I drove out to Graham to have dinner with his parents. They wanted to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. Ron made fried chicken, and Juanita made mashed potatoes, gravy, and stuffing, etc. Also, there were presents! Zack got a gift card to Best Buy, so he can finally get a new tripod for his camera. I'm happy for him, but I love my presents even more:
1) a little photo album full of pictures of him growing up. He was the most adorable baby in the history of the world, I swear. His older pictures are all really cute, too. I love, love, love them, and I will scan them ASAP.
2) one of those flower blossom tea sets! I got the little glass teapot, and a whole bunch of the dried flowers that bloom in the hot water. I have wanted one of these forever, and at some point was telling Juanita about them, and she remembered! And got me one! I am so, so happy. I can't wait to use it! I plan to try one of the teas out soon, and take pictures.
We had a nice evening just spending time with Ron and Juanita, and the dogs. We really need to go out and visit them more often.
Today I did service, the gym, and then came home and made spaghetti sauce from scratch, did laundry, etc. Around 6:00 Zack called because his car battery was dead, so I drove downtown to give him a jump. We got home much later than usual, had dinner, and now I'm writing this and feeling sleepy already. I need to catch up on sleep - Saturday night we were at the Agues' till after midnight, and I never got back on track. So, more later.
I leave you with this hilarious video, which we watched at the party:
Monday, February 2, 2009
I Joined a Gym!
I am so excited about this! It's a new place that just opened in Fircrest. It's called Figures, and it's for women only. I have never joined a gym before! I actually heard about it last week, because Leslie and Darci were going to check it out after service. The gym is offering an introductory special, where if a group of people join, they only have to pay $20 a month. Initially, I told Leslie I wasn't really interested. I've never been into the idea of working out in public. I guess I've always thought of it as, like, P.E. for grown ups, and seriously, who would pay good money to go through that?
But anyway, over the week more and more sisters started signing up, and then out in service I would hear them talking about what a nice place it was, brand new and really clean, with nice showers and changing rooms, and everything provided for you, like towels, shampoo, razors, lotion, etc. I started thinking maybe I should check this place out. If nothing else, I thought it might be fun to go with some of the other pioneers. Zack and I have been lamenting our friendless state lately, so this seemed like a chance to socialize outside of service.
Well, let me say I am so glad I went! I was nervous about it, expecting it to be really intimidating. But I actually had a really fun time. There were about eight of us there, and we did the circuit and chatted, and it was not hard or scary at all. After I'd gone around twice, I did the treadmill for a few minutes. I wasn't in workout clothes (I don't have any I can wear in public), so I didn't want to get really sweaty. But it was just a fun thing to do, and I can see myself even heading over there alone some afternoons, with my iPod, and doing the treadmill. So I'm pretty excited about it.
But anyway, over the week more and more sisters started signing up, and then out in service I would hear them talking about what a nice place it was, brand new and really clean, with nice showers and changing rooms, and everything provided for you, like towels, shampoo, razors, lotion, etc. I started thinking maybe I should check this place out. If nothing else, I thought it might be fun to go with some of the other pioneers. Zack and I have been lamenting our friendless state lately, so this seemed like a chance to socialize outside of service.
Well, let me say I am so glad I went! I was nervous about it, expecting it to be really intimidating. But I actually had a really fun time. There were about eight of us there, and we did the circuit and chatted, and it was not hard or scary at all. After I'd gone around twice, I did the treadmill for a few minutes. I wasn't in workout clothes (I don't have any I can wear in public), so I didn't want to get really sweaty. But it was just a fun thing to do, and I can see myself even heading over there alone some afternoons, with my iPod, and doing the treadmill. So I'm pretty excited about it.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
*Sigh*
Well, the past few days have been kinda slow. Friday I cleaned house, and then my mom came over and we did each other's hair. Saturday was service, grocery shopping, and watching Sherlock Holmes. Today we were supposed to have our anniversary party, but the plans fell through. More on that in a future post. So we ended up going to Wright Park to take pictures, and then just hanging around the house. That's pretty much it.
Everybody is having Super Bowl parties today, and Zack and I didn't get invited to a single one. We pretty much feel like losers with no friends.
Everybody is having Super Bowl parties today, and Zack and I didn't get invited to a single one. We pretty much feel like losers with no friends.
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