Monday, May 30, 2011

Dousing Old Flames

As we get closer and closer to the wedding date, I find myself pondering the commitment we're about to make. Every time I thought I had it figured out before then, I turned out to be completely wrong. (Cue Rascal Flatts' "Bless the Broken Road".)


I started out with the right idea in middle school, when I went for the nice guy. However, he was a little too nice--I quickly got tired of holding hands timidly during movies, and was soon swept up into a whirlwind romance with an older man (yes, he was in high school). However, this Spring Break romance didn't last long past my first kiss on the cruise ship. That summer, there was the guy from camp. But, we lived half an hour apart and had to depend on our parents to cart us to and from dates, so that didn't last too long. As sophomore year began, so did my far-too-long tumultuous romance with the debater. Late-night phone calls, controlling parents, and sneaking around satisfied the drama I craved at this point in my life, and lasted through most of my high school career. During our off-seasons, there was the airplane guy, the band geek, and the co-worker. Freshman year of college I repeated the cycle; again, we had the nice guy and the older man (part 2), and then there was the fling (x3), and the mistake.


With the risk of sounding completely cliché, I'll admit that I learned something from every episode of my dating life. After hitting rock bottom with the mistake, I knew that things were bound to change. I'd experienced a lot during my freshman year of college, and this time around, I knew what I was looking for. I had my eye on a certain Blockbuster Boy, and although our relationship felt like it was off to a rocky start, I soon realized that all those bits and pieces I'd been drawn to in those other guys throughout the years had culminated in my Blockbuster Boy. 


When I hear other people reminisce about old relationships, or talk about re-kindling an old flame, I feel so grateful that I'm no longer in that position. It reminds me of the movie He's Just Not That Into You--if it didn't work out the first time, 98% of the time, it's not going to work out subsequent times, either. And those 2% of old relationships that somehow become successful? Those are the exceptions. Instead of holding onto those memories as false hope, I wish more women would use them as learning tools. I know it's easier said than done, but I also think it's a matter of self-respect.



And, suddenly, I didn't miss any of those past relationships. I spent too much time missing these guys, wondering how I'd messed up, wishing for things that would never happen. Now, I find myself rolling my eyes at the political Facebook statuses from the debater. I applaud the airplane guy, who serves our country overseas. I occasionally catch up with the guy from camp for lunch or a cup of coffee. The fling and the mistake? Yeah, I un-friended them.



Sunday, May 29, 2011

Warm Feet

A few nights ago, just as we were falling asleep, I looked over at B and-- Omigosh! I thought. Did I even think this through? This is a huge decision. Am I too young for this? Do I really want to be with him for the rest of my life? Or do I just want to get married? Will I miss out on something else--something better?


While these thoughts poured into my head, I have no doubt that the look on my face was anything but picture-worthy. Hold on, Katie, calm down. I took a deep breath. And, luckily, it all came back to me. The way B had cleaned up my skinned knees and palms after I fell running recently; our hysterical laughter throughout the aisles of Target that afternoon over absolutely nothing; the dinners we've shared together in our new home over the past month; relaxing on the couch together after a long day of tornado sirens with kindergartners at work. Not to mention the support I had in B when I went through a really tough time last summer; the beautiful roses he brought home this week; how I've only had to run/empty the dishwasher once since we moved into our apartment; coming home to clean laundry on a day when I was absolutely exhausted. Remembering these things, I rolled over, kissed B's cheek, and fell asleep--absolutely assured.

We're down to just 13 days!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Hello May!

This weekend my two cousins are graduating. I remember, when we made our hotel reservations waaaaaay back in October or so, thinking "Wow, that's so far away! By that time the wedding will be right around the corner!" Well, guess what, folks. It's not that far away anymore... and the wedding is right around the corner!

I'm the queen of cliff-hangers lately, aren't I? Like, last week (and, okay, for two months prior), I talked non-stop about our big move... and then didn't give you any details.

Well, here's the gist of it: We're exhausted.


The following is a brief photo tour of the "before" of our new apartment (click here to see the floor plan again):
The living room from the front door--don't you love the fireplace? It's gas. We thought it was wood-burning (because that's what the brochure says) and were pleasantly surprised to find out we wouldn't be needing to chop down any of the trees in the complex.

Another shot of the living room in which you can see the beautiful vaulted ceilings that I am absolutely in love with. P.S. The door on the right leads to our balcony (which I forgot to take any "before" pictures of).

View of the dining area/kitchen from the living room--yes, I forgot to take pictures until we'd carried in the first few loads of stuff.

The kitchen. It's snug. But, the cabinets are nice and deep, so there's more storage than it first appears.

Our cute little bathroom. Just wait until you see the "after" of this shot. One of my proudest accomplishments, for sure :-)

Our bedroom. There are no ceiling lights in here, so this picture is super-dark. Behind me there is a sliding door that opens to the balcony. This brings in some natural light, but (obviously) not a ton. We will be purchasing more lamps!

Our closets... sigh...

At least it goes all the way across the wall... (yes, I'm searching for a silver lining...)

Our hall closet. Double sigh.
The good news (for me) is that we do have a laundry closet with a relatively large amount of storage space. The bad news (for you) is that I don't have a "before" picture, and I don't want to ruin any surprises.

We had fun camping out the first week--since our move-in day was a Monday, and we both work full-time, we didn't move our furniture in until Saturday.


We had a picnic of pizza, salad, and wine our first night at home.

Our makeshift couch and end tables. Classy, huh?

Delilah's spot. She's taken well to her new home, and seems to enjoy having her whole family together under one roof.
Things are looking a little different now that we have all our stuff moved in. Be ready for an awesome mini-series of before-and-afters...