Time for a little vacation

In precisely 20 days, Wolf and I are heading out of Utah for a lovely and much needed vacation. Here are some of the places we will head to...

Los Angeles

San Diego

Ensenada, Mexico 

(as shown here by my darling baby Gus)

San Fransisco

Santa Barbara

This famous place that needs not be named

And to hang out with this darling boy and his family

Twenty days could not come sooner. I cannot wait for this ten day vacation! (Wolf is pretty excited, too.)

Farewell to the Little Yellow House

For the first eight months of our marriage Laura and I have lived in a basement apartment in Provo just south of BYU. We loved our apartment. From the very first day (or night since we got in extremely late after a cross-country flight) it felt like home. We had all sorts of adventures in our place, like when we tried to cook our first meal and the contents of a very hot pan suddenly combusted. I think Laura wrote about that one. The moral of that story is to not leave a cast-iron skillet on the stove too long before adding ingredients. Come to think of it, there was one more incident involving that pan. I tried to cook a steak in it. The recipe said to leave the pan on the stove to heat up for something like five minutes. By the time I threw the steak on, the pan had become rocket hot and within about 13 seconds the entire apartment was filled with smoke. It wasn't just a little bit either. It was almost like a scene out of Back Draft. Now that I think about it, I don't think that I like that pan very much.

But this post is not about why you shouldn't use cast-iron cookware. Getting back to the story...We loved out our little apartment. Laura thought that it was perfect. I agreed with just one exception.

On our first night in our apartment we discovered something: we had no control over the heating and air conditioning. On that night the upstairs neighbours cranked up the a/c. It was downright cold downstairs. I got up, went to the thermostat, and turned down the temp. We waited. Nothing happened.

Apparently the thermostat in our apartment wasn't connected to anything. It was just there. It didn't really serve any purpose other that letting you know how hot or cold the apartment was.

During the next couple of months we endured many sweltering nights. You see, the next set of neighbours didn't ever turn the a/c on. Come winter time we found that they didn't like to turn the heat on much either. Once we got into November it started getting cold. How cold? Most afternoons (afternoons mind you) it was in the low to mid 50s. At night the heater would come on, but Laura and I had to sleep with every blanket we owned to stay warm enough.

This went on for a while. I happened to mention it at work (University Mall management). One of the security officers (all of them are off-duty cops) works for Orem City. He told me that I should get in touch with such-and-such a department and they might be able to help us out. In my mind I assumed that that meant we would get control over the heating system for our apartment. I shot off an e-mail to Provo City. Nothing happened. Enough time went by that I figured that we would not hear back at all. Then one day I got an e-mail from someone. It was just a short request for our address. Knowing now what the outcome of that was, I probably should have hesitated. But I didn't. I gave him my address. A few days later I get a call from that employee. He said that our house wasn't zoned for a basement apartment and unless the house owner could come up with some sort of documentation (what kind he didn't say) we would be forced to move.

This was not what I wanted to hear. Moving during the middle of a semester did not sound like fun to me. Moving period is not fun. He told me that he would call me in a few days when he had heard back from the house owner. Then he actually thanked me. Maybe he gets the bureaucratic equivalent of brownie points for every newly-wed-student couple that he gets kicked out of their apartments.

Well, since Laura and I are now living in new accommodations, you can probably guess what happened. On a Monday afternoon I got a call from the landlord. We had to move and we had 30 days to do it. The other thing that made this difficult is that I hadn't told Laura. I thought that until I knew if we had to move for sure I wouldn't worry her about it. But she handled it very well. She only got slightly furious/raging mad/run for your life she's lost it.

I know Laura is reading and raising one of her eyebrows at that last comment. Actually, she really wasn't mad at all. Good thing. I felt really bad. But regardless of whether I did or not, we had to start looking for a new place. The one that we liked the best was a two-bedroom apartment next to Sierra West Jewelers.

Most of last Friday was spent moving. I don't think that we had any idea how much stuff we've already accumulated in eight months of marriage. But thanks to a lot of help from my family (I'd like to acknowledge my parents, brother Blake, and sister Amber) and from Laura's (thanks Mike, Mark, and Jill!) we did it.

We're still faced with at least a week's worth of organizing to get the apartment into a decent shape, but we're at least moved in.

So, goodbye little yellow house with the blue door. It's been great and we'll miss you.

How it all began part V

The proposal:

* Side note: My darling Wolfgang had one requirement for his proposal. He only wanted it to be a surprise. He told me around the time he got the ring and I knew he could not hold onto it for long without giving it to me so he had a very narrow window in which to propose.

Continue reading. Please.

February 17 was one of those days...
My brother celebrated his 23rd birthday, my sister celebrated her 10th wedding anniversary, and one of my bffs from high school decided to get married that day.
I had the day off work somehow; I probably let someone else take my shift so they could get more hours. I slept in and worked on an art assignment that was due later in the day.
Wolf picked me up for lunch at the usual lunchy time and we decided to go to Red Robin mostly because I had never been there before. (My family never went out to eat when I was little. The only places we went to were Brick Oven, Chuck-a-Rama, other places and that just about covers it.
I gravitated towards the onion rings as a girl allergic to onions is bound to do every time she goes into a restaurant.

Fact: I am allergic to onions, peppers, and garlic. (And other things.)

These allergies do not stop me from eating whatever I want to eat.

I adore spicy food.

I used to eat onions like apples.

Wolf is trying to wean me from these foods.

This was an occasion in which Wolf actually let me eat the onion rings. I should have caught onto his hints. He had a black bean burger as he is bound to do and I ate a meat burger as I am bound to do. We munched and chatted wedding plans.

After lunch, I had plans to meet up with my darling friend Manny to go shopping for the wedding reception. Monica and I talked boys; she had just gotten out of a relationship and I was on top of the world with my current relationship. We bought the most comfortable blanket for Alyson and decided to meet up later that evening for more breakup talk.

I had to rush off to make it to my two classes on Thursday. Music went by quickly and art was full of clay and chatter from friends.

Fast forward to that evening.

I was waiting for 9:00 before I went to Monica's place. Up until July of last year, I was the manager of our cute little kiosk at the University Mall. Every single evening, I received a phone call from the girl that closed to give me the numbers and details of that day. That evening, Kaeli (my best friend's little sister) was closing. I took the numbers from her, called my boss, and rushed off to Monica's house.

Immediately as I pulled into Manny's driveway, I received yet another call from Kaeli.

Sadly, Kaeli told me that she had locked her keys into the cart and needed me to help her out.

I was in a bind.

There were many solutions to this problem that did not involve me going to the mall to help her. There are ways to get into the cart without a key, there were girls that live closer to the mall she could have called, I could have come up with a great solution.

I did not.

I sped right back out of Monica's driveway and called her as I rushed up University. "I am so sorry. I was literally in your driveway, but I have to help Aud's sister at Katelyn & Co. She locked her keys in the kiosk. I promise I will hurry as quickly as I can." I was off.

As I pulled up to the mall, I noticed Wolf's car still in the parking lot.

Hmmm. He normally leaves immediately at 9:00.

As I ran into the mall and approached the cart, there was nobody in sight. I circled the cart once. No Kaeli. I went around another half time.
Kaeli?

As I pulled out my phone to call her, I saw someone walked towards me. Wolf.

"Hey. What are you doing here?"

"Kaeli called. She locked her keys in the cart, but I cannot find her."

"Oh. Well as long as you're here..."

He pulled out a small box and handed it to me.

I opened it and saw a ring.

A big, fat flower ring from the 70s.

Seriously? That was one thing I made him promise me; to never do a fake proposal.

Next I saw him pull a thin platinum band from his pinky.

Wolf offered me a replacement for what was in the box. It was a gorgeous halo setting ring with a gorgeous diamond in the middle.

Come to think of it, I do not think I said yes.

We hugged. We kissed. We found his dad and hugged him. We visited my family and called everyone that was not at my parents' house. Wolf texted his mom. Seriously? A text? We then visited his family and I told my story dozens of times. I apologized to Monica. I texted my boss to tell her I became engaged at work.

The world was good.

A semi recreation of our first date

Yesterday was the year anniversary of mine and Wolf's first date. (It's strange; he remembers these dates better than I do.) Wolf took the evening off work, very unusual for a Saturday night, and we headed off as soon as he got home.

On our first date, we went to Bombay House, headed over to see a movie, and then talked on my doorstep for a few hours.

On this lovely recreation, we headed to Mama Chus for some delightful Mexican food. At least we kept up the foreign cuisine. I love Mama Chus. It is a reasonably priced Mexican restaurant just up the street from the mouth of Provo Canyon. I went there for the first time in 8th grade right after our Spanish festival held at BYU. My junior high is just a half mile away. Wolf claimed that he indulged in the best bean burrito he had ever had. There is my plug for Mama Chus.

After we had our fill, we headed off for dessert. The Chocolate. I have known about The Chocolate for a long time but had never been until I started dating Wolf. They used to be my neighbors. Do you see the cart in the background, just behind the Chocolate? That is my beloved Katelyn & Co cart that I used to frequent on an almost daily basis. Now that I have moved higher on the totem pole, I just sub there occasionally (including this Black Friday).

The Chocolate has since moved to a delightful little location on State Street. I grabbed a chocolate caramel cupcake and Wolfie indulged in a slice of the Brooklyn Blackout. I do not understand how he can scarf down dark chocolate like that.

As for the final leg of our date? We grabbed the 8:00 showing of Puss in Boots. It was a clever and terribly cute movie that made me miss my cat and convinced Wolf that we need a cat someday... Okay. That last sentence may not be true...I would support your decision if you decided to go see that movie. Especially if you have popcorn.

We did not stand on our doorstep for a few hours talking. We decided to forego the cold and instead chatted inside our house.

Lovely date.

Reason #1 why you should get married

Your husband will probably make you applesauce when you ask for it on a Friday night, put away all the laundry, and then rub your feet while you do last minute studying for a test you have to take in the morning.

Am I lucky...or am I lucky?

I happen to have the best husband in the world. Ladies, do not be jealous.

1. I rarely lift a finger in helping him cook. He cooks everything and anything. If I crave coconut cake, he will whip out coconut cake for me. It will be light, fluffy, taste dreamy, and be the best coconut cake I have ever tasted. True story.

2. He cleans the house for me all the time. I will come home from work, dreading to think what the house will look like and wondering how long it will take me to clean and do homework. I walk in and see a happy, clean house that smells like the dinner he cooked for me.

3. He makes the most out of the time we have together. I see Wolf for an average of 1.25 hours each day with the exception of Sunday and Friday (and sometimes Thursday if we are lucky). He is great at making sure we go on a date Friday night and that on Sunday, we basically do not leave each other's sight. (We are trying to work out an arrangement for the third hour of church.)

4. He takes care of me. I am not used to this yet. I am used to being completely independent. When I wake up in the morning and he has already left, I will sometimes find breakfast and a packed lunch sitting on the table for me to take. He buys me the food I mention he should buy when I really want hot chocolate or saltines or soup (I had a small cold recently...). He drops off assignments I left at home without me asking him to do that. He bought all the seasons of my favorite TV show. He makes me laugh and gets really excited when we get to see each other. He supports my dreams even if "all I want to be" is a teacher and a mom. He will play with me when I am crazy but keep me serious when I need to be.

He is the best. Ever.

How it all began part IV

My relationship with Wolf was only the second one in which I dated the guy before we became friends. Wolf and I watched our friendship "blossom" at the mall. He closed every night and I often worked evening shifts so I would often meander down to the customer service desk when I was done with work and would stay with him until the mall closed. We also spent several hours after the mall closed just talking or playing card games.

Christmas came and went. I spent most of Christmas day at his house (even accidentally falling asleep on a couch while his family roamed around).

January came and went. We celebrated my birthday in a quiet way and he gave me the practical gift that I wanted (an OXO tupperware to keep my flour in). I was getting antsy. I was the one that said "I love you" first and I was the one that brought up marriage first, but I also did not want to go into a ring shop with him. (I had a pretty bad experience in a ring shop before with a different young man.) Wolf was worried because I laid out what I liked in rings but I wanted him to choose. The only time I went in a jewelry store with him was to check my ring size.

Once I asked him when he would propose.

"Springish."

Springish? What did that mean?

The first half of February came and went. We had talked about dates. Originally it was set for July but then I realized I wanted to go to summer term and it would be better to get married at the beginning of June.

Finally Wolf told me that he was ordering the ring and it would arrive in 5-7 days. I was ecstatic but still antsy. He could hold onto that ring for months before giving it to me...