And the not so little things

Events of Yesterday:

• Woke up late because the NyQuil I took the night before worked a little too well
• Arrived late to work
• Felt tired all day - contemplated hiding in a closet to take a nap at work
• Received a text from Joel reminding me that he was going to make dinner that night and that my job was to bring home a movie
• Watched the clock, waiting for it to finally be time to leave work
• Received some texts from Joel while he was at the grocery store
• Smiled for the millionth time that day
• Finally 5, hurried to pick up the movie and get home
• Joel was waiting for me at my place
• Tried to help Joel prepare dinner, was physically picked up and placed on the couch and told to relax
• Tried again, and again and finally realized there was nothing that I could do to get him to let me help
• Watched one of my law shows while I waited for dinner
• Dinner was ready - smiled at how absolutely amazing Joel is
• Ate tons of the super yummy dinner - Talapia stuffed with crab, green beans with cashews and honey glaze, spinach salad with fruit
• Stared at Joel in amazement
• Washed the dishes together, even though Joel wanted me to sit on the couch while he did it.
• Watched tv while I rubbed Joel's back and listened to him answer the questions on Jeopardy
  
• Watched the movie Brothers and drank a glass of wine, while snuggled up with Joel
• Smiled each time he kissed me on the top of my head
• Joel told me he had tickets for the Mariners game in 2 weeks.
  
• Smiled thinking about last time we went to the Mariners game.
• Snuggles, kisses
• Fall asleep smiling - again.

(Am I dreaming?!)

Best Invention

I may never use my sewing machine again.

Mariners game.... it's the little things

Last Monday morning while sitting at my desk at work I recieved a text from my friend Natalie. "do you have Will and do you have plans tonight?" "No, and no" I replied. She told me that a friend of hers had tickets to the Mariners game that night, that she and her husband Jake were going and that they needed one more person. "not that it matters, but he's pretty cute" she added. "ok, sounds good. I'm in" We figured out logistics and that we would meet up in Bellevue a bit after 6 to drive to the game together.I hurried home after work to change and let my dog out to go potty. I had no idea what to wear. Knowing Natalie I knew she would not be in jeans with flats on. "Do I dress nicer to match her more, or do I go with the normal casual stuff that I would typically wear to an M's game? I wonder if this guy is expecting me to be like Natalie since I'm Natalies friends??" But I decided to stick with my typical casual, going to a game, attire and threw on some jeans, pumas, t shirt and a jacket.

When I met up with them in Bellevue I found that I was right in my assumption. Natalie was wearing a sweater dress, leggins and knee high boots. :) I had looked Joel up on Natalie's facebook at some point during the day, so I knew in general what he looked like, but I thought he looked even better in person. Joel drove to the game. He and Jake in the front and Natalie and I in the back. I was sitting behind Joel and I liked that he opened my door when I would get in or out of the car. He didn't make a production of it, I could tell that he was just really a gentleman.

Throughout the game Joel and I talked and joked around. He was very easy to get along with. We made bets on the hat trick and the boat races. Both of which I won. He told me that he let me win them so that I would come back for more. :) I felt 15 again. I was excited when our arms touched when we both put our arms on the arm rest. Wow, right? I'm how old? But it made me happy.My favorite moment of the night? The "little thing".... When we were leaving the game, walking through the hordes of people, back to where the car was parked, I had to stop to tie my shoe. Jake, Natalie and Joel continued walking, but when Joel noticed that I had stopped he came back and stood next to me. When I stood up he said "I just didn't want anyone to trip over you." Little thing, but it made me feel good that he even thought to do that. Gentleman.

After the game we stopped for milk shakes (except for Natalie who of course ordered a salad and just drooled over our shakes) and then headed back to where all of our cars were. We said our goodbyes, Joel and I hugged and then I headed home. I think I fell asleep smiling that night.

more randomness

Some of you may have read this post last year about 25 random things about me. Well I dont have 25 more to share, but I thought maybe I'll give you 5 at a time every once in a while.

1. I find myself counting random things without intending to. Like stairs, or steps to the car from the door. There is no purpose for the counting and once I realize I'm doing it I wonder why I'm doing it, yet I catch myself counting a lot.2. I really really dont like artificial sweeteners. Diet soda = yuck! I can't stand the taste. And they say Coke Zero tastes like regular coke. WRONG. Tastes yucky. I rarely drink soda anyway, but if I do it'll be a chubby coke. And I can taste artificial sweeteners in food as well so dont think you can trick me. Plus, sure they may be less or no calories, but I prefer sugar. My body knows what to do with sugar, it doesn't know what to do with chemicals. And I believe we will someday find out that all of the artificial things we put in our bodies are cancer causing, so I'd like to avoid them for that reason as well.3. Melons make me gag. Watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe..... gag, gag, gag. The sucky thing is that I want to like them. I still buy watermelon every summer because I like for other people to eat it. People look happy when they eat watermelon. But not me. The closest thing to a melon that I can eat is a cucumber. Cucumbers aren't a melon you say.... well my mouth thinks otherwise. I literally gag if I have a melon, cucumber by it's self has the same reaction. Cucumber smothered in ranch or hummus, I can get down.4. I'm a biter, or more of a nibbler I guess. My favorite thing to bite it my sons buns in jammies. Seriously, when he's climbing up his ladder to get in his bed at night I just can't help myself, I have to get a nibble of those cute jammie buns! Weird thing is I think this is a genetic urge. Weird right? But anyone who knows my Grandma Risenmay knows that she's a biter too. She hugs and kisses everyone, but you know that she really likes you if she gives you a nibble.

5. I love people. Sometimes when they probably dont want or deserve it. I think I smoother them. (Come to think of it, I think I get this from Grandma Risenmay too.) I want people to be happy and I try to make them happy. But I'm learning {slowly} that I can't make people be happy, and that I can show my love but I need to let it happen not force it.

Habits

Many people are near the conclusion of their observance of Lent. Lent is a Catholic practice, it is a special time of prayer, penance, sacrifice and good works in preparation of the celebration of Easter. Many people choose something to give up or fast for the duration of lent. I personally have never participated in lent but other peoples fast have gotten me thinking about what I would give up if I were to participate. Friends of mine have given up meat, soda, or the like as their lent fast. What would I give up?

I eat meat sparingly
I drink soda maybe once per month
I drink alcohol maybe once per month
I dont eat a lot of sugar (which is a huge improvement from my past)
I dont spend much money on unnecessary things

I think I do most things in moderation. So I dont know if I have something that I really need to give up. However, I am not saying that I am perfect. I have come to the realization that, I dont have any horrible habits, but I dont have any good ones either.

I rarely exercise (which I used to be religious about)
I dont drink enough water
I dont participate in service activities as much as I have in the past

So I guess what I'm saying is that I think I need a reverse lent.... but I guess that's what new years resolutions are for... and really I'm probably too lazy anyway. I guess I'll stick with being mediocre.

Are you participating in lent? Did you have a new years resolution? How's it going? You're doing better than me just by attempting. :)

funky green chair

I really needed a side chair to put in my room since there is no where to sit to put shoes on or the like. My room is currently decorated with just black and white since I like a minimalist, clean look in my bedroom, but I had decided that I needed to add a pop of color. Green is my favorite color, so naturally I wanted to do green accents in my room. When searching for a chair I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted, and then I found this chair.


It immediately caught my eye, and had a funky apeal to it. It's nothing like the rest of my furniture... but that's why I like it. It looks like it's straight out of my grandma's house, and would totally go with the old orange shag carpet that used to be in my parents house. Totally not what I would expect for myself to want, which really made me want it more. After a few e-mails with links to the above picture of the chair to my design advisors (aka, steph, amanda and dan) I decided I had to have it. Oh and did I mention that it was only $160 from craigslist? It's a bit warn, which I expected, because it's probably really from the 70's, but still in pretty great condition. I'm currently in the process of painting the base/legs black to better match my room. I'm not sure what other green stuff I want to do to tie it all in, so let me know if you have ideas. :)

my color

According to this quiz, Red is my color. Funny because I've never loved red.

"You boast incredible willpower and are capable of overcoming obstacles that would normally leave others shaking in their boots. You have a penchant for colorful environments and often impress others with your energetic bursts of energy. Your interests in many areas of life often leave you scattered, but when you focus you can accomplish anything you put your mind to. "