Oh Char

I told a friend that the every 2 week routine the BF and I have hammered down in the last THREE summers works pretty well. The first two weeks are the hardest and then it's pretty doable. 

Well I told her that in May. Before summer had started. Back when I could see him whenever I wanted. 

Sometimes my optimism comes back and bites me in the butt. 

Posts to follow about the weekend!

Taste 5

Overall I would classify this week as a success! Except for my brief stint as a tripod... Friday we ran off to explore Valparaiso. First we went to BDubs and then walked around exploring the beauty of downtown Valpo. I had never fully appreciated the city's efforts to keep the main drag looking beautiful but wow they have done a fantastic job. On our walk we ran into a sign advertising a wine and food festival the next day to raise money for a park downtown. Mental note made. 

After our exploration it was miniature golf! I have not yet added up the scores, but after a particularly nasty incident with a hole on a slope I'm going to guess the BF will emerge the victor... 

Saturday we took a little trip to Lake Michigan, making a point to go to a beach we hadn't been to before. As usual, we never get beach weather, it was windy and chilly and soon the sky over Chicago started to darken and head our way. We narrowly escaped rain and it was back to Westville. 

After some grilled cheese and laziness the sun came out and we decided to check out Taste 5, the wine and food festival in Valpo we had seen advertised the day before and I have to say it was pretty great! It was smaller than we had imagined, Valpo is after all a rather large city, but still very nice. Five of the city's best restaurants teamed up to put on something akin to the Taste of Chicago. We bought tickets for a dollar apiece and each restaurant had a booth set up where they sold their most popular dishes for a set amount of tickets. We decided to split lamb from a spanish restaurant and a fantastic nut and berry cheesecake from either a french or italian restaurant, we don't remember which... The BF tried a new dark beer and I tried sangria. I am not a wine person, something about the smell bothers me, but this was actually pretty good, with big chunks of  orange, lime, and lemon floating in the dark red liquid. A success definitely. 

After Taste 5 we wandered around and took pictures. Well the BF did, my camera is still out of commission : ( Eventually we ended up at a South Bend Chocolate Factory Cafe where the BF got some coffee (yet another grown up drink I don't enjoy) and we read over some newspapers. 

The plan was to go to see Up later that night but we still had a lot of time to waste so we went to Barnes & Nobles for awhile. The movie overall was really cute and visually stunning, but we were both left wanting a little more. I thought the ending was a little abrupt and the BF just thought it was generally a little boring but oh well. 

Today was mostly just a lazy day. After hiking up dunes and running around Valpo we were pooped. We took Boomer and Wicket for a walk and that was about the extent of our day. Later, we fell asleep for a looong time and then watched a pretty snazzy dinosaur show on the History channel. 

So, one long blog later and I think that's the end of our weekend. The BF took off a few hours ago and it's always weird to go from seeing each other nonstop for a few days to being two hours apart again. Luckily a great weekend sent us off in good moods and looking forward to a weekend two weeks from now : )

Quote of the Weekend

BF: Babe, stand still.

Char: Are you seriously using my head as a tripod?

BF: Babe, you're the perfect height!

This weekend was the start of our summer weekend trips to each other's houses. Generally, our rule of thumb is to see each other every two weeks which isn't exactly ideal but it's worked for the last two summers! 

More on our weekend later : )

Such Silliness

Word on the street is that the BF and I have a weird relationship because we do our own thing... 

Apparently we are just not seen often enough eating together in the union, holding hands in the mall, or making out in corners of the library. 

I do apologize. Sincerely. 

I kind of take it as a compliment because I always wanted a relationship where I got to be me and he got to be him and then we got to be me and him. We are "Char and the BF", not "them" and at this moment I like it that way. 

Summer Come Quick!

Can I tell you just how pumped I am for summer?

No, not summer weather, I'm not a heat kind of girl.

Number 1? Work. I'm soo ready to be back at camp. I love all my little kiddies and I miss them! It's tough to come back and see your kids so much older and cooler and so much less interested in you, but still, it's fun to see them grow up! And there are always new little poopers (literally...) to love! 

Number 2? Friends. Camp means I get to see my fellow counselors. I'm so lucky to have a job where I love the people I work with. My first year at the Y I struggled. I came in in the middle of the summer and I didn't know anyone. Last year, my second year, somehow I was cooler and made friends with my friend soul mates, Digger and Bingo. How I wish that I went to school with them, college would be so much more fun. They are some of the few people that get how crazy I am and totally embrace it, just like I embrace their crazy. I love them and I miss them!

Number 3? The BF. Summer means BF visits. Every two weeks I go to his house or he comes to mine. It's tough getting into the schedule of only seeing each other every two weeks, but after awhile we get mostly used to it. Plus when we do get together we have such a blast! 

Number 4? Crafts. I drive past Hobby Lobby every day on my way to and from work. Nuff said. 

Overheard

The highlight of my spring break was the BF and mines trip to the Dunes. This session of "overheard" is a perfect example of a few things. 

1. Why I frustrate people

2. Why the BF is necessary for me to function some days

3. The BF needs me to sometimes bring his logicalness down a level. I didn't think that was a word, but the good ole Mac isn't flagging it so I'm going with it. 

-Climbing up a large pile of rocks to the top of a Dune-

C: Ow! (Illogical Char was not wearing shoes)

A: Babe, maybe you should put your flip flops back on for this... (Logical BF had shoes on)

C: Hmm maybe. 

A: Wait, where are your flip flops? (Stops climbing to investigate)

C: Hmm I dunno, musta left em on the beach. They'll turn up. (Climbs past worried BF)

A: Oh Char. 

15 minutes earlier the same conversation occurred but that time concerning my cell phone...

Exhibit A: BF wearing shoes. Who wears shoes to the lake?

My flip flops in their natural habitat. I had flipped them off to play in the clay apparently...

Fun Things to Do

When you and your significant other are departing, and he's with his friends, yell out "I love you!" and watch the squirming commence. 

Now I'm mystified as to why they all react this way. He knows each of his friends has had girlfriends, and that they all said those three little words to each other, but Lord knows they don't want to acknowledge it in front of each other. 

Silly boys.

Disclaimer: This exercise is not to be used as a relationship test, it is purely for your own enjoyment. If said boyfriend only whispers it back or just laughs it off it doesn't mean anything more than he is a silly boy. 

Lovely

Today has been lovely, and tonight will be lovely still. It has literally snowed all day. I woke up to pure white loveliness. Currently I'm cuddled up in a down blanket listening to Frank Sinatra croon Winter Wonderland and watching the snow fall and create its own blanket over my little campus. I know finals are the week after next and I should be reading for poly sci or history but instead I'm contemplating picking up Henry James' Portrait of a Lady or better yet the Wind in the Willows. I remember my grandma reading that to me when I was a little girl and I mentioned it on a trip to Barnes and Noble with the BF, low and behold it came to me for Valentines Day last year : ) I'm currently feeling unbelievably blessed and happy. The Christmas spirit has cracked into me and caught hold. 

Tonight the BF and I are get to spend time together and maybe play in the snow and I am completely content with the world.

Traumatic

   The BF and I went for a crazy date last night. It consisted of rushing to the Fort for dinner. Then rushing to the mall to buy him a winter coat so he'll be nice and toasty in Germany. Then rushing back to school because the little sister had a solo in the choir concert. Then rushing to Huntington to catch a late movie. 

   The traumatic part took place after the movie. I had volunteered to drive so we walked out to my little black Sebring, I click the button and get in. He stands at his door and knocks on the window, sometimes I forget to hit the button twice so his door doesn't unlock so I hit the unlock button in the car. He continues to knock. So I reach through and unlock it. Still knocking, and now holding some piece of plastic in his hand gesturing wildly. "Look at this!" he yells through the window. I sigh resignedly and remove myself from the car. "Look at this!" 

"What is it?"

"It's the handle!"

"WHAT??" 

My poor car. She was endearingly named Stella earlier this year because some friends and I decided that she was trying to get her grove back. No no, Stella, you're going the wrong way. You are not getting your groove back, not at all. 

Happy Late Anniversary to Me!

The wonderful BF and I celebrated two years (weird...) last week! We had previously decided that instead of gifts we were going to go down to Indy for a day and just walk around,  go to a nice restaurant, and what not. So all I did was make him a cutesy little card...

He however did not follow the rules and got me these!

Happy Late Anniversary Babe! Love you!

Highly Classified Experiment

Conclusions to the BF experiment: Complete failure. 

As in I am a complete failure. I didn't get any more views than normal and none of them were from outside of the United States. 

So cheers to the BF, and his fabulously popular international blog!

Major Updates

The BF has mostly abandoned blogging. However, when he does he gets toons of views from all over the world and it turns my eyes a bit green.  I believe it has something to do with the titles he chooses. So I'm stealing one and we shall see how it goes. If I don't get lots of foreign views then I will forever admit that the BF is in fact the most popular international blogger on the face on the earth. And if I do, I'll probably feel kind of bad for stealing his thunder, but still, I just have to know... Love ya babe!

Secret Blogs Suck, No One Reads Them

So it turns out I'm a failure at secret blogging too. I don't have near as many secrets as I would like to think which might be good, but it makes me feel a bit boring. However I suppose that's not too much of a surprise... I did enjoy choosing a color scheme though!

Anyway... I'd like to thank the BF even though he has abandoned reading my blog. I was having quite a terrible night yesterday evening. And then I chose to see a terrible movie. And as we walked out I met failure in a sad YMCA way. And then I turned on my cell to find 3 voicemails, each one asking me for something. It's just been a week when I feel like I spent a lot of time listening to other peoples problems but said people didn't seem that interested in my problems. I felt that way through a large portion of high school as well. Anyway, I seemed to have set out to ruin my evening and the evening of anyone who got in my way (the BF) but he was sweet and even let me skip out on hanging out after the date so I could have a girls night with of my BFF's that needed some listening to. All in all I'm a pretty lucky girl...

Numbers... Eek!

So I wrote this blog a loooong time ago and I found it tonight and couldn't figure out why I'd never posted it (probably because of my embarrassing mathematical showing...) but I really liked it. Sometimes I like to reread stuff I've written a long time ago because then I'm disconnected with it and it's like someone else wrote it... Anyway, I digress. So I am amazed by the number of people in this world. My inadequate math mind is boggled by it. But what I think is stranger is that out of all the people that I've met so far in my 21 years there have been so few that have been right for me (I'm talking opposite sex now). Ok, for example, I have maybe 9 close girlfriends that have boyfriends, I make 10. Out of the 10 of our boyfriends there is only one that would ever make me happy and he's already mine. Those other 9 would have no chance (however this may be a reflection of how picky I am). So, statistically speaking (which I probably shouldn't be doing as my mind refused to learn much math past 9th grade)), 1 in 10 boys are right for me, so 10%. But wait- what about high school? Ok I went to high school with roughly 200 people at any given point in time. Out of those 200, only 3 ever made it to relationship status, only 2 ever made me happy with them, and only one succeeded in doing so for more than 3 months (although ultimately he failed as well). But I'll include them for math's sake. Thats 3 in 200. That's 1.5%. And what about college, there's about 1100 students here I think? And only 1 has been right for me > 0.09%. These odds are not good. So if we combine them we get .3%. This does not bode well for me, and that's including the failed relationships! If I don't include them I only get .07%. Now I don't know where I'm going with these statistics, probably straight to math jail if Hermione ever sees this... She's a rarity, she could have gotten these numbers in 3 minutes in her mind instead of me taking 15 minutes and using a calculator... But I digress... I guess I am just really lucky to have found someone who does make me so happy. I think my point is, that with all the love in the world, it seems obvious to me that there must be something helping us. People actually meet who they are supposed to meet, they muck through the millions of others they meet in their lifetime and they find those few who make them happy, and I think that makes the whole story more amazing. People meet their soul mates, and whether they are 14, 25, 47, or 78 when it happens doesn't matter. You just have to trust that it will come and enjoy the ride there because it's going to happen, it just is, and that should make the ride even better. It's like when you're little and it's November and the first hint of Christmas has crossed your mind. That month of waiting is just as good as Christmas day, writing out your Christmas list, decorating the tree, playing in the snow, its all perfect and part of the reason it is is because you have the dream of what it's going to be like. 

Lots of Lake MIchigan

So last week kind of stunk, even though it was my birthday. On Monday another counselor and I found out something about one of our kids that has been somewhat difficult to get over and it left quite the dark cloud over the week. However, I had a really good weekend with the BF which made me feel a lot better. Friday was the last day of day camp (tear) and apparently I missed the kids already because I fell asleep on the couch watching the Olympics with my parents and the BF and he said that I kept talking about getting the kids on the bus and asking how their parents were going to pick them up... I dunno... Saturday we went up into New Buffalo to Redamak's (best burger place ever) and walked on the beach. That night we went and saw Tropic Thunder (nothing too spectacular...) and once again I fell asleep before I was supposed to. Sunday, however, may have been my favorite day. We went to church and then Bridges for lunch with my family and some church folk. Honestly I'm still amazed that I can order drinks with my food. I haven't yet, but I've definitely studied some drink menus... After lunch we went to Mt Baldy and went swimming and then we came home and watched Harry Potter and then I stalled him from leaving for about an hour, I'm pretty good at it. 

So all I can say is there's nothing better than cute BFs to bring you out of a slump!

Flower Petal Fight

I miss the BF. Quite a bit actually. We had a whole list of things we wanted to do this summer and we are over a month and a half in and none of them have been accomplished and we've only seen each other twice. That's the problem with college, you meet boys that live too far away and you spend the whole school year together trying to find time between exams and studying and organizations only to find that once summer rids you of these inconveniences you live too far away from each-other to see each-other even half as often as before. 

In the midst of a flower petal fight. 

Update: Currently cranky. The weekend I had been hoping would be our Chicago weekend (one of our goals) has been canceled and exchanged for another weekend that will consist of maybe 36 hours. I don't understand how all of my friends somehow get to see their long distance BFs so often and we can't even pull off two full weekends a month. 

Fillin' In the Blanks

So I've vacated the blogging world for awhile which makes me sad, but as such I feel that a "Fill In" blog is necessary, a teeny update. First off, all of my work issues are fixed which is a big YAY. Turns out my bosses boss doesn't hate me, she turned everyone else's schedules upside down because she was worried I'd quit. I feel loved. Secondly, a long time ago I wrote about how I was throwing my best friend a bridal shower and how unbelievably mystified I was about this secret wedding world with it's private protocol and elusive etiquette, well it went quite well. The weather was gorgeous and even though not as many people showed up as we expected it all went very well and I really think she had a good time. Now thirdly, the BF has permanently exited the blogging world. Sad face. But now I can write mean things about him. Happy face. Kidding! Fourthly (I didn't think that was a word but my Mac spell-checks everything and it's not underlined so I guess it is a word) my foretold scrap-booking addiction has not yet fully bloomed, however with my love of pretty paper and embellishments I'm fully enjoying just collecting things to help me start so much so that this stage could last for awhile... However the delay can be blamed on the BF and I. For our first Valentines Day I gave him a disposable camera so we could work on our small number of couple pics, well 1 year, 4 months, and another Valentine's Day later we've yet to use up even half of the pics. So I decided that our next weekend together we would take tons of pics and finish it off and those pics would fill my first ever scrapbook. But we forgot last time. Sooo maybe this time. Fifthly, my little sister graduated from high school amidst much drama (blog to follow, it makes me too angry to not blog about it) and had her open house. I'm officially old. Sixthly (this just doesn't seem like it should be a word), at said open house one of her friends offered to give GIVE  us his 6 month old Westie puppy. Yes we have 2 dogs already. Should I want another one? No. But do I? Yes! So if you happen to see my dad anywhere, it would be great if you could tell him that Westies always fetch the ball and bring it back, and that they are an underground symbol of the Cubs. Yup that would probably do it. Seventhly, I got a High School Musical back pack today to carry at camp- Monday I am going to be the coolest counselor EVER. 

The Date

Soooo I said I'd blog about our date and that sounds much better than studying for finals, so here goes. Well I was looking very sassy, and my hair was pretty much perfect, and I know it's true because even before I got out the door I was told I was looking very "Chanel", only one of my fav designers! An even bigger compliment because nothing I was wearing cost more than $20! Oh and of course the bf was looking devastatingly handsome! (sounds like a romance novel!)  Anyway, we went to Casa's and had our favorite dishes and chatted, my favorite part however was when our waitress told me I looked just like "that girl in The Notebook!". Now I've gotten this before, a guy on my track team called me Allie my whole senior year, but it just makes me smile every time : ) So then we went and got our tickets for "Made of Honor" and had a mishap with the little machine that can give you your tickets, buuut it all worked out. We had some time so walked to some peanut shop and got some "oo-la-la" chocolates and chatted with the owner who was very nice, then it started raining so off to B&N, which truly is "our place". We walked around for a little while but soon it was time for the movie! Just for the record, there is no reason a large pop should cost $5.50, and even though the cashier guy was super nice I was not a happy camper. So the movie was adorable and McDreamy was as McHandsome as ever, not as funny as I had originally thought it would be though. But it's very good nonetheless! The guy McDreamy was up against is literally the perfect guy, pretty much, however sometimes perfect just isn't what you want! Just ask the bf! haha (That's supposed to mean I'm not perfect, not him, he is def perfect... : -D) The only problem was that there were three teeny boppers behind us that giggled and gasped and awwed louder than could ever be necessary and mainly just annoyed me, luckily the bf seemed to think my getting angry was funny which somehow kept me from saying anything to them, which I appreciate, sometimes I need someone to keep my passionate self quiet... So after the movie back to B&N because everything else was closed. Normally at B&N we have a routine, we look at the books in the circular display in the front, then go off to the right and look at coffee table books of castles and nature scenes and then to the dog section and nature section. Then philosophy and essays, then fiction and lastly whatever floats our boat that particular night. Yesterday we skipped the front and beelined for a table of books about Indiana's history (for both of us) and geology (for him). Then off to fiction for me and poetry for him. Then came the bathroom incident... After that we met us at travel and looked at Germany books because that's where I am going for Jan-Term junior year (I'm trying my best to get him to go but no luck so far... He's only wanted to go there since forever!) Lastly, the wedding section (not for us!!) so I could look up ideas for my friends bridal shower. Anyway, when B&N closed we went home, only the best ride home ever, and the night was over. But it was a wonderful date, and it's the last one we get before summer where dates last for a weekend and only happen every two weeks... 

The Bathroom at Barnes & Noble

So last night the bf and I got to go on our first date in about 3 weeks I think : ) and I have every intention of writing a very long blog about it later today, but right now I want to tell a little story. Well on this date the bf and I went to Barnes and Noble because it is our absolute favorite place in the world (well maybe it's my absolute favorite place, but he really loves it too!) Anyway, so while we were there I needed to use the bathroom, so I go and do my business and as I turn around to flush my hand hits my necklace and I hear something hit the floor. Well I only like to wear jewelry that has meaning to it generally, and I looove charms. My favorite necklace is this skinny gold chain with a gold cross from my grandparents, a charm that I found when we cleaned out my grandma's jewelry box after she passed away, and this little heart. That last one is my favorite. It's a tiny plastic heart with a mustard seed inside of it from my Pa. He gave it to me when I was very little and he told me that the mustard seed stands for eternity and that he would love me forever and that it's a symbol of Christianity. It's not a particularly nice piece of jewelry and the gold band that runs around it has been silver for years, but I still love it. Well that was the charm that hit the ground in that dirty B&N bathroom. It had skidded along the floor into the stall next to me. Well there was a girl in that stall so I couldn't very well just reach under a grab it, that might freak her out... So I left and washed my hands. Of course her snotty little high school friends were standing there waiting for her. I hate high school girls sometimes, I didn't even like them that much when I was one. Anyway so I waste as much time possible, I fixed my hair and put on some lip gloss but they still wouldn't leave! So in an effort to not look like a freak I left (and I swear they all broke into titters as I walked out and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why, I was looking especially sassy that night and there was no toilet paper stuck on my shoe, I checked!) and stood close to the bathroom looking at stationary, waiting for them to leave. Well of course, right as they left another lady went in! So I groaned and followed her in. She was in the stall I had been in so I went into the stall my charm was laying in, but I couldn't grab it because she would see my hand, and really, that would just be awkward. So I waited. This lady took forever! I played on my phone for awhile and when she finally left I grabbed my charm and ran for it!

Maybe you had to be there...

Updates

Day 3 of fabulous hair. This can't possibly persist... Bumps are spreading, but some seem to be disappearing. I can only look at this optimistically because earlier in the evening when I looked at it pessimistically I had a mini break down and well I just can't do that too often. Bridal shower seems to be progressing well enough. Invitations will be sent out tomorrow. I think that's it for me. Oh and I have a spectacular boyfriend- be jealous.