The Proposal! (Not The Movie)

I was completely going to wait until Arlo could post his blog about the proposal first, but then I went and got really excited and am doing it now. After all, he's at Lollapalooza and I don't really feel well, so I don't feel like doing anything, and therefore it seems the perfect time to post. I highly recommend all of you read Arlo's post as well, when he writes it, so you can get the whole, his and hers perspectives of it all. Plus, he will definitely be able to describe more the premise behind it, planning, etc. I was just the lucky recipient. :)

As most of you know, he's had the ring for a while, which has caused some (mostly my mom) people consternation. Arlo kept telling me he needed a whole day, and I really didn't know why, but I figured that if he said that, it must be true. Looking at our upcoming few weeks, I realized that there was no way we were going to get a complete day to ourselves with nothing else, so I suggested that perhaps I take a day off, thinking he totally wouldn't go for it, because then it wouldn't be expected. He loved the idea! We decided on Wednesday, because Thursday he would be getting ready for Lollapalooza.

Tuesday night I was so excited it was hard to sleep. Wednesday morning, we woke up, had a quick breakfast and got ready for the day. Arlo wanted to dress up, so he donned a button-down and a tie. I decided on a dress, the same one I wore for the going-away party. Arlo had me sit on the couch so he could explain what was going to happen. I apologize if you were one of the people who heard this already and now must read it again, so, you can skip to the section starting with, "Lo and behold " for the amended version.

Arlo informed me that we would be going to a variety of places that day. He had created a list of 30 to be exact, 15 places, 15 bars/restaurants, all within the Milwaukee area, and all having to do with us in some way. Each place had 3 trivia questions and a challenge. There were point values, etc, and I will let you consult Arlo's blog for the details on that. I earned points for correct answers and achieving the challenge. The goal: To reach 135 points (the number of weeks we've been together). Wherever that happened, he would propose.

I'm guessing many of you are saying, "Well, that's interesting..." and some may even be saying, "That's mean..." to make me work so hard for the ring. Why not take me to some nice, expensive meal and let me get all dressed up, and then take a ride on a horse-drawn carriage? Because that's so not Arlo's style. Like pretty much everything else in our relationship, he wanted to make this fun, creative, and memorable. He did add a clause that if at any time I had ceased having fun, we would stop and I would be declared a victor and he would propose. Good idea, because I almost used it on the second challenge when I was sweaty, out of breath, and holding a broken kite, but I digress. Anyway, he achieved his purpose. It was creative, fun, and memorable. The event took about 5 hours, so basically we did need a whole day. And it was nice knowing that he didn't have to run off to work, so we could celebrate with margaritas and tacos. Alas, I have not spoken about the actual proposal!

Throughout the day, I changed my facebook status, found a cookie, flew a kite, beat him at pool, tried to find a beer he hadn't tried, tried to find out which artists are coming to Shank Hall in October (notice the two "tried"s, didn't accomplish those), and answered numerous trivia questions correctly. I nearly lost it (again) at the end, when I realized that unless I played it perfectly, I wouldn't get to 135 points at the location that I wanted, Bradford Beach. I am, after all, a stickler for rules, so if it was 134 points, despite Arlo already saying that it wouldn't matter, I was convinced I'd end up getting proposed to a the Downer Theater.

Lo and behold, we were a mere 8 points away (I think) from the 135, and we pulled up to the beach. It was packed! Not what I had been expecting when I pictured his romantic proposal. We parked and Arlo suggested we walk a bit away from the beach. We chose a spot on the rocks, sitting on the shore of Lake Michigan, and he asked the final three questions. Then, having gotten them all right, he asked one more- If I would marry him. He actually said more than that, but you get the picture. He got down on one knee and put the ring on my finger. I don't think he actually waited for an answer, but I said yes anyway, and then we kissed. It was perfect. We walked back to the car, hand-in-hand, officially engaged.

Driving home, we decided that we wanted to go out and celebrate some more. We decided against the fancy restaurant on the lake, choosing instead the more casual Mexican restaurant down the street from our place. We changed our clothes and then biked there, stopping (of course) to call my mom and grandparents.

Sadly, I couldn't tell anyone at work, because I thought it would look suspicious if I called in sick and came in the next day with a ring on. I felt naked already not being able to wear it to work for two days, and now it's on my hand all sparkly and shiny.

I am so happy to be engaged to Arlo. I look forward to our life together and all that is to come. I know that, like the proposal, our life will be anything but boring.

P.S. I am aware that all of these pictures are of the ring, my hand, and me, but the other pics are on Arlo's camera, and will be uploaded soon. We got some good, "just engaged" pics!

UPDATE!!! I've entered us in the Crate and Barrel Ultimate Wedding contest, and the way to become a finalist is to get as many votes as possible. Here's where you come in.

If you liked our proposal story and want to try to help us out, please vote for our entry in the "Ultimate Wedding Contest" by clicking here or copying the following link:

http://www.ultimateweddingcontest.com/entries/28351


Thank you so much for your help!

This Is What Happens When Arlo's Computer Dies

Hello, friends and family (mostly friends), I have missed you! I have been long away from blogger of late. This is mostly due to the fact that my only time spent on computers is at work (where this would so not be allowed), at the library and at Sven's Coffee House. I could not get the motivation to post when I have approximately 30 minutes to do all that I can, include pay bills, look at wedding venues, etc. That's right, despite the fact that I lack one very essential (at least to most people) part of being engaged, I have been starting to plan Arlo's and my wedding. Well, not so much as plan but more like day-dream and look up stuff online. I get the feeling that this will definitely increase in the upcoming months, but for right now, I'm not so bad, a website here, a t.v. show there. I completely did not plan on putting this in the blog quite yet, but it's what came out, so there you go. Let's see, what else has been in the works lately?

Well, for starters, I'm still at my job. I know I haven't posted much about that either, for practical and realistic reasons, but thought I should share this, as many of you are aware of my job saga. Anyway, it's official, I am continuing to work as a psychotherapist. It means some long days, but it's definitely a cool challenge, and I find lately I've been much more positive about this. Arlo has had a lot to do with this, as we have talked for hours hemming and hawing, and he helped me work through many of my concerns. I still have a lot to learn, but at least right now I feel pretty good about it.

Hmmm...what else? The cats have been, if possible, worse lately than before. This includes eating a oatmeal cream cookie, bag of Cheetos, bag of tortillas (el rey no less), bag of potato chips, 1/4 loaf of bread, a bag of snack mix, some of Arlo's mother's ginger snaps, and some mix for lemon scones. They are either really retarded or brilliant, haven't figured out which. Anyway, we have trialed several solutions and came up with one that, as of today, seems to be working. We relocated their food system to the living room and put two babygates in the doorway, one on top of the other, creating a 4 foot barrier. So far they have not figured out a way to scale it, but for now, we are still covering the cabinets in anticipation. Really, cats just shouldn't be this much work!

Arlo update- doing well, still working at the Yardarm and not able to substitute as school isn't in session. His lucky butt gets a luxurious August that is not too packed with bartending shifts and has some fun weekends in there, including Lollapalooza and Michigan races with his dad (okay, so maybe he's looking forward to Lolla a little bit more). He's definitely been making up for having more free-time though, as he's been making all sorts of good food and keeping the place clean. It's kind of like he's a house-husband right now. :) He's really missing his computer and hopefully he'll be getting it back soon. I think his friend Jamey is still trying to salvage what pics and tunes he can off of Arlo's computer, and then it should be back in his possession. Not much else going on, that I can think of at least, of note.

Me update- I just chopped off my hair, as I finally had a sufficient amount to donate to Locks of Love without having to end up bald to do it. It looks pretty good, just a stacked bob that is really stacked because it's so short in the back. I am probably going to do this hair donation one more time, starting now! Also, I am going to be starting a craft/knitting meet up on meet-up dot com, as I have started Christmas presents and need to get crafting. That's right, I am finally learning my lesson and starting in the summer so that I'm not a raving beotch by the holiday season. That, and I'm guessing that I will be in the throes of wedding planning by then , so it's better to start early. Having said all of this, two things...

1. Is this weird that I'm talking about wedding stuff without a formal engagement and does it make you uncomfortable that you're reading it here instead of hearing it from me? I figured that since most of the people who read this (or all) have pretty much been aware of everything with me and Arlo for quite some time now, and most want an update on how things are going, so, in keeping with the theme of this blog, I have decided to update here.

2. So, I know it's early to think about Christmas, but as most of you know, I do take requests...so now is your time. If you have seen something I've made for others that you covet, feel free to let me know that you love it and want one for yourself. (Tamira, I already know that you covet Phay's "harf".) I will try to tweak it to make it personally for you, not an exact replica. I am trying as much as possible to make my gifts out of supplies that are reused or repurposed, knowing that that will not be possible for everything. However, if you always wanted something made out of old records, vintage fabrics, old necklaces, etc, feel free to let me know. Also, keep in mind that I am going to be traveling home again for Christmas, so the smaller or more smooshable the better!

Sorry that there are no pics for this post. I promise they will all be coming soon!

I hope all of you are well and happy. Amanda and Bill, good luck in the last 3 weeks or so you have left! I cannot WAIT to see pics and I so wish I could be there. Tell my god-baby that I love him or her very much!

Talk to y'all soon and love you!

No Computer, What Am I To Do??!?!?!

So, Arlo's computer bit it the other day, and now we are left high and dry, relying on the goodness of our public library for posting, facebooking, and other very important -ings. No, not erotic literature reading.... geesh! Anyway, I felt a need to explain my recent slippage of my almost-as-recent improvement in posting. This is why. Also, while I'm here, I thought I would throw out there that I will be in Baltimore next week. I'm heading in late Wednesday and staying until Monday. I will be attending my Grandmother's funeral on Friday and probably doing a lot of family stuff, but if anyone has free-time that coordinates with my free-time, we should get together. Let me know!
Miss you all!

Kevin's Blog Has Been Mysteriously Absent Recently

I'm just saying....

In other news, I am going to try on Arlo's type of post today and talk about two new CDs that people should check out.

1. Paolo Nutini, Sunny Side Up- He has a great voice, and this album shows so much variety of sound. Some of it sounds a lot like a cross between Harry Belafonte and Otis Redding, with a little Bob Marley thrown in. Happy, dancy-type songs with some really pretty slow songs as well. It makes me want to see him again in concert sometime soon.

2. Hoots and Helmouth, The Holy Open Secret- Arlo and I saw them on Thursday night, and they put on an awesome show. We saw them at a tiny place, called Shank Hall, which held a way different crowd from the last time we saw them at 8 X 10. No drunk, entitled, rich chicks leaning on me and spilling beer on me, everyone was pretty tame, other than the band. They play really fun, loud folk music, with banjos, guitars, and a stand-up bass. It's music that is probably better live than on CD, but their new CD is perfect for driving around with the windows down. Afterwards, I talked to two of the band members, which was awesome! Arlo was fearful that I was inviting them to stay with us, as they were without residence for the evening, but I was not.

Alright, gotta go. Time to get ready for bed. I'm doing okay, two posts in less than a week, probably the best turn-around I've had so far. Now, if I could just say the same about Kevin's blog!

Chicago

Per some requests, I am going to try to post more regularly, though I make no promises. This weekend, Arlo and I stayed busy. His friend, Casey, came to Milwaukee on Friday night and she and I went to visit Arlo at work. We decided to stay in Racine so as to be 30 minutes closer to Chicago for the next day. For, you see, we were going to a Cubs game. So cool! Normally, I'm not a huge fan of sports, but this was pretty cool! Arlo had acquired tickets to Beyond the Ivy, one of the rooftop venues for seeing the game. It was through Casey, who works at University of Minnesota, as the Cubs were playing the Twins. Needless to say, in the box at least, we were outnumbered by Twins fans. It was a sort of sad game, as the Cubs didn't seem to have much fight in them and the innings went really quickly. Typically, it feels like baseball games drag on and on, but this was the opposite. I got sort of tipsy, drinking a bit more than I am used to. As it was a day game, Arlo and I headed home with Casey, stopped at La Tapatia for fried tacos, and then picked up Arlo's dad to hang out with us for the night. We watched Happy Go Lucky, eh, it was okay.

Today I worked in the garden out back and generally chilled. No pictures at this time, but I may post some later. After all, I was feeling a bit of pressure to get something out there. Gotta get going. Arlo's waiting patiently to get on the computer, and after all, it is his computer. Talk to you soon, y'all. We'll see what kind of spectacular posts will be coming soon to a computer near you.

Crabcakes, Snowballs, and Hampden....I must be in Baltimore!

Back in the Midwest, getting ready for my first ever Cubs game tomorrow in Chicago, and I am going to try to re-cap my trip home as quickly as humanly possible. As it was such a whirlwind trip, this is probably appropriate. And so, we begin, in an organized fashion.

Wednesday

Left as early as we could, heading out of work by noon and on the road by 2:00, we hightailed it through Chicago before rush-hour, and made it to Ohio before bedtime. The car-ride was smooth, uneventful, and didn't involve any driving for me, making it the easiest car-ride ever. I got to work on my knitting and we listened to This American Life.

Thursday

Up early(ish) and made it into Balimore around 2:30. Right away, we were put to work, helping my mom prepare the awesome crab cake dinner that she was preparing for our visit. For the rest of the afternoon, we cooked, unpacked, ate way too much, and hung out.

Friday

After a morning of shopping for birthday presents for Jerry, Arlo and I split up to go to our respective former employers. I was greeted by kids that were really excited to see me, some that couldn't remember my name, and the general craziness that happens when you haven't seen everyone for almost a year. It was great! And way too short. I repeated the same things about Milwaukee, Arlo, work, and coming back at least 15 times, and did not use my camera nearly enough. The rest of the day was spent shopping for baby gifts for Amanda and Bill and helping my mom work on Jerry's birthday dinner. That night, the dinner was yummy, and hanging out with the fam was fun. I was also exhausted and feeling a bit under the weather, so that was an early night to bed.

Saturday

I took my grandmother and mom to tea at Tea By Two as a belated Mother's Day present. It was lovely and I think they both really enjoyed it. While we were getting our tea buzz on and eating too much, Arlo was playing tennis with his tennis buddy, Kirk. That night, we had pizza and salad with Jess, Kevin, and Natty, and even got to see the Gutberlet's, who joined us after Kaitlyn's birthday party. Natty is thoroughly cute and entertaining, and it was so nice to see everyone and catch up.

Sunday

I met up with Wendy to see her new place and spend some quality crafting time together. Please note the awesome front porch she has, and the Wendy-rific porch accoutraments. She lives in a fantastic cul-de-sac in Hampden with her boyfriend, Jessie. There, they live happily with her two cats.

After Wendy's, Arlo and I headed to my grandparents' place to chillax with them for a bit. My grandfather shared a really long story about his old motorized bike, which was pretty cool, and I helped my grandmother download pictures, being ever the technology genius in my family.

That night, it was over to Bill and Amanda's for Bubba's subs and snowballs, thus completely the Baltimore experience. We got to see the baby's room, complete with furniture, feel Amanda's burgeoning belly, and watch Toby and Oscar have a collassal play-fight. I was very happy that they enjoyed the stuffed animals I made for the baby. It was a great night!

Monday

We packed up and joined my mom and Jerry for lunch at Green Leaf before heading out. It's funny, we left pretty much the same time that we left to come to Baltimore, around 2:00. This time, however, we drove straight through! That's right, Arlo is a crazy nut and, other than about 2 1/2 hours when I drove to give him a break, drove the entire day. We arrived home at 3:30 in the morning, having gained the hour by going west. It was impressive. Fortunately, the cats hadn't destroyed anything and the house was in one piece.

All in all, great trip! Quick and tiring, but really fun. The only bummer was that I didn't get to see everyone I wanted to see. Check out the animal love going down!

How I Spent My Stay-cation

Who would have thought that so much could be accomplished and it could still be relaxing? The one added day I tacked on to the Memorial Day weekend made it even that much more awesome! Bear with me, because this post is probably more for me than anyone else, as it's pretty mundane what I did. However, as this is the journal of my time in the midwest with my love, then I'm adding it! Plus, it's my first vacation day! So, here it is, my staycation:

Thursday night- I left a bit early from work (5:15 instead of 6:00) because my last client didn't show. Met up with Arlo at Bootleggers for Thursday night trivia. There we had awesome half-price appetizers and cheap beer and tried to answer the questions correctly. I also tried to not go and tell on a table that was, I thought, blatantly cheating with their cellphones. Arlo tried to be the voice of reason, but I had a difficult time hearing it. Finally, I settled with just using a technique I've watched my mom hone to perfection- the stare of hatred, of saying, "I see you doing that, Asshole." I'm not proud, but at least I was able to shake it off (mostly) and enjoy the rest of the night.
Friday- Slept in, had pancakes with Arlo, and went to the doctor (I know, not fun, but it was the only appointment time I could get), mailed a present to my brother, and came home. Arlo and I packed an awesome picnic lunch and ate at the lakefront. It was a beautiful sunny day. After lunch, we flew a kite. Arlo bought a kite after the weekend at the cabin, where he tried unsuccessfully to help the kids fly one. Kevin (and others, of course), I have to say, flying a kite is a lot more fun than I thought it would be. We even flew it out of the car window for approximately 30 seconds before almost hitting the electrical wires and Arlo had to let it go. For a brief, shining moment though, awesome! After our picnic, we went to a coffee house and wrote a song together, and designed the new cat feeder coverall. As Arlo worked Friday night, I chilled, watched The Nanny Diaries (I'm not proud) and was as slug-like as possible.
Saturday- Went to work at the farm for our CSA, picking thistles for about 2 1/2 hours before the rain started. How awesome is this....on the route to our CSA is a cheese shop that puts out about 20 different cheese samples and also makes home-made icecream. We had all of the samples and split a cone. Sluggish with dairy products, Arlo chilled while I drove home. We were home for about 20 minutes and then off again! This time to the movies. We saw "I Love You, Man," which, while it dragged occasionally and was pretty predictable, made us crack up. Then, we went to Big Lots, came back home and had dinner. More TV and then sleep.
Sunday- Met Arlo's dad at Milager's, an awesome gardening store, to pick out stuff to put in his garden. Then, we went to visit Arlo's grandfather's gravesite and plant some flowers. After that, we picked up fried tacos from La Tapatia, a mainstay of Arlo's experience in Racine, and a delicacy that we will be sure to share with our next visitors, whoever they may be. After stuffing ourselves with deliciousness, it was time to garden! We planted all of the tomato plants, carrots, onions, and seeds of many varieties, and Arlo hit lumps of dirt with a plastic baseball bat. Successfully having started the garden, we headed home, or at least I did, because Arlo had to work again. That night was a relaxing night of more planting, plus laundry. Hey, I said it was productive, not exciting! :) Oh, but I did stay up until after 12 and Arlo was very proud of me when he got home from work and I was still up. Of course, I did crash about 10 minutes after he got home.
Monday- The final day of our vacation :( We started with a workout at the gym, followed by Arlo cutting his hair, bathing Marley, and cutting the lawn. I worked on a necklace for his mother's birthday, and sorted all of my spring/summer clothes. We drove down to Racine, visited Arlo's grandmother, went to Barnes and Nobles and Target, and then met his mom and Mary for dinner at The Chancery, where we had shoestring onion rings, awesome dinners, and scintillating conversation. Got home around 10:00, fell into bed and slept like crazy until the alarm went off at at 6:15.

Wow, that actually made me tired even writing all of that. It was an awesome stay-cation, and I'm looking forward to my next vacation, which is only about a week away (crazy!) to Baltimore!!!

So, tell me about your Memorial Day weekends. Anything fun?

See you soon!

P.S. I was going to add the movie of my cats eating out of their new, modified feeder, but Arlo's camera died in the middle of shooting and it seems that it didn't save any of the footage. You will have to wait just a little bit more (Andrej).