Camping Among the Cacti

Yesterday Kyle said "want to go camping?" to which I replied "yes!" There was threat of rain and storms, and it started sprinkling a bit here in Temple, but we decided to head out anyway. We went to a place Kyle has been before, hiking and camping, off of Stillhouse Hollow Lake, not too far from here. We're not certain if you're technically allowed to camp where we camped (and he camped in the past), but it is evident by numerous broken glass bottles, plastic bottles, and formed fire pits that people camp there anyway. We had a maybe 15 or 20 minute steep hike up to a knoll, overlooking the lake and surrounding sparse neighborhoods (with giant, fancy houses). It is a really beautiful place. It didn't rain and it wasn't too too hot. I gathered wood for the fire while Kyle set up the tent, and then he made a fire and cooked us up some sausages and ramen, topped with some Mexican corn from an MRE. It was delicious; I think camp food is some of the best food possible. We watched (and I documented) the sun go down and the fire go out. The tent was comfortable but I felt hot and sticky for most of the night and couldn't get to sleep easily. And then when I did I had a dream  in which I had to yell at a man for being racist, while on a boat or a trolley... We also both woke up around 3am to a creature making a horrible screeching noise followed by softer coos; we figure it was an owl, but it flew away before Kyle could get a look at it. But I did get some sleep and it was nice and cool outside in the morning. We hung around a little bit, and while packing up I spotted a tarantula crawling about maybe twenty feet from us. We ran over and watched it/Kyle poked it, trying to get it to crawl on something brightly colored to get a clearer picture of it. Heh. So that was really cool. We headed back down the hill and were happy to find our car hadn't been towed over night. It was a really great little trip. It was nice to be outside, to wake up and walk over to such a beautiful view instead of a computer screen. 

S.

Thursday Thoughts (6)

{one} Required kitty pictures. Darwin has been throwing up again, but seems to be fine otherwise, eating and everything. We'll keep an eye on her and take her in to the vet if needed.

top {Hux} below {Hux and Dar on Kyle's clean laundry}

{two} Beet, arugula and goat cheese sandwich. Sounds and looks like perfection.

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{three} I had a good first phone chat with our wedding planner. We just brought one in in the last couple weeks, as we wanted to make sure we were headed in the right direction and that we weren't missing anything, since I'm in Texas and the wedding is in PA, and we've never done this before. Anyway, talking to an actual person always makes me excited about wedding times, instead of stewing in my own brainy mess of ideas and to-do lists.

{four} Our plan was to drive back down to Texas on the Monday after our Friday wedding, so we'd have Saturday and Sunday to relax and breathe, you know. But the wonderful Army says I don't think so, and we have to start our drive back down, the early morning of the day after our wedding. How is that even allowed? How are we supposed to enjoy our time and relax? Thanks. Nice to see you care. Glad we will be back for Kyle to likely stand or sit around all day some more.

{five} How cool are these prints? Jane Mount creates prints of your ideal bookshelf. I think it is a great gift idea for the literature enthusiast, even for a new baby nursery or kids room.

{six} How perfect is this peony bouquet? Wow.

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{seven} I was looking back through pictures of Finland again, for a summer in Finland post. Gosh I miss it. It is perfect. Expect that post sometime soon.

{eight} My family got the whole of The West Wing for Kyle for Christmas, and we've been gradually watching it together (I think I had only seen an episode in AP Gov class in high school). We've been really getting into it lately, with the excitement of the season one finale and start of season two.

{nine} Good for you, Obama. North Carolina, not so much.

{ten} Today from ten to two was Army family fun day. I stayed in the car and read while Kyle played in a volleyball tournament; it rained for the last hour or so.

S.

June Fifteenth: What it Means to Me

Wedding planning can be stressful, and the stress can make you doubt and wonder what you think you're doing.

But then I get another RSVP in the mail with "happily yes" circled. I get a sweet note of excitement from a guest, a friend I haven't seen in too long. I get messages from a dear friend taking a long long bus ride in from Boston, asking me about times and locations around town. I wake up to a facebook notification that my friend who I haven't seen for five years is making the trip out from Australia. And then again, with a friend from Germany. Family that I haven't seen in years is coming down from Canada. I get a sweet package in the mail with a note from one of my bridesmaids. And these sorts of things keep happening again and again. 

People are so excited about this. 

To me, a marriage is about more than the wedding. It's about more than just the day that it becomes official, more than the day you spend celebrating it with others. The logistics of the day and the technicalities of the celebration- they are not what a marriage is about, and they should be whatever you want them to be. Whether you wear a white dress or ivory, cut a cake or a pie, walk down an aisle or dance down it, get together in a backyard or a ballroom, or do none of these things at all.  March 7th will always be our anniversary, the day we got married. June 15th is the day we get to celebrate it, with our people around us. It's not so serious. It's just fun. It's a party. I get to wear a pretty dress and stand next to my husband wearing a dashing tux. We get to eat cake and tasty food, dance, drink, get our pictures taken finally and listen to songs like Bootylicious and Beyond the Sea, maybe even played back to back (who knows! it's crazy!)! It's stressful because you want to make sure a big group of people are well fed and entertained for several hours, yes, but the meaning behind it is the simplest thing. 

I am uncomfortable celebrating me, even me as a part of a duo. It took a long time to get to the point where I realized and stood my ground that this celebration was for us and about us, Kyle and I. While I know and love that this party is about us, it helps me work through my discomfort, that I can still try to make it the best party for all of you as well. For those that have supported us, supported this wedding, sent us positivity and encouragement, helped me in the planning process. However it comes together in the next month, I know that I've been doing it right, because you will be there. And we'll be celebrating. There's no wrong way to do that. 

S.

Ten Things for Tuesday

1. The wedding is in a little over a month. We'll be starting our drive up a month from today, actually. It's weird. I am feeling a lot of things about it, including: excitement, anger, calm, worry, frustration, happiness. I feel like I could write a book about what you shouldn't say to someone who has been planning a wedding for months and it is only a month or two away. I have wedding things all over, far surpassing my one dedicated wedding box. I want to be working on it all the time but there are limits to all that I can do at the moment. My dress fit just about perfectly, so alterations are minor (just arranging the bustle, and cutting some tulle from the bottom so it doesn't brush on my feet), and it will be ready on the 15th! RSVPs are due by the 12th so...hopefully people send them in because I'm not in the mood to go asking everybody if they are coming or not. I am looking forward to the wedding, but also to the time when I do not have a wedding to plan or have to worry about what every single person thinks. I wonder what that will feel like.

2. We saw The Avengers on Sunday. It was awesome! So much fun. I did not like that Stark's chest was not consistently glowing through his shirt (editing issues?), but I really enjoyed the film. And stay for the whole credits; there are two extra scenes for you if you do! Side note, the guy one seat away from me was spitting his chewing tobacco into a cup through the whole movie, which is disgusting, but then he left his gross cup and all his other garbage sitting there. I hate it when anyone leaves any garbage in a movie theater in the first place (there are trash cans on your way out, people), but that was extra inconsiderate.

3. I had a dream in which Adam Levine and I were best friends. I mean, we met once in real life, he put his arm around me even, but I don't think us becoming best friends going to happen.

4. I also had a dream with a slew of murders a block away (though the setting was more like Pittsburgh than here) and the killer came to my house. I don't think I died. Did I mention I have a (probably) irrational fear of home invasion? It doesn't help that Kyle seems to have grown up not locking doors ever or thinking bad things can happen, and I grew up with locked doors from the inside and out, security systems, and police sometimes coming to the door and asking if you saw anyone run through your yard. Anyway, I think about home invasion a lot more than one should. I probably on a daily basis think about what I would do were someone to enter the house, go through various scenarios in which I am in different rooms. But anyway...let's talk less about my crazy.

5. Professional folks should really be on top of their emails. I've said it before. And call when they say they are going to call.

6. I really want to go on a trip somewhere. Like, out of the States. I fear this will never happen so long as the Army is in our lives. That makes me sad. But other than that, I am now ok with Kyle staying in the Army as long as he wants. Though I'm not sure about raising kids in the Army culture that I have seen around here; I don't plan on allowing swearing or smoking or excessive drinking around my kiddos.

7. Texas is not a horrible place to live, but I am looking forward to not living here. At least it is not Arizona. A fun thing about Texas is that they have booze in unsuspecting places, like Target and any gas station and Chipotle. We had margaritas with our dinner and it was delicious.

8. Our cats are the best cats.

9. Ever feel like everybody gets to have a baby but you?

10. Good things: the Castle season finale, I have the wedding program design pretty much figured out, I don't think I will have to turn on the air today!

S.