11.13.09

Two years ago Saturday Joseph and I began "officially" dating. I say "officially" because really we had been seeing each other for nearly three months before that, I was just extremely picky, a little confused and not sure if I was ready for a serious boyfriend. You know, typical 19 year old stuff. 

For our anniversary we went out to dinner at FlatTop and went to a movie. It wasn't anything outlandish but it was nice to go out for a true date night when we haven't had the chance to in quite some time. 

I can't believe that it's been two years already. They've flown by! I really can't imagine my life without Joseph now. As cliche as it sounds, he's my other half. He's my best friend and I just love him to pieces. We've been through so much and I'm so happy that I've had him by my side the last year or so when things have been going a little rough. I could go on and on about everything that I love about him, but I'll try to narrow it down to just a few things:

1. He doesn't criticize my love of polishing off a whole pint of Ben & Jerry's. Somedays I just need a big helping of the ice cream goodness to make my day better. Joseph doesn't question this. Sometimes he'll grab a spoon too, or even his own pint.

2. He doesn't mind all of the questions I ask and comments I make during movies. I can be a real chatter box, especially when I get excited about something. This is especially true for movies. I'm guilty of leaning over during a movie and whispering my own commentary and thoughts and even asking him questions as if he has some insight into the plot that I don't. I don't know if he really doesn't mind but he does a really good job of not acting annoyed with me.

3. Gidget is as much of his baby as she is mine. I swear I've never seen anyone melt faster than when Joseph met Gidget for the first time. He loves cuddling with her and playing with her and sometimes he'll even ask to "talk" to her when we're on the phone at night. It's really adorable to see.

4. He's matured so much since I met him. It's really a wonderful thing to watch someone transform and grow right before your eyes. When I met Joe he was completely different than he is now. He's more mature and focused now and has people in his life who are the same. I'm not saying he's all buttoned up by any means (anyone who has ever met him knows this) but he's definitely made some changes in his life for the better.

5. He embraces my inner dork. I admit it, I have geeky tendencies. I don't show them off very often in front of people but behind closed doors I just let my dork loose. I have a vast sock collection. I'm obsessive about my planner/iCal/Stickies. I'd choose a Criminal Minds marathon over almost anything. I have to use specific pens. I love everything Harry Potter and openly wept in the theater at the end of the last film. I make really unflattering faces. Oh, and I love to talk in bad accents. I have a strict 11pm bedtime (which I'm actually currently breaking). And to top it off, I chose to see J. Edgar on our anniversary over all the other movies. All of this and more is ok though because he can be a dork too.

Like I said, I really could go on about the things that I love about him but I'll save that all for a different day. Right now all I will say is that I'm so happy that Joseph and I met. He really and truly is who I'm supposed to be with and that I can't wait to see what the future has in store for us! 

And They Call It Puppy Love...

Yesterday I became the proud owner/"mommy" of the cutest little six week old puppy. I am over the moon! I have wanted a puppy for as long as I can remember and never thought I would ever actually have the joy of calling one my own. But, now I do have a little girl that is all mine that I got to name and will get to care for and raise, little Gidget! I think it suits her perfectly; it's cutesy and spunky all rolled into one!

The way in which she came into my life happened so fast I'm still a little shocked that it really happened. Tuesday night, while I was working on my organizational skills, Joseph's sister in-law posted a link on my Facebook about a litter of puppies in Fort Wayne that were really cheap. Half joking I emailed the link to my mom who instantly fell in love and called the breeder Wednesday morning around 10. By the end of that conversation an appointment was set to meet the pups. Sometimes between 10am and 2pm it was decided that I should drive home to Fort Wayne to go meet the puppies with my mom. At 6:30 we were pulling up to the breeders home and by 6:35 I was in love with a little black and white baby girl. By 7pm, and $150 later, I was in the car headed back to my mom's with my very own puppy in tow!

 So far Gidget has turned out to be quite the eater. During her "lunch" today she just couldn't get enough!

I wasn't the only one to become a puppy parent. One of my younger brothers couldn't resist the lone male of the litter and left with his own little baby, Milo.

I know some people think it's silly and dumb to dress dogs up. But seriously, look at her in her itty bitty dress, and her teeny tiny bow and tell me that isn't adorable. I won't keep her in clothes all of the time, but I couldn't resist during our outing to the pet store today,

Cash was super excited to meet her. He kept telling us all how cute she is and even sat down and read her one of his little books about dogs.

Joseph is also in love. One look at her and his heart instantly melted. He already refers to her as his baby girl. It's so cute to watch him oogle over this little ball of fluff.

We were all a little worried about my mom's dog Rizzo. She's been our baby for 3 years now and she definitely makes sure everyone who comes along knows that she is the head little lady of the household. At first she was standoffish, but today she's really warmed up to the puppies. It's almost like she's acting as a makeshift mom. She's always checking on them and sniffing them and she won't go outside unless they are out in the yard with her.

 

I still can't believe my luck! I'm soaking it all up and enjoying watching all the cuteness that is my little Gidget! I can't wait to take her back home and get her settled into my apartment. Expect lots and lots of posts to come about training and raising this little ball of puppy love!

The Royal Wedding

Yes I was one of those crazy people who woke up bright and early at 4am to watch Prince William and Kate Middleton joined in marriage. No, I'm not ashamed of it in the least. For one this was history in the making. I know I don't live in England, but it was still neat to watch a piece of history take shape. The Royal Family stands for so much in England and is so iconic it made me wish we had more pageantry in the U.S. Also, this is a modern day fairytale! A "commoner" as the Brits put it, fell in love with a real life prince and became a princess! It's really everything my dreams were made of as a little girl (and even now, I'm not going to lie).

Kate's dress was AMAZING. It reminded me of 1950's glamour and was very reminiscent of Grace Kelly. She looked aboslutely flawless.

 I can't get over how classic and elegant the whole ceremony was, and how perfect the Prince and new Princess look together. I've always found Prince William to be so handsome and even now, all balding aside, he is good-looking as ever.

Oh, and while I'm going on about this fairytale day, can we just appreciate a bit of Prince Harry as well?

How adorable is he with the little pageboys and bridesmaids?! Definitely makes me swoon. At least he is still single so there is still hope for me!

Wedding Bells

While doing my morning perusal of the crazy number of blogs I read, I stumbled upon the website of husband and wife photography duo Bobbi & Mike. They do everything from families, to engagement pictures, to weddings, and beyond. I am absolutely in love with these wedding pictures they took of gorgeous couple Sarah and Sam in Indianapolis!

I want them to photograph my wedding someday.

On the boyfriend...

yes, I realize this is a goofy picture of him and I don't care.

This is the guy I call mine. Joseph Jerrold Robinson. He's scruffy, sometimes smelly, loud, obnoxious, goofy, and fond of putting me in embarassing situations but I love him to pieces. I love talking to him day in and day out and I can't imagine being with anyone else. I can talk to him about anything and he has no problem calling me out on my crap, which may not always be what I want but I definitely need it. I still get butterflies when I kiss him and hold his hand and cuddle with him. We both may be a little crazy in this relationship but I wouldn't have it any other way.

A Valentine's Day recap

I woke up sunday morning to my boyfriend already at my apartment delivering me breakfast in bed! It wasn't anything super elaborate, but the thought was the cutest. He made me scrambled eggs with cheese and wheat toast with jelly, plus a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice. I gave him his little gift which was a "fill in the blank" book completed by me about what I love about him. Semi cheezy?? A little, but I thought it was a cute idea and he seemed to really like it. We cuddled a layed around watching the Olympics and he gave me a nice back massage. We visited Meredith and took her her Valentine from Sam, who is in Spain and unable to do his own Valentine's Day shopping. While we were there we even Skyped with Samuel which is always amusing. After we left Miss Mere we went and visited my momma who just had back surgery on Friday. She was home and my brothers and grandparents were there too so me and Joe visited with them for awhile and I got a couple little Valentine's gifts from them. Joe and I then went to Best Buy where I bought 500 Days of Summer (which I'm really itching to watch) and The Time Traveler's Wife. When we got back to my place Joe started making me dinner. He made me homemade Chinese takeout and salad which was delicious! Then we cuddled up on the couch and watched The Time Traveler's Wife. It was a very good Valentine's Day!

Just in case anyone was curious about the start of my "diet", I postponed it until this week because I got sick last week. So, today is day one. Meredith told me about this really cool thing called The Daily Plate where you can calculate the amount of calories you should be consuming based on your goals. On top of that you can record everything you eat and any type of activity you do where you may burn calories to keep on track. We'll see how it goes!

Happy (almost) Valentine's Day!

I have an actual valentine for the first time ever! yay! So, to humor me the boyfriend has something up his sleeve for Sunday that he refuses to tell me about.

Play all day

It is now officially fall! My favorite season EVER! I especially love fall in Indiana and it is probably one of the only block of months I enjoy Indiana weather. The weather is always absolutely perfect and the leaves are just the right shades of orange and red. I love driving down the streets and seeing piles of leaves just sitting patiently at the end of people's driveways, and have been known to pull over and have an impromptu play session in the inviting mass of crunchy colors. Besides all that, I love jackets and hoodies and being able to start breaking out my boots. Really I just l o v e everything about it!

South Haven, Michigan has my heart

I must move to a small, cute, midwestern town. The kind with an old style "downtown" area full of antique shops and cafe's and general stores. The kind withold Victorian style houses built multiple decades ago yet they still look like they're in their prime. The kind where children can laugh and play with minimal danger lurking. The kind where soda shops are more frequent than liquor stores and gas stations are still full service. The kind where old charm reigns supreme while embracing modern day America. South Haven, Michigan is a little piece of heaven.