Music To My Ears

The first vendors we booked were our musicians. Finding the right musician in the right price range can make a bride go crazy. That will not happen to me because I am marrying a musician. Winning!

The day Easy announced our engagement on Facebook, he asked who would play at our wedding for free and several people responded. He was joking, but he definitely took them up on their offer.

Three guys who all play in the same jazz trio each individually offered, so that basically settled the question of what music we'd have for our cocktail hour between the ceremony and reception. Live jazz perfectly fits the mood we're going for with the time of day, passed hors d'oeuvres, and open bar.

We needed ceremony musicians as well. We happened to be heading to an open bar with some friends who (now that I see everything in terms of the wedding) were basically a mixture of wedding guests and groomsmen.

We passed by Bar Louie, which is one of my fave hangs in Chicago. Seated outside was an old friend of Easy's. She happens to be a fantastic violin player (I think. Maybe the viola??), and she's part of a string quartet. Easy told her she should play at our wedding and she readily agreed. Now we had our ceremony music.

While I was wondering about what we'd do for the reception, Easy explained he'd already taken care of it. A friend of his from St. Louis who is a DJ had already agreed to DJ our wedding reception as a wedding gift. A couple of times when we went out in St. Louis, this guy was the DJ, so I know I love what he spins.

It all just seemed to good to be true. A string quartet, a jazz trio, and a DJ all for the price of paying just the string quartet?!? Both my mother and I were thrilled.

Of course we'll be paying everyone something. I've never been one to take advantage of someone's kindness. I am, however, grateful that I will get so much amazing music for my wedding at a really affordable price.

That means more money in the budget for flowers! And I love me some flowers. It's time for musical instrument and flower porn!



Still No Girl Time Yet

Read the "Girl Time" post that preceded this one.

I miss my girls. I still haven't found time to hang out with them. I was supposed to spend time with them last Thursday, but Easy was sick and waited an extra day before going to St. Louis to pick up his things to move back to Chicago.

I stayed at his parents' house, took care of him, and did my first DIY bridal project. I was happy to spend more time with him... But I miss my girls!

Tonight, they were all hanging out with more of our friends. They were texting me at work so I'd be in on the new jokes they were making.

My friends have a lot of inside jokes. We've all been hanging out since we were children because we grew up in church together. While in youth group we spent an almost unhealthy amount of time together. So we have jokes that go back 10-15 years. It's great times.

Our new favorite thing is to start rumors about each other. Now don't think I mean anything like Rumor Has It or Jawbreaker. I just mean for inside jokes that we jokes with each other about (not in mixed company) for as long as we can remember the rumor.

They have one rumor about me telling a man to "scoot scoot" in a very snooty voice when he approached me in a bar. That never happened. Nothing like it has ever happened in fact. I'm very friendly to strangers who approach me for whatever reason. But it's absolutely hilarious when it's get brought up.

Whoever brings it up goes, "remember that time CeCe told that man to 'scoot scoot'?" Then someone else responds affirmatively and adds something even crazier to the story, such as throwing a drink at him, or demanding he perform tricks for my attention.

It's probably not funny if you're not there to witness it, but it cracks my friends and me up. Do you and your friends do anything crazy that you only do with each other?

The Story About My Ring

I mentioned in yesterday's post that I had to have my ring replaced less than a week after receiving it. To clarify, I just had to have the stone replaced. It's just a crazy crazy story.

So, I came home from work Saturday morning and both my parents are awake. They have to head over to our church for Bible Institute soon. My mother asks me to run to Dunkin Donuts to get coffee and donuts for the meeting before I go to sleep (this is what I mean by my fam/friends not helping me get rest).

I told her I would go and off I went. I get the coffee and the donuts and head back to the church. There are several meetings going on at once, and one of the church members is walking out while I'm trying to get my stuff together to go in. She sees me, tells me she's heard the good news of my engagement and asks to see my ring.

I love my ring and I think it is amazingly breathtakingly beautiful, so I held out my hand for her to see it in it's full glory sparkling in the sunshine. I promise I'll put up a picture of it the next time I'm blogging on a computer I can load photos onto. But as I hold my hand up for her to see, I notice a big gaping hole where the pink sapphire was.

All the diamond that encircle the sapphire were there, just no pink sapphire! I was freaking out only for a split second because my response was to come up with a solution rather than cry about it. I took the coffee and donuts inside, showed my mother the ring, informed her I was off to fix it and left.

Easy purchased the ring in St. Louis, but it was from Jared, so they are all over. I called the Orland Park store to make they were open. I told them I had a ring in need of repair and I was en route to the store. I was assured they could help me with a ring purchased in a different city.

I called Easy to tell him what happened and make sure he had gotten "the good insurance." He had because he's a very smart and wonderful man. I get to the store, they look up the ring info in the computer. And because we had the good insurance, they said they would replace the stone and I should come back in a few hours to pick it up.

I had to sleep before work, so I wanted to see if Easy could pick up the ring for me. When I called the store back to check, they informed me that only I or a designated person-- designated before I left the store-- could pick up the ring. I told them my fiance had purchased the ring and surely he would be able to pick it up for me since I had to be at work.

She said, "you'd be surprised how many people use repairs and cleanings as an excuse to take a ring back. For security purposes, only you can pick up the ring. I understand that he purchased it, but you'd really be surprised how often it happens that someone tries to take the ring back,"

I just cracked up laughing and told them my fiance wasn't going to do that, but I would just wait until the next day and pick it up. Easy and I went to the store the next day, picked up the ring. I dare say, it's even more brilliant. Pink sapphires come in many shades of pink, and I think I like this even better. It could just be my bias for things that are sparkly. I always think what's right in front of me is the best.

They said the stone should stay in this time. I don't even know how it fell out. I sit at a desk 12 hours a day and sleep in between. Literally, the most strenuous thing I'd done since receiving the ring was carrying a Dunkin Donut Box O Joe. But hopefully that was the only time such a thing would happen.

Moving In With Easy

One of my co-workers is working on furnishing her apartment, so she has catalogs from Crate & Barrel and CB2. It got me to thinknig about how Easy and I will be decorating an apartment together soon. We don't have extremely different taste, but we definitely don't have the same taste.

I want our walls covered with things we've collected from our trips to other countries as well as prints or paintings of nature. He wants framed posters of great musicians.

I want shelves and storage for everything. He wants neatly stacked piles.

I want my pink, purple, and black bedroom decorations. He wants his blue and brown decorations.

He wants a fan close by the bed. I want a humidifier close by.

These are not huge hurdles, but they are things we've sorted out from just a couple discussions and a few trips to St. Louis where his current apartment is. I'm sure before it's all said and done, there will be a lot of debating over which decoration/house arrangement works best for both of us.

But the thought of sorting that out had me again thinking of how to approach this subject with my parents. That's for another post though.

Starting My New Job And Other Life Changes

So, I haven't fixed my computer issues, but I do have PC access as well as internet on my new job, and I'll be doing my best to keep up with blog posts on the nights I work. At least, one day in, that's my plan.

I've missed the blogging world. I've been trying to keep up with reading everyone's blogs, but I'm about three weeks behind. Consequently, I will be putting comments on blogs late as hell, ha ha.

Okay, so back to this new job. Everyone here is so shiny and happy. If you watch Grey's Anatomy, you probably get that reference. I'm not a Meredith or a Christina. I'm more of a little Grey. Shiny and happy (plus lots of windows in my office) works for me.

I don't think I will say where I'm working, but I feel that keeping it completely secret isn't warranted. A woman who was hired with me gave the company a shout out of her Facebook page. What I will do is say the type of work I'll be doing. I will be helping with organ donation. Expect plugs for signing up to be a donor for organs, tissue, blood, and bone marrow in the future.

There are also other big changes in my life that concern Easy. Our plan before I got  this job was for me to start looking for jobs in St. Louis and move down there at some point in the engagement/marriage plans we have for the next year (not next year, the next 12 months, well 9 months now). But that changed when I got this amazing job in Chicago.

Easy knows I would pack up and move for him if he got a great career opportunity, and he says he would do the same for me. Turns out, he wasn't just talking. His school year ends June 3rd. His roommate (plus one new wife) are settling into their apartment June 17th. So, we have to find a place in Chicago for us to move into by June 17th.

Did I forget to mention this wasn't at all the plan? Making this move so soon, while sorting out what he's going to do for employment, what we'll be paying in student loans, and when we're actually getting married engaged, was not the plan. Oh, and I have to find some way to tell my parents that we're going to live together before we're even engaged.

A big part of me is excited, another big part of me is trying to keep my feet on the ground about all the changes. I have been feeling for so long that my life was at a standstill with no forward movement. And suddenly, it's all moving forward very fast. I couldn't be happier about that fact. All of my frustration is gone. Finally!

Starting A New Job Monday And Other Updates

I haven't been posting like usual because of my continued computer issues. But I did want to put an update because the last thing I said what I got the job. I'm not sure about what I can say about the job, so I'll say nothing so far except I love the salary and benefits, and I am actually using my degree and medical school training! Yay.

My first day of work is Monday morning. Technically, it's new employee orientation. But I get paid for my time there, and it's the kickoff of the countdown to the 30 days before my healthcare kicks in. My friend Bad says we have to have a "gainful employment party". I wanted to wait until I had officially started earning money, so perhaps we can set something up for soon.

I spent the last week in St. Louis with Easy because I have no idea when the next time I'll be able to get down there to see him. He's winding down his school year, so he'll be able to spend some time in Chicago. I am very much looking forward to that.

Oh, by the way, the bowling league that I was on ended two Fridays ago. My team won first place! My handicap plus others' skills clinched the win for us. It's pretty exciting for bragging rights as well as for a sense of accomplishment.

I'm most looking forward to having a consistent paycheck that will finally allow me to live the life I've been dying to have in my 20s. I have no kids or mortgage or anything, so I'll be able to have fun but also save money for when Easy and I head to New York.

That's all for an update now. But I look forward to the near future when I've purchased my new MacBook and I can post updates about my career, friends, family, hobbies, and love life.

Quick Highlights of My Florida Trip

I really should be sleep right now, but I'm not, so I figured I'd write a post since I haven't had time all weekend. I will write a real post when I have the time, but I wanted to share some highlights.

1. After stalking ebay, and begging my parents to help me get my camera in Florida that came to Chicago, I started taking lots of photos. That led me to make a Flckr account. I added the photostream to my blog page and there's a link where you can check out all my photos I've added. It has the higlights from this weekend.

2. I've been having so much fun. I feel old as hell though! I forget sometimes that the people I know here go all the way back, like 8 years ago. Long time, but good times.

3.  It was the best decision ever to leave from Tallahassee even though we flew into Jacksonville. Not having to get a ride 2.5 hours away before our flight will make everyone's life easier in the afternoon.

4. When I get back to St. Louis, I have to rush off to Chicago because I have a meeting with the director of the company I interviewed with two Thursdays ago. They told me two weeks, but they really liked me, so they wanted me to come in as soon as I got back from out of town. That probably means something great!

5. This is totally random, but I miss my cat Belle. I'm just used to her crawling all over me while I'm blogging or reading articles on the internet. I miss my bossy co-dependent cat.

6. I've been eating so unhealthily these last few days. I always lambasted the food in Tallahassee, but there are places I just had to go to and get food from that I can't get outside of here. Zaxby's, Chubby's, and Captain D's. I know they have them other places, but not Chicago, and they just speak FAMU to me. I have to decide tomorrow if I'm going to go to Hip Hop Fish and Chicken, Moe's, Firehaus, or Tropical Smoothie Cafe. Probably the last one. I'd love a smoothie and a caesar chicken wrap. That's not as healthy as it sounds.

7. In spite of my diet, I did get in a run while here. It was so hot though I got overheated, but I was glad to be able to keep working out and maintaining (in some form or another) my healthy living.

I'll blog more later. But right now I'm going to watch Enchanted for the 184th time and go to sleep.

Flying to Florida

I'm on the plane right now with Lion, heading down to Florida. I'm pretty excited for this trip. One note of interest. There are only five black people on this plane and we are all seated together. Like, literally in the same row. I guess it could be coincidence.
But back to this trip. Actually, I'll finish when we land. I'm being told to turn off my phone. But first, my flight attendant is a very sweet guy. I'm talking, "two snaps around the world and back" sweet. You are my favorite reader if you know that reference.

Surprises And More Surprises

I came down to St. Louis with Easy on Sunday night and I'm flying from here to Florida Friday morning. I'm very excited about my trip, but I'm also just glad to be here after two weeks away in Chicago. Which is where I live. I live in Chicago. All my friends calls me a St. Louis resident, but I live in Chicago.

But on to the surprises the title told you were coming. Easy decided he wanted to surprise me Wednesday evening when he was done with work. He pushed it up to Monday cause his weekly gig got cancelled for this week. He took me Jared and... no we didn't buy and engagement ring. Calm down people. He bought me a Pandora charm bracelet for Christmas and he's been slowly but surely filling it ever since. He got me four new pieces for it. Usually it's two, so that was great!

Then we went to the movies. I love going to the movies, but Easy and I don't go very often, so it was a nice surprise. We went to see Source Code which I've been dying to see. I won't ruin the ending, but I'll just say my natural inclination toward optimism and far-reaching science were both fulfilled. Then I wanted a burger, so we went to get me a burger. It was a great evening.

At first, Easy suggested he come up with another surprise for me for Wednesday, but I told him, I'd prefer to come up with a surprise for him. I'm very excited about this surprise. I feel like it was exactly something he'd want and appreciate. I dropped Easy off at his school Wednesday morning and kept the car. His roommate's fiancee is in town, so she rolled with me to Wal-Mart, where I picked up some supplies. I got excited because of all the plans.

The plan was to pick him up from school at 4:30 and ask him to drive to where he wanted to take me ice skating. Wednesday was the first really nice day in St. Louis, so I figured a picnic would be great. I took him on a picnic when we first started dating and told him that's what life would be like with me, so I figured I'd better take him on another and keep my word.

Also, Easy and I have been talking about marriage and engagements and the like. One of those discussions led to a joke that he wanted me to propose first, and I said I would with a lucky charms ring. So while at Wal-Mart, I bought some Lucky Charms, whipped out my sewing kit, and made him a ring. I figured I would propose at the picnic. We wouldn't be engaged afterwards, but he would know I was more than ready for him to propose back to me. It was cheesy and sweet and funny, just like how we are together.

I wanted the picnic to be romantic and fun, but I also wanted to get home in time to watch American Idol and America's Next Top Model. I love Easy because he gets my crazy and wouldn't think it was un-romantic to rush home at 6:30 pm. When we finally got back, Easy's roommate and his fiancee were laughing at us and fake gagging over our romantic picnic. Ha ha, reminds me of the reaction most of my friends would have.


But you want to know about the picnic don't you? Well, I picked him up from school, and he drove to the park. We scoped out a great place that I probably couldn't find again, but it was near the golf course, the St. Louis History Museum, and a soccer field. I handed him the basket and told him to dig in. He saw the sweet tea, the potato chips and decided that he could break the rules just a bit to enjoy those things.


Then he saw the apple slices, baby carrots, and grapes, and was ppleased. The he saw the jewelry box. I'm not sure if he recognized it is the box he normaly keeps his cufflinks in or not. But he was like, "whaaaa?" Then he opened it and saw the Lucky Charms ring. He burst out laughing at the sight of it because I guess he truly never expected that I would actually work out making that ring.


Once he stopped laughing, I leaned over to him and told him how much I loved him and that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. Then I asked him to marry me and he said yes! Like I said, we're not engaged, but we're fake-affianced, haha. He made a joke that now he has to propose since he said he'd propose the day after I did. I told him that wasn't going to happen cause when would he get a ring and also he hadn't asked my parents for permission yet and that was really important to me.


He told me not to worry about it and then we just moved on and settled into our picnic. I had the supplies to make lettuce wraps since his current diet plan doesn't include carbs. Iceburg lettuce, deli sliced honey roasted turkey, swiss cheese, and ranch dressing. we ate and laughed and enjoyed each other's company. It was a great way to spend the first real day of spring here in St. Louis.


Easy and I were both patting ourselves on the backs for how successful our surprises had gone. We're self-congratulatory like that. It's why we match.

The Last Of My Dream Dates... And Back To Chicago

Date #3: Tuesday Afternoon. I thought we were going to spend the whole day inside, just hanging out when we first woke up. But then Easy announced he had some errands to run. He invited me along, but oil changes and hair cuts aren't exactly couples' activities unless they truly can't stand to be apart. I hope we're not that far gone yet.

And while I was waiting on him to return, I figured I'd get my day's blogging done. And then I have no choice because I was scared to leave the bedroom. I think Easy had booby trapped the door, possibly on accident. When I grabbed the handle to go to the bathroom, it came off in my hand. Door handles don't just come off. They are weakened over time before they give in. And I'm not the one always unaware of my own strength. I'm just saying.

Now back to the date. Easy got back from his errands and we got ready to go. We were off driving, headed towards the park that's right near Barnes Jewish Hospital. I always forget the name of that park. We stopped at the skating park section. We walked up to the door. And there was a sign on it that said "Skating Season Over." We looked over at the outdoor rink and it was melted, filled with remnants of the previous day's rain and snow.


Easy was so upset that for the second time, our attempt at ice skating had fallen through. I think he really is very good at surprising me with something that will delight me, just not when it comes to ice skating. I tried to make him feel better because he really tried and the thought did count. We tried to figure out an alternative plan and ended up going to the Galleria mall that wasn't that far away.


We went shopping where I discovered this new store that honestly makes me think of Forever 21 on an LSD trip. I'm not exaggerating. That was one of the most over-stimulated experiences I've ever had in a store. I had fun with Easy in the mall. I learned a bit more about his style, and felt like I got a better grasp on what I wanted my own style to be through trying to explain it to him. I think I'll write a blog post just about that.


Easy ended up purchasing for me a really cute shirt/dress thingee. I'm going to wear it as a dress cause I'm super short. It was basically the money he would have spent for us to go ice skating. We had fun walking around the mall laughing and holding hands and it felt like something you'd see in a montage in a romantic comedy, but it didn't feel staged or contrived. It felt natural and I liked it.


He did good with his three dates. A great plan, some kick ass backup plans, and a good sense of humor can make any moment feel perfect. And I'm extra glad I have this blog so I'm not that girl when I get around my girls in Chicago and unable to talk about anything except how wonderful Easy is. I will not be that girl!


So today I head back to Chicago. It will be the first time, I think, that Easy and I are both headed to Chicago and not going there together. But we both have plans and activities, so we are going our separate ways when we get to the city. But I know we'll spend waaay more time together the rest of the week than we should considering we've been together for over a week straight, and we haven't really spent time with anyone else. I am glad to be heading back to my city. Sweet home Chicago.

Spring Break! Whoo! And A Couple Of Dream Dates

Easy is on Spring Break right now, which is great because we've had more time together. I just wrote a post about us spending so much time together and me not being sure how that worked with my desire to have "me time".


But I also just wrote a post about us fixing a problem with only doing his things and not doing our things that often and hardly ever doing my things. But Easy came up with a solution to this all on his own. He said he would use the first part of his Spring Break to give me three dates that are not things we always do, but things that I have said I wanted to try. So today is the day I describe those dates.


Date #1: Sunday Afternoon. We headed to the zoo. This may not seem huge, but for people who know me well, it is. I love animals, I love being outside, and I love spending time doing what amounts to a whole bunch of nothing with the man I love. We got there pretty late because we were... distracted... and then we got a chance to look at some animals. This is gonna sound cheesy, but I don't care.

At the St. Louis Zoo, they have this butterfly/moth observing room thing. The weather and garden in there is always like early summer and those things are flying around in there just happy and enjoying the flowers. We walked around and watched them fly and land and fly and land. Easy took a couple of pictures. And it was all very romantic We had a moment where we stopped on the path and smooched. Luckily, we weren't the only couple in there, so I didn't feel to ashamed of our in-your-face PDA moment.

After the zoo, we went to this Thai restaurant in town I've been dying to try. Easy let me pick our food and even agreed to try some new tea without sugar. I'm just more familiar with Thai food than he is, so he was totally fine with me choosing the path of our meal. The food was great and now we have our favorite Thai restaurant in St. Louis. We laughed and shared food and jokes and it was just so much fun, like hanging out with one of my best friends.

Then we went bowling. I've been wanting to go bowling in St. Louis for while, and Easy finally made it happen. He was right when he said he wasn't a very good bowler, but he got better with a few tips. I'm not the world's best bowler yet, but I know a lot more about what good bowling is supposed to be than my skills yet show. But bowling was fun and cute because he gave me kisses for every pin above my average that I bowled.


Date #2: Monday Early Afternoon and Late Night. We woke up pretty early and started watching movies. I love going to the movies, but this past year (except during the summer when I was dating up a storm), I didn't go to nearly as many movies as I would have liked to. So Sunday night, we rented like six movies from Blockbuster, most of which had come out in the last year, and only one that I'd seen before.

We began watching the movies and they were good choices. Except for when I cooked us lunch and started preparing dinner, we just chilled in the living room, liking the fact that we both talk all during the movie, and glad that could pause and rewind when we had especially long comments to make. We watched Mega Mind, She's Out of My League, and The Expendables throughout the day.

Easy had a gig Monday night, so we went to that, but then came back home and got back to our date. I made us a delicious dinner (that was also healthy, yay!) and we spent the night talking and laughing. We don't do that much at night cause Easy is a morning person. I'm a night owl, so pretty much from 9:30 pm to 11:00 am, we don't get in much quality bonding time. I think he had plans for us to be out and doing stuff, but it snowed, in March, in St. Louis. Stupid snow. I figured maybe he'd just push the activities to the next day.


These dates were great and something we could have only done because he was on Spring Break. And not once did I wish I had some alone time. I think that's because I know we're headed to Chicago on Wednesday, and we're both taking our own cars, so we will be spending time apart very soon.


Tomorrow, I'll talk about how the third date went.

Solving Problems Almost Before We Know They Exist

Saturday night, Easy, Lion, and one of Lion's frat brothers, and I all went out. We went to the bar that Lion's family owns and then we went to a club. We had a pretty good time and shared a lot of laughs.


While we were out, somehow the conversation between Easy and me turned towards how we spend our time outside of the home either in St. Louis or Chicago. I realized at that moment that we hardly ever do the type of things I would do for fun if I were by myself. We spend most of our time out listening to live music (Easy may or may not be playing), or hanging out with his or my friends (there's also music involved usually there too).


Then it occurred to me, that I'd never spoken up about doing more things that I want. My girl Top has suggested things that she knows are coming up in Chicago that I might like to go with Easy too and I didn't even really consider the possibilities because I figured we'd be busy doing something else, like listening to live music somewhere.


This realization really hit me because I hadn't even considered it before. I love listening to live music, all types of music (except bad music). So spending almost all our time outside doing that wasn't, and isn't, an issue. But it is rather one-sided. So how did we fix it? Well, before I even truly came to the realization, Easy was working on a plan to do more stuff I like. Last night, he asked me what I like to do so we could work it into the equation.


I told him I'd already told him and wondered why I, yet again, would have to repeat myself. He left it alone and we didn't really talk about it again for the rest of the night. But this morning, when I woke up, he informed me that he had planned three dates for today and the next two days that would be centered around things I've mentioned to him over the months that I like to do.


After promising that the dates weren't extravagant or expensive, I agreed to the plan. I'm kind of excited because I can't imagine what things I said I like that he actually remembered and plan on taking me to do. I have expensive taste in some respects, but I also like simple things. I hope at least one of the dates takes advantage of the warming weather here in St. Louis. It still isn't as warm as I'd like (and as the weather keeps predicting), but it's getting there.


So, after I update Rants About The Real World, and Easy finishes working on this song he's writing, we'll be off on Date #1. Well, also after we go running. Easy went running by himself yesterday. I can't leave him hanging by himself, especially when it was my idea to go running in the first place.


I promise, I'll blog about it. I'm just so happy this is how we solve conflicts. Before the problem gets fully realized, it's fixed. I don't expect us to forever do things I like and would be doing if I were alone. He still has his music and I still love life music. But it's nice to know my stuff will now be put into rotation.

I Know My Driver's License Says Illinois...

But I feel like a damn resident of Missouri. Thank God I'm not, I've got issues with some of their legislation, but I digress. It's just that a number of things have happened in the last day or two that really make me feel like I'm losing my inner Chicagoan.


First, I missed league bowling, and my team only won one game. That mostly only happens when I'm not there. I knew not contributing those extra 20-30 pins would make a difference. Also, my girls in Chicago were talking about having a girls' night Saturday night. What were my plans for Saturday night? Kicking it with Easy and Lion in East St. Louis. East St. Louis. Seriously. But I guess it's okay cause I'm spending time with two of my favorite people in the whole wide world.


And then there's the feeling of all this time I've been spending in St. Louis and what it's doing to Easy and me. When we're apart, we miss each other terribly, so it just makes sense to spend as much time together as we can. But there's also the fear of what's going to happen when our honeymoon phase ends. We've decided we're just going to stay in the honeymoon phase forever. We know it's unrealistic, but we're gonna try it anyway.


Easy and I definitely don't see the world through the same lens, but it's really not an issue because we're so good at communicating and making sure we develop a common language to bridge those differences. But when we're discussing something for the thirtieth time, there's bound to be some frustration adding into the equation. That's when I get scared because it feels like maybe the end of the honeymoon phase. But then things gets resolved and everything feels deliriously happy again. And it's not like we didn't have disagreements almost from the moment we got together. I think what makes us feel honeymoon-stage-ish still is the strong desire to resolve conflicts so we can get back to the lovey dovey happiness.


But with all this time spent in St. Louis, there's not much time for just me. At least it's starting to feel that way. I had kind of forgotten that I like to have a lot of alone time. I didn't think much of it when I was younger because my parents kept me sheltered and going out wasn't really an option, so I just hung out by myself at home. But then in college, I was hardly ever alone at any point within a given 24 hour period, but that didn't seem odd because the people I was around were so much like me, I didn't feel like I was surrounded by people, I was surrounded by versions of myself.


So now, in the new world that includes Easy, there isn't much room for me being me, in my own space. We're working on it though. For instance, early Saturday evening, Easy had a gig. This is a gig I've never gone with him to even though I've been in town for it. But this time, I didn't even ride there with him. I didn't drop him off at the church and then head to the mall. I just stayed at his place and spent some time by myself. And it made me happy. And it made me miss him. I was looking forward to him coming back and telling me about his gig and how it went.


Hopefully, a few small changes here and there can solve the problem. For most people, who they are and what they prefer fundamentally is up for negotiation in the context of a relationship, and there are growing pains. I'm prepared to handle it (I think), and I'm looking forward to a time when solving this problem of me having "me time" is a thing of the past. And I suppose I'll wait til the not-having-time-for-my-friends-in-Chicago thing becomes more of a problem before we tackle that.

Staying On The Exercise Bandwagon

Easy and I didn't get up and go running yesterday morning, but we did go when he got home from work. He only had a half day today because of parent/teacher conferences. And to kick off his Spring Break, we went running. We ran ever farther than we'd run up to this point, so that was a nice expansion of working out. And when we got back, we had a great chicken Caesar salad for lunch and watched Jet Li in Fearless. I think it was a great way to spend the afternoon.


I used to hate running, and I'm not sure I'm still too far from that, but I do enjoy the feeling of accomplishment I get from it. and it might be in my head, but I swear I've had more energy the last couple of days. What I do like it feeling the muscles in my thighs get more firm and knowing that I'm getting my heart rate up, which is great for healthy living.


I'm excited too because of time spent with Lion. He's been super busy with his rotations, so even though I spend so much time in St. Louis, I don't get to spend a lot of time with him. But he has just finished his shelf exam for family medicine and he has the weekend free before he starts OB/GYN on Monday, so I'm hoping we can get some good quality time in this weekend.


One of the only things that sucks about spending so much time down here in St. Louis is that I'm not doing my Chicago stuff. For instance, my bowling league meets on Fridays and I won't be there. My team should be alright without me, but I just wish I was there. I bowl at least 20 pins over my average almost every game, so I'm worth more there than not. But that will something to work out after this season. There are only another ten weeks or so left in the season anyway, if that many.


On another note, I saw a slight increase in the number of followers to my blog. That makes me happy! Looks like reaching out on BlogFrog and 20-something Bloggers has had a pretty nice initial payoff. I would like to say you all should check out my other two blogs too! They're great, and they sound mostly non-narcissistic because they're not about my life.


The first is My Life's Love Medley. It's a blog about the love lives of my closest friends. Each friend gets a day, except Camille and Lion share Wednesday. So there are eight friends in total. I talk about them a bit on this blog, but The Medley is where they get most of their coverage. It's like a soap opera if you look at the different stories each person has told about them. Also, on days when there's nothing to update, I link to another blog or website that talks about something very relevant to my friend's current romantic status.

The second is Rants About The Real World. It's a blog where I share my (usually rant-y) thoughts about what's happening in the world around me. Right now, I'm doing a series of posts on all the protests going on in the Middle East/Africa. Based on the coverage these stories are getting in America, these protests are of interest, some more than others. But I'm covering them all, in chronological order based on when they started. Also, I talk about things that go on in American politics, local politics, pop culture, and the media. If you like current events and general rantiness, check it out.


There are links to both blogs on the right hand sidebar of the blog, usually around the level of the end of the most recent post. Read them, and let me know what you think. I love feedback!

Mardi Gras Versus Exercising And Other Topics

Yesterday was quite a day for me. After getting up at 6:30 am, I was all pumped for the next 24 hours, which included hanging out with one of Easy's friends and his girl, a Mardi Gras celebration, and running again this morning at 6:30 am. But of course, plans never work out like they're supposed to. Thanks God Easy and I are flexible people.


I went with Easy to this high school he volunteers at working with the band in East St. Louis. I don't know what you readers may know about that city, but if you ever find yourself there, you should prolly head back out on the nearest expressway. I'm only slightly exaggerating. I've spent a considerable amount of time there because one of my best friends, Lion, is from there.


Easy's friend who we were supposed to hang out with last night lives there too. He flaked on us for some reason (who really cares?), but we'll probably see him at some point this week. I wasn't upset about it since Easy and I always seem to get into a fight when we're around his friends. This is just a "his friends problem. Not family and none of my people. I wrote a post about I'll publish at some point in the future. I'm actually looking forward to spending time with this guy and his girl so I can test my theory that we only fight when it's new friends. We've thus far never hung out with one of his friends more than once, except his nephew, but that's family too, so it doesn't count.


But even without Easy's friend, we headed out to celebrate Mardi Gras St. Louis style. It's interesting, they have all the gold, green, and purple decorations plus beads and New Orleans style food one could want. And if you are okay with St. Louis Cardinals jerseys everywhere, it's pretty much the same mix of drunk white people, jazz, and happiness. As far as I know, there's no version of Bourbon Street here though, lol. We didn't go to the parade because of the rain and the cold. It was supposed to be in the upper 50s, but it never warmed up to that point.


We did go to the Broadway Oyster Bar by ourselves. There was live music. Easy knew the trumpet player and he was amazing. The food was great. As soon as we walked in, I smelled grilled burgers and knew that's what I was eating. And they had a New Orleans menu for dessert, so that meant bread pudding. That's been my new dessert of choice the last couple of restaurants I've gone to. And we also had a couple of drinks. We danced and laughed and had a really good time. I was glad we were there by ourselves because then we didn't have to spend time getting to know other people.


We left to go bar hopping and quickly found that idea would not work based on cost, location, and how tired we both were. I'm not old! I just was ready to go home at like 10 pm. We had been up for a long time. But we didn't go to bed. we stopped at the store on the way home and decided to finally Rent RED (and watch it) and got a bottle of my favorite wine, Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling. We watched the movie and drank the wine and were in bed sleep before 1 am. Again, I'm not old, but we were just tired!


I suggested we make plans for next year to truly enjoy what St. Louis had to offer for Mardi Gras. I had a lot of fun out and wanted to do more exploring. I wanted Easy to promise me we'd try out hardest to be in St. Louis for Mardi Gras next year. His reply? "We'll probably be married by this time next year, so we'll be together where ever we are." I was shocked. He and I talk about our futures a lot. There's even a running joke about an engagement ring made out of Lucky Charms. But to make it so concrete was a surprise to me.


It seems like when it comes to taking that next big step, every time Easy has to stop and think on it and plan it, it becomes less about the romance and the reality of the future, and more about not rushing things. I don't care about "rushing". I care about him and making our own rules and doing what fits for us. I think I said that way back in August. Yup, just found the post. Back then the rules were to just be us without a title, and now, less than seven months later, the rules have drastically changed. But as long as the rules still work for the two of us, I say let's go with that.


I don't know what exactly is going to happen in our immediate future, but I'm glad we're discussing the possibilities and not imposing limitations. And I'm glad we can work together for solutions to any problems. The latest solution? Well, we didn't go running this morning. Drinking an entire bottle of wine at 11 o'clock at night tends to make one lethargic the next morning. Easy suggested we go running when he gets off work. It's not my ideal plan for when to run, but it was his suggestion in the first place. So we'll be running this afternoon/evening. He has turned me into a person who not only accepts compromise, but I'm starting to thrive on it. As soon as there's a disagreement, I'm itching to find a middle ground. Weird.

We Actually Went Running This Morning

Last night over dinner, we decided we would try to get up and run this morning. I wanted to do that in the first place, but Easy wasn't feeling the idea of waking up even earlier in the morning. But seeing as how our work-out intentions for the evening didn't go well, we went to Plan B.

We woke up this morning (without alarms, yay) and got dressed to run. We headed outside and stretched and walked to the street. We took off jogging, with Easy going at a much faster pace than I would prefer. But we were going good for a while. Then we both got winded and slowed down to a walk.

There were two teenagers standing on one of the corners waiting for a bus. They gave us a very pointed look that clearly said, "black people do not go running. What are you doing?" We just kept going knowing how we stuck out like sore thumbs in that neighborhood.

Seeing as how it was only day one, I wanted us to not overdo it. So we only ran about half a mile in one direction. Then we turned around and ran back, ignoring the teenagers as they watched us even more intently. We talked, laughed, and cheered each other on as we ran. I found it interesting that he ran faster when we started yet I ran faster when we finished. That will be an interesting dynamic that hopefully keeps up both from overdoing it for any part of the exercise.

We came back to the house and stretched out a drank water. We don't spend a lot of quality time together before he goes to work, so that was a nice extra benefit. I showed Easy some stretches to help make him more flexible and improve his circulation. He's already pretty flexible, but he will be more so. And then all my neck rubs will be purely because they feel good, not because he needs them.

I really hope we go running again tomorrow. I will be extra proud of us if we do go because we are planning on attending a Mardi Gras parade tonight with a friend of his (and his girl) from college. Mardi Gras at night doesn't match with early morning exercise the next day. But this is St. Louis, not New Orleans, so I think we'll be okay.

Creating Things - I'm Over It

It's too hard to try and make something every day. Perhaps if I had more resources (money, materials), stability (not going back and forth to St. Louis all the time), or willpower (doing it even when I don't feel like it). But I don't.


Noticing that March is well underway and I only have 19 days of creating, I have fallen a bit short of my goal. The posts I did do got a lot of traffic and that was nice. But I just don't feel like it anymore. I'd rather dedicate the time I'd spend making a craft or typing out the recipe for meal on studying for the GRE. And next month, there will be some other reason. I'm just over it.


Also, my camera broke. Not much I can do about that. But now a really nice new digital camera is on my wish list for some future gift. Maybe a birthday or Christmas. I can live without a camera for that long I think. Most pictures I take anyway are on my Blackberry, they're just not a quality I'd want to post on the web.


As long as no major events happen this year, I should be fine. Maybe I'll try again with creating things when I get a new camera, a source of income, and a more focused inspiration.

So We Didn't Go Running

Easy says we'll go running tomorrow morning to make up for it. I didn't bother to explain that neither of us had the stamina to truly make up for missing today, so that wasn't the correct phrasing. But I left it alone cause who wants to date someone who is constantly correcting you? I guess Easy doesn't mind, but I try not to do it all day long.


I know you're wondering what happened? You were rooting that I was putting together an exercise routine that people all over would love to have as an option. How did I screw this up? Well, first I have a story to tell from earlier today.


Easy was texting me in the morning to make plans for our evening. We were going to go running, then head to the grocery store, then I was going to cook while he wrote/practiced (he plays the sax and writes great music). I was in on the plan. Then I left his house at noon to meet him and some co-workers at Applebee's. If you know Applebee's, you know that even their healthy food isn't that healthy. I had a Caesar side salad and chicken wrap, and still the after food coma got to me. Stupid Applebee's. And lunch was kind of boring because Easy and his co-workers talked shop the whole time. But it's okay. That's why God made Blackberrys.


I get back after lunch and immediately pass out, only waking up because I feel my phone vibrating and I hear Easy banging on his house door. I had his only keys to the place and I was going to have to wake up to let him in his own house. Then he wanted me to sit on his lap on the couch. I promptly went back to sleep. I'm leaving one part out. He called in the afternoon in the midst of my sleepiness and asked if I wanted to go to a Zumba class instead of run. I didn't want to, but he wanted to try it. Don't get me wrong, I'm willing to jump on the Zumba bandwagon too (it's at my parents' house on the Wii), but I wanted to run today. But I agreed to try the class.


I think that's what took my motivation away to exercise. I was all pumped to go running with my new running shoes (on sale at Marshall's for $10!), and when that wasn't the plan anymore, the wind was out of my sails. Back to the story. I was knocked out on the couch and Easy got up to go practice. I'm sure he tried to wake me, but I don't wake easily, and am completely uncooperative when very tired. I finally woke up and it was too late to make it to the Zumba class and he didn't want to go running. So we are trying again tomorrow. At least there's no Zumba class tomorrow, so we'll definitely be running.


We just have to go in the morning because I'd love to go to the Mardi Gras parade tomorrow night in downtown St. Louis. Jordan tells me it's really great. That decreases our chances of actually going, but I still have hope. I have to do something now that I've cancelled my expensive ass yoga membership.

Making Exercise Part Of Our Couple's Routine

Easy and I have plans to go jogging when he gets home from work today. We've discussed it for a while, but never quite got around to it. He said he liked the idea when I mentioned it the last time I was in St. Louis. He accidentally told on himself though. He pointed out that he just realized he didn't have running clothes. He pointed this out last night. Which means when he said he'd go running with me two weeks ago, he didn't think on it past the point of, "sound like a good idea. Maybe."


I didn't call him on it cause I know he'll read this blog post at some point anyway haha. But I'm just glad he's thinking about it now. The best laid plans blah blah blah. But I'm definitely going running this afternoon. It's so warm down here in St. Louis. And I want to keep up this running thing. I've only been doing it for three days now, but I like it so far.


I've avoided running because it's my least favorite exercise and I worry about having to have a knee replacement when I'm 50 or something like that. But yoga is doing nothing to get rid of the last vestiges of jiggly-ness on my arms and stomach. So I'm trying running and hoping for the best. I'm just glad Easy is going to run with me.


We enjoy doing things together. Based on my parents, who are doing Weight Watchers right now, getting all sexified with your partner only had positive effects. Easy is definitely sexy, but getting rid of our jiggly-ness as a team should be a fun thing to do together.

Since I'm On This Path Of Reconsideration

All of this self-reflection in recent posts has me going over all the things about myself I know to be true. It seems that who I am as a person and how I view the world is evolving at a rather high rate right now. On this journey of self-discovery, it occurred to me that I hadn't revisited my views on religion and church recently. Part of of that is lack of exposure.


Tomorrow is the first day I'll be going to church in a long time. This, of course, doesn't include when I went with Easy to his church last week. I'm just thinking of all the time I've spent with Easy where we don't go to church. I've never been to church with him in St. Louis. When he's in town here, I end up somehow not at church.


That's definitely not his fault, it is just making me think. I always just figured church was really important to me. I know going to church was more important to me than the specific tenets of my religion. After all, there was so much important work to be done, specifically outreach to the youth.


But those priorities have shifted. I have to admit that to myself in order to make an accurate assessment of the situation and a plan for the future. Here's what I always thought about myself and church: it was important to me, it was terrible if I even missed one Sunday, doing God's work was part of my life plan, anyone I could consider getting serious with had to agree with those first three things.


I don't think any of that has changed on a major level. But I have to be honest with myself. Church is important to me, but no longer important enough to take priority over the other things that matter in my life. It is not terrible if I miss one Sunday. Even if I miss because I'm sleeping late because I was out (or in) all night doing non-churchy things. Doing God's work is part of my life plan, but likely not the biggest part. And I'm not freaking out that Easy isn't dragging my ass to church every Sunday.


The thing is, I read my Bible more and pray more now that I'm not spending multiple days each week in the church house. I never considered that I was using my church time to get my spirituality on. I took the prayers said by others during service to count as my prayers. I took the scriptures referenced during service to count as my Bible study for the week. It's good to have that fellowship, but it shouldn't replace my personal path.


I'm still mulling this over in my head, but I've definitely got to come up with a new paradigm for how I view church. Here are the things I know to be still definitely true: I want to have my family be active church members (whenever I do have a family), I will be involved in helping the youth of my church on their spiritual paths, and I want to have a private and public spiritual life, not just one or the other.


I'm looking forward to seeing how this all plays out in my mind. I will be thinking on this for a while, excited to see what conclusion I come to. I'm especially hoping I don't land too far from where I started. No need to rock the boat on what those around me consider to be my views on church. Not unless it's really necessary to who I am as a person.