Sunday Smash

Leslie and I ate some really great ($$$) food last night. Dan and Molly invited us to go to The Melting Pot with them. I had never been before and neither had Dan, but Leslie and Molly had been. We ordered the Fondue Feast, a 3 course meal you cook yourself for only $86 per couple. That expensive, but it was a real dining experience I suppose, not just a meal. The whole dinner took 3 hours, and the desert was amazing. Brownies, rice krispie treats, strawberries, bananas, oreo covered marshmellows, cheesecake, which you can dip in chocolate. Although it was pretty expensive it was very good.

Leslie and I both have Memorial Day off. I'm very excited about that. Since today is Sunday, it really is only like Saturday, when you think about it from that point of view. I took Walter over to Leslie's store yesterday and we went out to lunch. All the girls in her store were going crazy over Walter. For someone who gets so much attention, he's very apathetic towards people. He'd give his tail a quick wag, let them pat his head once, then he'd turn his head and be done with them. That's just how he is, not affectionate at all. He got really, really hot though from being outside and called it a day early. He slept the whole car ride back and the rest of the day yesterday too.

I've still been doing yardwork and cleaning up the house. I'm really happy with how things have turned out in one year. Next Saturday, I'm participating in "Motor City Makeover" with a church here. We go into Detroit, to houses that look abandoned, and fix them up for people. I wanted to do it to give a little something back, and it might be sort of fun. I'm going to be scraping the outside of a house and doing painting on it. It's in inner city Detroit, so that should be interesting.

Leslie's getting a new car this week. She's ending her lease early on her Jeep Liberty because she's over on her mileage and buying a new Ford Escape. The key word is BUYing. I'm so proud of her. Actually, she told me to pick it out and work out the deal, so I helped her with that. She was going to have to pay a huge amount of money in mileage, like, thousands, so this is cheaper. Plus Chrysler is bankrupt, and the Escape is very efficient for an SUV. So I'm happy for her.

Work, I don't really want to re-hash here. Let's just say I'm looking for another job, and I really want another job. I'm sort of "done" with this one, mentally and physically. I put in my time, and get out. The politics, negativity, and fakeness of that place is not for me anymore. I felt like I joined some sort of fraternity by working there, and it's completely unprofessional and not a good place to work as a first job, in my opinion (i.e. not a good place to develop professional work habbits). Anyway, I'm looking and I hope I can make a change soon.

That's about all for now I suppose. June is going to be a great month because Dad is coming up, and Paul, and Lindsey, so lots of good visitors!

Meet Barnaby S. Greenthumb

Take a look at this great landscaping work Leslie and I did this weekend! It's about 70% finished now, but will still take more time until complete. I will take some complete pictures, but for now, this is what the front looks like. The lights are solar and give off a nice ice blue color, and reflect off the Japanese Maple and large rocks. It looks amazing at night and I have a wonderful girlfriend who helped me!

Tomorrow is our 5th month anniversary together. We're going to celebrate in Plymouth.

Orange Chicken and Water Chesnuts

That's what I ate tonight and it was really good. Is it weird to just do lists instead of writing? I'd rather list things than write them down and worry about the "flow" of something. So I'll do it. I'll do it because I think it's logical and I like it, and I'm a little hamster following cheese all day at work with menial rules and tasks, so I'm going to rebel. Let's go, come with me!

- Leslie and I. Gosh, where do I begin? This is like a mad, true love. I didn't know you could fall more and more in love with someone each day. I thought you just fell in love, and that was it, you were in love with them. This is growing. The more I learn about her the more I love. I wouldn't change ONE thing about her...not ONE thing, and that's an honest fact. I love everything about her. I love how she takes care of her sister and brothers with things like Easter, how she helps them with school stuff, how she does an amazing job at work, how she's responsible, how she's caring, supportive, and builds confidence. It's just amazing and this is going somewhere awesome, beyond what I imagined.

- I went to Dan and Molly's wedding this past weekend (Leslie came too). It was nice, very low key and laid back, but tasteful and it looked good. Next weekend we have another wedding (Leslie's friend). So, this past weekend I was a groomsman and Leslie's was executive assistant to the groomsman. This coming weekend she will be a bride's maid and I'll be an executive assistant to the bride's maid. Isn't that neat how it works out that way? We can swap jobs on consecutive weekends.

- Possible 5 day Labor Day trip to South Carolina (Charleston)

- I've listed out home improvements I'd like to do, both interior and exterior. Does anyone have any foliage ideas? I want evergreen, small, and easy to maintain. I love Japanese Maple and already have two of them. I'm exciting about spring and planting and doing yardwork. I had my large 3 foot diameter maple tree trimmed this morning. It was "crowned" which is when the lower limbs are removed and the tree canopy is lifted so branches don't come close to the ground. It looks good, and I love that tree for it's shade and size.

Gosh, this post was all over the place. That's mostly what's been going on with me. I want to get Walter a little brother or sister, he seems so lonely but I want to hold out for a little while. That's it for now! I'm going to update the Pokemon of the week now. Have a cup of green tea and a few mango slices while looking at a few pictures from the weekend:

29 Days Later

My, 29 days without a post. If this were March 30th I'd say "28 Days Later" like the cool zombie movie.

What's happened in 29 days?

- Leslie and I are continuting to date, and I fall more and more in love with her each day (yes, it may sound cheesy but it's true)
- I'm ready to have my house to myself again. While not horrible, having a roomate is just not worth the hassle. So, I'm ready for this to be done and living single again
- My job is still there, but I don't really like it any better
- Leslie and I visited South Carolina (this will be expanded upon)
- I found out I may be able to be certified as a secondary education teacher in the state of South Carolina (this is on-going)

Let me focus on the visit Leslie and I made to South Carolina. I was perfectly comfortable taking her back with me, and wasn't nervous for her or me at all. She said she was a little nervous, but I knew she'd be fine. She far exceeded my expectations. She didn't need me to hold her hand at all, instead she just jumped right in and struck up conversations, smiled, and made friends with everyone. She's my kind of girl. She loved mom and dad, and Dawn, and all the grandparents. I'm pretty sure everyone loved her too. She liked everyone, and she really liked Paul. They got along very well and his, uniqueness, didn't phase her at all. Even though we were only really there for 2 days, we made the best and most of it (this was a great visit time wise). Friday mom and dad and Leslie and I went to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville and toured the home, took lots of great pictures, then went to a winery. Then we ate at Fatz and went back home. Saturday was our day in Clemson, so Paul got to hang out with us and then we spent Saturday night in downtown Greenville. Sunday it was back on a plane to Michigan, but overall it was an excellent trip and it just confirms even more why I love her so much, and the fact that my whole family and friends (most of them) knows her just makes things even better. So, without further ado, here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.

My Time Up North

I just got back from a famous Michigan "up north" weekend. That's what people here say when they go to their weekend cabins 3 hours away. It's like southeast Michigan is the metropolis and people all leave on a Friday and go north and come back on Sunday. It's sort of like going to the Jersey Shore, but in Michigan. And funner and there's not garbage.

Leslie and I left Friday evening to drive to Frederic, MI which is close to Grayling, but in reality there's nothing there but trees and snow and native northern Michiganers, which are a little scary. It was an AMAZING weekend. Friday we left her house around 6:30 and got to her aunt and uncle's cabin around 9:30. There wasn't really any snow around here, but when we got north the snow was definately there. Saturday was snowmobiling. Leslie's aunt and uncle own 2 snowmobiles, and her uncle and I went out first for a 2 hour ride.

This is how snomobiling works. You ride on the road, and on trails, but never in the open woods. There could be barb wire which has decapitated people. Then, there's random bars in the middle of the woods packed with snowmobiliers. You go inside, and it's PACKED full of them. That's the thing, you snowmobile then go to a bar, then repeat.

Later, Leslie and her uncle and I left around 6:30 to go eat dinner. So we drove the snowmobiles to a restaurant in the middle of the woods, then we snowmobiled out in the woods until 11:30. That was amazing, and probably the most romantic thing Leslie and I have done. Being in the middle of NOWHERE at 11:30 on a snowmobile flying down a trail going 60 mph with snow covered trees is HOT. It was a really, really great time. We actually stopped, and turned the snowmobiles off and it was pitch black, and so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Definately one of the funnest winter things I've ever done, and being with her was great.

To make it even better, Leslie's aunt and uncle told both of us (individually) that we made a really great couple and looked very natural with one another. We always get that comment from people...that we seem to be naturals together. I love her so much!

It was an amazing weekend. I have to go to Maine this Tuesday - Friday for work so I'm sure I will do lots of updating while there, because what else is there to do in Maine?

Success! A NEW Record!

She loved it :)

See below.

Dear St. Valentine, Make This Day Great

Valentine's Day Weekend!

I'm so excited. Leslie and I have been teasing each other all week, keeping "top secrets" and not telling each other anything about what we're going to do for each other, but hinting at things. I'm making mine really hard to guess. I even told her I was working on it at 7:00 in the morning one day this week, which I was. She's so stumped. It's going to be awesome!

This is the first Valentine's Day of my life where I've had a REAL Valentine (other than a family member) and I'm really looking forward to it!

I am prepared with her favorite types of candy (which are random, I still could never find that pesky Nerds rope), a book, a picture of us, and a scavenger hunt/walk through the house with cards. I can't wait! Suprises kill me, I have a very hard time keeping a secret.

I'll post back with the results!

This Will Be Good

I'm in love. I really, really am. I've always wondered how you know, like really know you're in love with someone. Some people say they knew from the moment they saw the other person, some say they grew to love the person. For me, this is sort of my story.

I can't say I was looking for love, but what I was looking for was a girl to date, someone to have a relationship with. The last two were sort of duds, and I wanted something a little more like real relationship. eHarmony really did work for me. I'm not sure how much stock I put into the actual "matching" of it, but we were two people compatible who found each other.

How do I know I'm in love? For me, it's waking up every morning and the first thought being about Leslie...everyday. It's thinking about her multiple times, throughout the day. It's wondering how her meeting with her manager is going, or wondering if her day is going well. It's my mind being on her, and not work. It's looking forward to seeing her for any reason, no matter what the activity is. It's looking forward to each weekend with her. It's thinking of ways I can make her smile, or make her happy. It's being thankful we get along so well, and laugh at the same stupid things. It's her family, and how well I get along with them. It's just her, I can't put it into words, because I've never felt this way. It's thinking about how I'll make her Valentine's Day special even though it's still not here.

I have a plan, a good one. I'm going to do a scavenger hunt, in my house. I'm going to write out small notes telling her what I love about her, and chronicle some of the experiences we've had. I'm going to scatter them through the house like clues and let her find each one. This will be good, I think she's going to love it.

I'm happy.

Moving Right Along

Saturday Leslie and I finally used the "L" word. We love each other! It was pretty evident earlier, but the words were finally said Saturday and it was awesome. Things are going really, really well. After the hour long episode of the best show on TV (The Office) I found this clip of Phyllis and had to post it here.

Bulleted List

1) Tonight is a very special night. At 12:00 AM, besides the time change, Smash Brothers Brawl is going to be released. Alex and I are going to the Gamestop around 11:00 for the pre-party and getting our games at midnight. This has been a long time coming. If I were to guess, there probably won't be much posting next week due to me playing that game, but we'll see.

2) Last night Katey and I went to Troy to eat at the California Pizza Kitchen in the Somerset Mall. The Somerset Mall is a really fun place to walk around. It's 3 stories tall and nothing but high end stores. Then we came back to my apartment and watched House. She wanted to watch House, I don't really like those CBS shows but it was ok.

3) I looked at some more houses today in Plymouth, 3 to be exact. What I saw today was much nicer than what I saw when Mom and Dad were here. The prices were lower and the houses were in much better conditions.

4) It snowed again today.

Gotta go!