Ohh Mr. RH. How Dashing You Are.

So, it's been a while since I talked about Mr. RH on here. Lots of reasons for that, but the most important of which is that he's been pretty stressed at school. And it has been extremely hard on both of us.

Really early in our relationship, I decided that this guy must be pretty special... and even though I was using an extremely jank phone at the time (and he had an iPhone... and before that some other smart phone), and that I needed to start keeping all my texts from him. I didn't keep all of them, or even a lot of them - just enough to keep things interesting.

So, without further ado, I can give you all a little peek into what it's like to date Mr. RH... over a year ago.  These are all from last summer.

"Waking up in the middle of the night and having trouble falling back to sleep… I think your lack of sleep is contagious." June 18, 2011, 2:41 am

 Photo from December 2011

"I have been awake for 26 minutes now, with no luck falling back to sleep… I am blaming a certain someone."  June 19, 2011, 6:38 am

 "I can pretend it’s Christmas and go back to sleep until the adults decide it’s time to get up. Feels like Christmas to me this month. Just saying." June 29, 2011, 8:10 am

Photo from August 2012

Late at night after our first kiss (and I think he also had a promotion at work):  "Thanks for a great celebratory night. I hope you made it home before you turned into that pumpkin." June 25, 2011, 12:02 am.

"Are you saying I’m the guy equivalent of dumb but pretty? Cause I might be offended!" June 26, 2011, 5:11 pm

Photo from February 2012

"Haha you are cute. I’m glad you want to impress me though, makes me feel like it’s a level playing field since god knows I want to impress you." June 26, 2011, 10:15 pm
"I’m feeling very persecuted right now. You try dating you, and tell me you don’t have happy thoughts. It’s just part of the territory. Just saying." June 28, 2011, 8:29 am

Photo from September 2012


I had asked him what he had told his family about me... "Just that you are great and gorgeous and everything I could want." July 13, 2011, 4:29 pm

"I will remember that… I like you on my side. You can stay there as long as you like." July 15, 2011, 11:02 pm
"You are crazy! Even with tears streaming down your face you are the most beautiful woman in the world. Too beautiful for description…" August 6, 2011, 8:38 pm  I wonder what I was boo-hooing about?

So yeah... even in the midst of the most un-fun stuff we've ever dealt with together, this is the man I fell in love with.  I love him so much.

It's weird to look back though, especially to a time that was much more carefree.  Do you ever look back on stuff like this?  It just highlighted to me how crazy things are and how much can change in a year.

Six Months Later

Six months ago today, Mr. RH walked into my life for the third (and last time) as a stranger.  I was wearing spandex pants and a push-up bra, just in case I ran into him.  I can't remember what he was wearing, but I know for a fact it was dressy, just in case he ran into me.

Since that day, my life has been The After Story.  There was everything Before, and now a new chapter has started.

Sometimes, I forget that we haven't known each other forever.  That I haven't been there for every moment and every milestone.  I forget sometimes that his family might view me as "that girl he's dating" and not as the Great Love of His Life, like I see him.

We spend a lot of time talking about The Future and what it might entail.... and equal amounts of time talking about how we are NOT going to rush through the right-now because the right-now is precious and awesome in its own right.


We decorated our first tree together last night and, despite the fact that I was quite ill with a cold (with a side of straight-up bitchy!), it was exciting to me to think of the next dozen Christmases together.  Of traditions and the future and of buying something to replace this white-on-white Christmas tree.  Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful and cute but... homegirl has distinct taste in trees and this is distinctly different. 

 On the other hand, this will probably end up being one of the most special and memorable trees we've ever assembled together.  Because it is our first.

Six months, in the grand scheme of life, seems like no time at all.  Barely a drop in the bucket.  Only 1.9% of my life lived, thus far.  And yet.

Most days, I feel like a crazy person.  I feel out of control and like NO ONE must understand this feeling.  That my heart leaps out of my chest when he walks into a room and my head can't even wrap itself around the wonder that is him.

Other days, it feels like the most natural thing in the world.  Me and him, him and me.  Us together.  As natural as breathing, but as exhilarating as jumping off a cliff.

Six Months.  Not a lot of time in the grand scheme of things, but plenty of time for the heart.  Who knows what the next 6, 12, 24, or 104 months will bring?  Not me.  But I am definitely excited to hang around and find out.

{This is where I was going to subtly word-trick you into thinking I was preggers.  Because everybody (no, just me?) loves pictures of me and babies.  But then I remembered that I'm hopped up on cold medicine and that I'm not as clever as I should be at 9 am.  To clarify: despite the fatface in Picture #1, I am indeed NOT preggers.  FYI.  Bring on the wine!}

Mr. RH:  I'll take approximately 100 more six-months with you.  Lots of babies (future), lots of fun times.  Wine (asap, preferably).  Laughter and tears (more of the former, less of the latter.  But then again, with me it's more 50/50.)  Lots of finding our own way through life.  Together.

Happy 6 Months.  May the next 600 months be just as amazing as the first 6.

All the Married Ladies

If you've been hanging around here for any length of time, you know that almost 2 years ago I got dumped by the guy who had previously been known as The One. We had been dating for over 5 years.

I'm over it, I know it was for the best, and recently I feel like I've emerged from post-breakup-haze. I have no idea what that phrase means, but it seems appropriate. I feel like a new person all of a sudden. All single and shiny and new.

In my new, shiny personality, I have started to notice a trend. Anybody who knows me - from coworkers to friends to the lady who hems my pants - wants to set me up. If a single man between the ages of 18 and 40 walks into the same room as me, the nearest 15 women in the vicinity (who know that I am single) give me the stare down.

Basically, I feel like a circus sideshow.

Half of my friends are pushing me to join match.com/eharmony/catholiccupid.com and on and on and on.

The other half are dying to introduce me to their little brother/husband's best friend/random guy from the street/random cop/friend who would be PERFECT for me. If only I didn't have such high standards. I mean, really, the fact that he has a child by the town floozy means it has tons of relatives in the area. To babysit, ya know.

And really, BFF, your brother is the same age as my brother and they used to play together. It could not get any weirder.

So here's where I need the input from all the married ladies. My friends are ALL on team "It'll only happen if you make it happen." As in, start going on tons of dates, put yourself way out there, you'll never know unless you try.

Me? I'm on team "It'll happen when it happens." I don't think any amount of forcing the situation is going to get me into a veil any sooner.

But then again, what do I know?

Just in case, I've got a shiny updated picture of myself. Set it to Twitter last night and I feel so fresh and new. Guess the 2007 photos were getting a wee bit outdated.

So, do you sentence me to a lifetime of match.com obsession? Or not?

Hit me with your best dating and mating advice.

More Q&A: Work and Dating

Ah, work and dating, two things that should really never go together.

Is it me or has this Q&A thing gone on for far too long?

Short and sweet from here on out. Ready set go.

erin jensen said... What is your favorite restaurant? Have you started dating again?

I like any kind of restaurant - I'm not picky. I'm always craving Mexican food. (And by Mexican I mean Mexican-American Mexican. Not Mexican-Mexican.) And as I mentioned before I don't eat out often. I haven't started dating again. I don't really see myself as a dater, to be honest. Of course when you date the same guy for 6 years... do I even really know?

Marc said... What can a guy do to NOT have a girl say, "You're so sweet?" Because that's the kiss of death.

Hell if I know! I'm hardly an expert on romance. The thing is... the line between friendship and dating can be very blurry and a girl will rarely be the one to cross the line. Food for thought.

Also, I'm clearly not an expert on romance. Sorry!

Courtney said... I would like to know if there are any men in your life again?

There's my dad and my brother. Hot, right?

Sorry to disappoint Courtney!

Rae said...I would like to know if you've started dating again?

Sorry, I'm letting everyone down today!

Kai said...Let's see..what is the worst date you have ever been on?
I think I answered a similar question recently... but he barfed. After I pulled my car over to the side of the road. Sick, right?

---------------------------------

And now we talk Work. For real, I keep one tiny secret and you are all up in my business!

Ok, I work at a store. It's part of a big company that owns two major retail stores. "My" store is at nearly every mall in America - no exaggeration.

I'm a manager. I worked there for years during college, interviewed in February, and boom.

Rachel said... a question for you: What do you do? You talk about your job a lot, but I actually have no clue what it is that you do. I'd love to know :)

I'm the manager. (Actually, got demoted to co-manager of a larger store.) I help write schedules and train new staff and execute company projects and all that fun stuff. But simply: I work in a store. I sell stuff.

I smile while people look down on me cause obviously only an uneducated person works in retail. SMILE.

AndreaLeigh said...I'd also love to know what you do for a living. I hear lots about your work on Twitter, but I don't know what field you work in.

Retail.

EmJest said... My question is: what is your favorite part about your 'big girl job'?

The money, duh! But I like working in a mostly-female environment. It's like a sleepover all day every day. It's also kinda cool being the boss. But it also sucks.

etta said...Are you still looking for a "big girl" job or has that been put on the back burner?

Oh, touche. I need to keep looking - or at least attempt to move corporate in this company.

Back burner, for sure. I dunno. I'm enjoying this job a lot. But it's not something anyone can do forever. Too exhausting being on your feet and on the go all day long.

Miss E said...When you were younger what did you "want to be when you grew up"?

I wanted to be the editor of Glamour magazine. But that was only when I was about 14 that I had that dream.

No clue what I wanted when I was younger. My mom would remember but my dad I'm sure has no clue. I always wanted to be a dolphin trainer. Cause that job is AWESOME and you wear a wetsuit.

Cole said...Hmm...I want to know what your dream job is!

I want to work in marketing. I wanna be Don Draper!

In my head - I am so creative. We did projects all through school where we could be given a product and directions to do an ad campaign. In 15 minutes. Go.

And my brain just pops out ideas left and right. Fun ones. Not lame ones. Ideas that made teachers question if we were cheating or using the internet. But it was all in my head.

But then I get scared that I'm not as awesome as I think I am... and I end up working retail 5 years after I swore that I was quitting. Haven't quit yet!

Mrs. Jones said...As a newly-employed gal as well, I want to know how it's changed your perspective on blogging, and how you get it all done! I miss my blogging as much as I used to do it - now it's in my head and takes ages to get on the screen! :-)

It's exhausting! Some days I think that I'm never going to be able to do and have it all - a relationship, kids, a job, and a blog. It's just too much!

Honestly, I just made it a goal to blog. I put it on my to-do list. It doesn't always get done... but when it does, I feel so accomplished. Just pick up that laptop and get typing!

miss mal said... You mention that you drive around a lot to get to your job(s) -- what is your FAVORITE song or CD to listen to while you're in traffic or taking a long drive?

I listen to XM radio... which is not what your question asked. I listen to Cosmo Radio.

But hmm.. favorite CD. Does the Mariah Carey Christmas CD count? Other than that most CDs I listen to are mix CDs.

katmcd said... I've been following your blog for some time now and always wonder...where exactly do you work? Like not location but store.

Are you trying to get me fired?

Sara said...I want to know what your dream job would be. If you didn't need to work for money, that is...
Maybe a writer? Or gosh, a professional shopper! I would love that! I love to make people look/feel good!


S.L.M. said... My question is now that you have your new job ... do you love it? What kinds of things to you get to do?
I work with people all day long. Either selling stuff to customers or training and working with employees. I do love it.

However, there are days I wish I could just hole myself up in a room with a computer and work by myself. People can be difficult sometimes!

SouthernBelleJM said...I know you probably do not want to disclose who you work for, but could you tell us what field your work is in??

Ohh I like the way you word this! Smart smart smart!

Obviously it's retail... beauty/personal care and home goods would be the category.

Tarver said... What does your big girl job consist of you doing during the day?

Selling stuff to customers.

tomich16 said...I'd like to know if you work at Potterybarn? Or can you at least tell us what field you work in? I used to and I think one time you mentioned you're only allowed to wear certain colors to work and that's what it was like when I worked there.

Almost every single retail store has a wardrobe of some kind. And nope, I don't work for PB.

I wear black and white and khaki. Only I hate khaki so I only wear black and white.

Are we done for today? I need a nap.

Happy Monday!

Come Fly with Me

So, that weekend went really really fast. (Am I a broken record here? I feel like I say that every single Monday.) Anyways, I had a formal dinner on Friday but the pics were all a bust. Ugh.

Fortunately, Saturday was my last All-College Formal. I took over 150 pics and had a blast.

Before we left we took a few photos around my friend's apartment. This is me, D, and P. P's dress is my favorite and I hope to wear it to something else before this year is over. Adorable.
Me and The Boy. I thought we made a very handsome couple with his green tie and my blue dress. What do you do to match a black suit and a blue dress, anyways? He had a charcoal gray suit but it wasn't here at school so we just went with it.
While waiting for the bus to take us to the ballroom we had an impromptu photo shoot. I just love this picture!!

And apparently we are all about the kisses at this point. (I may also point out that there was some hard liquor consumed in quick succession right before these photos were taken, resulting in the hilarious faces.)

Once we got to the dance I barely got any pictures... but I'll give 5 points to the person who can guess which song was playing when this picture was taken. Any guesses?


And last but not least a poorly taken picture of the ballroom that the dance was in. Isn't it gorgeous? I would just love to have a wedding reception here - it would be amazing!!
Ok, so this was actually kind of a boring post. I really had high hopes of getting back into the swing of blogging... but alas, 'tis not to be. At least today.

Maybe something exciting will happen to me in between now and the next time I can wring a post out of my overworked mind.

How many days until graduation??

Happy Monday!!

Time is Flying...

Ok people, long time no post.

Did you hear about my minor incident? Perhaps the swift hit to the floor actually made my brain be all kinds of crazy. Who knows though, I might just have the gift.

Anyhow, my week was a blur of activity and homework (ugh, the homework!).

On Friday, C and I attended a banquet for the football program he works for. It was long but fun.
Don't we look cute?

Then on Saturday my roommates and some friends (and I) attempted a Photo Shoot - one of my favorite school activities. A Photo Shoot consists of everyone planning on showering and being presentable at a set time. Then they arrive to the set destination about 1 hour late (primping takes time, you know) and proceed to take one million photos in the hopes of getting some winners.

This was our attempt at a roommate photo. I am on the left, being a dictator - as usual. The rest of the cast is goofing off, as usual!
And this was our attempt at a big group photo. Honestly, I am disappointed - we've had much better photos in the past. :-( This one is just okay and it's a little blurry to boot. Where did I go wrong?!?! All in all, it was a blast of a weekend but it makes it that much harder to get to work today.

Today I need to:
- Tan for upcoming wedding duties
- Send out invites for the bachelorette party
- Call into my part-time job back home and make sure they don't schedule me for the wedding day
- Write a speech about a social movement. Anybody have anything interesting? Seriously, I have no topic and the speech is in.... 30 hours!!!
- Write a paper, 8-10 pages long, about Pretty Woman.
- Finish a take-home test.
- Schedule a final for Thursday or Friday.
- Prepare a presentation about Autism.

Well, I think that's all....
Have a fabulous week if you don't hear from me again!!

My Boo is Back

Last week, my man was away - away on vacation with his friends. They went to Disney World, which sounded like a ton of fun. I've never actually been, but that's what I hear.

So he got back, and I had to take a picture to make sure I knew what we looked like way back when... does this dress make me look pregnant?


love,

Love

I would say that in my life I have been very blessed. Nearly five years ago (omg, I am old. Well, not old, but I can't believe I'm old to remember five years ago, when I was old enough to date).

Five years ago, I finally began to date the man who I think was meant to be the love of my life.


Cam and I had been friends for over 2 years when we finally got together. I had set him up with no less than two of my friends. "She's so pretty and smart and funny," I always reminded him. I pushed him at the girls I loved the most. He always got along with them... but something was always off.


Finally, he convinced me that we needed to get together. I said I needed 2 months... but we were dating within 2 weeks. (I know, I'm a sucker.)


Life has definitely not always been easy. As a high-strung person, it drives me INSANE when he is so laid back. I sometimes just wish he'd get wound up about SOMETHING. (This picture is his attempt at getting 'uptight.')


We've had our share of fights... I'll admit it, I'm usually the instigator. But he's not so innocent either!!


We've seen and done some pretty fun stuff. When he's around, life is always interesting.

Even amidst all the crappy stuff... five years later, I have to remember how truly lucky I am.

"Blessed" is the only way to put it.



love,