South for the holidays

The fiance and I have been shuttling ourselves between Savannah & Bluffton for the holidays. It has been so nice to celebrate and spend time with the fiance's family. The last time I was in town to celebrate the holidays with them was Christmas of 2009.

It was a wonderful Christmas, filled with lots of love and laughter. It was a bittersweet Christmas, as we will be celebrating Christmas with my side of the family next year (Unspoken rule #2356 for young married couples: until you have children, you do your best to alternate holidays with your parents). Nevertheless, we enjoyed every minute we have been able to spend with family, and we are so very grateful to have special times like these to celebrate the birth of our Savior!

Feliz Navidad!

Project Do: Merci!

Since I don't have the money to buy a tabletop press (yet), I started exploring other ways to make beautiful things. Enter: Speedball Speedy Carve & Block Printing kit. Best investment I have ever made, and it is so easy! The tools are easy to use, and Speedy Carve is easier to carve than the classic linoleum block. It has the same texture and softness as those pink erasers, so carving them is pretty simple. Since I don't consider myself to be ultra-artsy, I'm ok with the smooth texture and feel of speedy carve versus the wood texture of a linoleum block. You may find that you like block better; all I can tell you is that the block irritates the heck out of me and I usually find a way to injure myself when I use the linoleum.

In the spirit of Project Do, I made thank you cards out of this beautiful font I found online. I printed "merci" out in several sizes. I found a size that I thought fit my speedy carve block best. Then I outlined "merci" with pencil, and imprinted it onto the block by turning it over and rubbing my pencil outline into the block. I carved out all the parts contained within the pencil lines using my carving tools and voila! Got myself some ink and printed away. I need to work on my carving skills and get my work to be more rounded, but I am very pleased with my outcome.

This is only the beginning of my adventure with pseudo-block printing. As I prepare to get married and start budgeting myself, I want to do as many DIY things as possible. This carve can be re-used many times, in varying colors. Maybe one day I'll carve out a border around it and make something new out of something used! The possibilities are endless, and it's exciting.

Project Do: Sewing Kit

I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of this lovely blog - "Project Do". This is my attempt at adding some DIY happiness to the blog! As the holidays approach, I cannot stop oogling at pinterest and getting inspired to do more DIY projects. I did a post a couple of weeks ago about making this season of giving a little bit more special, and included a DIY project of monogrammed kitchen towels.

About a week later, I decided to 'make' my very own sewing kit. After making the monogrammed towels, the basket of sewing stuff that I had inherited/borrowed from my mother tipped over and allllllllllll of the contents spewed out. I'm talking like thread unspooled, needles strewn across the floor and waiting to pounce on my bare feet. It was a near disaster.

Until! I realized I could do a DIY project I've been itching to do - sewing kits with mason jars! I first came across this idea while perusing Etsy. Then I found a how-to on Martha Stewart's website, and I had to try it!

I'm all about following directions...until I find out I don't have all the things the how-to tells me I need. So I improvise! Instead of batting, I used old socks. I took one sock, cut it in half, then rolled it into itself to make a pseudo ball. I also don't have a hot glue gun. I had a stapler! So I stapled the fabric, sock, and cardboard together. Almost included a few fingertips too.

I used the detachable jar lid and traced a circle onto the cardboard (this was the top of an old shoe box). Then I took that rolled up sock and placed it on top. Then I took/ripped off a sleeve of that lovely shirt (that I have hoarded since 2008/since I couldn't fit in it anymore, but couldn't give away because the fabric is beautiful) and stretched it over the sock and cardboard. Many staples later, I shoved this protruding sock-monster through the jar lid rim, and screwed it on top of the jar. It doesn't fit quite snug, only because the cardboard was thick. But I shoved the lid on and it stays shut!

I have named her Francis. She's sassy and fabulous.

I love it. She's beautiful. Have I sewed anything/used this since I made it? Nope. But she's there if I ever need her! What a great gal!

Dos anos

 

Happy 2 year anniversary fiance! Thanks for amusing me and going with me to watch Happy Feet Two.

P.S. We're six months away from the wedding (eek!!)!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Flag football in the morning

Food in the evening

"Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;

let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

Let us come before Him with thanksgiving

and extol Him with music and song."

Psalm 95:1-2

Tis the season to be giving

Americans are expected to spend an average of  $715 on Christmas presents this year. That's a lot of pennies. The older I get, the more I realize that gifts need to be one of two things: 1. practical or 2. an inside joke. Anything else is pretty much a waste of money.

Thanks to pinterest, I have been inspired to do more DIY projects, and before I knew it, I ended up making monogrammed kitchen towels for my in-laws! (Shhh, it's a secret, so don't go sharing this with them!!) It brought me back to my childhood, when I used to spend long plane rides cross-stitching. All I needed were some bargain kitchen towels (found mine at Marshalls for $4), some thread, and a stitching hoop! I cranked these babies out during two evenings of TV before bed.

(Please ignore the deformed monogram in the middle)

Wondering what you could do this holiday season? Give presents that give back: TOMS, World Vision Donations (great ways to give under $25!), volunteer at a local soup kitchen over the holidays...

...or donate a diaper bag filled with awesome/ridiculously cute baby stuff!

My church offered us various opportunities to give back to the community around us this holiday season; Operation Christmas Child boxes and three different Foster Care opportunities. Before I knew it, I was signing up to fill a diaper bag with baby stuff for infants needing emergency placements. Just look at how cute that baby stuff is! It was so much fun -- except for the part where everything had to be gender neutral.

Dare to be different this year. Consider spending that $715 on others in a practical way. No matter who you are, you can do something to give back this holiday. Happy giving!

I would rather...

Me: I think we should have puzzle nights when we're married!

The fiance: ..............I would rather do long division with fire ants on my face, than have puzzle nights when we're married.

You know you're getting married when...

...your friend makes this for you:

Thanks Allison!

Everything about this makes me jump for joy!

Whats-in-a-name

The fiance has always found ways of saying words/calling people weird names a la Peter Klaven from the movie "I Love You, Man". It's both awkward and super cute. Don't believe me?

My name is Jocelyn. It was shorted to Jocey. Then it turned into Yosse - in what my fiance calls a "soft y". Then it cocooned itself and morphed into Yossigans. Then it got rhymed with "shenanigans" and voila - a blog url was born.

I am also known to the fiance as: lotus flower, fortune cookie, yellow panda...and my all-time fave, snags. The first three have something to do with my ethnicity, and the last one refers to the snaggle front-tooth I have been sporting since birth. My fiance is considerate and kind.

The fiance's nickname is Rounds. He has a cousin whose child's name is Loundes. She once bit him square on the butt cheek circa Thanksgiving 2009. I became fascinated with rich, Southern family names, and "Rounds" just rhymed and had something to do with his...round-ish midsection that I love dearly. And that's where my creativity stopped. No more nicknames from me.

Nicknames are funny and strange...but more strange than funny in our case. I cannot tell you the number of times that I have forgotten the fiance's real name.

East meets West

I always wanted to be born a hapa - a person that is half one race and half another. Then I took my first biology class with punnett squares and realized that it was impossible for me to change my race after I was born (big bummer).

So, I decided if I couldn't be born one, I would make one(s). And now, here I am, 24 years later, about to marry a white guy...and my children will be beautiful hapa children.

With these two races mixing, it means we have to start sharing cultures. I didn't realize how much 'different' my family was in comparison to my fiance's family...until I realized that my childhood food memories revolve around rice, noodles, and dumplings, and the fiance's childhood food memories revolve around pork chops, apple sauce, and shrimp.

The fiance's parents were in town this past weekend and my family decided to show them who we are, by showing them what we like to eat.

Honey Pig BBQ. Koreans do beef the right way.

Hot pot at home. Strange yet comforting.

I'm a little jealous of my future children. Not only will they be better looking than me, but they'll get to eat two different food flavors for the rest of their lives. Lucky!

Sometimes...

...life sucks.

(psst - check out the new label. will be posting more about this ridiculous dog as he joins our family of two!)

Fighting Fair

Living long distance means we talk a lot over the phone. Talking a lot over the phone means we lose some of the clues we would normally get if we were looking at the person; if they were tired (bags under the eyes), if they were joking (smirk on the face), if they were mad (angry eyes).

We don't Skype; that was weird. Why look at someone when you can't touch them? Such a taunting game, and I lose every time. We tired it once and spent the majority of the five minutes being bashful and making funny faces and not actually talking. Never again.

Fighting - it happens in relationships. And it definitely happens when you're planning a wedding. And it even more 'definitely happens' when you're long-distancing it and planning a wedding.

So the fiance and I sometimes find ourselves talking about something funny and then all of a sudden I am raising my voice and crying. In the last few months, we have had some less-than-pleasant conversations and have had to learn the hard way how to talk about problems in a non-threatening way.

The fiance learned that in order to make our conversations go smoothly, he needs to keep me informed about details as they come up, not bring them all up at once. When he doesn't do that, I perceive them to be a bunch of problems thrown at me all at once - like when you're trying to slice all the fruit in Fruit Ninja on xBox Kinect...sometimes overwhelming and impossible and leaves you exhausted and sweating profusely (no? just me?).

I learned that in order to make our conversations go smoothly, I need to turn down my controlling nature (oopsies) and stop acting like a soap opera star with all the dramatic tantrums. When I don't do that, the fiance gets upset and frustrated at me and I get upset easily and usually break down into tears because I'm a girl. Just kidding! I usually break down into tears because I'm frustrated that I can't fix things right away.

Learning how to fight fair means learning how you fight the right way. How do you react to someone being rude to you? How do you react when your parents boss you around? How do you act when someone gives you constructive criticism? It is easier to get angry faster at the ones you love. If you can practice being nice and even-tempered with others, you will learn how to do the same with your loved one.

Or you could try fighting in whispers. I've been told it works, and usually ends up in a big, ridiculous, laughter-fest.

Going the distance

(Image from longdistancelover.com)

No one ever goes into a relationship expecting to spend the majority of their time doing it long-distance. At least I didn't.

But here I am, a few months away from my two-year anniversary and I have come to realize that of the past 20 months, the fiance and I have spent a little over half of them apart. Both the fiance and I are kind of appalled we have survived.

We love each other, but as you can probably imagine, long-distancing means we have some good days and some bad days.

Good days look something like this:
- Phone calls that last over two hours, most of which is spent laughing at how ridiculous we are
- Praying with each other even though we're miles apart
- Being with people who know the both of us and encourage us as we continue to spend time apart
- Getting letters/emails/texts is like getting Christmas every day. And I love Christmas.

Bad days look something like this:
- Only talking for 5 minutes because our schedules don't match (ie Tuesday nights, when our work and after-work schedules keep us too busy to even sit down for dinner let alone a phone conversation)
- Miscommunication and misunderstanding over what someone said or didn't say
- Being around couples doing couple-y things and feeling as if we're single because our loved one is too far away
- Having to say goodbye at the airport (I cry every.single.time.)

Despite these things, our long-distance relationship has taught me a lot about how to be more attentive to the fiance. I try (and often fail) to stay focused during our conversations, and I devote time especially for him every night because he is important to me. When we actually do see each other, it's as if I'm seeing him for our first date - I get butterflies and get all flirty...it's cute/disgusting. All of these things (and more) will help me get in the habit of valuing the fiance when we're married. Because we all know life doesn't slow down or get easier once you're married...

So here's to you long-distance relationship. Thanks for teaching me how to love my fiance!

Marriage 101

Marriage has been described to me in so many different ways; its wonderful, its worth waiting to find the one you're supposed to be with....but one phrase in particular keeps coming up: "Best thing I've ever done, but the hardest thing I've ever done."

I'm not even married yet and I already know that's the truth. There are so much things to learn about yourself, your partner, and marriage before you even start that step down the aisle, that sometimes I feel like I'm treading water just to stay afloat. The happiness and excitement of an engagement - while amazing and awesome and totally worth getting giggly over - can sometimes be lost in the mess of  wedding planning (don't get me started on guest lists!) and just the day-to-day things that happen between the ring and the ceremony (life doesn't stop acting crazy after you're engaged, did you know that?).

To help us prepare for the big day, we decided to sign up for pre-marital counseling. Some people laughed at us (me) when we (I) mentioned to others that we were going to do pre-marital counseling. "Counseling before you're even married? You're not even married and you already need help? You must have some real bad problems..."

Problems? Maybe. Things we need to work on/work through to help us better respect, communicate, and love each other? YES.

Here's what we learned about ourselves and each other through pre-marital counseling:

1. We learned our "couple profile" and learned the strengths and weaknesses of couples like us. This helped us celebrate our compatibility, while also keeping us aware of areas of improvement. It helped us recognize the different strengths we each bring to our relationship. It also helped us learn where we can help each other in our areas of improvement. We are, after all, helpers designed for each other. How helpful could we be if we didn't know how the other felt/acted/reacted?

2. We learned how to talk about our biggest disagreement area: finances. I hate talking about money. The fiance hates talking about money. I see money as a luxury and spend it because I know I can't take it with me when I die. The fiance sees money as security and holds onto it like he holds onto handlebars on a roller coaster - very, very tightly. Once we discovered that the area of finances was our biggest  "needs improvement" item, we actually spent an entire session talking through it and brainstorming ways for us to start getting on the same page. Another thing we ended up loving about pre-marital counseling: we were given homework assignments to talk about our finances, show each other our bank accounts (eek!), and even made a mock-up budget to help prepare us for our life together. Pre-marital helped us set up a comfortable and respectful space to open up and share with each other things that we had previously kept to ourselves. It also encouraged me to start being more responsible for my money!

3. Having a Christ-centered relationship and having the opportunity to be led by a Christ-follower in our preparations for our wedding was such a blessing! We had the awesome opportunity to work on staff with Karen for a year, and when we had the chance to do pre-marital with her, we jumped at it. It was such a blessing to know that someone cared about us individually and for us as a couple, and was joining us in praying for our future. Marriage is a big step in life and it can seem scary at times, but having Karen there to help us see the Biblical beauty behind marriage and the blessings of a Christ-centered marriage made us excited once again about our upcoming nuptials.

I could go on all day about the blessings and the fruits of pre-marital counseling that we are still reaping, but I think you get the idea. If you have the chance and the time, find a minister and/or a ministry and go through pre-marital counseling. Worst thing that could happen is that you learn nothing....or did you?

Put a ring on it

It was like any other day. I was in town for my spring break, and we decided to head over to the fiance's parents' house for the weekend to see them before I had to leave. We got dressed to go to the beach and had a fabulous BBQ chicken salad for lunch.

We took this photo on the beach.

Shortly after, the fiance suggested we go home.

I was hot. He was anxious.

We got back to the house, and everyone headed outside. I was watching the family dog jump through a hoop.  It was cute. The fiance got up to try, and the dog just sat there. That was not so cute.

Then the fiance got down on his knees to play with the dog and started to act concerned that the dog had something in her mouth. Some people remember "Will you marry me" on their proposal day. I remember: "Eww, come look at what's in the dog's mouth!"

Before I knew it, I was being persuaded by the fiance's entire family to go over to him to see what was going on. I was so out of it. "What a strange request," I thought, "This better be worth seeing."

It was worth seeing.

As you can see from my finger wagging, the first thing I thought of was "whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat is going onnnnnnnnnnnn" and "Is this a joke?!?!?!?! Because if it is, it's not funny!!!!!"

Thankfully the Lord has given me a very patient man and he proceeded to assure me that this was real, that his love for me is real, and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. Could it get any better??

It got better.

His family was in on the whole thing, and so was mine (side story: my mom knew this was happening but forgot what day it would happen, so she would send me texts periodically asking me if anything "exciting" happened...). The proposal was recorded on a camera, and pictures were taken while I stood there in disbelief. Then as if that wasn't enough attention, they set up a private dinner for two overlooking the river right as the sun was setting. It was their first act of service for me, and I could not felt more loved and humbled to be accepted into such a wonderful family.

Of course our story would not be complete without something going wrong. In his secretiveness, the fiance asked my mom to snoop around my room for a ring size. Somehow she discovered/made up this random number, like 7/8ths and took herself and that made-up number to a jeweler...who probably looked at her strange and then somehow determined that I was a size smaller than I actually am.

The next day, we went to a random, sketchy "jeweler's bench" the next day to get the ring re-sized (I really wish I had a picture of this place; it was described to us as "that place across from the children's play area" and was located in an area where you would usually find an Auntie Anne's Pretzels. Real classy establishment). It was probably the hardest and most nerve-wracking decision we've made so far. I thought the ring was going to be lost/stolen forever. But then we came back, and the ring looked more beautiful than I remembered it from the day before.

He liked it so he put a ring on it!

Months later, I still find myself staring at my ring. I look back at these pictures and I am reminded that there is one man in particular who loves me for who I am, as close to unconditional as he can get. I cannot wait to grow old and wrinkly with him!

Too good to be true

I started having feelings for my fiance towards the beginning of fall, after I realized what a great catch he was. But, because of my sour attitude that summer and the way I treated him, I thought I had ruined my chances with him forever.

Then came Thanksgiving 2009. I lived too far away from home to spend the holidays with my family and make it back to work/church on Sunday. So the fiance graciously invited me to his parents' house to spend the holidays with them.

Every Thanksgiving, the fiance's extended family gets together. When I say extended, I mean grandma's-siblings-and-all-of-their-sons/daughters/grandchildren/significant others/etc. I was feeling a little bit uneasy about being there, seeing as I hardly even knew the fiance's family let alone his extended relatives before this. This feeling increased ten-fold when everyone got together for the annual family photo...and placed me dead center. I wish I was kidding.

Awkwardness aside, the fiance was acting kind of strange. Like affectionate strange. He suggested we go take a walk to find his brother (who I didn't know was "missing"). And then he grabbed my hand to hold it on our "walk". Excuse me, what??

Before I could think about what was actually happening, my fiance's brother, cousin and one of his cousin's kids showed up next to us. And then this little child bit the fiance square on his butt cheek. Seriously the strangest Thanksgiving I have had so far.

By the end of the day, the fiance was pursuing me 100% and I thought I was dreaming. Surely this wasn't happening! Oh but it was, and it did.

A week later, the fiance took me out on our first date. We went to a local pizza joint and had a fabulous time....until the bill came and the fiance realized they were cash-only. Guess who paid?

We spent the next six months together, learning more about each other, learning how to work together (literally) and how to love and respect each other.

Then May 2010 came and I moved away. We have since spent the last 16 months dating long-distance (it just took me 10 minutes to count the number of months we have lived apart...16 months is a long time!). We have spent a lot of time shuttling ourselves back and forth for holidays and extended weekend stays. We talk every night and update each other on the exciting day we just had.

Sometimes our schedules get so busy and out of whack that we don't get to talk. Sometimes we go to things on our own and spend our time surrounded by couples doing couple-y things. Sometimes something really funny and/or embarrassing happens to us and we turn to tell the other, but are met with absence. Sometimes it gets really tough. But then I look back at that Thanksgiving not too long ago and I cannot help but smile.

This life is truly been too good, and every Thanksgiving I thank God for giving me this man:

What is love?

A while back I did a post on discovering our love languages. We discovered many things through that test, but most importantly, we discovered that we are different people who love and hate different things, receive and give love differently, and are completely opposite (what?!).

We (I) also discovered that getting to know those parts of ourselves (myself) was an important step to take before trying to figure each other (the fiance) out.

We took tests - fun tests. We took the Myers-Briggs personality test (to which our complementary personalities describe us to a T), a love languages test, and a spiritual gifts test (thanks to our church staff retreat back in 2009). Each of these tests played a significant role in helping us figure out who we were - way before we tried to figure out who we were in relationship to each other.

When the fiance and I first met, we were hired to be interns for a youth ministry. We were basically paid to hang out with high schoolers (best job ever - hollaaaa). The following year, we were back and hired to be...not interns. It was probably the hardest thing I did that year (that and having to bleach half of my hair to dye it blue because I lost a bet for a fundraising event). We suddenly found ourselves in charge (ahh!) and kind of lost in these huge shoes to fill. Through the craziness of the summer and all its programming, I discovered that I had so much to work on about myself - emotionally, spiritually - before I could even pretend to understand another person.

So first came friendship, then came frustration. Then we started with those tests I was talking about earlier. And spent a lot of time in prayer (partially because I needed it, but also because the fiance was secretly praying that I would start having a change of character! God does answer prayers!).

Then we discovered the other wasn't so bad after all.
In fact, we found each other to be quite eye-catching.

When I look back at "our story", I start here. I start at a time in our lives where we didn't get along because we didn't understand how our own person could have strengths and weaknesses to be balanced out by another. I look back at those few months and I am so thankful for having to learn the hard way how to love and respect the fiance as a God-loved, God-created person.

Who we are together isn't perfect. We are far from a perfect couple.
But what we have discovered is that it is worth taking the time to find out about yourself, and it is worth taking the time to work on yourself - before working on someone else.

So that's where we started.
Where we're going is coming up next.

How to get to ever after

This blog would be pretty lacking during the months of September to November, and then again from December to March if I only used this blog to post about things we have done together...because the fiance and I are separated about 600 miles from each other (let's hear it for long-distance relationships!).

But I'm itching to write. And there is so much more about us than the silence in activities between visits. So, naturally, I was inspired to post a few entries about us, without talking about us.

So now begins a series of posts about us. About us before the "l" word. About our life post "l" word. About our proposal. About why we decided to go through pre-marital counseling. About being in a long-distance relationship. Get the picture?

With the explosion of blogs, the ones I follow and find the most informative humorous are ones about people living real lives, with real ups and downs. I have been so blessed by many of them - their honesty about their relationships (good or bad) and their openness to share their failures and successes has helped me learn about what to do and what not to do in preparation for life ahead.

Maybe this will do the same for you.
Or maybe you'll just laugh.
Because it's ok to laugh.
And we're pretty funny.
(!)

I'm all shook up

The summer is officially over, and the fiance has gone back to being that guy I see for the holidays. Consequently, I've transformed back into an 80-year-old woman trapped in a 24-year-old's body, going to bed early, spending the day reading & doing crafty DIY things to pass the time.

However, in light of this week's events, I decided I deserved to have some fun before I had to "hunker" down and prepare for the hurricane that is the next 9 months of my life; full-time school, full-time work/internship, part-time wedding planning.

Thus, no 5.8 earthquake or some swirly thing named Irene could keep me from getting myself dizzy and off balance...at a theme park!

Thanks to the earthquake & impeding doom from Irene, there was hardly anyone at the park. My friend & I were able to ride all the rides without any lines. Huzzah!

I thought twice about riding this, as I recalled the ground shaking and shifting 3 days prior. Turned out to be the best ride all day.

I felt bad going to KD without the fiance, but then I recalled our trip to Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure where he felt like this after every ride:

That's when I realized I'll be the fun parent whenever we go to a theme park!

(With our relationship being long distance, I'm beginning to think that this blog may be as much about our separate-ness as our together-ness. At least for the next 9 months.)

Me & Mine

Distance makes the heart grow fonder.

Truckeroo

Last week, the fiance and I met up with good friends M&K for a food truck festival.

Clockwise L-R: empanada, bulgogi tacos, wonky dog, spicy-guac grilled cheese

As you can see, we ate ourselves silly.

Our friends M&K

We are so blessed to have M&K in our lives, and we are sad that they're moving to California. But we're excited for them and this great ministry opportunity! Next time we see these folks will be at our wedding!

South of the Border

Since moving to the south for school and work, and now that the fiance lives down there, I have driven past this tourist-trap countless times. This time, we decided we would stop. And oh boy were we glad we did!

It looks deserted...because it was.

Our 5-year-old selves joined us.

Why wouldn't you stop at a place where a giant asian man holds a sign that reads "South of the Border"?

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. it was funny, yet sketchy. But it wasn't a total flop. We found many things to laugh over. Like the ethnic Jesus statue for "people of color", or the chicken hat (pictured above) that we may or may not have purchased.

Thanks for the laughs South of the Border!

Love Story

A man and his wings

Deep Creek

Deep Creek, NC is a special place in the Great Smoky Mountains where the going is easy and the life is breezy. Deep Creek is also the place that the fiance and I have been every year that we've known each other (except for last summer).

Summer 2008

Our first time was in 2008, when we were church youth interns. All I remember about this trip was that I had a lot of fun and rafted for the 2nd time in my life in a month. I didn't realize it until this trip, but I suddenly remembered that that was the year my fiance spit game on the van ride home. I woke up from taking a nap and he was holding my hand.

Summer 2009

The next year, we suddenly found ourselves no longer interns but instead the ones in charge. This was our last trip of the summer, and I hated the fiance. We were not "a thing", and definitely not united in love when this trip was going on. There was a serious transmission problem, a flat tire on a trailer on the side of a major highway in the mountains, lots (and lots and lots and lots) of rain, an almost-drowning, and bad attitudes on my part.

My absence from Deep Creek in 2010 was probably the saddest time of my/the fiance's life.

Summer 2011

This time, the fiance and I are very much in love (insert gagging noises) and had a wonderful time spending time and living life with these kids. They are a great bunch of young adults, and it has been our pleasure knowing them and watching them grow these last few (four!) years. 

Kind of crazy to think that this time next year, the fiance and I will be coming back from our first Deep Creek trip as a wed couple. We will be purpling in the same tent and it will be awesome.

(but not as awesome as this picture)

Weekend Update

We date night-ed.

We went.

We ate.

We conquered.

We celebrated a 21st birthday at Harold's Country Club.

(happy birthday best bro!)

 I love spending time with family.

Obsessed.

If there was a fire, and in our house lived me, our things, and the band members of Mutemath...I could be the one left behind. My fiance has loved Mutemath since his ears learned what sound was and has successfully sucked me into the life of synth and crazy drumming a la Darren King.

This is us circa 2009 with lead singer Paul Meany & Darren King, my fiance's first love.

(Please notice how big his smile is)

Yesterday Mutemath released their new single/music video and updated their website. On their website, Mutemath encourages its loyalest fans to remix their single and to submit it to a contest to win stuff. Being the awesome fiance that I am, I surprised my love when he came home from work by being the one to unveil the newly released music video and contest.

Little did I know I would later regret this decision.

The fiance hunched over concentrating like a caveman figuring out how to light his first fire

A download of a mixing program and a lot of hours later, I have created a monster.

(Mutemath - if you're reading this - if my fiance actually does submit a remix, he just wants to win 2nd prize for the signed vintage snare drum.)

Fluffer

The fiance and I were sitting down doing some wedding things and he suddenly got up to go fart across the room from me. It was a nice gesture.

Until he came back and sat down, and then said: "Aww man, it followed me!"

America!

Bailey & Emma were decked out in July 4th spirit

We ate our weight in crabs & shrimp

We (I) embarrassed ourselves (myself)