Fall is coming

Today feels like Fall and I'm okay with that. I got up this morning and it was chilly out. Football is on. We met some friends for breakfast this morning and we have plans for dinner with friends tonight. I am ALL MOVED OUT of my house, keys turned in. I really couldn't be more thrilled with this Sunday day.

I always forget about how much work it is to move out. There is the packing, which always starts with great intentions of going through the masses of stuff amassed and getting rid of as much as possible. But by the end, I have lost patience and am just throwing stuff in boxes, no organization, just jamming stuff in and taping the box up. And then once the packing is in process/done, comes the furniture moving. Ish! I put some of my furniture up on Craigslist, hoping to have it picked up and not have to do anything with it myself. But then once people started emailing me and requesting my address, I got nervous. I don't want strangers coming into my basement house. I ended up giving people the street names, but not the address, and said the furniture would be out on the sidewalk. Pretty much got rid of everything I needed to in about 30 minutes. Awesome. And then comes the cleaning that goes along with moving. My landlord provided a checklist, and I paid for a 'task rabbit' (website where you can find someone that can help you with just about any task you have) to come help me clean. It was a long couple of days, Brian was an unbelievable trooper/helper, I am sore and bruised and tired, but I have turned my keys in and am OUT. Sigh. 

Last night we went to a dance party...the same dance party that we won Best Costume for last year- last year was the Hipster theme and Brian went as Sufjan Stevens and I was Bon Iver. This year the theme was 'Stars and Stripes'...we had a little different take on the theme and did 'Stars IN Stripes', as in celebrities that went to jail...Brian was Lil Wayne and I was Lindsay Lohan. We won Best Costume again. Oh the pressure for next year's costume!

Random food note...Brian and I try to get lunch food for the week, to avoid going out to lunch too often, sometimes we get stuff for sandwiches, sometimes we get Trader Joe's frozies....well, last week we were at Target on Monday night, so I picked up some Kashi frozies for the lunch week. So Good! I mean, it isn't like a gourmet meal or anything, but for a frozen microwave meal, REALLY tasty. 

Okay, I must get some cleaning done.

Engaged!

So much has happened since I last blogged, my goodness.

Let’s see…I got ENGAGED. Whoa, big news. (though I’m guessing anyone that reads my blog is probably already aware of this one). Short version- It happened on National Relaxation Day, and more importantly- Felix Hernandez’ PERFECT game. We had plans to head out to Whidbey Island already, so I didn’t think twice when Brian suggested we have a date night out there (instead of the salmon bake we had planned to attend). We went for a walk, he did the whole down on one knee speech, he had called both my mom and my dad the previous week, he had purchased a ring without any help from me- and it’s beautiful and I love it and absolutely would have been the ring I would have picked myself. I was speechless and shocked and pretty much the only thing I said was yes. I hope he knew how excited I was, because boy, I sure didn’t show it. Ha. You never know how you are going to react in a situation until you are in it…turns out, rather than cry or jump or whatever, I turned silent. I just wasn’t expecting it…I figured with the amount of time we spend together, I would have some kind of idea ahead of time.

Naturally, after the engagement comes the part that I have dreaded for pretty much my whole life…the wedding planning. Bah. I have never really liked weddings that much, and I have certainly not been planning details from childhood. I have always felt like weddings are way too ridiculously expensive, particularly at a time in your life when you are probably more in need of a savings account than a party. Every wedding story has the tale of the mothers controlling the details and the event turning into something that is far from who the couple is (we don’t have this problem…both sets of parents have been nothing but encouraging and helpful…sooo grateful!). Or people plan things at their wedding because they think it is something they are supposed to do, rather than something that means anything to them at all. Etc. Not to mention- I personally, am NOT good at making decisions…like small, non important ones, like the napkin color. So the idea of having small decision after small decision, a thousand little details STRESSES me out.

BUT…as the planning process has started, of course some of my feelings about it all have changed. I start thinking about details and getting ideas. And luckily, Brian and I are pretty much on the same page about the tone of the event. Brian is totally involved…he cares about the decisions, so it isn’t just up to me (phew!)…I go back and forth every day about cost. I mean, it is ONE day. Like five HOURS of one day. BUT, the five hours of one day that we will talk about for the rest of our lives. The one day that you keep pictures up in every house you live in together. Back and forth, back and forth. Ahhh…looking forward to having the big details nailed down and confirmed.

I am moving again. In an effort to save some money pre-marriage, and to get out of my spider house, and really, because it will be fun to have a roommate and company again…I’m moving BACK in to my old apartment with Catie. I’m really looking forward to it. I’m NOT looking forward to packing. This week. Because I have to be all out by Saturday…(my own doing…I said I could be out early if he finds someone to take the lease). It’s doable…but it’s going to be tough. The plan is to get rid of as much as possible. I’m hoping to pretty much live out of a couple of suitcases for the next 7 months. I’ve done it before…totally possible. I am scared to clean/pack under my bed…I am afraid of what giant house spiders (that’s a real thing) are lurking under there. But, after this week it will be done.

Also on the agenda for the week, we have to get ready for our Boston/NYC trip next week. Things have been so crazy around here that I don’t feel like the trip has been given it’s due excitement and preparation…I really haven’t thought about it too much because it has always seemed so far away…but here it comes next week! Eek.

Besides all that…I am supposed to be doing a half marathon in less than a month. I haven’t run in like 2 weeks, and I haven’t run more than 6 miles period due to my knee. Every time I run, I feel about a million years old because my knee feels like it is going to fall off at any moment. So that should be a fun event…at least my aunt (who I am running with) is in the same knee injury boat so we can limp the race together. Knowing her though, she will grimace through the pain and get her best time yet…

That’s all for now. Happy back to school. Happy end of summer. Happy Pumpkin Spice Latte!