Fun Night Out

Last night, Lizzie came over to hang out while her fiancé Michael and my fiancé Dan had to check in at the Academy and move their rooms. We talked, caught up, and drank wine and margaritas while we waited for our men.

Finally, they both made it back to my house, and we set out for downtown Colorado Springs because Michael had just turned 21 the day before. He was the baby of the group, and it was fun to take him out. We started at a martini bar where the guys had boring shots over ice and Lizzie and I both indulged in a bubble gum flavored martini called the Bubble 07! :)

Then, we went to the Thirsty Parrot and played pool while drinking beer. Unexpectedly, Lizzie and I beat Michael and Dan! It was a very proud moment.

We ended the night with some greasy food at Jack Quinn's and lots of laughs. I can't wait to go out with them again!

It was a great night overall, but I have been paying for it today. 

Blast From the Past: Valentine's Weekend 2010

When Dan was at the Air Force Academy's Prep School, we didn't get to see each other very often because it was too expensive for me to fly out to Colorado from Missouri more than once every couple of months. Since our anniversary is at the end of February, we really wanted to see each other then, especially because it was our very first dating anniversary. Valentine's Day is just 11 days before our anniversary, and it happened to fall on Presidents' Day Weekend that year (meaning three day weekend), so I flew out from Friday through Monday, and we had a blast!

On Friday when I got in, we searched and searched for Chinese food in Denver, but since we couldn't find any buffets (classy, I know. We were STARVING), we settled for a Mongolian BBQ place that was tiny and weird... but so good! We stayed in Denver that night and had the BEST free hotel breakfast the next morning. On Saturday, we went to see Dear John at the movies (I had just finished reading it, and Dan was so gracious to agree to go with me, though it did scare him away from ALL Nicholas Sparks novels-turned-movies from that point on), and neither of us enjoyed it. But we had a lot of fun exploring Denver afterward and then heading to our hotel in Colorado Springs. The Winter Olympics were on at the time, and we all know I'm into the Olympics. Instead of going out, we picked up fast food and ate it in our hotel room while watching the Olympics (it was skiing that we enjoyed that evening!). It was a lot of fun just hanging out, cuddling, and watching TV together. Most people would think of that as something normal to do, but when you're in a long distance relationship, it is anything but the norm. What little time you get to spend together is usually consumed by activity after activity, trying to pack weeks or months of fun into a single weekend together.

We took this picture in Denver after we realized we hadn't taken any in 24 hours of being together! Oops. 

On Sunday, Dan told me that he had a surprise for me, and I knew we would be celebrating our anniversary that evening. We got all dressed up and headed out. Dan drove us toward Manitou Springs (a little town I love), and we ended up at the Miramont Castle (READ ABOUT IT HERE). It was GORGEOUS, and I was ecstatic that we were having dinner inside a castle! They do not serve food all the time, but they were having a special Valentine's Day dinner, and somehow Dan found out about it. (Have I ever mentioned how awesome and creative his dates are?!)

Isn't it majestic and beautiful?

We had our dinner (delicious, by the way, and totally out of our norm), and Dan gave me a ruby necklace surrounded by diamonds. (I am actually wearing it as I type this -- I still love it!). The ruby is my birthstone, and Dan's birthstone is the diamond, so it is perfect, and that is how he explained why he chose it as well. The sneaky guy had also sent pictures of it to my friends to make sure it was something I'd like! Ha! I couldn't carry the gift I had made for him into the castle, so I gave it to him when we got back to the hotel. I bought a glass fish bowl and painted on it. Then, I filled it with 365 things I love about him, all written in Sharpie on small, bright colored pieces of paper. He absolutely LOVED it, and he had a new "gift" each day for an entire year. I enjoyed making it for him, and he kept it out in his dorm room at the Academy for a LONG time (and received compliments on it randomly!). 

Heading out for our anniversary dinner date! I love this photo so much!

The fish bowl gift! It says: "There are millions of fish in the sea, but you are the only one for me!" There are waves and little fishies painted on it too, but you can barely see them. 

The next day was my last day in town, and we went apartment hunting! It was fun looking at the placed I had called about, and we actually ended up finding THE PLACE that very day. I didn't sign a lease for another month or so, and I didn't move in until the end of May that year, but finding it during that trip out to Colorado was awesome. I didn't have to worry anymore. And before taking me back to the airport to head home, Dan and I found an AMAZING Mediterranean joint in Colorado Springs called Heart of Jerusalem, and we still go there regularly. Leaving Colorado was super tough that time, but Dan was coming home for Spring Break a month later, so we had that to look forward to! 

Just an Update

Today was my last day of New Staff Institute -- aka teaching summer school for my new district. I'm glad it's over. It went well, and it wasn't too bad, but I still firmly believe that July is for sleeping in.

Next Friday (a week from today) is my first official day to report at my building for the year, and I'm very excited to start working with my team and getting things ready for school. The first day of school is only 12 days away, eek!

Next weekend is the Color Run (a 5K race where paint is thrown on you as you run), and I am SO excited! I've been looking forward to it since April. :)

Dan got home from England last night, and it was nice cuddling with him on the couch, eating Chinese take-out, and watching gymnastics in the Olympics! It's so nice to have him back here, and although his classes start next week, it's nice to know that we will soon start our "school-year" routine, which I MUCH prefer to our summer lack-of-all-routines. After all, I am a creature of habit.

Instagram Magnet Craft

For over a year now, I have been obsessed with a photo app called Instagram. Most people have heard of it, but not everyone uses it. I originally liked it for the quick editing I could do on it because I am NOT a photographer, and I am NOT a graphic specialist AT ALL. I just like taking pictures of my daily life. Now, I like it for the versatility of the square shaped photographs. If you have not heard of Instagram, CHECK IT OUT.

Last fall, I found a website called Stickygram (CHECK THEM OUT) that creates magnets out of Instagram pictures. They look GREAT, but they are kind of pricey. You get a pack of nine magnets for $14.99. That price is okay if you're only planning on getting one set of magnets, but everyone who knows me knows that I do things excessively. When I realized I could have magnets made out of my pictures, I knew I wanted A LOT. I decided to pick out all of my favorite pictures of Dan and me and make magnets to display on my refrigerator. What happened was that I picked 127 pictures. Oops. They are complete and looking great in my kitchen! I did start with a smaller set, though, out of the two sets of professional photographs Dan and I have had taken (one set by Missy in 2010 and one set by Hannah in 2011). I gave a set to my mom and a set to my grandma, and I have a set for Dan's mom the next time I see her.

I ordered the pictures from Snapfish (again, CHECK THEM OUT), and they have never let me down. You can order collage prints from them, so I order 4x6 prints that have six small square photos. They are the perfect size for magnets. I bought the adhesive magnet strip at Hobby Lobby, and it works just fine. The magentic strength is not very high, but I am using these for decoration, not for practicality. If you want a stronger magnet, you'll spend more money for a better quality.

And now... pictures:

First Set -- Professional Photos

what the collage prints look like... that is nine separate 4x6 prints! 

I begin by cutting them down...

... and cut them smaller

finally, they are (near) perfect squares

all laid out

the supplies! I bought an adhesive magnet strip and cut it into small pieces to suit this project...

after I put the magnets on the back of the first set! 

These made a wonderful (and inexpensive!) gift :)

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Then, I decided to be ambitious, and I ordered pictures that display my entire relationship with Dan! You will notice at the end that there is still plenty of room left to add on to, and I fully plan on doing that. 

I had a hard time narrowing my favorites down... but trust me when I say that this is just a small selection of the pictures we have taken together!

close up of some photos...

another close up :)

one last close up...

my refrigerator! 

They certainly add some fun to my kitchen! 

If you decide to make this project, let me know! I had a lot of fun with it, and I can't wait to add to my new magnet collection! :)

Book Review: The Kite Runner

How many of you have heard of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini? How many of you have actually read it? Okay, that's a trick questions because many of my friends actually HAVE read it, but many others claim to know what all it's about without ever having read it. Yes, there is also a movie, and no, I have not seen it (yet).

The Kite Runner was published in 2003, and I bought the book in 2005. It sat on my shelf. And it sat and sat and sat. I just never could gather the courage to read it even though I had heard GREAT things about it. I knew that it was about Afghanistan, and two things bothered me about that. At the beginning, I didn't want to read it because it sounded boring to me. Isn't that awful? And secondly, after I started dating Dan (yes, I know, not until 2009), the thought of anything related to Afghanistan simply scared me. Naive, yes? 

Well, let me tell you all that when I finally decided to read The Kite Runner, I was pleasantly surprised. I could not put it down. Dan was in Salina, KS for a Flying Team event, and I spent the first two days he was gone starting AND finishing this book while sitting on my balcony drinking wine. Never EVER have I been so captivated by a book from the very beginning.

Amir, the narrator, tells the story of his childhood in rural Afghanistan with his best friend, Hassan. Amir is well off because of his father, while Hassan is not. Hassan's father works for Amir's father, but readers learn more about that relationship later into the book. (I don't want to spoil!). The bok spans the time of the fall of Afghanistan's monarchy, and it also goes through the Soviet invasion of the country. If history doesn't interest you, fear not: Amir's story is so captivating that you'll keep reading just to find out what he has to say. 

After the Soviet Invasion in 1979, Amir and his father are able to escape Afghanistan, and they head to Pakistan and later to the United States. They go from a mansion in Afghanistan to a small apartment in San Francisco, but Amir tries to make the most of the situation. 

Many things happen (that I won't spoil) that lead Amir back to Afghanistan and back to Hassan after all those years. By this time, it has been 20-ish years, and the Taliban is taking a stand in Afghanistan. It's not safe, my Amir is called to go back.

Without ruining anything, I would rate this book 10 out of 5 if I could. It was THAT good. Yes, I love to read, and yes, I enjoy ALMOST every book I pick up. However, it takes a rare book to REALLY make me think. The last time that happened  to me was in January of 2011 when I read Markus Zusak's The Book Thief (also highly recommended by me). If you have not yet read The Kite Runner, PLEASE do so as soon as you can.