And She Said…YES!

Today is going to be a special guest post. Rather than being written by your regular, beautiful hostess Jill, I'll be writing it. To help things make a little more sense as to why I'm here instead of her, I have some exciting news to share:

We're engaged! I asked her to marry me on Memorial Day, and she said yes. And, as she's been getting back into blogging, she wanted to share the story with everyone, and came up with the idea of seeing it from my perspective.

The plan was pretty simple. I had already made reservations for dinner that night, with a special note that we wanted to celebrate our recent engagement. Of course, this presented the obvious problem: we weren't yet engaged. So I needed to do it today. I was going to ask her in the morning, shortly after we got back from working out. She always thinks she's too sweaty to even kiss after she's finished a long run, but it's always worth getting a little sweat on my lips in order to kiss her.

I wanted it to be a surprise for her, which is a little harder to accomplish when we are spending so much time so close together in her new one-bedroom apartment. I wanted to catch her while she was looking absolutely gorgeous, even if she didn't normally think it of herself. So asking her after she's spent an hour putting on her make-up and getting her hair done up while in a pretty dress wasn't going to work.

Unfortunately for my simple plan, the day broke with a rain storm moments after we got out of bed. We're talking cats and dogs coming down in sheets. Alright, no big deal. We'll just wait a little bit longer to go to the fitness center to work out so we don't get there sopping wet, and I'll just wait a little longer to pop the question.

It just KEPT raining. Hours of it. Which is normally fine, I can go ahead and spend a day inside with my beloved girlfriend, but the dinner reservations at 5 pm were creeping closer and closer, and I didn't want to need to pull her aside as we were walking out the door and basically shove the ring onto her finger as an afterthought, and I certainly didn't want the people at the restaurant spoiling the surprise by asking about the "recent engagement" we were celebrating. I might've been able to spin that into a "oh yeah, engagement is British for being hired" or some such, but it'd've been a stretch, and awkward, and I'm sure Jill would have seen right through the obvious cover story.

So, maybe we could go even though it was raining a bit? I kept asking her when she wanted to go, even though it was, of course, still raining. She kept picking up that I was antsy for some reason, though didn't have any idea about why, just that I was apparently really really eager to go working out. I think I asked a total of three times over the course of the day, spaced out to try to not draw too much attention and arouse her suspicion, but I was really worried about her figuring things out.

Finally, the rain broke, and we went to work out. It was a strength-training day for both of us. I explored some of the machines and free weights in her fitness center, trying to find how to most closely replicate the workout routine I do at the gym at school. The co-rec there has squat racks, barbell benches, deadlift platforms, and more, which lets me easily do the classic heavy lifts. Jill did a bunch of bodyweight exercises with extra weight from dumbbells to increase the difficulty. I'm not sure what her routine was, specifically; she's always been better about planning what to do at a gym than I am, I usually just walk in and do what seems interesting at the moment until I'm sore and tired.

After we got back, we were figuring out where we needed to go that night for dinner and to the hotel afterwards, and making sure we would have everything we needed for our upcoming celebratory vacation. She had her back turned to me, checking out things on her phone as it charged on the iHome in the kitchen. Perfect. I slipped the ring box out of it's hiding place in my backpack and came up beside her, the ring in my far hand. Of course, now that I was next to her, she was looking at me as we talked, so I asked a question to turn her focus back to the screen of her phone, and then went down on one knee. In my mind, that's the only way to do a proposal.

She was shocked into silence, and her eyes went a little wide. She said later that it felt like so long had passed before she could finally get her voice back to say "of course!". This was followed by plenty of laughing and smiling and hugging and kissing, and tears of joy on her end. She cries pretty easily at things like this, so it was nice to see it happen.

We had dinner plans for 5 pm, since we were planning on having a nice leisurely dinner. We sat down in the mostly empty restaurant, and immediately started having a fantastic time with our server. Turns out, he was recently engaged as well. Small world. We started the meal with an appetizer of bacon-and-cheese-wrapped shrimp, and a walnut and cranberry vinaigrette salad that we split.

At the waiter's recommendation, we opened a bottle of blended white wine, which was incredibly sweet. I had the stuffed salmon with sautéed green beans over mashed potatoes with sausage. It was fantastic, and I had to slow down my pace dramatically to make the meal last a little longer.

She had... some other fantastically delicious dish. I'll admit, she's much better at remembering meals than I am. Fortunately, she's also very good at taking pictures. [From Jill: Cashew crusted tilapia with Jamaican rum butter sauce (holy crap, awesome) and sweet potato couscous with sautéed green beans.]

For dessert, we were gifted two glasses of champagne and a "chocolate box". The box was formed of milk chocolate, and filled with white chocolate mousse and raspberries, blueberries, and bits of strawberries. It, like everything else, was delicious.

After dinner, we took a walk, enjoying the warm night and chance to be downtown where we normally aren't. We ended up drifting several blocks over and finding ourselves by a Cheesecake Factory, so we stopped in for a second dessert to truly celebrate the wonderful occasion, as well as some drinks. I had a Long Island, she had a martini, and we split the Oreo and Kahlua cheesecakes.

A fantastic way to end the night. Of course, we still had to get to our hotel, so after some fancy navigating to get on the highway out into the boondocks, and quite a few missed turns, we were finally on our way there, and arrived near midnight. We checked in without any trouble, but when we got up to our room, we discovered the bed was all disheveled and immediately turned around. If the room was occupied, we didn't want to stick around when whoever was occupying it came out of the bathroom. The ladies at the front desk were very helpful and very apologetic, however, and immediately found another room for us to take. We were upgraded to a suite (awesome) and given two vouchers for free breakfast at the hotel's restaurant (also awesome).  Quite the day! And the start of a fantastic forever with my new fiancée.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jill here, again.  So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen.  We’re engaged and very happy.  The wedding won’t be for a while, think three or four years given that Jack needs to finish his PhD, but we figure that just means we have a ton of time to get it perfect.  =D

The [May] Month of Great Change

So not only did I graduate this past month with my final, most awesome degree but I have since moved to a new place and am about to start a brand new job.  It was quite the crazy last few weeks.  So let’s start close to the beginning, shall we?

First off, I had to say good bye to everyone amid packing up the entire apartment.  I don’t know about you all but packing up everything in your life is incredibly displacing and uncomfortable.  Not to mention busy, chaotic, and just downright messy as all else.  It is definitely one of my least favorite things, ever. 

Saying goodbye, or see you later as the case may be, to people you love and have spent so long around, is difficult.  I think it almost made it worse too because I didn’t just have one party where I said “so long” to everyone in the same night.  I took the draw-it-out path and had individual dinners and things with those important people.  While this gave me a chance to hang out with everyone individually, it meant that I had to suck up the tears multiple times before leaving behind my life there.

Never-the-less, these people were worth it, and I’ll miss them terribly!  They’ve all been such an integral part of my life these last seven years.  But, I’m sure there will be new friends and new things waiting for me here in my new city.  Never to replace the old, just to add on the new.

By the end of the month, the 24th, it was time to actually move.  We had a rocky start to the 23rd, the pack-the-truck day.  Budget Truck Rentals called me to tell me that they simply didn’t have a truck for my reservation.  I’m sorry, what?  What the heck is a reservation for?!?!  The only silver lining to this was that they called me a half hour before the pick-up time, rather than having us go all the way there to find out there wasn’t a truck waiting for us.  We managed to find another truck, thanks to the lovely people at Penske. 

We packed things up in the truck, with many thanks due to Jack and a new friend Eric.  I treated them to lunch in exchange.  Jack and I then returned to clean our way through the apartment before handing in the keys.  Sadly this took even longer than it took to pack the whole place up!  How crazy is that.  Thankfully, Jack’s mom came to help us out.  Couldn’t have done it without her.  After that, we were more than hungry so we met up with another friend and indulged in some great Greek food as my last meal before leaving.

I had some delicious vegetarian sampler plate, some of the flaming cheese, and a piece of the best baklava ever.  And with this food baby in my belly, we slept it off and woke up bright and early for the move day.  Jack and I made the entire move in one day and by the time we got here and unloaded everything, we were completely wiped.

The mess was just unbearable so we left and got food.  We went to a recommended pizza place and immediately sat down to order waters and a cream cheese pesto dip.

Then we had some drinks and a bacon cheeseburger pizza.  And yes, it was as incredible as it sounded.  Seriously delicious.

When we returned thankfully we had already made the bed so we could crash immediately.  No joke, if you do one thing the day you move, make your bed.  You will be ever grateful to yourself and your forethought.

The rest of the weekend was spent unpacking and getting things that I had determined to simply buy new on the other end.  I managed to get the entire apartment unpacked in a single day.  Sunday was a full 8 hours of work but it was nice to finally have everything done.  This cause for celebration meant another night out.  We headed to a local stellar burger joint and ordered a bunch of yummies.

I had the andouille chicken sausage burger with watercress, blue cheese, and onions.  Jack had a burger with a parmesan crisp and a fried green tomato.  On the side was a trio of sweet potato fries (with herbs and brown sugar….amazing!), truffle tater tots, and ridiculous onion rings.  The whole meal was insanely good but we decided shakes would make it better.

And my peanut butter marshmallow one certainly did.  And again, nursing food babies, we went back home and crashed again.  We were so tired from all the unpacking and stuff.  Moving just takes it out of you!  Also, Jack was kind of getting over a sickness (which he eventually gave to me and I haven’t stopped sniffling since) so that didn’t help either.

But, in the end, we were finished.  And I am moved.  And the rest of the adventure was (and is still) just getting started.  In other news, Memorial Day also turned out to be a pretty stellar day.  More on that in another post though, probably tomorrow.  Believe me, it’s a sparkly surprise.  =D

Questions: How do you get through moving?
Where do you get your recommendations for places to eat in a new city?

Gone But Not Forgotten

Hello group!  It’s been over a month since I’ve blogged and I’m sorry for that.  I have been incredibly busy doing a million and seven things getting ready to graduate.  Here’s a brief recap of some stuff off the top of my head:

1) Job stuff is coming along awesome.  There may be an announcement soon.  No promises but I’m on the edge of my seat!  (Been looking pretty cute on interviews too.)

2) I see my absolute last patient as a student today.  I can’t believe I’ve made it through 15 weeks of  prenatal counseling and a whole year of other types of counseling.  This schooling has been some of the toughest I’ve ever endured but I know I couldn’t be a counselor without it.  I am ever grateful for the experience.  No matter how many times I griped…

3) With all this emotion going around (finishing up school, getting ready to graduate for the last time, trying to find a job, balancing school work, taking [and acing] a cumulative exam, etc. –> you get the picture) it is amazing how easily I am reduced to tears now-a-days.

4) I made a new friend recently.  Maybe I’ll introduce you to him soon.  This may depend on the results of #1.

5) Salads and I have been really close lately.

6) Besides #2, the only thing that stands between me and my graduation is finals week.  I have two: one on Monday and one on Tuesday.

7) Thanks to my awesome boyfriend, I have been enjoying massages to keep me sane these past couple of weeks.  Oh he is good to me.

8) Speaking of Jack, we went to a Thunder this year and saw some incredible fireworks.  What a nice day to relax and take a break.

9) I've been studying in my pajamas a lot recently.

10) I got a cute new purse that I absolutely love!  Cute orange crossbody.

In short, it’s been nuts.  I hope to blog more soon as school wraps up and I graduate.  From there I think big things will be happening.  I definitely want to keep tabs on those for you!  Have a super weekend everyone and I’ll catch you soon.

Questions: How has your month of April been?
What are your plans for the weekend?

Anniversary Times Three

Yesterday was one of the best days ever.  Seriously, it was fantastic.  Jack and I celebrated our three year anniversary in style.  The day started off with a wonderful breakfast made by my dear while I was working out.  He used some biscuits, mozzarella cheese, and egg whites to create these little bombshells.  We had an array of toppings from sour cream, ketchup, and mustard.

Great way to start the day and a nice way to refuel too!  We then waited around for the cable guy to come and figure out what was wrong with my DVR.  This is my fourth cable box/DVR combo in a month.  I’m less than pleased.  I just wish things would work for longer than a few days or weeks!

The first unexpected thing happened just before the cable guy arrived.  I received some promising correspondence from a job opportunity!  I don’t want to jinx things so I’m going to keep it under wraps for now.  Please keep your fingers crossed!!

New DVR installed, we took off to a doctor’s appointment for me.  We arrived a bit early and got coffee to kill the time.  I got the new hazelnut macchiato and Jack had a java chip frap.  Yay caffeine.  After the doc visit, we hit up Walmart for some groceries.  I do love shopping with this man.  It feels so normal, like we actually are around each other for more than two days at a time.  Upon completion of said grocery shopping, we stopped by a local Qdoba for lunch.  Jack had only told me that we had dinner reservations at 7:15 so we both needed something to tide us over.  I ordered a taco salad with chicken and salsa verde.  Sour cream and salsa picante ranch on the side for dipping and dabbing.

Obviously I liked it.  It was half gone before I remembered to photograph it!  It also did it’s job and kept me satisfied until dinner.  Just before we left for dinner, the second piece of unexpected awesomeness happened.  I found out that I’M GOING TO BE PUBLISHED!!!!!

The American Journal of Medical Genetics picked up my graduate project for publication.  I’m going to be a first author in a national journal.  How amazing?!  Hard work really does pay off.  I’ll admit I cried a few tears of joy.  I was overcome with emotion.  I really needed some good news and this was perfect!  Little did I know I was going to cry a few more times over the course of the night.  I’m such a sap!

Jack and I headed to dinner and had a hard time trying to figure out how to get up to the penthouse where the restaurant was located.  Fairly sure we tried three sets of elevators.  We did finally make it there though and Jack had a bottle of sparkling moscato waiting for us. 

What a sweet man.  And a handsome one at that.  Just look at him!

With him looking so dapper, I had to doll myself up to match.  I chose a dress for the occasion and was pleasantly surprised that the restaurant was warm enough that I didn’t need a sweater the entire time!

We decided to take our time and order to our hearts content.  We know how to do long dinners, people.  Our average time at The Melting Pot is somewhere north of three hours.  Here at The Eagle’s Nest, we spend just as long.  We began with a pair of starters: the crab cakes and an arugula and roasted pear salad.

The crab cakes were amazing with big chunks of crab and not too much breading.  And the salad, holy smokes!  The pear was stuffed with a herbed goat cheese and then wrapped in smoked pork belly.  Plus I swear the pecan balsamic dressing was crack.  It was probably the best part of the whole thing!  Next up, and maybe a half hour later and that much darker, we had the parmesan truffle steak fries.  I mean seriously, were we supposed to pass these babies up?

So glad we didn’t.  They were lush, crisp, and steamy.  Plus, how can you not love the cute little ketchup that came with them!  At this point the restaurant had rotated enough (yes, the entire penthouse rotates 360 degrees for a totally unique dining experience and a full view of the city) to bring us face to face with some real tall buildings.

Gorgeous views the whole night.  Around this time we had contemplated our entrees and asked our server for a wine recommendation.  After some discussion, we got a nice bottle of smooth pinot noir. 

Turned out that this wine was the perfect compliment to the big plates we ordered.  Jack got the filet and lobster tail with parmesan potato gratin and a sherry thyme reduction while I indulged in the pork osso bucco.  I had a ridiculously delish mascarpone corn polenta pillow underneath my pork too which was easily the best part of the dish.  I could swim in it!

There was also some fantastic crusty bread and soft rolls with sundried tomato butter and lemon butter.

I wish you all could have tasted this food, seriously.  Every bite was incredible.  We both didn’t want any of it to end!  Thankfully, we still had half a bottle of wine and dessert left to go.  =D  Now, no judgment when I tell you that we ordered three desserts, okay?  ‘Cause we did, and it was oh-so worth it!  Kahlua crème brulee, warm apple tart with dulce de leche ice cream, and chocolate caramel cake with chocolate ganache and almonds.

They were all so decadent and rich.  The kahlua crème brulee was the perfect consistency and the chocolate cake was to die for.  The apple tart, and I’m not a fruit dessert kind of person normally, was wonderfully light and cinnamon-y.  Last but not least, Jack finished off the night with an “Eagle Eye” made of Kahlua, Bailey’s, coffee, whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

I nursed the rest of my glass of red wine and we ended up walking out of the restaurant fifty minutes after they closed.  Don’t worry, Jack tipped well and honestly, everyone was very, very sweet and never once made us feel rushed out the door.  All in all, it was beyond a fantastic evening and I’m not just talking about the food.  Like I mentioned earlier, I cried several times thanks to the sappy and very real conversation that accompanied our delicious bites.  Hard to believe it’s been three years.  We’ve come so far and been through a bunch.  I cannot wait to see what’s coming up for us.  =D

Questions: What is your favorite way to spend an anniversary?
Ever ordered more dishes than there were people at the table?