Long Time No Write

I'm sorry it's been so long.  I don't really have a good excuse; I told Jake recently that I feel like we're letting our lives run us instead of having the control over them that we should have.  Hopefully we can get a better handle on our responsibilities and schedules and find some balance.  One of my friends said something about being glad that I'm engaged so I can not have my moniker anymore; should I change the name of my blog?  I've had it for so long; can one just go and change that?

Introverted Boredom

Jake went on a business trip this weekend, so I have had a lot of alone time.  In my older age I have discovered that I enjoy it when I have some alone time.  And since moving up here, I have had quite a bit of it.  I have enjoyed the privacy that my brother and sister-in-law have afforded me, and I have liked just resting or doing things quietly in my room.  However, without an evening of Jake stuff, there's been too much of alone this weekend.  It was just me hanging out at home for several hours yesterday, and I couldn't figure out what to do, especially because THERE WAS NO INTERNET!!  It got all stormy for awhile, and I think it took out the internet for awhile.  Okay, fine.  So I went upstairs and decided to play the Wii for a little bit.  I started out with Lego Star Wars, but that only lasted for a couple of minutes because I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to do.  I swung my light-saber around and killed lots of storm troopers, aliens, etc., but I didn't know where I was supposed to go, and I wasn't interested enough to try to figure it out.  So then I tried Raving Rabbids, but that didn't really do anything for me, either.  I decided that I would take advantage of access to Netflix . . . but no internet = no Netflix.  Oh - right.  Ugh!  I went through the movies.  I didn't feel like a chick flick, which is weird for me, but I'm feeling a little annoyed about the false portrayal of what love is that those movies perpetuate, and I don't need that being more ingrained in me right now, so when I saw The Fugitive, which I've never seen but have wanted to, I decided that last night might as well be the night to get acquainted with it.  I liked it alright - except not so much the swearing.  Harrison Ford was pretty buff, which makes sense, but that's not what I think of in association with his name.  I could have spent part of the evening at a neighborhood bbq, but I didn't feel comfortable going by myself.

Then there was today.  It was good to go to church and to spend the day with my brother and his family, and I got to talk to my former roommate, which was really nice (We lived together for so long that I still feel like she's part of me.), but I'm definitely looking forward to having daily plans with Jake again.

Three Boys in the Back of a Car

This means that my car has been christened.  Our first roadtrip was alright, but after this one there were pretzel crumbs and bits across the backseat.  *sigh.  I know it's to be expected, and it is something to rejoice over - because it means there are children - but I wonder how fast it will age my car.

Surprise Date

Awhile back, my sister suggested a dating website - as in, a website that has a ton of ideas for fun dates.  It looks like it has a lot of cool suggestions, and I think I want to try them.  Tonight I tried one, which involved kidnapping your date.  One of Jake's buddies works with him, so I originally tried to set things up with him so that I could easily kidnap Jake from work.  That wasn't going to work out, but I still thought I'd go get him after he got off.  Yesterday I made a cute note for him, modeled off of the one on the website.  Anyway, things ended up not working out as nicely as I had hoped - his job requires him to be out and about a lot, so he doesn't always leave from the office at the end of the day.  Today was one of those days.  I found out the general area where he would be when he got off, but I didn't know the exact location.  Fortunately, I ended up being very close to where he was, and he called me before he drove to my place (which is really good because I live in a different town), so I was able to talk to him for a couple of minutes while I drove to him.  I ended up telling him that I wanted him to stay put because I was coming, and I just had to hand him the kidnapping note when I got there.  Lame, but I think he still liked it okay.

When he got in my car, I blindfolded him and took him to a restaurant that is really close to his office (which fit better into my original plan of picking him up at work) that he pointed out recently.  We ate Brazilian cuisine - which included grilled pineapple *yes!  Then we had meetings to attend, but after that, we went to his place, and I had him try to hit a tiny target with little nerf things from a toy gun that I borrowed from my nephew.  The prize was those pink and white covered animal cookies - I recently found out that he LOVES those.  I had a big target for myself, which I couldn't hit.  He didn't hit his little target, but he was able to hit mine.  This last part was silly, but it was part of the suggested date, and it was kind of fun.

Anyway, I think Jake liked the date, and I had fun trying to plan it and then watching him be happy with my efforts.  :)

Happy 6 Monthary

Today makes six months that Jake and I have been dating.  That might not sound like a big deal, but for me it is.  If you're not Mormon, you may be thinking, You're just getting started - good job.  Let's check back in another six months.  If you are Mormon, you may be thinking, Why aren't you married or at least engaged? And I have to answer that I'm Jamie, and that should explain it.

Perfect Saturday

Since I've moved up close to the boy I haven't felt like I've had much real time with him.  I mean, we're around each other a lot, but other people are often there, too, and I'm really a one-on-one kind of person.  Saturday, however, we got to spend most of the day with just each other, and that was so nice.  We (or, more accurately I) had had a rough evening the night before.  Saturday, though, we ran several errands together and then drove to Manti to watch the Mormon Miracle Pageant.  It's on the Manti temple grounds.  I think I've only been once before - I was really impressed with the temple.  The design is beautiful.  We got there several hours before it started and followed some signs to a church where one could buy an $8 turkey dinner.  It was so good.  The turkey was barbecued or something and it was wonderful.  I felt really close to my boy as we sat there eating in this place where we only knew each other.  After dinner, we went to the temple grounds and waited for the gates to open so we could find a place to sit and save seats for some of our family that was coming to watch the pageant, as well.  The show was nice, and it was alright to be with other family - so I guess as long as I get enough one-on-one time with Jake I'm alright with other folks, too.  By the time we got back to town that night I was so exhausted - the show doesn't start until the sun goes down, around 9:30, and it lasts an hour and a half, and then there's the drive back.  It was worth it, though, because it was such a great day.

Happy Father's Day

Today was an interesting Father's Day for me because my boyfriend is a father of three boys.  I don't think I made my boy feel like I should have today, and that's not good.  I think this is really a transition period for me right now.  Also, I haven't had much alone time with the boy.  He doesn't even have his children a majority of the time, but it feels like they've been with us a lot so far, and it's a little challenging.  I'm hardly used to being in a relationship, period; add kids to that, and it's not the easiest thing for me.  I mean, I like his kids, and he still does an amazing job of paying attention to me; I think it's just a little hard to come into a culture that's already been there for the four of them.  Ugh - I don't know if that's really what I mean, but I guess that's what I've written tonight.  Happy Father's Day to my boy and to my dad and to lots of great dads out there.