Here, Lately

It's been a minute since I showed up around here, but just believe that means I've been settling into the new year with a better me and a better plan for the future. With lists and goals and memories, oh my! 

Actually...

A week in excruciating pain from an abscessed molar, scary same-day emergency doctor visits in the wrong part of town because I'm still a little green around here, medication after medication to stop the pain, screaming myself awake in the middle of the night with a supportive boyfriend who helped through it all, a real appointment in a better neighborhood for the root canal, a full-body tremor reaction to the local anesthetic with epinephrine at the better neighborhood better dentist, some stressful memory (loss?) moments from the prescription medications, relief post-op, recurring pain after medication ran out, still a supportive and loving boyfriend through it all. 

A deep dive into IIFYM with a pro who's been doing it for a year now. Tracking the macronutrients of my food intake and balancing the good proteins, the good carbs and the good fats all together in a pretty puzzle. Finally understanding the importance of knowing 2oz and 4oz servings of meat. Learning patience in the precision of measuring in tablespoons, cups and grams. Giving Men's Health & Fitness magazines a try after growing tired of the ads found in the female versions worth the same money. Seeing those men's issues full of helpful tips, science-backed data, professionals and little fodder over 'what to wear to impress the guys' makes me wonder why I didn't think of this sooner.

A change in plans with what the future holds for our living situation, meaning thinking 5-10 years into the future rather than the 1-3 we've been visualizing. All the while trying the very hardest to focus on the right here, right now. The tender mornings, the blurred nights. A realtor! Mortgage talk! Have the will to remodel or rather move in for a little more money. Or go nuts and move into this house that would truly have me giggling every day at the trippy floors and YES rooms. Those walls have stories to tell, I'd love to live there and would convince my guy if it was closer within our price range. 

So that's what I've been up to. I suppose these are confessions worthy of a share with Kathy, Nadine, Sarah, Laura, Lauren, Alanna and .... ???

This is How We Rung in the New Year

It's a little comical how we spent the first hours of 2016. It's fit to be my first confession post of the new year and I hope you enjoy.

We had no plans of how we were going to ring in the new year leading up to it. Did we need to go buy a few bottles of wine or did I need to go find a new party dress? Did we want to drive and be out on the town dancing like last year, or did we just want to spend it looking into each other's eyes like the year before?

We chose staying in with two bottles of wine, college football and some board games. We even shared a *toast*.

The funny thing about our night is that we stressed over what we were going to make for dinner as our last meal of such a momentous year. With nothing that was so perfect, we finally decided to prepare a batch of hamburger helper. You know, in case we drank too much and needed sustenance for the wee hours of the morning. It turns out that was a perfect last meal of the year, and possibly a tradition was born.

The hours from midnight turned into minutes from midnight as we played board games, laughed, dreamed and competed.

Midnight struck with the kiss, the look, the promise, the text messages from family and friends and then that strange feeling to do something spectacular with this gift of a new year. We were having a great time playing board games and card games but once the new year hit, we took a blast to the past as he showed me some of his tried and true college drinking games that I'd never seen before.

I saw him get a cartoon-grade thought lightbulb and all of a sudden we were pulling twelve beers out of the fridge for his next grand idea.

Power Hour.

Yes, the kind you might have played in college and never really made it through successfully. At least I couldn't. If you're ever in the market for such an activity, YouTube has a delightful collection of power hours. Music decades, music genres, comedy scenes, retro TV, anything. We chose a comedy sequence and had some laughs with old favorites, coached each other through with encouragement like,  "no  you're too far ahead" or "no you still owe one!!!" 

We capped off the night on our small apartment balcony with me in my shortest shorts in 30-degree weather, him with as many layers as he could put on, a heat dish, two cigars and 90's power hour music coming from inside of the apartment. Conversation, elation, care and plans for the new year ahead of us.

It was a night I'll never forget despite all of the things that I may not remember. But it was the way we started the year and I guess you can say that we can only go up from there!

Linking up for confessions with Kathy, Nadine, Sarah, Laura, Lauren, Alanna and .... ???

Milestones

Never has a bra felt more uncomfortable than it did yesterday on my first day back to the office in eleven days. I'm sorry that those are the first words you have to read from me in 2016, but it felt less - therefore more - appropriate than "Happy New Year! Our tree is still up and we still have the lights on every night to display the Christmas cheer to our neighbors." 

So, this is January. We're back in the office, back in town, back to reality and looking forward to what wonders the year of 2016 may bring. I'm ready to tackle this turn of the atmosphere and treat it as a precious gift to replace memories of January's and February's of the past with new awestriking examples of love, comfort, safety and happiness for the future. 

Before I embrace 2016 too closely, here are a few milestones in my world that deserve a mention today.

:: It's been six months since we crossed the Mississippi River on our 2,438-mile drive across to country to bring me to my new home, but not without a few bumps that remind me why I moved and what it means to be together, together.  

:: I made it to the other side of the first round of big holidays away from Oregon, but not without a few bouts of homesickness and multiple calls to family there and friends elsewhere for help, comfort, laughter and advice. In some instances, mindless crafting and post-Christmas giving lifted my spirits too.

:: I've celebrated another milestone of my sobriety from french fries with 14 years and 5 days without a lick. The few unavoidable sniffs and the search for fry impostors have quelled the addiction I dropped my freshman year of high school as I pursued making the Varsity softball team. The only thing this sentence did was made me feel old because it's been 14 years since I was a freshman in high school...

:: Don't forget the streak. Streaks are made to be broken, but not this one. 113 is the count and that's all the time we have today, folks.

What's up in your new year?