four years of us-ness

four years ago steve and i concluded our second week of knowing each other / inseparable hanging out by deciding we should probably not date other people.

it's been decent being facebook official with you, sir.

also the love and stuff rules too.

it makes the next four years look pretty darn good, knowing i'll have this handsome mug in front of me.

it's an extra happy friday everybody!  if you need an excuse to enjoy yourself tonight, our anniversary is yours to share (we'd recommend joining us to see the hobbit in 3D imax wherever you are).

word count: 36,443

happy weekend recap

we have had the most beautiful weather imaginable lately. we had the whole weekend to ourselves and made the absolute most of it.  we're turning into old people or something getting up so early on the weekends, but we got a lot done and finally got a chance to have a minute to ourselves, which we've definitely been missing.

we had easy nights in, got some banking sorted out, got some engagement photos taken for our save the dates, and took a day to soak up the outdoors at oval beach on sunday.  i'm headed into winter kicking and screaming, but the weather's been nice enough to keep me forgetting that snow is a thing around here.  all things considered it was a pretty perfect weekend.  i'm ready for another one, but sadly can't forsee one for quite a while.  i think starbucks and i are going to be better friends.

hope everyone has a good start to the week!

word count: 31,103

the winds of change

well it's officially too cold to go to work without a jacket anymore, and let me tell you that is the opposite of awesome.

autumn is so bittersweet.  a warm sunny fall day in michigan is as close to perfect as this place gets, but they are few and far between the cold, rain/snow mix days that remind you winter is a six to eight month season round these parts.  on saturday we got one of the nuggets of indian summer and we tried to stay outside as long as we could until we met up with my family to celebrate my grandma's birthday.

with the official end of summer over the weekend, it feels like everything has switched gears entirely.  it's hard not to notice the seasonal changes when hoards of college students are constantly around.  now is the time when the huge outdoor parties begin to shrink indoors.  people are more fashionable now until they have to begin hiding under layers of wool and down-filled parkas.  i can't say i'm excited for the freezing weather ahead, but with a few exceptions, now until christmas is typically a time of year that completely flies by.  perhaps its the inclusion of steve's birthday right around thanksgiving, or the fact that our dating-anniversary falls between thanksgiving and christmas, but we rarely get a chance to come up for air until the new year once october rolls around.

through all this, the thing i'm trying to focus on most is getting back at that dusty word document known as my work-in-progress.  though the thrill hasn't quite worn off of getting engaged and moving in together, the novelty of it all doesn't quite clog up my brain as much as it had been doing.  now that the weather is taking it's uglier turn, i'm hoping it will be easier to stay busy with indoor projects like my writing.  a busy life is a recipe for writers block, but i'm optimistic that the holiday stress will seem small compared to all the madness we've been through lately.

word count: 25,024

summer is over and the cat is wet

let me tell you, there's nothing like having a mantle to get me jazzed up about seasonal decorating.  i am in no way emotionally prepared to let go of summer, but whether i like it or not the cold weather is on its way (spoiler alert: i don't like it at all).

on the bright side of all of this, jeff the cow, our resident dead animal and living room focal point extraordinaire, now has some cute little gourds and pumpkins to help me get on board with the upcoming fall.  all this has made me realize that i am completely behind the ball trying to come up with what steve and i should be for halloween this year.  i doubt we'll ever manage to top 2011's calvin and hobbes, but i've got a few ideas rolling around in my brain.  wesley and buttercup?  pinky and the brain?  decisions decisions....

don't mind the cleavage... it was college, after all...

and just to add an extra bit of fun to today's blog post here is the only picture i got of bert after we gave him a bath on monday night.  he now smells significantly less poopy and he appears to have forgiven me.  if you're considering bathing your cat, i highly recommend it.  it really is fun for the whole family.

happy hump day!

word count:  24,710

photos of the summer

this was the $14 omelette steve ordered for breakfast.  my macro lens couldn't capture the whole thing in one frame.  it was epic, and smothered in easily the greatest sausage gravy i've ever eaten in my life.

steve is away in texas on business, so i've finally gotten around to dealing with photos from our summer.  i'm extremely happy to be getting a bit of a record put together to make note of everything we've done the past few months.  hopefully you'll be seeing more of our adventures!  i have to say i was surprised how backed up i let my memory card get.  we've got the cottage, chicago, san diego... it's been such a blast looking back on the memories and the fun we've had!

the things we are doing

after weeks of wallowing in semi-stressful boredom and painfully oppressive routine, it suddenly feels like we're hitting the ground running with tons and tons of fun things to do and think about.  

past:

steve spent a couple days in pittsburgh for an orientation conference.  though he didn't need much orienting since he's been working for some time now, he did find out a lot more information about the future of his job.  we are definitely looking forward to all the things to come!

present:

right now the big move is occupying most of our thought-space.  today is the day we are moving me and bert into steve's for our temporary housing situation.  pros:  walk to work, amusing cat exploring new spaces... cons: walk to work in bad weather, filth.  mainly we just can't wait to get moved out of steve's and into OUR place.  note to self: go look at paint swatches.

near future:

the reality of my trip to san diego didn't really hit me when i booked the ticket, but now i am super super super excited to get on the plane and go!  can't wait to see my sister, play at the ocean, and let my parents spoil me rotten with brunch at the hotel del coronado!  thanks parents!  nom nom nom.

additionally, steve has a trip down to texas coming up for work  (can i come stevedore?  texas is one of the very few states i have not visited yet), and we just got our invitations in the mail for our lovely friends' wedding down in virginia!

oh and now that it's august, that means students are back in less than a month.  as an official townie these days (ugh what a horrific thing to identify as), i have a love-hate relationship with the masses of students, but on the whole i think their presence improves ann arbor immensely.  it also means my very own personal girl with a dragon tattoo, cha, will be back in les etats unis and we can finally have a raucous girl's night out.  hoorah!

happy thursday y'all!

word count: 13,260

giveaway winners and evidence we still exist

first off:  congratulations to lisa at making life's lemons and rebecca at girl about chelts for winning the giveaway!  links to their sites will be featured in the sidebar for the next month!  they are both delightful ladies whose blogs i read regularly.  you should definitely head on over and see what they are up to!

we are still trucking away through summer over here.  the beastly heat has finally subsided a little, which should be helpful in preventing that face-melting look i've become used to wearing at work.  currently we are most preoccupied with the upcoming move (you mean i have to do laundry and pack?  boo).  but it is still terribly exciting.  i'm already fantasizing about the christmas decor options we have now that we get a fireplace and mantle!

on the whole lately, things are a tiny bit dreary.  i don't often like to admit how much living in ann arbor can be a huge drag.  i think it is a bit childish to blame your feelings and frustrations on the place where you live.  it's a bit of the "grass is greener" mentality, which i refuse to subscribe to, and it just reminds me far too much of being an angsty high schooler spewing that line "if only i could get out of this town."

that said, southeast michigan has been a bit of a turd lately.  it's something i often notice during summer.  it's a cruel paradox that my favorite season has to be the one that totally buzzkills the city i live in.

i'm tired of settling for a rocky river and graffitied bridges, when i grew up minutes away from lake michigan.

i'm tired of living in a city whose roads were designed for about a quarter of the population.

i'm tired of how campus turns into a shadow of itself when the students leave.

i'm tired of how stupid slow-walking tourists fill in the blanks that the students left.

i'm tired of how it takes 25 minutes to drive the 1.2 miles between my home and my work.

i'm tired of the ridiculous metro detroit highway system.

i'm tired of how expensive it is to do anything besides eat counter food and take walks outside.

routine is one of those things that really wears me down.

maybe i should try reading eckhart tolle.  either way steve and i made a pact to move out of michigan by a certain date (spoiler alert: it's not very soon).  nothing against momma mitten (we totally think she's the bees knees) but we are only going to be young and childless for so many more years, and we'd both be letting ourselves down if we didn't explore a little bit more.

happy hump day everyone!

word count: 7,471

instagram dump

 

it's a bit busy round these parts recently so for now you just get phone pictures of what we've been up to lately.

the good news is: i ordered a 50mm lens for my DSLR and it. is. off. the. hook.  hopefully this means you'll be seeing a lot more of our adventures through a much prettier point of view, but as of right now iphone photos will have to suffice.

unfortunately i completely forgot to get a picture from last night when steve, my parents and i got dinner to celebrate my mom's birthday (and a little bit belated fathers day for dad)!  we had a great time and stuffed our bellies like piglets and we were practically the last ones there when we finally headed out.  happy birthday mom (and thanks for dinner parents... we are still young and poor)!!

as far as the rest of things go, steve and i recently found ourselves our new favorite park in ann arbor and we have been having a blast exploring in what little free time we have right now.

being busy is making time fly though.  when on earth did we get so far into june??

slow down summer!  i'm still not tan yet!

(oh and hey are you following me on instagram yet?)

peoneasy peasy

peonies are apparently the trendiest flower ever, but ann arbor was hipster enough to plant a huge peony garden in the arb back in the roaring 20's.  apparently historic peonies were donated by the same guy who founded the company my dad has worked for since the 1980's so clearly me, doc upjohn, and these peonies are tight.  

(all fun facts i just learned doing research on the garden for this blog post.  see how educated you guys make me?  also... by research i mean clicking this link.)

you guys cannot imagine the willpower it takes not to pick these things.

it may have been extremely hot out

also, since we are trying to break out of our collegiate routine, we poked around the corners of the arb that back up to the beautiful neighborhoods in the area.  we decided to gawk at houses and imagine my total and utter glee when we stumbled upon hogwarts.  seriously, someone won the ultimate parenting award amiright?

and just for good measure here's some kitty pics in case you've been needing a bert fix.  i usually require one every few hours.

meow.

weekenders

happy monday!!  hope everyone had as lovely a weekend as we did!

i don't know about you, but now that the weather is nicer we are living for our friday nights, saturdays, and sundays!  

the lilacs are in full bloom right now so friday after work we had drinks al fresco and went for another walk in the arb (nichols arboretum for the non-locals who read this blog).  "drinks al fresco" is a bit of a stretch actually since we were really just people gawking watching in the outdoor section of quickie burger.  let me tell you, some of the people who populate this city in the summer do not make me proud.  this place is a ghost town without the college foot traffic.

saturday we went apartment hunting and i got used to the idea of moving to a small town... i say "got" in the past tense, but i think both of us are still in the "getting used to it" phase.  we found a very cute little place though, and we're really really really excited about the big move (t.b.m.) coming up in a few months!!  realistically we are still going to be very close to AA and the rest of metro detroit (and of course the big D herself, but unless there's a tigers game or traveling exhibit at the D.I.A. we try to avoid momma D at all costs).

speaking of art museums, we decided to hit up the UMMA after we apartment-toured.  i'll post more photos later in the week but for now here's our instagram review.

i am actually kind of super obsessed with this picture.

in addition to just about everybody splitting town for the summer (at least temporarily), a bunch of steve's roommates went camping over the weekend.  camping is not high on my list of enjoyable things (i somehow ALWAYS manage to go on weekends with 30 degree evenings...), so saturday night we hotwired a room in south haven and road tripped across the state to have a beach day on sunday (it's soo wonderful having a more reliable car for such things).

sun-day was true to it's name and we spent the better part of the day laying in the sun and playing in the water.  it was still too cold to go swimming (if you click through you'll see we were somewhere in the 54-57 degree range... brrr) but we had the beach to ourselves in the morning and were all ready for a late lunch and some shade by the time the place got busy in late afternoon.  we are SO looking forward to a weekend at the cottage my parents rent each year... there is nothing better than having time to yourself on the sands of lake michigan.

it's great getting to start the week with such a fun look back at the last few days.  i'll catch up later with some more pictures of the art museum.  

and, again, for a live feed of our up-to-the-minute adventures:

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