Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Our Fairytale

I saw this on another blog and thought it was really cute. Some of you lovely followers have mentioned wanting to know more about me, so here's a perfect way to share..and celebrate Valentine's Day!

1. How long have you and your significant other been together? Over 7 years.

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}
My brothers and the Turtle went to CSU together, and I remember seeing him from time to time on my visits there, starting at age 13 (Turtle was 18!). Years later, when it was my turn to give CSU a go, the Turtle was still there (he was on the 7 year college plan), so my brothers asked Turtle to look out for me while I was at school (boy, did he!).

We both had mutual crushes on each other, unbeknownst to the other, but spent most of our college years dating others and just hanging out together in the Lobby in between classes. Neither one of us thought dating the other was a remote possibility. I figured he saw me only as my brothers' kid sister, a baby. And he thought I would think he was too old.

My Junior year, after a semester of not seeing eachother,  we both attended the same career fair and he decided to say hello....while I was in the middle of a semi-interview! Sorry, Gallop Poles...I have somewhere else to be right now! I high-tailed it over to him and we exchanged numbers (yes, we had never gotten that far before). We ended up talking on the phone for 3 hrs a night every night for the next month, leading up to our big first date at his work's Christmas party on December 4, 2004.

Honolulu 2005: Weren't we so cuuuuuute?


3. If married, how long have you been married? If not, is this the guy you hope to marry? {do tell}

We have been married for 1 year and about 3 months.

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding?

We got married on October 23, 2010 in Cleveland. If you thought a big, fat Greek Wedding would be fun, try my Big, Fat Polish-Greek Wedding! It was a wonderful meeting of the 'Ski's and the 'Dis's. Good times had by all...all 220+ people!



5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!

Obviously! I'm Tink and he's Turtle!


6. Tell us how he proposed? Or your ideal proposal?

The Turtle had been laid off for the first half of our relationship. Constant letdowns of job interviews and hopes dashed took up a good 4 years of our dating. Finally, our prayers were answered and he got a wonderful job....except it was 3 hours away! So in 2008, we began our 2 year nomadic period of alternating weekends. Watching weather reports in the winter became an obsession. Sundays became the absolute worst day when week after week, we had to say goodbye and then spend a 3 hour drive in solitude,  festering in our heart ache of leaving one another. (And my poor car has never been the same!)

In January 2010, we spent a wonderful (yet fantastically cold, thanks to a freak cold spell) 10 days in Disney World to run the Disney World Half Marathon. This was huge, because 1) it was Disney and 2) the Turtle is NOT a runner. He doesn't enjoy it, doesn't get it, and would much rather have been cuddled in our hotel bed. But he did it for me! 2 days later, we did a little photoshoot on the Polynesian Resort's beach. There, in the frigid 40 degree temps and in view of the Cinderella's Castle, the Turtle asked me to be his Tink forever.





7. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

Who needs chocolate when you can have peanut butter? Best Valentine's Day gift to date from him is still a giant jar of Malley's peanut butter sauce!


8. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.

We'll probably go out for sushi and watch an episode or two of DVR'd Once Upon a Time. Going out is fun, but I love just cuddling up with him on the couch in sweats the most.


And this is why I never see ends of movies anymore

 
9. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?

I did ask him to take me out to dinner at the California Grill (restaurant in the Contemporary Hotel in Disney World)...but I think I'm going to have to settle for sushi.

Dinner at the California Grill, Valentine's Day 2011


Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

The Day the Music Died

Another iPod bites the dust. What is this, 2 or 3 that I've killed now? I swear, all I did was sit down on the bike, plug in my headphones and..........nothing. Well, actually, I think I heard a tiny computery voice go "F it, I'm out!, but I could be wrong.

So what's a girl to do with 800 calories worth of biking to do with no tunes? Study the weird specimens that habitate the gym, of course! Here are some of the species and their descriptions from my day of field research:



- Tattooed Mid-Life Crisis Man - Sports a gray buzz cut, freshly inked barbed-wire bicep tattoos and has the annoying tendency of getting on his cellphone every single time he sits down on the crunch machine. Every. Single. Time.

- Male Swan - A 20-something who probably spent a lot of high school lunches sitting alone with his acne and Texas Instrument, and now spends his breakfasts, lunches, dinners and all the time in between, lifting, chugging whey protein and frantically looking to see who's checking him out....whenever he can manage to peel his eyes away from the mirror, that is.  

- Exhausted Man - A disheveled middle-aged man who shuffles to the gym every day in his slippers (yes, his slippers) and rides the bike next to mine every Thursday. He leans his head back, eyes closed and hands folded as if in a prayer as he barely gets the pedals around a full 360. (still in his slippers)

- Perfume Girl - A college girl who really took the 'The gym's a great place to meet someone!' theory to heart. Matching workout outfit, full make-up and drowned in Victoria's Secret Angel Perfume, she manages to be at the gym longer than the Male Swan, while accomplishing nothing aerobic or anaerobic, as she flits around the gym, wafting her scent coquettishly in the direction of the other Male Swans.

- Rico Suave - A friendly middle-aged man who salsas in between his sets. Ole!

and my personal favorite

- Oxygen Tank Couple - A supersweet elderly couple, made up of a very nice husband who dutifully carries his wife's oxygen tank as they totter around the track. Everyone should have someone in their life willing to carry their oxygen tank around when they get old.

These are only a small sampling of the oddities that frequent my gym. What about you? Have you witnessed any strange characters at your gym?

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Being Lazy

I have just been too lazy to write any blogs lately. Or maybe just too busy! I've been painting up a storm, catching up on all my DVR'd Castle and Starving Secret episodes (and who can forget 'Not Without My Daughter'- Love that movie!) and well, just being lazy!

When not wrapped up tighter than a mummy in my double-blanketed cacoon, I've had some seriously awesome runs at the gym. After a really crappy first week back from vacation where I felt like I was pulling a tractor behind me all along the track, I recovered with 3 awesome 9 milers since!


Also, I've been working on several paintings, including a very pretty one for my brother and his wife as a house warming gift. While that one is going to take some time, here are 2 others I have completed over the last 2 weeks.

Spring Flower 11" x "17 acrylic

The Guard Shack 18" x 24" acyrlic