Just thinking about readings for the wedding:
XVII (Cien sonetos de amor)
I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.
I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.
I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way
than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.
I love the last stanzas. They might be better in Spanish:
Te amo sin saber cómo, ni cuándo, ni de dónde,
te amo directamente sin problemas ni orgullo:
así te amo porque no sé amar de otra manera,
sino así de este modo en que no soy ni eres,
tan cerca que tu mano sobre mi pecho es mía,
tan cerca que se cierran tus ojos con mi sueño.
To any Alpha Gam friends who are coming to the wedding: You're readers. Plan on it. If you can't make it I will understand, but if you are going to be in Minneapolis on 10-10-09, you're in the wedding.
By the way, have I mentioned how much I miss Toronto lately? Not to say that I don't love Minneapolis, because I do. I love my roommates and my fiance and my family, and Minnesota will always be my home. But Toronto is my alma mater, the mother of my soul.
Someone asked me today exactly what it is, really, about Toronto that I love so much: I don't have an answer to that question. It's where I found myself. Toronto is where Lauren was born. Minnesota gets such short shrift; I was born here too in many ways! If I divided up evenly the pivotal moments of my short life, I don't think either side would win. So many influential times were split between the two places. But I miss Toronto in the way I would miss a lost limb. Toronto is, in every way, a part of my heart and my soul.
Which is why I love Ryan so much more when I mention Toronto and he says, "We're going to move there soon!" He knows how important that place is to me; he knows that half my heart lives there. Well, half my heart lived there, before I met him: he owns more of it now than any mere city ever could. We likely never will live there, though it is a nice dream... he knows that I love having that dream.
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Gimme Gimme Gimme!
I kid, of course. But I have seen quite a few Christmas wish-lists popping up on blogs that I read lately, so I thought I might as well jot down a few ideas for gifts:
- Anything from the ol' wedding registry. Many lovely items to choose from there!
- A knitting machine. I love to give scarf, hat and mitten sets as gifts but I hate knitting scarves. Hate hate hate HATE. I would love to have a tool that I could use to make scarves and other square things.
- Any one of these classic knitting books.
- The Options Interchangeable Circular Knitting Needle Set. Droooool.
- New iPod. The ancient 512mb Shuffle just isn't cutting it anymore!
- Some kind of basket for knitting/sewing notions.
- Scrubs: Season Seven
- Dexter: Season Two
- Hockey tickets!
- Please, no yarn. I have too much of it and I want to get through as much of it as I can before I accumulate more! However, gift certificates to Joann, KnitPicks, Needlework Unlimited, or Linden Hills Yarn would be lovely.
- Cookbooks. I don't have anything specific in mind, but anything that's well-reviewed in the vein of eating healthy, local, and for busy people would be wonderful.
All in all, though, I really don't need anything. I'm sure I don't need to mention the economy, but it's relevant and I would sincerely appreciate someone teaching me a skill (like crocheting or a refresher course on using my SLR) rather than spending money on things I that I do not need. I would also love handmade things. Preferably not baked goods, as I'm hoping to reduce the level of tummy paunch before I don an expensive white dress, not increase it! But any other sort of handmade gift would be lovely and greatly appreciated.
- Anything from the ol' wedding registry. Many lovely items to choose from there!
- A knitting machine. I love to give scarf, hat and mitten sets as gifts but I hate knitting scarves. Hate hate hate HATE. I would love to have a tool that I could use to make scarves and other square things.
- Any one of these classic knitting books.
- The Options Interchangeable Circular Knitting Needle Set. Droooool.
- New iPod. The ancient 512mb Shuffle just isn't cutting it anymore!
- Some kind of basket for knitting/sewing notions.
- Scrubs: Season Seven
- Dexter: Season Two
- Hockey tickets!
- Please, no yarn. I have too much of it and I want to get through as much of it as I can before I accumulate more! However, gift certificates to Joann, KnitPicks, Needlework Unlimited, or Linden Hills Yarn would be lovely.
- Cookbooks. I don't have anything specific in mind, but anything that's well-reviewed in the vein of eating healthy, local, and for busy people would be wonderful.
All in all, though, I really don't need anything. I'm sure I don't need to mention the economy, but it's relevant and I would sincerely appreciate someone teaching me a skill (like crocheting or a refresher course on using my SLR) rather than spending money on things I that I do not need. I would also love handmade things. Preferably not baked goods, as I'm hoping to reduce the level of tummy paunch before I don an expensive white dress, not increase it! But any other sort of handmade gift would be lovely and greatly appreciated.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Do I really have to go to work every day?
I jest, I jest. But it has been quite an adjustment to getting up every day between 6:15 and 6:30 and heading in to work. I'm enjoying working at SUPERVALU pretty well, I've been in a lot of training thus far and have done only a bit of what I imagine will be my eventual "work". Some of the training is quite interesting, like research on consumer segmentation. Some of the training is deadly dull, like some of the internals which involve sitting in a windowless conference room for several hours, watching an instructor use a website or program.
In other news, I don't have much to report. We had a lovely weekend in Carpenter--we took Ann out for the big 21st bithday, we went to church, and Jordan took some engagement photos of us (hopefully some of them turned out well! And I mean that not in a technical sense, but in a I-hope-I-think-I-look-good way, of course. Jordan is a very talented photographer!) and, true to form, I forgot my coat at the Glanzer farm house. I think that if I were to drop off the face of the earth today, the Glanzers would remember me best as "the girl who left things at our house". I didn't need the jacket and it could have stayed in South Dakota until we went back, but before I even knew it, it was in the mail!
Tomorrow, Jason is scheduled to come over to watch Game 1 of the World Series. I'm very excited that the match-up is Rays-Phillies. Nothing could have made the baseball season end on a lower note than if the Red Sox were in the Fall Classic. This weekend, I am trying to schedule tours of potential wedding sites so that we can hopefully pin down a date soon!
In other news, I don't have much to report. We had a lovely weekend in Carpenter--we took Ann out for the big 21st bithday, we went to church, and Jordan took some engagement photos of us (hopefully some of them turned out well! And I mean that not in a technical sense, but in a I-hope-I-think-I-look-good way, of course. Jordan is a very talented photographer!) and, true to form, I forgot my coat at the Glanzer farm house. I think that if I were to drop off the face of the earth today, the Glanzers would remember me best as "the girl who left things at our house". I didn't need the jacket and it could have stayed in South Dakota until we went back, but before I even knew it, it was in the mail!
Tomorrow, Jason is scheduled to come over to watch Game 1 of the World Series. I'm very excited that the match-up is Rays-Phillies. Nothing could have made the baseball season end on a lower note than if the Red Sox were in the Fall Classic. This weekend, I am trying to schedule tours of potential wedding sites so that we can hopefully pin down a date soon!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Nervous
I start my new job tomorrow, and I'm nervous! What if no one likes me? What if I have to eat lunch in the cafeteria by myself? I'm not going to have any friends!!!
It really feels like the first day of school to me. I'm so nervous. I don't know what it's going to be like! My first day at HTA was similarly stressful and that was SUCH a small company. This is a huge company!!!
Sad as it is--although all the unemployment time made me a little crazy and bored, I really got used to having the free time. I would wake up around 9, bum around on the internet, apply for jobs, check the mail, make lunch, maybe hang out with a friend, apply for a few more jobs, watch TV and knit, and then wait for Ryan to get home and make dinner.
Not anymore, my friends! I am going to have to get back into the swing of things of waking up at 6:30, being at work by 8am, working working working, lunch, working, working, working, and then coming home. So weird! So normal! So.... profitable!
It's been a pretty good weekend of baseball, football, drinking, Indian food, snuggling, and knitting. Satisfactory, but I'm so weirded out that I have to put on dressy clothes tomorrow and go to a JOB! It'll be good though. Ryan and I need money to pay for our wedding!
Oh, man, wedding stuff. I have been having some pretty intense wedding dreams lately. A week ago I had a dream where it was a week before the wedding and we hadn't planned ANYTHING. Not a reception hall, or a ceremony site, or a caterer, or a DJ, or anything! And I would tell people about my problems and they would say, "Sorry, dear! You should have planned this earlier!"
On Thursday night I had a dream where Ryan and I were at a wedding expo, and there was a huuuuuuuuge line of caterers that had samples of chicken, fish and beef. You had to try EVERY dish before you could move on, and a lot of the caterers were doing things, so you could only get some samples....and it was so stressful! I had to go back and forth and back and forth to try to get every sample from every caterer so that I could move one to different caterers!
On Friday night I dreamt that I ordered ORANGE bridesmaid dresses! In the dream, this salesgirl convinced me that orange dresses would go really well with purple, green and blue everything else (clearly my subconsious is insane) and I believed it. Then, in the dream, Sarah and I went to meet the salesgirl to pick up the dresses and Sarah FLIPPED OUT at me. She was so mad over the orange dresses! I told her about the dream on Saturday morning and she said, "You better believe that I'd be mad over orange bridesmaid dresses!!"
So, obviously, my subconsious is VERY upset at me that I haven't been very "on" about wedding planning and my inner self thinks that I am dropping the ball on the whole thing!
To counter my subconscious, I HAVE been wedding planning! I went to a meeting at the Blaisdell Manor and if was very pretty and pretty ridiculously expensive! Ryan and I are still trying to figure out what we think is an "acceptable" amount to spend on our wedding, but it sure would be nice if either the Glanzers or the Poulters stumbled upon a previously-unknown fortune and paying for everything, no questions asked.
Alas.
Wish me luck on my first day tomorrow!
It really feels like the first day of school to me. I'm so nervous. I don't know what it's going to be like! My first day at HTA was similarly stressful and that was SUCH a small company. This is a huge company!!!
Sad as it is--although all the unemployment time made me a little crazy and bored, I really got used to having the free time. I would wake up around 9, bum around on the internet, apply for jobs, check the mail, make lunch, maybe hang out with a friend, apply for a few more jobs, watch TV and knit, and then wait for Ryan to get home and make dinner.
Not anymore, my friends! I am going to have to get back into the swing of things of waking up at 6:30, being at work by 8am, working working working, lunch, working, working, working, and then coming home. So weird! So normal! So.... profitable!
It's been a pretty good weekend of baseball, football, drinking, Indian food, snuggling, and knitting. Satisfactory, but I'm so weirded out that I have to put on dressy clothes tomorrow and go to a JOB! It'll be good though. Ryan and I need money to pay for our wedding!
Oh, man, wedding stuff. I have been having some pretty intense wedding dreams lately. A week ago I had a dream where it was a week before the wedding and we hadn't planned ANYTHING. Not a reception hall, or a ceremony site, or a caterer, or a DJ, or anything! And I would tell people about my problems and they would say, "Sorry, dear! You should have planned this earlier!"
On Thursday night I had a dream where Ryan and I were at a wedding expo, and there was a huuuuuuuuge line of caterers that had samples of chicken, fish and beef. You had to try EVERY dish before you could move on, and a lot of the caterers were doing things, so you could only get some samples....and it was so stressful! I had to go back and forth and back and forth to try to get every sample from every caterer so that I could move one to different caterers!
On Friday night I dreamt that I ordered ORANGE bridesmaid dresses! In the dream, this salesgirl convinced me that orange dresses would go really well with purple, green and blue everything else (clearly my subconsious is insane) and I believed it. Then, in the dream, Sarah and I went to meet the salesgirl to pick up the dresses and Sarah FLIPPED OUT at me. She was so mad over the orange dresses! I told her about the dream on Saturday morning and she said, "You better believe that I'd be mad over orange bridesmaid dresses!!"
So, obviously, my subconsious is VERY upset at me that I haven't been very "on" about wedding planning and my inner self thinks that I am dropping the ball on the whole thing!
To counter my subconscious, I HAVE been wedding planning! I went to a meeting at the Blaisdell Manor and if was very pretty and pretty ridiculously expensive! Ryan and I are still trying to figure out what we think is an "acceptable" amount to spend on our wedding, but it sure would be nice if either the Glanzers or the Poulters stumbled upon a previously-unknown fortune and paying for everything, no questions asked.
Alas.
Wish me luck on my first day tomorrow!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Setting a Date, Oy!
It's all so political.
What I would like, throwing out all concerns about other peoples' schedules (insert "I'M THE BRIDE! IT'S MY DAY!" expressions here), I would really like a fall wedding. I like the smell of fall. I like the colors. Autumn is probably my favorite season.
But when you throw in all the people who are expected to attend (and attend in an important fashion, no less!), summer makes SO much more sense. My sister won't be teaching, my brother won't be in school, other family members, both mine and Ryan's, won't have to deal with skipping out of school early.
But, think of the sweating! My poor darling sweats enough as it is, so unless we hold our reception in a meat locker, an August wedding would be so cruel to him!
Earlier in the summer would be nice, too. Perhaps not so hot. But if you say the words "May 2009" to me, that sounds REALLY soon. Too soon. I don't want to stress that much, and we need time to make money to pay for this shindig!
My darling friend Paula lucked out with her wedding last November 8th. It was one of those beautiful crispy fall days in Toronto, sunny and clear and just a little bit brisk. Best wedding ever.
November could be scary, though, weather-wise. Minnesota is so wildly unpredictable. It was stunningly beautiful yesterday, and the day before yesterday was pissing rain. Today, again, it is pissing rain.
I think we are going to have to go with my original plan and just let the venue we pick determine the date of our wedding. I am not a good decision maker (that should make this whole process interesting). Someone just pick a date for me!!!!!
In other news: I went to a bridal shop today. I looked at and touched wedding gowns. This is a big step for me, as just last week the gown part terrified me!
What I would like, throwing out all concerns about other peoples' schedules (insert "I'M THE BRIDE! IT'S MY DAY!" expressions here), I would really like a fall wedding. I like the smell of fall. I like the colors. Autumn is probably my favorite season.
But when you throw in all the people who are expected to attend (and attend in an important fashion, no less!), summer makes SO much more sense. My sister won't be teaching, my brother won't be in school, other family members, both mine and Ryan's, won't have to deal with skipping out of school early.
But, think of the sweating! My poor darling sweats enough as it is, so unless we hold our reception in a meat locker, an August wedding would be so cruel to him!
Earlier in the summer would be nice, too. Perhaps not so hot. But if you say the words "May 2009" to me, that sounds REALLY soon. Too soon. I don't want to stress that much, and we need time to make money to pay for this shindig!
My darling friend Paula lucked out with her wedding last November 8th. It was one of those beautiful crispy fall days in Toronto, sunny and clear and just a little bit brisk. Best wedding ever.
November could be scary, though, weather-wise. Minnesota is so wildly unpredictable. It was stunningly beautiful yesterday, and the day before yesterday was pissing rain. Today, again, it is pissing rain.
I think we are going to have to go with my original plan and just let the venue we pick determine the date of our wedding. I am not a good decision maker (that should make this whole process interesting). Someone just pick a date for me!!!!!
In other news: I went to a bridal shop today. I looked at and touched wedding gowns. This is a big step for me, as just last week the gown part terrified me!
Monday, September 8, 2008
Knitting, and other things
I am fully engorged in Christmas gift knitting! It's getting a little intense, but at least I'm starting it before November (unlike two years ago, when I had the ridiculous idea that it would only take me only two weeks to knit matching scarf, hat, and mittens sets for my ENTIRE family!) Thank goodness last year us "kids" drew names for our Christmas gifts... hopefully we will do that again this year!
Yesterday was my step-mom's 60th birthday! I don't know if she and my dad did anything special, but there are rumors of a big birthday party sometime soon (have to keep the cards pretty close to the vest, never know who is reading this thing!)
Chances are, if you're reading this, I have a plan for a knitted gift for you this Christmas, though! Unless you're a boy. It's pretty much impossible to knit for males that are older than 12 years old, unless it's a scarf or a hat. And I HATE knitting scarves. Maybe I'll make a bajillion afghans. Or I'll put Ryan in charge of boy gifts!
I am getting super excited to make some of these gifts, though. If they are anything like what I imagine they will be, they are going to look awesome!
And if you all out there who read this end up NOT liking something I've made for you, you should lie and say that you love it! ;)
Yesterday was my step-mom's 60th birthday! I don't know if she and my dad did anything special, but there are rumors of a big birthday party sometime soon (have to keep the cards pretty close to the vest, never know who is reading this thing!)
Chances are, if you're reading this, I have a plan for a knitted gift for you this Christmas, though! Unless you're a boy. It's pretty much impossible to knit for males that are older than 12 years old, unless it's a scarf or a hat. And I HATE knitting scarves. Maybe I'll make a bajillion afghans. Or I'll put Ryan in charge of boy gifts!
I am getting super excited to make some of these gifts, though. If they are anything like what I imagine they will be, they are going to look awesome!
And if you all out there who read this end up NOT liking something I've made for you, you should lie and say that you love it! ;)
Monday, August 25, 2008
Ryan Birthday Recap
It began officially with Ryan waking me up, saying "I swear I'm not gay. PLEASE don't be mad at me!"
Apparently Ryan had a dream where a certain friend named Collin decided he was gay, put the moves on Ryan and I walked in on the situation and became very angry. So to clarify, no, sweetie, I don't think that you are gay! And if it turned out that you were, I would be more hurt than I would be mad.
The rest of the birthday was much less silly. Jason and Brad Gausman showed up early, tapping the keg of Grain Belt Premium (The beer of exceptional quality!) while I cooked Ryan his favorite breakfast of biscuits and sausage gravy, with eggs over easy (gross) on the side. Drinking commenced.
Patrick, Steve, and Liz showed up. We watched the Twins game, there was Goofy Golf to be played.
In addition to all the friends that were in attendance, my parents, my sister and her husband, my step-brother, his wife and my niece Abby, and my other step-brother Nate showed up. Quite the crowd, I must say! I had purchased 20 (!) bratwursts in expectation of half of them being eaten but they were ALL polished off in good fashion.
Drinking of Grain Belt continued.
I must say, both Ryan and I were a little disappointed that no Glanzers showed up at the party! Ryan had a phone call with his mum that was very detail-filled, leading him to believe that perhaps they would surprise him with a visit! (I don't want to embarrass him, but he's a bit jealous that they pop in on his sister for visits and have only visited him a few times! Plus, Glanzers, all the Poulters were in attendance! You were showed up! :) )
Never the less, a successful birthday party, if I do say so myself. Happy birthday, sweetie! Hope work on Monday isn't too painful! :)
The negative: I got so caught up in socializing with my family and friends that I forgot to grill the cabbage or the sweet corn!
But luckily, my darling friend Jaime showed up later in the evening and after preaching the wonders of the CSA program to her, I was able to pass along the a few sweet corn, a green pepper and the 4lb CABBAGE! Thank god for wonderful friends!
Apparently Ryan had a dream where a certain friend named Collin decided he was gay, put the moves on Ryan and I walked in on the situation and became very angry. So to clarify, no, sweetie, I don't think that you are gay! And if it turned out that you were, I would be more hurt than I would be mad.
The rest of the birthday was much less silly. Jason and Brad Gausman showed up early, tapping the keg of Grain Belt Premium (The beer of exceptional quality!) while I cooked Ryan his favorite breakfast of biscuits and sausage gravy, with eggs over easy (gross) on the side. Drinking commenced.
Patrick, Steve, and Liz showed up. We watched the Twins game, there was Goofy Golf to be played.
In addition to all the friends that were in attendance, my parents, my sister and her husband, my step-brother, his wife and my niece Abby, and my other step-brother Nate showed up. Quite the crowd, I must say! I had purchased 20 (!) bratwursts in expectation of half of them being eaten but they were ALL polished off in good fashion.
Drinking of Grain Belt continued.
I must say, both Ryan and I were a little disappointed that no Glanzers showed up at the party! Ryan had a phone call with his mum that was very detail-filled, leading him to believe that perhaps they would surprise him with a visit! (I don't want to embarrass him, but he's a bit jealous that they pop in on his sister for visits and have only visited him a few times! Plus, Glanzers, all the Poulters were in attendance! You were showed up! :) )
Never the less, a successful birthday party, if I do say so myself. Happy birthday, sweetie! Hope work on Monday isn't too painful! :)
The negative: I got so caught up in socializing with my family and friends that I forgot to grill the cabbage or the sweet corn!
But luckily, my darling friend Jaime showed up later in the evening and after preaching the wonders of the CSA program to her, I was able to pass along the a few sweet corn, a green pepper and the 4lb CABBAGE! Thank god for wonderful friends!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Great-Uncle Luther
I received an email this evening informing me that my maternal grandfather's twin brother had died.
Apparently he and my grandad Wes (they were named Wesley and Luther...my family isn't Norwegian or anything, ha!) were in a car accident and, while Grandad only suffered a couple bruises and such, Luther wasn't so lucky and, long story made short, was removed from life support once the immediate family had gathered.
Due to strained relations with my mother's family, I only met him a handful of times. The last time I saw them was probably when I was 6 or 7 years old.
What I do remember is that when I graduated high school, he and his wife Joan sent me a check and a lovely letter, reminding me that the University of Toledo was only an hour or so from their home in Ann Arbor, MI, and that I would be invited to dinner the first week I was settled at school!
I, of course, was obliged to write a polite, if slightly awkward, letter back to them informing them that they were misinformed--I was to be attending the University of Toronto in the fall. But thanks regardless!
Apparently he and my grandad Wes (they were named Wesley and Luther...my family isn't Norwegian or anything, ha!) were in a car accident and, while Grandad only suffered a couple bruises and such, Luther wasn't so lucky and, long story made short, was removed from life support once the immediate family had gathered.
Due to strained relations with my mother's family, I only met him a handful of times. The last time I saw them was probably when I was 6 or 7 years old.
What I do remember is that when I graduated high school, he and his wife Joan sent me a check and a lovely letter, reminding me that the University of Toledo was only an hour or so from their home in Ann Arbor, MI, and that I would be invited to dinner the first week I was settled at school!
I, of course, was obliged to write a polite, if slightly awkward, letter back to them informing them that they were misinformed--I was to be attending the University of Toronto in the fall. But thanks regardless!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Wow!!
I just got an email from my stepmom saying that my (step)-sister-in-law's delivery date has been bumped up from June 7th to MAY 21st--ONE WEEK FROM TODAY! That is crazy to think that in a week I will be an auntie!
This also means that my first niece will beat out Ryan's first nephew. I win! (...kidding!)
I will be the first one to admit that I know zero things about children and have been known to make remarks that range from idiotic to offensive due to my lack of knowledge. I love kids, but I never babysat or nannyed in school and given that my siblings are the oldest of the Bucheles & Poulters, there haven't been any babies from my generation yet. Despite that, it really does seem like a huge jump, two and a half whole weeks!
Regardless of all that, I'm very excited to meet Baby Girl Anderson in one week from today!
This also means that my first niece will beat out Ryan's first nephew. I win! (...kidding!)
I will be the first one to admit that I know zero things about children and have been known to make remarks that range from idiotic to offensive due to my lack of knowledge. I love kids, but I never babysat or nannyed in school and given that my siblings are the oldest of the Bucheles & Poulters, there haven't been any babies from my generation yet. Despite that, it really does seem like a huge jump, two and a half whole weeks!
Regardless of all that, I'm very excited to meet Baby Girl Anderson in one week from today!
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