home improvements

Adam and I have been unpacking and hanging a few pictures for the last few weeks, but today we did our first real "permanent" improvments, as Adam calls them (I say we just put really big holes in the wall that we won't be exposing when we move). We hung a shower curtain and a set of shelves in the bathroom. Basically I had fun watching Adam play with his new drill and tried to find the the right bits for him. In the end, I think we were successful. Hopefully by next weekend we'll have a couch and finally start having people over.

for the love of a couch

While I love the bed Adam and I share there is a statute of limitations for the amount of time you spend sitting, lounging, sleeping on it. We have been without a couch for a MONTH. Think back in your lives to March, then think of the hours you have spent on your couch. Maybe you're even sitting on it right now. The Chinese may like sitting on the floor, but I'm all for the cushiony, comfiness of a couch. At the moment i have boycotted the bedroom and am sitting on what Adam calls my "imaginary" couch in the living room. For the first week it was kind of fun to camp out in the living room with blankets and pillows to watch a movie or read. After the second week, when we thought we were getting the couch, but it was delivered and was the wrong color, sitting on the floor lost its appeal. I even allowed Adam to move the TV into the bedroom, something I always said we would never do, just so we would have someplace to sit while watching LOST.

We got the news today that the couch will finally be delivered Wednesday. We may never leave the living room after that. I was commenting to a friend that even though we now own our own place, I feel that in some ways I have reverted back to the life of a college student with my bed multitasking as a couch/bed/clothes horse. All I want to do is be able to enjoy my living room. Is that too much to ask? For now, I'll get as comfortable as I can on the floor and continue to mentally arrange the furniture.

Life after 5

My days consist of 8 hours at work that are split up by a lunch hour. Sometimes I feel like those 40 hours are endless, but I sure do enjoy the next 6 hours or so I have to do what I please when I get home from work. Then I go to bed and start the cylce all over again. I was realizing how different this is from when I was a student. Then I had commitments and responsibilities at all hours. Any time I spent in the apartment was rushing to the next activity. If you caught me at home I was usually checking my voicemail, grabbing something to eat and preparing something for class all at once. Now when I get home from work I have to remind myself that I don't have to immediately start making dinner (though that's probably what Adam would like me to do). I can actually sit down for a minute, relax, flip through a magazine, and then enjoy a leisurely dinner when I feel like it. By then it's usually 7, and then the reality hits that I still have 4 hours to do whatever. There really is something to be said for life after work.

beach feet

SPRING

OK, so I live in Iowa and one of the prerequisites to living here is talking about the weather. We can get away with it though because it's always changing. One week it's rainy and stormy and cold and then BAM it's SPRING and 80 degrees. Everyone is outside at lunch, walking, smiling, soaking up the sun (because we know it could be gone as quickly as it came) I am always amazed at how happy nice weather makes me. I'm sure in a month or two, a beautiful day like today won't phase me, and it's not like I haven't lived through 23 other springs in Iowa, but every year it's the same joy and amazement at how nice it is to be able to be outside, and open the windows and wear sandals.

failure to communicate

For 4 years Adam and I had a long distance relationship. This forced us to become adept at long phone conversations, e-mails, letters and phone messages. Now we've lived in the same city for a year (definitely a good idea if you're getting married) Our jobs have taken each of us out of town occassionally and I'm always amazed at how quickly we have forgotten how to to have a relationship over the phone. Just this last week I was gone only 3 days, but in that time we barely talked. This was partly because I was busy and worn out when I wasn't working, but it was also because we have forgotten how to read each other from a distance. I was quick to jump to the assumption that since he wasn't calling me that he didn't miss me, and he didn't realize how much I wanted to know that he was still thinking about me even if we weren't seeing each other. Talking on the phone is hard, it takes patience and sacrifice. By the time we finally reached each other one night I was snuggled in bed ready to sleep, not ready to rehash my day, even though that was all I wanted to do when it was convenient for me. Even though I'm glad we had a long distance relationship at one time, now being apart makes me appreciate that we can be together most of the time.

spring showers

It feels like it's been raining for a week. Twice in the last 3 days tornado sirens have gone off. Adam and I live on the second floor of our building and rather than head to the underground parking garage we usually just look out the window to see how hard it's raining. We figure a tornado won't get very far in downtown des moines.

The sound of raindrops dripping off the roof and sliding slowly down the windows is soothing, even though at this point I long to see the sun and watch the little green buds form on the tips of the branches. Maybe when I get back to Iowa at the end of the week spring will have sprung here.

all over the place

Do you ever feel like you are rushing and rushing trying to get things done but really not accomplishing anything? I've had that feeling for the last week. The move went well and we are settling into the life of homeownership, but now I'm busy getting ready for a business trip and trying to figure out what business casual really means for a 23 year old. I can do business professional, button up shirt, suit jacket, heels, but give me the freedom to be a little casual and I'm not quite sure what to do. I think the worst part is that I'm self-conscious about my age and once again taking myself too seriously. Where has my confidence gone? I want to be unashamed of my youth and ready to learn and ask questions.