The end draws nigh

I have started this blog post 3 times now, so here's hoping I don't delete this entry as well.  Fingers crossed.

It occurred to me today that it's October.  And not just October, but the end of October.

I know, I know, I'm a bit slow on the uptake.  But it really isn't so much the fact that it's October that I noticed, I mean, really, I've clearly known that it was October this whole time, I'm not a complete moron... It's more the fact that the year is almost over.

And that to me is crazy.  The first 4 months of the year are a bit hazy in my memory, largely due to the fact that I wasn't completely happy...I made some poor decisions, had a fair bit of crap dealt to me, and I have mentally blocked most of it out.

Luckily, at the end of that time...actually, kind of in the midst of the crap-dealing, I made a decision that I do not regret at all.  I chose to move to Idaho.  Idaho?  I know, Idaho.  I never thought I'd live in Idaho, but I felt that it was the place I needed to go.  It wasn't even that I was only looking for places in Utah and Idaho either, I looked in Oregon, Colorado, Montana, and even Wyoming (yeah, I was getting desperate enough to look in Wyoming), but felt that Idaho was where I should go.

Even after things blew up in the relationship department (the day after I signed my lease), I could have chosen to move elsewhere, but I felt sure about Idaho.  More sure, in fact, than I had about my previous relationship.  And while the majority of the people around me questioned my decision...a lot, some even going so far as to question my sanity, I knew that for some reason, it was where I needed to go.

And here I am, 5 months later (seriously, time flies...), happy as a clam (assuming clams actually are happy), and wondering why I never considered Idaho before now.  The past 5 months have felt like a blur.  I've met a myriad of wonderful people, who I feel like I've known for years, and I have had some awesome adventures with them.

I'm excited to be an Idahoan for a while, though I'm anxious about the winter weather that is surely around the corner.  And I am excited for the upcoming holiday season and the end of the year, though I can't believe that it's so near.

And I'm pretty sure most of this post is incoherent owing to the fact that I should really be in bed.  So I shall bid you adieu until I get the urge to write again.

Time, how it doth fly...

Today marked one month from my first date with Bruce.  He being the awesome individual that he is, remembered it of course.  I being me, did not...until he reminded me yesterday.  He's good with details and dates like that, while I am good at...uh...laughing at inappropriate times... I'm really good at that.  But I digress.

It's strange to think that Bruce and I have really only known each other an incredibly short amount of time, because it feels like we've been friends for much longer.  I'm completely comfortable around him, and I feel safe, which those closest to me know is incredibly important, and not always something I've had in past relationships.

Things with Bruce just feel different.  And I know some of you are sitting there, shaking your heads and thinking, "Seriously, Lisa?  It's been a month...you're high on the newness of it all, simmer down and you'll take off the rose-colored glasses in time."  But really folks?  I've been in enough relationships, and I've put up enough walls around my heart to know when things are different.  Bruce managed to somehow bust through those walls effortlessly, probably without even knowing they had been there in the first place, and in record time too.

I am so incredibly and richly blessed to have him in my life.  He is such an amazing man.  And yes, for those of you who have been asking me for a while now, you will meet him at some point.  And I know you'll like him too.

So forgive my having turned this blog into "Lisa's Dating Extravaganza", but I want to share it with you, and Facebook is not the place to do it.  I will attempt to avoid getting too mushy, though I will admit that it requires a number of revisions on each post to keep it from getting too mushy (who would have ever thought I'd turn into such a sap?).

Happy times!

Ice, Ice, Baby...

There are caves in Idaho.  Caves filled with ice.

Bruce and I went with some friends from my ward to such a cave yesterday.  The cave is out past Rexburg, past the sand dunes...basically in the middle of nowhere.  After reaching the middle of nowhere, we then had to take a winding, bumpy dirt road to the East of nowhere...and this is when I started having trouble, I started to get super duper nauseated.  Bruce, however, enjoyed being tossed back and forth in the back seat like a rag doll in a dryer.  I had to get out of the car and walk the last little bit to the cave because I just couldn't stand it any longer, and Bruce was kind enough to walk with me.

The caves were pretty neat, once we got in and scrambled down the rocky face, traversed the stepping stones in the half-melted ice, it started to get super cool.  Literally.  The further we got in, the better it got.  Ice covered the floor, the walls, and the ceiling.  Lots of slipping and sliding, which was a lot of fun, though I have a number of very pretty bruises all over my legs.

Driving back home from the caves proved to aggravate my nausea again and we had to stop so I could get out for a minute yet again.  Motion sickness is seriously one of the most annoying things ever, just sayin'... It always makes me feel super bad for anyone that has to put up with me when I'm dealing with it.  Thankfully I was able to settle everything down after a bit and was feeling fine by the time we got back home.

Once everyone else left, Bruce and I had the evening to ourselves.  I made dinner and we watched a movie, or rather, I watched half the movie before falling asleep, while Bruce managed to make it through most of it before falling asleep himself.  Yeah, we're awesome like that.

Today was busy, and cold...I'm always cold.

Things have been slow at work recently.  Really, really slow.  But I still have to stay near my desk in case I get a phone call, email or IM from someone.  I get really excited when I actually have something work related to do, and try to keep myself entertained when I don't have anything.  Which equates to reading, watching Netflix, Facebook stalking, reading blogs, looking at various crafts, thinking about all the things I need to get done but that require being away from the house...all sorts of things.

Today I decided to rearrange my living room furniture while on my lunch break.  I actually wanted my furniture to be placed like this when I first moved in, but convinced myself that it didn't look right.  It'll take some getting used to, and I think it could use an accent chair and maybe something else like a cabinet or shelf in one of the corners, but we'll see how long it takes me to get around to that.

After work I finally broke down and got my Idaho driver's license and registered my car in Idaho as well, so it's official, I am now an Idahoan for the foreseeable future.  I also finally made spare copies of my house key and car key, things I've been meaning to do for a LONG time but never got around to...I've meant to get the spare for the car for years (I know!  I just never remember to, dang memory).

Once all that was taken care of, I had dinner with my bishop, his wife, and my recently released relief society presidency.  It was nice to get together and laugh with one another one last time before we all separate ways.

Immediately after that, I had a meeting with the new relief society presidency to go over some things after the changing of the guard, as it were.  I think that we're going to have a lot of fun together as a presidency and I hope that we can implement some fun things during our run.

Oh, I forgot to mention, I found a Shelob of a spider today.  This thing was HUGE!  And it basically taunted me until I convinced my neighbor to kill it for me, because I was too terrified to do it myself.  Bleeeeccchh!  Spiders and I do not get along.  At all.

Chaaaaarge!

Bruce and I had our date night last night and decided to carve pumpkins.  So we went to WallyWorld to pick out pumpkins, I forgot how picky I am when it comes to pumpkins...so it took longer than I anticipated, but we finally got around to choosing the appropriate pumpkins, picked up dinner and went back to watch Arsenic & Old Lace, a classic Halloween favorite.

After the movie, we started in on the pumpkins.  Bruce was kind enough to cut off the top of my pumpkin and gut the sucker while I sketched out his carving pattern for him.  He's great like that.  We did have some pretty funny times trying to extract the top of his pumpkin, which fell into the innards and refused to come out without a serious amount of coercion.

Bruce carved out a Batman pattern, and I chose Darth Vader.  His turned out amazing!  Mine had some issues, but overall I was satisfied with it.  Yeah, I know I'm a perfectionist...which explains why I've done nothing with the 7+ years of art classes I have taken.  All those classes to be a doodler ;)

Here is a picture of our handiwork.

Hello, Bruce...

I have basically had a goofy grin perpetually plastered on my face for the past couple weeks, and I can't get it to go away.  Frankly, I don't want it to go away.  I am absolutely, ridiculously happy.  I currently get to keep company with the most amazing man ever, who for some inexplicable reason, wants to be with me just as much as I want to be with him.  In the past, I've refrained from even mentioning a significant other until we've been dating a number of months, but I literally cannot keep this to myself, he's too phenomenal and I'm too happy :)

If and when I mention him, I'll refer to him as Bruce, which will probably only make sense to me, but that's the whole point of a pseudonym, isn't it?

I love the fact that he loves the Gospel, that he's a dork, that he's responsible, that he laughs quickly and easily, that I feel safe when he hugs me, that he loves music and movies, that he can't help smiling at me, that he's ambitious, that he respects me, that he smells amazing, that he's more than a foot taller than me..it's crazy, that he enjoys good books, that we just seem to work, that I find him very attractive, that I can't stop thinking about him...all. the. time.

In short, Bruce is the best, and I'm glad he's mine.