Halloween Again

Well, another Halloween has come and gone, and it was a pretty good one.  I was allowed to dress up at the library and I went *very* high concept with my costume.  I bought a Flash t-shirt, wore it over a long sleeve shirt, and declared myself to be Sheldon Cooper.

Unfortunately, only two people understood my costume without explanation.  That said, when I told people who I was dressed as, they said "Ohhhhhhhhhhh!"

We spent the evening at Amanda's parents' place with friends and I went trick-or-treating with them and their kids while Amanda stayed with her parents and Clayton (it was cold out, and on the drive over she claimed the right to stay with Clayton while everyone else was trick-or-treating).

Anyway, it was a very good Halloween.  Good night everyone.

Today's Headline

Everyone else seems to be talking about it, so I will too.  Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm is crazy.

...crazy awesome!

Amanda and I aren't in agreement on this.  She worried that Episode 7 will be a lousy movie and do more to tarnish the original trilogy.  I made a joke on my Twitter feed about wanting to see Jedi Master Mickey Mouse fight Darth Buzz Lightyear.  Jokes aside, the idea of having people like John Lasseter and Joss Whedon able to work on future Star Wars projects gives me hope for the future.

Anyway, we'll see what happens.  I'm sure that even with her doubts and my over-enthusiasm, Amanda and I will probably end up seeing Episode 7 in three years.  After all, how could we resolve our disagreement about the prospect otherwise?  :-)

Observational Test

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The Other Side

Today I was on the other side.

A year ago, I was the new person in the group.  I was the guy who lived hours away but dated Amanda.  Meeting her friends and family for the first time was very weird, even though they always made me feel welcome.

So today I was on the other side.  One of our friends (this might be a bit of a stretch using "our" rather than "Amanda's", as I've only really gotten to see and talk to him 4-5 times) started dating a woman who lives somewhere other than Grande Prairie.  With the exception of Amanda, who was still working away at moving her dad's shop, we finally got to meet his girlfriend.  And with that, she officially took my place as the newbie in the group.  :-)

Even though it would've been much more fun if Amanda had been able to come, I enjoyed myself, and it was very good to see a few of our friends who we haven't seen since our engagement.  It's weird though -- it's been over a month since we've seen each other, but we'll be visiting again on Halloween.  I think it's the first time I've ever said "I'll see you on X day" to them!

So in spite of Amanda having to work all day in the snow, I had a good day.  ...I just hope she did too, and that they'll finish up with their work for the evening very soon.

Writing in the Snow

I had an Amanda-free day today.  She had to work all day and I had to entertain myself.  I ended up going on a lengthy walk, and along the way I saw a person advertising the closing of Zellers while entertaining herself by walking in the snow and making patterns.

It made me think briefly, and then I remembered that for quite a while I've wanted to write a message to Amanda in the snow.  So I did!

It's kind of hard to read, and part of it is cut off due to how close I had to stand to the message, but it says I <3 Amanda.  If you turn onto the bypass by the intersection near the mall and look to the right, you may have seen it early this afternoon.

Why Amanda is Awesome, reason #6,734,932

Amanda had an incredibly long workday yesterday.  She left for work before 8, and didn't get home until nearly 10.  She was tired and sore, and I didn't know how she'd be feeling this morning.  I know that when I work an exceptionally long day, I'm often tired and grumpy the next morning, especially if I was only dozing the last hour or so of sleep.

So what happened this morning?  She seemed like she was in an okay mood while I was doing my step.  When I stopped, and came into the kitchen to help put her lunch together, we both looked at the last banana sitting on the counter.

Amanda *knows* I would've given it to her.  The Library is very close to the Co-op, and I can easily run over there during my lunch break to pick something up if need be.  But instead of just taking it, or asking if I'd mind picking up fruit for myself, she looked at me, grabbed the banana and said "I pirate your banana."  :D

We both burst out laughing, and then she continued.  "I'm going to paint a skull and crossbones on it.  I claim this banana for Amandania!"

I think a new (now not-so-private) joke has been born.

Alone Time

I've had a bunch of alone time tonight.  The shop Amanda works at is moving to a new location and she had to stay late to continue working on the move.  So I've had an evening entirely to myself.

What did I do with it?

Well...  I played a bunch of Skyrim, had supper, read, did all the dishes, did a small (very small) amount of cleaning, and am back in Skyrim again.  I'm hoping Amanda gets home soon though -- she's been at work since 8, and I can't imagine how tired she'll be.

Randomness

It's time for some randomness tonight:

Jake and Amanda in...

...Final Fantasy:

Jake - Fighter

Amanda - Red Mage

...Tetris

Jake - 4 bar (height!)

Amanda - T (my favourite piece)

...Plants vs. Zombies:

Jake - Kernel-pult

Amanda - Sunflower singing "There's a zombie on the lawn"

Okay, that was kind of random.  Hope you enjoyed it!

No Knitting Progress

I had to tear back a bunch of my current knitting project tonight.  I'm trying to work with multiple colours, but the carrying over ended up showing on both sides because of how I was working on the project.  I should've gotten Amanda to check it during the second row, but I figured I knew what I was doing after the first row.

Anyway, so I pulled it all back, and will be starting over.  I've still got my plan for the project, and I'll be able to get back to where I was in fairly short order.  Still, it's disappointing to pull it back.

Cold... and Warm

It was chilly today.  I picked Amanda up when she dropped her car off to have her winter tires put on, and in the few minutes we were outside, we both got incredibly cold.  Then it was off to Costco for gas where I had to stand outside in the cold, and Amanda had to sit inside my car which was rapidly getting colder while it was turned off.

I will say this -- my scarf proved its worth today.  My neck was not cold, even if most of the rest of me was.

Anyway, Amanda and I were both cold, it was close to 6:30 already, and I made a decision.  I asked Amanda if I could take her for supper.  She suggested one place, but we ended up deciding on Boston Pizza, thinking that we'd be able to sit in a warm restaurant with hot food in our hands.  ...we ended up being seated in a drafty corner.  Our pizza was really good though, and we really enjoyed our time together.

Now we're in bed, comfy under the duvet Amanda bought at Ikea when we were in Edmonton earlier this year, and watching Breaking Bad on Netflix.  More importantly, we're warm.

Tired...

Amanda and I took this photo together at Starbucks this afternoon while warming up (with lattes) briefly before continuing to get groceries.  The sun was getting low, and I really like how it illuminated our faces in this particular photo.  The other three attempts at it (the first three) didn't turn out nearly as good.

Today was a lazy day.  I worked yesterday, and worked much longer than I had expected.  I figured I'd be in for 6 hours or so with an hour break for lunch, and instead it was closer to 12 1/2 with an hour lunch and an hour and a half for supper.

Needless to say, I was *extremely* grateful when Amanda gave me a massage before bed, and I was very happy to spend most of today on the couch with her.  :-)

Knitting and Slacking Off...

Amanda and I are indulging ourselves tonight.  We're lying in bed looking up neat yarn online.  She's been plugging away at a new project, and I've been trying to figure out how to knit with two colours.  I had an idea, and made a pattern myself.  Amanda was impressed when she saw my list of knit and purl instructions for 30 rows of this project, and I was impressed when I used Excel to draw out what the pattern would look like afterward.

I liked the result.

Now I just need to teach myself how to knit it!

Wedding Music Part Five

Yup, the well is a little bit dry tonight, so I'm going to talk more about the music that will probably be on our wedding reception playlist.

I think we'll need some music from Glee -- maybe the three songs they sang at Regionals in season 3 -- the mashup of Fly and I Believe I can Fly, What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger), and Here's to Us.  I thoroughly enjoyed all three songs, and in fact, they were my background music while playing Minecraft for about two weeks after the episode aired.

There are a few others songs that are in consideration too.

Be my Yoko Ono - Barenaked Ladies

• When I left Tumbler Ridge, I joked that people had better not refer to Amanda as the Library's Yoko Ono.  As a result, this sort of became my anthem for a short time.

...actually, that's all I've got tonight.  Hopefully I'll have more to write about tomorrow night.

Wine Tasting Part One

Supper tonight was very uninspired, but while I was finishing it up, I decided to try one of the wines we purchased while we ate.  So I opened the bottle of baby champagne (a Canadian sparkling wine), and we each had a glass while we ate.

Years ago I bought a bottle of the same wine for my family to have with Christmas dinner.  I didn't drink at all at the time, and so I didn't try it.  My family all seemed to like it though, so I decided to put it on our list for consideration for our wedding.

We tried it, and I wrote our reactions down in *The Wedding Notebook*.

Amanda: "I like it." (enthusiastically)
Jake: "Good for wine." (I'm starting to think I'm really not much of a wine drinker)

So we've got one wine listed in *The Wedding Notebook* with our reactions.  Once we've got a few more listed, maybe we'll be able to make a decision.  ...or maybe we'll just say "Everyone drinks Canada Dry!  Wheeeeeeee!"

Hurt Knee

I hurt my knee today.  I'm not sure how I did it, but moving it anywhere but in a straight line hurts.  You might think that it's not a big deal.  Well, it turned out to be a bit of one...

I found out when I got home that walking up stairs is interesting when you can't swing your feet even slightly to the side.  A minute later, I had an interesting adventure in the world of pain while taking my shoes off.

But then Amanda came home.  Just seeing her made me feel better.  When she saw me limping around, she ordered me to sit on the couch, passed me the cooling bag to put on my knee, sat with me for a while, and told me she'd make supper.

So now I'm sitting with my leg up on the ottoman and with a cold bag on my knee.  I can hear the sounds of Amanda cooking, and I am incredibly grateful that she's my fiancee and that she cares about me so much.

Wine Tasting

Amanda and I took this photo together yesterday while waiting to cross the road downtown.  A little while later, we stepped out of a store and saw a half-dozen people with cameras milling around.  I joked that they were members of the paparazzi following the famous Kissing Couple of Grande Prairie.

Today we spent some time in a liquor store.  I'm not much of a drinker, and neither is Amanda, but we're looking ahead to picking the wine for our wedding.  So we picked up two bottles that sounded interesting -- one Canadian, one American, and we'll be tasting them later on.  If we like one of them, we'll keep track and keep it in the "Maybe" list for the wedding.  If not, it'll be used as cooking wine.

The best part is that by starting now, we can spread out our tasting over quite a few months.  It'll be easier on both our bank accounts *and* our livers!

Amanda and I took this photo together outside of RBC this afternoon.  We had just finished doing some other running around after having breakfast with my new nephew and his family at McDonald's.

It was a good day!  We stopped by the bookstore in the mall and picked up a number of books that'll come in handy in the future:

Be the Man

• all about weddings from a guy's perspective

Fodor's Essential Italy

• We don't know for sure if we'll be able to do it, but we've discussed honeymooning in Italy.  Even though we're focusing on planning for the wedding itself right now, it's never to early to start planing for the wedding's aftermath :-)

The Newlywed's Instruction Manual

• The books made by this company are useful and funny, and we really enjoyed reading parts of it together already.  The washroom door-style drawings and accompanying captions are hilarious and cut things down to their essentials.

Wedding Planning for Dummies

• We saw a copy of it for sale, and it's the same edition as the one we borrowed from the Library. Amanda knew we'll want to use the book long past the three week loan period, so we bought it as well.

So from a literary standpoint, we're all set for our wedding, honeymoon, and life as newlyweds!  We've got some reading to do, and much of it will be done together, or at least sitting side-by-side on the couch like we are now.

Wedding Music Part Four

So far I've written about songs I'd like to play at our reception.  Tonight though, I thought I'd talk about a few songs we *won't* be listening to.

The Nyan Cat song

• Amanda will not be happy with me if I play this song at our reception.  She tolerates it for 30 seconds, and that's enough.  To commemorate her dislike of this song, I even stayed up late a few months back to make a minigame using Warioware D.I.Y. where Amanda could deal with the Nyan Cat.  She liked it.

Splash Wave

• I found this song while searching iTunes for a song of the same name that was used in Sega's Outrun.  It's a Eurodance song that I find really catchy, and Amanda finds really annoying.

Better Things to Do - Terri Clark

• I dislike this song.

Kryptonite - Three Doors Down

• I love this song, but it's also my favourite song to be depressed to.  If I'm having a lousy day, this song fits my mood *perfectly*.  I don't think I'll need it on my wedding day.

For Now - Avenue Q

• Again, I love this song, but it works much better as an anthem for bad days.  There's no way I'll want to hear it on my wedding day.

So those are a few of the songs that won't be played at our wedding reception.  I'm sure there are many more, but this is a good start at a Do-Not-Play list.

The Rainbow Connection

I had The Rainbow Connection stuck in my head today.  It's such a great song, especially the version sung during last year's Muppet movie.  Amanda and I know all the words, and we're likely to sing along when it's playing on my iPod while we're in the car.  I sing Kermit's part, and according to Amanda my imitation of Kermit is pretty good.

I had a crazy thought in my head while walking around downtown at lunch.  At my friend's wedding a few years back, he and his groomsmen got up on stage to sing along to the lumberjack song as part of the reception.  I don't remember how well it went over, but it was silly and fun.

What if I were to find a second-hand banjo, learn how to play The Rainbow Connection, and sang it at our wedding reception?

...nah.  Somehow it would be missing something without all the other muppets joining in on the final verse.

My Nephew

Amanda's sister gave birth this morning to a healthy baby boy.  Amanda and I drove over to the hospital after work to see how Amanda's sister and the baby were doing.  Everyone is healthy, and the baby is strong.  Shortly after we arrived, Amanda held the baby, and then I sat with him in my arms for quite a while.

He will be the first person in the world to know me as Uncle Jake for his entire life.  He'll never know me as Jake, or even "Auntie Amanda's friend Jake."  Amanda and I aren't married yet, and we won't be for nearly a year.  Nevertheless, my nephew was born today.

Pre-Turkey Photo

Amanda and I took this photo together just before going to her parents' house for Thanksgiving dinner.  We ended up having lots of fun, but as soon as we got there, Amanda's mom and sister had a calendar sitting on the table open to August 2013.

We knew what it was for right away, and they didn't disappoint us.

"What day are you getting married?!"

We looked at each other, shrugged, and reminded them that we'd only been engaged two weeks and that Amanda had been sick the whole previous week.

...we ended up talking much too late last night about wedding plans after we returned home.  It was fun.  :-)

Smoke on the Water (or in the air)

It was incredibly smoky in Grande Prairie yesterday due to a wildfire.  When Amanda and I headed out later in the day I tried for a photo of the two of us.

If I were to say that this photo turned out a little blurry because of all the smoke in the air, you folks would be polite enough to believe me, right?

...thanks.

Couch Day

We're having a couch day today.  Amanda is still sick, and I don't really have any reason to head out and about.  So we've been on the couch together most of the day.  Amanda is still knitting away at the silk mawatas she bought from Knit Picks a little while ago, and I've been playing my 3DS a ridiculous amount.

...I know we've been kind of light on the photos lately.  I'm hoping that tomorrow's weather will be nice (it's very grey outside today) and that Amanda and I can take a few while we're out and about doing stuff.

Couch Day Plusses

1. Quality time with my favourite person
2. Progress on the games I've been playing
3. Relaxation -- I don't know the last time the two of us have had such a lazy day together
4. A different perspective -- I'll feel incredibly virtuous just by going for a walk either later on tonight or tomorrow
5. My pyjama bottoms are comfortable

Couch Day Minuses

1. Amanda is still sick :-(
2. I feel like I really should be up and doing a lot of different things, though I can't think of any that absolutely have to be done today

Anyway, I'm going to try to enjoy the remainder of our couch day together, and with any luck we'll have a new photo or two tomorrow!

It's Very Early in the Morning Right Now...

It's very early in the morning right now (2:20am).  I woke up from a fairly silly dream, was convinced that something odd must be happening, and am now awake and thiking about returning to bed.

So why is it that I didn't just roll over and return to sleep?  Why am I typing at nearly 2:30am?

I sleepwalk.

I half-woke up and thought that there was an event of some kind going on, and there were people trying to join Amanda and I in our bedroom.  So I hopped out of bed, threw on a t-shirt and pyjama bottoms, and walked out of the bedroom to see what was going on...  just to realize that it was the middle of the night and I was out of bed, wearing more clothes than I do while sleeping.

Yesterday morning I had to re-hang the painting that is on the wall over the head of our bed.  I had pulled it down (while half asleep), because I was convinced that one of the hangers had come loose and that it was going to fall and hurt Amanda and me.

When I told Amanda about it, she reminded me that I have woken her up a few different times in the middle of the night because I believed that something dangerous was happening and I was trying to protect her from it.

I remember the dream about the weird robots on the ceiling who were going to drop on us, and me yelling that we needed to get out.  I remember being so scared of one or two other things that have happened in my dreams that I screamed, woke Amanda up, and was halfway outside the bedroom before I came to my senses.

I know that Amanda is an incredibly smart and strong woman.  I know that she's resourceful and would find her own way out of the weird problems/dangers I dream about.  What's more, I remember very clearly her telling me *way* back when we first started dating that she was a damsel, but she wasn't in distress.

But still, a man has to rescue his princess.

...or maybe I've just played too much Super Mario Brothers over the years.

Thanks for reading!

Wedding Music Part Three

I think I might enjoy writing about this topic far more than it warrants...  Presented for your consideration, here are more songs we're considering for play during our wedding reception.

Crocodile Rock - Elton John

• Amanda and I saw Elton John in Grande Prairie this April and the show was incredible.  This song isn't Rocket Man, but it would be a lot more fun for Amanda and me to dance to.

Never Gonna Give you Up - Rick Astley

• I'd like to include this for two reasons:  first because the song covers some of what I feel about Amanda, and second because I think it would be really funny to have our reception playlist get rickrolled.

Not Moving at All - Major Maker

• I first heard this song on CBC Radio 3 a few years ago, and it's Amanda's way of telling whether the iPod currently playing is mine or hers when it's not playing a very distinctive playlist (Japanese/video game music on mine, or tons of Tom Petty on hers)

Waiting - Tom Petty

• Amanda is a huge Tom Petty fan, so I know we'll have some of his music playing at the reception.  This song would be my pick because it seemed like a very appropriate anthem for Amanda and me dating while I was still living in Tumbler Ridge.

So the reception playlist is still very much a work in progress.  Amanda and I spent some time this afternoon while we were making pizza talking about the wedding and some of our ideas.  We talked more about date and location, colours, the wedding party, and started talking about what we'd like to do for a wedding cake.

I'm not panicking anymore though.  I just look at the ring on Amanda's finger and the smile on her face, and I have confidence we'll get things figured out.  Besides -- I'm looking forward to the day I get to see her walk down the aisle.

Wedding Music Part Two

It's time for another edition of possible songs for Amanda and my wedding!

Walking on Sunshine - Katrina and the Waves

• I really like the song and quite often I'd make sure it was playing through my car's stereo for the last few minutes of the drive to visit Amanda before I moved to Grande Prairie.  To make things even better, the song is from the 80s.  As we all know, the 80s will *never* die.

Black Sheep - Metric

• I'd prefer the version sung by the actress who played Envy Adams in the Scott Pilgrim movie, but even the version from the soundtrack would be good.  It's just an awesome song and I spent lots of time sending my love to Amanda "on the wire" (over the Internet).

Sugar Sugar - The Archies

• Yup, I'm still a fan of Archie comics at 31.  I bought a greatest hits CD of the Archies years ago and still love the songs on it.

Rainbow Connection - The Muppets

• I heard this song for the first time, if not ever, in many, many years in The Muppets movie that was released last year.  It still brings a smile to my face and I love singing it with Amanda, with me trying my best to sound like Kermit the Frog.  Supposedly I'm pretty good at it according to Amanda.  :-)

Anyway, those are a few more of the songs that I'm considering for our wedding reception.  I don't know if they'll make the final list or not, but Amanda already likes all of them well enough.  Maybe next time I'll tell you about Splash Wave and how there's no chance of it playing at our reception.

Wedding Music Part One

This blog post could also be titled "Songs I'd like at our wedding, but I don't know that they'd really fit the mood or be appropriate...

1)  The Star Wars march

No, not the Imperial March, though that would be interesting.  I'm talking about the song that plays during the medal presentation to Luke and Han at the end of Star Wars.  It's an awesome piece of music, and I'd really like to use it for when I make my way down the aisle, but I worry too many people would be looking around to see if Chewbacca was in attendance.

2)  You are my Sunshine

I have an irrational love of this song, and I think of it fairly often.  The only thing is that it's really not a happy-celebration-go-lucky song.

3)  I'm too Sexy

I've been to one wedding already where my brother had his vest and shirt taken off by bridesmaids to this song -- I don't need it to happen again at my wedding.  That said, I did post on Facebook today that "It's my wedding, and Tyler can party if he wants to!"  I stand by that.

Anyway, we've got lots of time to figure out what music we'll have during the ceremony itself and the reception afterward.  Perhaps Amanda and I will post about it in more detail later on.

Tuesday Night Fever

Amanda has been sick the last few days.  I'm still healthy so far, but I just woke up from nodding off to sleep against her shoulder while sitting on the couch about a half hour ago.

...I hate it when I'm sick.  I really dislike being stuck in bed or on the couch all day.  I don't enjoy sleeping for 20 hours in a day, or having a sore throat, or feeling nauseous.  That's why I feel so bad when someone else is sick.  Amanda's been sick for three days now, and I know that if I'd been sick the past three days, I'd be sick and tired of being sick, tired of the apartment and not getting outside of it, and desperate to feel better.

So, I hope she's feeling close to 100% tomorrow, and I hope I don't catch what she's got.

Get better soon Amanda!  <3

The B Colour

I like blue.

That's not to say I don't appreciate other colours.  Red is awesome, for instance.  But blue seems to be the predominant colour in my wardrobe, in my mind, and in my life.  Amanda's favourite colour?  Blue.  Her niece's favourite colour?  Blue.  Most of the time when we're talking about something being a neat shade of blue, it's something small or nearby.  With Amanda's niece, it's usually regarding a toy, part of a game, or a stuffed animal.

For Amanda and me recently, it's been other hues of blues that have caught our attention.  For instance, Amanda and I did some wandering around looking at vehicles this weekend both online and in person.  We debated the merits of car paints with names similar to "sandstone shade blue", "blue shark-spray mist", and "indigo-blue twilight."  They varied between true blues, blue-greens, and blue-greys, but they were all blue.

When we weren't admiring those blues, we were wondering at the blues in the yarn colourways we looked at online.  Some of the ones we'd most like to try are a mix of blues and greys among other colours.  My first skein of sock yarn was a mix of blue, indigo, and purple that still looks amazing to me.

The colour of the sky, especially in summer in-between clouds, is one of my favourite shades of blue.  In the dead of winter when it's sunny and 40 below, the shadows in the snow are also one of my favourite blues.

But the most wonderful shade of blue in the world can be found in just one place a few feet away from me:  in my financee's sparkling eyes.  They're beautifully blue.  They're an amazing mix of blue and grey that even now can take my breath away.

Maybe that's part of why I love her so much.  When I look into her eyes, I see my favourite colour, and it's a fantastic shade of it.

After all, I like blue.

:-)