The New Dating

So, Cory and I have an analogy about making friends after you get  married. It really is the new dating.

So, let's outline the steps of starting a relationship.

First, it starts out with some attraction. You see the couple at church or something and think, "Hey, they look cool, we should be friends with them!" (Note: be careful with this. Just like in dating, some weird couples look all too normal).

Next, you might try and casually get to know them. Maybe you introduce yourselves, find out where they're from, what they do for a living, etc. Hopefully this leads to the big hurdle: the first date: So, you give the couple a call or go up to them, and invite them over. For a movie, dinner, games, something fun, whatever.

Now, sometimes the couple is busy and can't make it to the original first date. So, maybe you ask them again. And, maybe, if you're a sucker like Cory and me, you might even ask them several times.

Or, they accept! So, you go on the date. You try and make a good impression, like, hey, just so you know... we are really fun people. But, here is where you might compare this date to other dates. Is this couple as fun as that one other couple? But, even more, you wonder...do they like us back?

So, maybe they could come over for that first date. So, then you invite them over for a second.

Will they call back? Is this relationship one sided?

At some point, you realize you are indeed that awkward guy that can't take a hint. So, you decide that you'll stop inviting them over and see if they reciprocate. This is when you realize that they're just not that into you.

But, every so often, you find that gem of a couple. You know the one. They invite you over as much as you invite them. The wives like each other and the husbands like each other. They are fun. They laugh at your jokes, you start to get really comfortable hanging out, and before you know it, you have a couple friend. 

Cory and I invited two couples over for dinner today. Both were epic fails (they were both busy). Are we weird?

Oh well, we have a fun night planned anyway. We had a great dinner where we talked about some traditions we'd like to do with our future family. Now, when Cory finishes planning his observation lesson (by the principal...but he's not even fazed. he's awesome), we'll go on a long missed Sunday walk and watch Harry Potter 3 (and maybe 4, or Iron Man 2).

The End of Football!

Although it has been fun watching Cory start his first coaching job, it has been a major time commitment. So, although it was disappointing to not make the playoffs, Friday night's game marks the beginning of...weekends off!

So, on Cory's first Saturday afternoon off, we finally organized our garage! We are storing some extra furniture in our garage that won't fit in our house. Plus, we have all of my school stuff since I don't have my own class this year. So, we put together our shelving units and organized everything. It felt so good to get it done and be able to park in the garage again!

The next project is cleaning out the mini fridge my parents gave us for Cory's classroom.

Saturday night, we used our first Groupon at Los Vaqueros. Cory and I absolutely love going out to eat. But, we like to stay within a certain restaurant budget. So, I've been looking for Groupons at Fort Worth restaurants. 

I know that many people think that going out to eat is a total waste of money and they don't factor it into their budget. I totally respect that. But, for us, eating out is a way that we love to spend time together. For us, it is an investment in our relationship. We know that we could have date nights that involve free activities, but eating out is our date of choice. 

Last night at dinner, we were talking about why we love eating out so much. A huge part of our friendship was going out to eat together every Thursday night for pretty much a whole semester. This gradually bled into a weekly Saturday night date. We continued the tradition when we started dating and we've gone out most weeks since we've been married. It makes us still feel like we're dating. It always give us a chance to sit and talk about what has been going on. We always laugh and enjoy each other's company. It's so much fun.

The restaurant had some old carnival games (guess your weight, etc.). We started out the night by getting ripped off by the"Sex Appeal Meter." I had the camera ready in case Cory got "blah" or "clammy" :) He said that would be ridiculous. He said it was no surprise that he got "burning."

Because that particular light bulb looked a little more used than the others, I said it was broken and that it always tells people they're burning. He insisted we blow another quarter to test it.

So, it was a good thing that it was broken (or that we're just ridiculously attractive), because I think my self esteem would have gone down if I had then gotten "blah" after Cory got "burning."

We enjoyed our chile rellenos, sour cream chicken enchiladas, and strawberry sopapilla! It was a great night made more affordable by Groupon!

We finished the night off by picking up a fire log and snagging some Halloween stuff for 90% off. We had a great evening hanging out in front of a fire in our fireplace. We've never lived in a place with a fireplace before, so we were pretty excited.

Cory is loving having his weekends back. Right now, he is chilling downstairs on our couch watching a BBC Robin Hood (well he might be napping by now...) in none else but our...SNUGGIE! This was a gift from Tristan for...well, I think it was just because we're awesome.

In his words, "I can wear a blanket and still have my hands free!" Yes, yes, we know it's sexy. Back off girls, he's mine.

Happy Halloween!

Last night, Cory and I went to a coworker's Halloween party. It was a rowdy night (not for us) with some drunken yelling, a man dressed in nothing but vines and a speedo, scantily clad women (young and old), a Rangers win, and a large amount of beer (well coke and 7up for us). It may make me sound naive, but it was my first party with alcohol (besides some parties with my mom's side of the family with some social drinking of wine). It was pretty different than the Halloween party we went to last year (where we played Mafia and Cory dominated). Although we had a nice time with the coaches Cory works with, it made me very glad that my husband does not drink :) Although, yes, it did provide some laughs.

So, last year we made our costumes very last minute. We painted leftover wedding boxes to be dice and we were maybe still a little soggy from the paint. This year we could actually fit through doors! We ended up going as Abraham Lincoln and his wife Mary Todd. We trimmed up Cory's beard (it started out being very bushy and 14 inches long) but left it longer than Abe's so it would be obvious who he was. My hat and hair were definitely too flamboyant for Mary Todd, and Cory is maybe just a little shorter than President Lincoln :) But, we were going for dramatic effect. Plus, some of you know that Cory wants to name one of our kids Lincoln.

 The best part was that people actually automatically knew who we were! They kept calling us Abe and Mrs. Lincoln. Plus, since I had to wear a wig and color in my eyebrows, some of the coaches had a tough time recognizing me (yes, they may or may not have been a little drunk). Cory said he couldn't get over how different I looked. After leaving the party, we went to IHOP still decked out. It was a little embarrassing.

Cory in my Dad's old coattails and me in one of my old musical costumes from 10th grade

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 

We forgot to buy candy last night in our tired stupor after the party, so we're being scrooges and pretending we're not home!

Happy Haunting!

Check out my beautiful flowers that my father in law gave me!

The jury is still out on what Cory and I are being for Halloween. Don't you worry, we have options.

After much procrastination, I decorated our house for Halloween last Sunday. Although the mantle is a little more bare than I'd like, we are still feeling pretty festive!

this one is our favorite!

Mr. Bones & our eyeballs :)

I thought I might light my hair on fire making these babies!

only 3 more days!

Utah Trip!

We get to go back to Utah for a few days at the end of January! Although we were very excited to return to Texas after Cory graduated, we made some wonderful friends in Utah. Southwest had a great 48 hour sale ($60 one way to SLC!). Cory really wanted to go snowboarding so we got these as an early birthday present for him. So, he is going to take a couple days off from school and we're going to go visit some friends!

We're hoping to hit up some of our old favorites, including:

• Although we really love the sushi place we have found in Fort Worth (we've been there 3 or 4 times since we moved here) we will definitely be heading back to Asuka with Jeff. Definitely. 

• Staying with Gramma & Papa for a couple days. I lived with them my senior year of college while Cory and I were dating. He actually told me he loved me at their house, proposed at their house, etc. etc. I came to Austin for a couple days this week to see Gramma while she was visiting. 

• Seeing Cory's old roommates. We really miss them. Here is us with them at Cafe Rio.

Tristan, Russell, Stuart, Mitchell, Cory, Delaney, & Jeff

• Probably hitting up our old date spot YoZone.

• And, we'd love to see some of our very very favorite Utah people...the Dyes. We hung out with them a lot while we lived in Saratoga Springs and we haven't found an adequate replacement. What do you say Kathy?

• And of course snowboarding at Sundance or Snowbird!

Representing Dallas in UT

Ready to hit the slopes!

We are really excited! Even though it will be beyond frigid and I've really been enjoying our 80 degree October days...

10.14.10

So, I'm sometimes a little scatterbrained. On Monday, I lost the keys to our car while we were at Cory's parent's house. So, we had to sleep in Arlington (with no overnight things), borrow his mom's car, and wake up at 5:15 so I could drive Cory to work. It was AWESOME. The best part was that we couldn't see the keys in the car and I could not figure out where I left them. Well, actually maybe the best part was the fact that it's our only set of keys. Or that it had our house key on it so we were locked out. I guess it's a toss up.

So, after taking Cory to work, I sat in the car in the parking lot for two hours (okay, it was like 6:30am so it's not like I was going to go and run all my errands) until the apartment office opened and could let us into our house. I was about to go to the dealership to buy a new set of keys (pricy!) when Haley (Cory's sister) said that my keys had gotten buried under the carseat in her car! yay!

So, I drove up to Frisco, made a quick leisurely trip to IKEA, and got my keys. Then, I drove to Arlington to trade Cory's mom's car for my car. Then, I drove back to my house. Yeah, that only took most of the day.

I'd like to say things like this don't happen all the time. But, then earlier tonight I felt something under my shirt. I had my pearl necklace chilling in my bra...No, they didn't fall off while I was wearing them. Apparently it seemed like a good idea when I was in a hurry for work at 7:15am to stash them there until I had time to put them on. So, I wore my pearls in my shirt all day.

I decided to be a substitute. I think it will help me meet lots of teachers and help people know me at different schools. I've done a few days and it's been pretty good :) I actually already had a teacher request me back. I loved his class and kind of wish it were mine so I was happy to do it. As always, we're horrible at taking pictures, but I will take some of the baby shower for Christine this weekend! I'm heading to Austin tomorrow to get ready for that and coming back Saturday.

Until then, here's an oldie, but always a good one.

Scavenger Hunt

So, I spent the last 6 days in Austin doing a window washing project. Cory got very very lonely. In his words, "I've never missed you that much." Not even when we were apart for 5 weeks when we were engaged? Let's just say that Cory is a really social and touchy-feely person and without me or his best friend Jeff, he is a lonely man.

Anyways, so he was really insistent that I be home on Tuesday evening by 6 pm. He wouldn't say why and tried to pretend it was 'just to see me.' It was obvious he was lying. I really needed to finish my job, so I extended it to 6:30. I made the drive up wondering what he had in store. I was running about 15 minutes late but I called him when I was about 10 minutes away and he was still at work! I told him that I would be a little fried if he made me rush to Fort Worth and he was at work when I got home!

When I got home, I didn't see his car but I thought that it could be in the garage. When I walked into the house it smelled horrible! I guess Cory totally roasted a frozen pizza (like 4 days ago) and it smells like something burned down. But, there were five envelopes in the entry way because Cory spent days planning a scavenger hunt for me. It was really cute.

So, here is a recap of my fun night!

LETTER ONE
Letter One told me how much he missed me and loved me and that I had a night of surprises. He said I needed to go to Hulen Mall. I wasn't allowed to open Letter Two until I was in the parking lot.

LETTER TWO
Needless to say, I was anxious to get to Hulen Mall! Letter Two said that he wasn't at Hulen Mall but that I needed to relax and enjoy myself. He talked about when we were dating and we would go to Yozone in Provo. I loved Yozone! He had found a place inside the mall that was self serve yogurt. He left $10 and told me to get some yogurt. Of course he said some other stuff too. But, I wasn't allowed to open Letter Three until I was sitting down eating my yogurt!

This isn't my yogurt, but it's something I would get! I love mochi!

LETTER THREE
Letter Three started with a Cory quote, "I have a good saying that if you look good, you feel good; if you feel good, you play good. So, I think you need to take more time to pamper yourself. This is something you would never spend the money on yourself, So I spent it for you. Take some time for just Delaney." So, he had gotten me a gift certificate for a spa pedicure at a nail salon at the mall. I was supposed to text him with my progress during the pedicure (and read Letter Four). But, I found out during the pedicure that my phone was in the car. It was such a fancy little place with private rooms and dimming lights.

LETTER FOUR
I'm not going to say where Letter Four took me or what it said, but I will say that Cory wanted me to use a $10 off coupon that he got by taking a phone survey that asked him, "Did they ask you if you wanted to try on a bra? Why did they not ask you to try on a bra? Did you like the fitting rooms?" He said there was no option to say, "I am a male."

LETTER FIVE
So, after my pedicure I ran out to my car to get my phone. Just as I was opening the door my phone was ringing and it was Cory. I told him that I had left my phone in the car and that I had just finished the pedicure. I turn around and there he is. I guess he had been calling and couldn't wait so he came to the mall early. I guess he got confused when I left the mall (that wasn't in his plan) and he had to hide as I passed him. He waited for me while I shopped and then Letter Five took us to Chili's where we had dinner (we had to have a budget dinner after such an expensive night!).

It was a fun night and Cory did a good job spoiling me. It was really sweet. I love this guy!

Cory and me in Cancun in June 2009