The Bell Jar // Sylvia Plath

I made the mistake of watching the film Sylvia and then rereading The Bell Jar soon after.  It's never a good idea to read The Bell Jar when you're not feeling 100% good about yourself.  When you're in a fragile state, you can relate a little too well to Esther Greenwood.  You might, too, feel like you're trapped under a bell jar, struggling for breath.

I don't feel like that now, but a few weeks ago I did.  And now I feel fine.  Oh, the joys of being a woman with hormones, a human being with feelings, and a twenty-something-year-old with my life ahead of me.  Blue one minute, loving life the next.

Giving Thanks // Race Car Beds

 

After a huge Thanksgiving Dinner with Mark's family, he snuck away to take a looong nap. I am thankful for this guy.

And that bed was pretty comfy.

Adult Books

Funny story.  My future mother-in-law and I went shopping the other morning.  On our way home, we swung by her library so she could return a few books.  When we pulled up, she had to take a business call, so I ran in for her to drop the books off.

I walk up to the counter.  I see the drop box for Adult Books, I see the drop box for Children's Books and I think to myself, "Well, where do all the regular books go?"

As if the local Troy Public Library has some huge selection of erotic and pornographic books to check out.  Sometimes I am such a dummy.

A Lot of Lasts // Rose City, Michigan

We still have a few months here in Michigan, but I feel like we're making our way through a lot of last times these days.  We just spent the weekend Up North at my grandpa's cabin in Rose City...probably for the last time for a few years.  We had a ton of fun hiking through the woods, cooking over the fire, running around with the dogs, splitting wood, going for long walks along the road and just talking.  As we pulled away from the cabin Sunday afternoon, I was a little choked up.  This place I grew up with will no longer be a 2 1/2 hour drive away.  No more last minute weekend getaways to the cabin in the middle of the woods.  Hopefully we can find our own little rustic getaway in California.

In Limbo // We Live Here Now

As of right now we've been living in Mark's parents' spare bedroom for about two months.  We are sandwiched between his parents' bedroom and the bathroom.  Let me tell you, living with parents at age 28 has its ups and downs.  Having family around us all the time is awesome, but having family around us ALL THE TIME is well...a cockblock, to put it delicately.  Paying zero dollars for rent is the shit, but our super super tight budget is pretty shitty.  Having no stuff is pretty liberating, but missing the stuff I sold for $5 at our garage sale makes me pretty blue.

But honestly, there are so many more pros than cons.  His family really is amazing.  We make big breakfasts on Sunday, I go for walks around the neighborhood with his mom and sister, we sit around the kitchen table and talk, we babysit his nephews, we watch movies, we always have someone around to watch Penelope if we're going to be away from home more than a few hours.  His awesome mama does our laundry, grocery shops and listens to us when we're having troubles.  AND my drive to work is like three minutes!!  

It's pretty cool.  We have our plans, but just like every other place I've lived, I'm going to be super sad to leave here.

{ a costa rica wedding }

In just 61 days Mark and I, along with twelve of our nearest and dearest, are going to Costa Rica for our January wedding!  We chose the Conchal Hotel in Brasilito, a nine room boutique hotel with a very well reviewed restaurant, a cool open air bar and "The Rancho", which is the treehouse looking top floor pictured above.  Can you imagine chillin' in that hammock with a fresh fruit cocktail as the sun sets?  I'm really looking forward to spending a few nights that way. We spoke with the owner, Hilda, a few weeks ago about our wedding ideas (of which we had very little to contribute).  We're really letting her take control and are looking forward to being surprised by what she comes up with.  She was especially excited about the menu.  I guess they usually do buffet style, but she really wants to have an elegant seated 4 course dinner for us.  And that is just fine by me!  Also, one thing that we're kinda keeping to ourselves as a surprise to the wedding party - We got a Mariachi band!  I'm hoping that means some dudes with guitars and trumpets follow us around and serenade us with awesome music all night.

I cannot wait.