December 2014 : Sword Fighting and Video Game Month

So, Chris purchased a Groupon for us a while back.

It was a month long membership to the Minnesota Sword Club. I promised Chris I would give it a try, however, I had a very nasty feeling that my ex-boyfriend Tyler Clayton would be there, especially since I had remembered that he said he still worked there last time I talked to him. We showed up to our first class on a Wednesday. I was pretty nervous, and looked around to see if Tyler was there, sure enough, I spotted him teaching private lessons at the end of the gym. I turned to Chris and said "I told you he'd be here" I proceeded to do everything in my power to avoid an encounter with him. I hid on the other side of the wall and tried to stay away from where he was. When the classes was about to start, Chris and I headed onto the gym floor to meet up with the rest of our classmates. Unfortunately, as I descended the stairs, Tyler was walking up the stairs at the same time, and almost bulldozed me over. We were both moving quickly. He stated "Whoooaaaa" and I said, "How are you?" He said "Good" and quickly kept moving. Needless to say it was an extremely awkward moment. I am pretty sure he snuck out of the gym after that avoiding me in every way possible. Chris and I took our class after that, no longer worrying about whether or not Tyler was around, he was definitely not in sight. I think Chris enjoyed the class more than I did. I was okay with the first part of the class, because we were just doing footwork and running drills with our swords, but as soon as we got our armor and head gear on, I was very uncomfortable. My mask/cage thingy was too big, and I had to take off my glasses in fear that they would get ruined. The remainder of the class was all about attacking the head. It was uncomfortable to get smacked in the head all the time. My mask would vibrate each time and I couldn't see due to not having my glasses on. It all felt very disorienting. Also, I kept getting hit, because I am not a fast learner when it comes to sword fighting, however, I still blame the uncomfortable head piece and the fact that I didn't have glasses on. Afterwards, Chris and I went home. I never showed up to the class again, but Chris went at least 3 or 4 more times. As far as video games go, Chris's friends got him into League of Legends which is an online game that he plays on his laptop. He really enjoys it, so while he played that, I would continue my Dragon Age Inquisition Journey. I am pretty far along in the main plot now. I believe I am almost to the end of the main plot, which at that point I could either choose to continue some of the side quests or just start over with a new character. The game is pretty cool, but I don't enjoy it as much as Dragon Age Origins, mostly because I like to follow a main story line, and not have to stray too much from it. I would say, however, that I enjoy the story line, the romances, and the graphics far more than Dragon Age 2. Anyways, I'm done geeking out about it. Chris and I have decided to keep this monthly theme thing going into 2015. Stay tuned for the first theme of he New Year! 

August 2014: Outdoor Activities Month

We were having trouble deciding a theme for August as Chris was going to have to be out of down again for alot of it. We were trying to find something that would still work while he was gone, so we decided that when he was back in town for the weekend we would find things to do outdoors. The first weekend we started kind of slow. We ended up going to an outdoor patio and having a drink and then went to see a movie with friends. Afterwards, we walked around the Arbor Lakes area and stopped into Trader Joes to get something for dinner. So, not the best start to an outdoors weekend, but we progressively got better. The weekend after was my birthday weekend, on Friday, August 8th, we drove up to Acadia, Wisconsin and stopped at a few wineries on our way up. When we got to Acadia, there was a festival going on where we spent time outside checking out the festival and having some dinner. We then sat down to watch The Beach Boys perform. It was pretty funny, they are so old now and singing about 3 girls for every boy, and "Wouldn't it be nice if we were older..." Chris somehow convinced me that we should to swing dance in front of the beach boys. We went right up to the center of the stage and security kicked us to the side. I was a bit embarrassed, but we finished the song. Afterwards, the crowd was so large that we ended up having trouble getting out of there and boy did I really want to not be standing in front of a massive crowd any more. We ended up squeezing through masses of people and got back to where my family was sitting. While the beach boys were still playing, my Aunt Cheryl, Mom, and Dad and us decided to go and start with the lantern launch. We met up with another group of about 10 people who were also launching and it looked so amazingly cool that we decided we want to do it at our wedding. Not long after the Lantern launch, it was time to head home. It was about 930 or so and about 10pm when we got back to the car and we had a 2 hour drive back. It was a very pleasant day! On Saturday August 9th, Chris made me a delicious birthday breakfast and then we went to the farmer's market. It was kind of sad that they didn't have any coffee. We then went to check out tent rentals for our wedding.

July 2014: Video Game Month

We decided to do a video game month, which really is kind of a silly theme, but Chris was traveling 3 weeks out of July, so I agreed to it since I would be on my own for a lot of the time. I attempted to download a few games onto my computer, one of which was suggested to me because it is the same people who made my favorite video game series Dragon Age! Susan, Kendra, and I, like to geek out over that game. It is a role playing game based in a fantasy world and while playing you can play out various romance stories between characters, what I also liked about it was that you never had to wonder where to go next, there was always a quest you were doing or a place you knew you had to go. I had tried playing Skyrim in the past and didn't like it all the much because it was too open world for me and there was no definite end to the game. The dragon age serious tells a story, it's like watching a series of interactive movies. After having issues downloading games onto my computer for whatever reason, I decided to try a game called Oblivion that Chris had around. I created my character and started playing. There was a main storyline that I kept following since I was so used to dragon age, but Chris said I didn't have to follow the main story line. I enjoyed playing it for the most part, but it has the same fluke as skyrim, It is too open-world for me and not enough of a solid storyline. Chris experimented with a game called Boom Beach on his Ipad and both of us got even more involved in Clash of Clans on our I-phones. All in all, I can't wait for Dragon Age 3 Inquisition to come out. It was supposed to be released this October, but it is now being delayed until November. Stay tuned for next months theme "Outdoor Activities".

June 2014: Health Month

I need to preface this by saying that we kind of failed at our Fitness month in January, so this was kind of a re-try. I'd say we

did pretty good. 

Healthy Eating

We went to the farmer's market twice and stocked up on tons and tons of vegetables and fruit. we ate mostly chicken and fish for our meats and we had plenty of fresh veggies and fruit just about every day. There was a whole 3 day weekend where we ended up eating brats, chips, baked beans, and dips due to parties and gaming. That wasn't the healthiest, but all in all, for us, we did really good. I want to continue the healthy eating by continually having veggies and fruit around. I felt so much better health-wise while eating this way. 

Exercise

We actually did really great with exercise this time around. We went to the gym every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday where we spent 20 minutes doing cardio and extra 10-15 minutes lifting weights and doing crunches. It felt really great to get into a regular exercise routine. It was something that I would have happily continued, but then I got new job and started working 10-12 hour days which made it really hard to work out. We have only worked out once per week for the last two weeks, however it is July now so we made it through the whole month of June! YAY!

May 2014: Wedding Planning Month

Chris and I spent a lot of time talking about what we wanted for a wedding during this month. It was wonderful, I never thought I would be engaged to be married let alone with Chris. Everything was so surreal. For a while I had trouble believing that it was even real, I would wake up in the morning and check my finger to make sure that the ring was still there. 

Choosing a date

We discussed the pros and cons of waiting for a year and pushing for a date this coming fall. We realized after a lot of back and forth that waiting was far better. We would have time to save our money for both the wedding of our dreams and our European honeymoon. 

Save the Dates

Almost immediately after we got engaged, I started searching for silly things like cards, invites, and save the dates. I found a design I really liked and started messing with it on Vistaprint. I even ordered a few so that I could see it in person and perfect the design. If you are planning a wedding I strongly suggest Vistaprint as an option. They are reasonable in price. We plan to get married on 9/12/2015 as long as weather and our health permits. I can't wait to marry my best friend. I love him so much!

Wedding Website

I was so excited to start putting the wedding website together. I have almost all of it completely finished and our wedding isn't for a year. I think it is coming along quite nicely!

The Dress

This experience was amazing and unexpected. I made an appointment pretty much right away at David's Bridal. Before going I had very little respect for them, they seemed like the Walmart of the bridal shops. The plan was to do a trial run here so my Aunt, My Mother and my sister accompanied me. On arrival I was very nervous, I had never tried on a dress before and I was worried that nothing would look good on me. We got in and met our consultant Anne. She was amazing from the get go. She asked about our theme and what kinds of dresses I was interested in. After trying on about 7 dresses, I didn't want to take the 7th dress off. It was perfect in every way. I got that crazy feeling that everyone talks about and I knew it was the one. Unfortunately the beautiful dress has to stay in my closet for a year now, but every time I peek at it, I know it's the perfect dress for me and my wedding day. I can't wait to wear it on my wedding day and wow Chris with the magnificence of it. 

The Wedding Committee

We have a lot of work to do and a lot of decisions to make. We have been slowly working through some of those decisions, but it is quite overwhelming especially since we are planning on doing a lot of the work ourselves. We put together a committee consisting of my Aunt, Chris's Aunt, My sister Heather (the maid of Honor) and both of our Mothers. We are meeting every month until we get closer to the wedding and they have been a great help so far.

The Proposal: April 2014

First of all I have to preface this story by telling you that Chris and I had decided that for the year of 2014 we would have a theme for every month, and the months of March and April both ended up being "Spy" themed. During the course of our Spy Adventures we went to the shooting range where I shot a gun for the first time, we practiced Archery, we watched Several episodes or Burn Notice and Chuck, and we chased each other around the city using clues. Okay, now to the Proposal Story.....

On April 26th, at 9:00am in the morning, I went to meet my sister, Heather, for coffee and shopping. We spent the morning chatting about our significant others and other random topics and our plan for the day was a surprise that I had planned for Heather's birthday. We were going on a Wine and Chocolate Tour that I had already paid $130 for on Groupon. I was pretty sure she knew nothing about it.

We decided to go and wait for the Macy's store to open so we could go and buy some shirts for Chris. He had given me some cash on Friday and asked me to get him some dress shirts. At about 10:00am I got a phone call from Chris, just as the doors for Macy's were opening. The Phone call went like this.

Amanda: Hello

Chris: Hi! Where are you right now?!

Amanda: At Ridgedale Mall, we are waiting for Macy's to open.

Chris: Okay, I need you to listen very carefully because I don't have much time. Spy Month is almost over and I need you to be relaxed, and I need you to trust me. Your weekend is not going to go as you planned. But it will be more exciting than anything you could have imagined. I need you to drop whatever you are doing, and go home right now. You won't be able to get in touch with me so I need you to follow the clues. 

Amanda: Okay

Chris: Okay, I love you, Goodbye

Amanda: Bye

After the phone call I turned to Heather and told her that we had to go back to the house right away. She was like "Why"? "What's going on?" and I said "Chris needs us to go straight home" She had a smirk on her face as we were walking and I asked her as we headed out "You know something about this, don't you?" She said "Noooooo". I looked at her and said "Yes you do" and she smiled. Suddenly I didn't feel so on my own. I had Heather, my assistant Spy.
Heather drove us to the house since I was shaking with nerves because I was unsure of what to expect. I got home to find my kindle, a book, and a Pizza Luce menu on the bed. Inside of the Pizza Luce menu was a post it note that had the address for the Richfield Pizza Luce and it said "Contact: Dave". I looked at Heather and said "Who's Dave?" She responded with "Who do you think he is?" and I said, "I don't know, I don't know a Dave, is it someone who works at Pizza Luce?" "Is that who you think it is?" She responded. Well at this point I knew I wasn't getting much out of Heather. 

Once we got to the Pizza Luce, Heather asked me if I wanted to do the talking and I said "No", mostly because at this point my nerves had taken over and I just wasn't sure what to expect. Heather walked up to the Host counter and they asked us how they could help us and Heather proceeded to ask for Dave. The Hostess asked us if we were looking to reserve the banquet room and Heather replied "No, I think he has something for us." Dave came out shortly after that and said "Amanda?, your table is ready. He brought us to a table right behind the hostess stand. 

The waiter came over and brought us some water and I ordered mimosa assuming that it would calm my nerves. Shortly after my drink came, my Mom showed up, and I was like "Hi, Mom!" She was looking at Heather all confused like and then Heather said "Just sit down Mom" So she sat down, and I found out that my Mom was taking over for Heather so that she could still go on the wine and Chocolate tour with her Friend. The Waiter told us that a Baked Potato Pizza was Pre-ordered to go for Heather and asked if we wanted to order anything else. My Mom and I ended up ordering some Quinoa pancakes and Heather and my Mom ended up chowing down most of the pizza before Heather even needed to leave. I was only able to eat about 2 bites of pancakes and was not able to eat any more than that, due to my nerves. 

The waiter brought us a box for the pancakes and informed us that the bill was covered, he then handed Heather two envelopes and me one envelope. Heather received a card that was signed by me that said "Happy Birthday, Sorry I couldn't be there, Amanda". I laughed when I saw this because he had tricked me into signing that card the night before telling me it was for his Uncle. Heather also received the rest of the information about the wine and chocolate tour. Inside of my Envelope was a key and an address. Heather left soon after we got our envelopes and my Mom and I said goodbye to our very friendly waiter and headed out to the address on the note. The address ended up being for a post office that was in the same parking lot as the Pizza Luce. We went inside and I found and opened the PO box that the key belonged to. 

Inside the PO box was a folded piece of paper. I looked at my Mom and said, we better leave before we open this, someone might be listening. She played along and we ran out the door to the car. When we got to the car, I opened up the paper to find an email confirmation for a plane ticket to Las Vegas along with a post it note that said "Plus a massage and a manicure". I laughed when I saw it and explained to my Mom that a few nights before that he was showing me a video of Ellen DeGeneres giving her administrative assistants gifts. One girl got a weekend in Las Vegas, and the other one got a massage and a manicure at her desk. Chris asked me which one I would choose and I had said that I really needed a massage and a manicure. He said "So you wouldn't go on a trip to Las Vegas with me? and I said, "I guess, if there was a massage and manicure involved I would."

Anyways, so my Mom told me that I didn't have time to pack and she drove me to the airport. She got me all checked in and sent me off on my way. The greatest feeling in the world was walking through security with nothing but my purse. No Luggage! You should try it some time, at least once! It felt awesome! 

After I got through security, I was hoping to see Chris at the gate, so I hurried my way along to the gate, only stopping to purchase a pair of cheap headphones so I could listen to music on the flight. When I got to the gate, there was no Chris. My seat hadn't been assigned yet, so I waited for them to call my name. I went up and got my seat assignment and then shortly after they started to board the plane. I was pretty sure that there would be a chance that Chris was on the flight, but when I found my seat, two women were already seated next to me. I took my seat and noticed that the woman next to me seemed crabby so I pretty much kept to myself. I felt pretty calm once on the plane, I felt like most of the stress was over, and even if Chris did have me chasing him around Las Vegas, at least I had a few hours to relax beforehand. 

Unfortunately, the flight was awful, about an hour into the flight we started experiencing really bad turbulence. The plane was wiggling and shaking and dropping. People were screaming, and I was holding onto my chair for dear life. The woman next to me noticed that I was distressed and asked me if I was okay, and I told her that I was just scared. She said that she understood and said that it helps to talk. So I told her about why I was going to Vegas and what had happened so far, and she told me about her son, and how her friend builds these planes and they are built to handle the turbulence. She helped me calm down a bit, but lets just say, I was pretty tense for the remainder of the flight. So imagine me finally landing in Las Vegas, feeling sick to my stomach when all I had eaten was two bites of pancakes and some peanuts, not to mention my whole body ached from being tense for the entire flight. 

After I got off the flight, I stopped by the bathroom and then checked my phone. I saw that I had a voice mail. I listened to it and it was a man saying "Hi Amanda, I'm Dale, I'll be your driver today, Just follow the signs for the Terminal 1 Baggage claim and wait for me there." I was pretty relieved that there was a plan for this leg of the trip. I followed the signs and found several men dressed in suits holding up tablets with people's names on them. I saw one that said Amanda and went up to him and said "I'm Amanda Olson" He said, "Well, Let's See" as he pulled out a picture and showed me, it was definitely a picture of me. "Much prettier in person". I kind of laughed and said "Thank you". He led me to a town car and got me a bottle of water after hearing about my rough flight. Half-way through the car ride he called someone and told them we were on our way and then handed me an envelope, it had an Agent Profile, a hotel key: room 921, and a Las Vegas Brochure.I smiled while reading the Agent Profile that Chris had created.

 
There were a lot of inside jokes involved and it was very entertaining. I couldn't believe he had gone through all of this trouble. When we arrived at the hotel, my driver said that the ride was already paid for, he made sure I had the hotel key, and I made my way up the escalators.
Once I had gotten to the elevators I took them up to the 9th floor and found room 921. I opened the door and there was a very fancy looking room with a big couch, a view of the Eiffel tower outside the window, and a kitchenette to my right. There was no sign of Chris, so I started looking for my next clue. Shortly after I started looking, Chris appeared from a bedroom that was to the side. I immediately hugged him and said "You're amazing" and he replied "You're Amazing". He asked me about my trip and wanted to know everything that had happened. So I told him, and after I was done he said, "well, You'll need this for our mission" He pulled out the ring, got down on one knee and said "Amanda Olson, Will you Marry me." I immediately said yes, he put on my beautiful ring and then we spent the next 3 days together in Vegas. I have the most amazing Fiance! I feel very lucky!

April 2014: Spy Month

Spy Shows and Vampire LARP

April consisted of watching more episodes of Burn Notice and watching some episodes of Chuck here and there. We also participated in something called Vampire LARP which is something that Chris had been involved in way before he met me. When I first met him, I didn't like it and didn't understand what it was. After a while I decided that I would try it, so Chris made me a character and I started LARPing. I've now been involved on and off for about 5 years. I hadn't been showing up very often, so we included it in Spy Month because it requires some acting and strategy that are both useful in Spy situations, however, the couple Vampire LARP games that I showed up to were kind of uneventful, but I definitely used some acting and story-telling skills while there and Chris is always good at playing his characters. 

Spy Games Around the City

Chris had this grand idea that we should give each other a list of clues and try to find each other around the city. So, one Saturday we decided to try it out. I went to Ridgedale Mall since I wanted to get some new Bras from Victoria's Secret anyways, and left Chris a list of clues on the dining room table. We decided that we could communicate via text message and ask yes or no questions. I had just enough time to get a bra fitting, and pick out my bras before Chris came waltzing into the Victoria's Secret store to find me. He only had to ask me 2 questions. Then we switched. We sat down at a table in the mall and Chris wrote down some clues for me to follow. I was having some trouble deciphering the clues so I called up my sister Heather and she helped me figure some of them out. We figured out that I needed to go to the West End in Saint Louis park, but after that she wasn't sure what the last clue meant. It said "Find the house with a yard". After I parked my car, I started to text Chris some questions to rule out some of the other locations around the area. After I did that, I got out of my car and took the elevator up to the street. The funny thing is that when I came out of the door and onto the street, I looked up and saw a sign for a place called "The Yard House", I didn't even know this place existed and neither did Heather, so that is why we couldn't figure out the clue. We stayed for a drink and some Edamame and then we both headed home. It was a fun experience and I thanked Heather for being my Assistant spy and she said "Anytime" and I told Chris that we should do this again sometime, it was pretty fun!