Birthday Wishes

Okay... okay... so I know my birthday is far away (less than 3 months...) but I always think of stuff throughout the year that I want and think I should ask for that for my birthday but then I never remember when people ask me what I want. So the purpose of today's post is to start making a birthday list so I can remember what I want.

1. A new pair of boots
I like these...

2. Acne-fighting treatment (yes, even at almost 29 years old I'm fighting acne)

via

3. A resistance band - because, you know, I'm totally going to get in shape this year...*cough*

4. I ran out of my Givenchy "Play for her" perfume and it's my favorite...

That's it so far. I'm definitely sure I'll be adding more.

Stressed and Scared

Well.... there's been some not-so-fun happenings around here lately.

My Grandma Jenkins passed away in May and we (my family and I) have to fly to East Wenatchee, WA in a couple of weeks for her memorial service. Problem with that is, the plane tickets are so dadgum expensive! I can't really afford it right now and that's stressing me out.

Last week, I came out onto my patio to have a cigarette (Yes, I'm a smoker. I know it's gross and I really want to quit but it's super hard) and I found that my pack and my lighter were gone. I live on the first floor of my apartments - someone came onto my patio and stole them! Inconvienced, yes. Rude, yes. Scared, no.

The next day, Charlotte came over to go swimming. We were hanging out in my living room and I saw movement on my patio. I called Char over to the window and we watched as some guy was going through my cigarette butts that I put out in a metal bin on my patio. Char opened the door and yelled at the guy. Creeped out, yes. Scared, no.

Last night, I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep (with minimal success as the guy who lives above me has a very squeaky bed and was obviously, um.... entertaining, a female friend) when I suddenly see a really bright flash of light outside of my window. To me, it looked like a camera flash. Scared, yes.

I texted Mike and told him what happened and he came straight over with a shotgun for me to keep in my apartment and he stayed the night with me. Poor guy got about 3 hours of sleep because of this. I felt really bad but comforted at the same time. I am going to the office in a little while to report all of these creepy, scary happenings but I would like to ask for some prayers for safety.

Our Story - Our First Date

Even though it is still early in my relationship with Mike, I feel the need to record our story. With the knowledge that I'm going to marry him (no proposal or anything yet, but I just know) in the front of my mind, I don't want to forget those special moments that made up this beginning.


I had decided to join a dating website after a year of repairing myself after an emotionally abusive and painful 6 year relationship. I went on one date from this website and it was awful. The guy was a complete jerk and he was really bizarre. So, on March 12, 2011, I logged on to the website to cancel my account. I saw that I had a message. Expecting the usual, "You're so pretty, message me if you want to talk" I was pleasantly surprised to find a message from a guy named Konrad who had obviously taken some time to look through my profile as he commented on some of the things I had written. Included was his phone number - in case I wanted to talk or text. I hemmed and hawed for a little while, then sent the first of many texts:

"Hi Konrad - this is Karen... I usually don't do this but you seem legit so... how's your weekend going?"

3 hours and a couple of hundred texts later (during which I found out his family calls him Mike, he has 7 siblings, and his favorite movie is Shawshank Redemption), I found myself agreeing to meet him that night for dinner. I remember my nerves being completely fried. Colleen was at the house with me and I squealed and jumped in the shower. While I was in the shower, I thought about this man I was going to go meet. I had seen his picture and didn't really think he was my type. Silly shallow me - little did I know... I was excited about the prospect of meeting a new friend that I had a lot in common with.

I got out of the shower and fixed my hair - I wore it down and straightened it, put on some make-up, and got dressed in a green shirt (to bring out more green in my eyes, duh) and jeans. I threw on my favorite black jacket and got in my car to make the 5 minute drive to BJ's Brewhouse. He texted me and told me he was waiting on a bench out front. I got out of my car after running a brush through my hair and walked up to greet him.

To be honest with you, dinner was a blur. I remember he ordered pasta and a beer and I ordered water and a cheeseburger. I remember laughing - a lot. I remember feeling stupid for ordering the cheeseburger and having to eat with my hands in front of him (he teased me about this quite a bit the first month). And I remember asking him if he wanted to go to a pool hall with me to hang out with a couple of my girls. I remember him saying yes. I remember he left the waitress a very nice tip (Bonus points for him... I waited tables for 6 years through college) and then we left to go to Luke's Pool Hall.

At Lukes, he interacted well with the girls and we played darts for a little while. Then, the girls were ready to leave (was it 12:30 pm already?!) and I didn't want the date to end. So we sat on some chairs in Luke's and started talking. That's when I knew. Damn. I'm going to fall in love with this guy. And there is nothing I can do about it. We didn't leave Luke's until 3:30 - an hour and a half after they closed. I thought he would kiss me good night. He didn't - but he did ask me to dance with him in the empty parking lot. We danced and then he gave me a hug and a promise to call me. It was the perfect first date.