Busy, busy, busy

Since tomorrow is September, I figured I'm about due for an update. I can't believe I've let most of August get away from me before I've had a chance to update. This will probably be long(ish) so ready yourself. Who knows how long it'll be before I update again. :-P

I made bullets to myself in a word document to remind myself of what I had to update on so here goes nothing.

--Surprise date at the Spaghetti Factory
Two nights before Dan and I made things official between us, he surprised me and took me on a date, without telling me where we were going. All I knew was that he was taking me out to celebrate being done with the comps and that based on what he told Megan, she said it had proved he really listened to what I had been telling him. The evening of the comps, we went to church as usual and then he drove me in circles to confuse me before we ended up at the Spaghetti Factory, which everyone knows is my favorite restaurant. We had an amazing dinner and amazing conversation before ending the evening by playing putt-putt. I had a feeling over dinner that we were on an official "date" but I didn't want to get my hopes up. Imagine my surprise when two nights later we were officially a couple. :-)

--Double date at the Keith Urban concert
Later that week, we went on our first double date with Megan and James to the Jake Owen and Keith Urban concert. It was AMAZING! I hadn't seen Keith Urban live since high school, right before he became a big name. We went to dinner at Dewey's and then walked across the river to the concert. It was the perfect first double date and I look forward to many, many more in our future. I'll spare you all the mushy details from that night. ;-)

--Meeting the parents
The following week, I met his parents for the first time. Let me tell you, I was a mess that day! We went to dinner at Pizza Tower, which was so yummy! As soon as we got there, his mom gave me a big hug and told me how much she'd heard about me and how much she had been looking forward to meeting me. By the end of dinner, I was fully relaxed. His parents are incredible and I can definitely see where he gets his good manners from. His parents raised an amazing son. :-)

--Date night at Chili's and running into former students/parents
The night after we had dinner with his parents, we went on a date night, just the two of us. Right before our food came to the table, one of my former students and his parents came in. I bolted from the table and tackled Katie, who was holding Dominic. Of course Katie and I are friends on facebook so she had seen my relationship status change and she cracked me up when she told me "Do you know how hard it is for me to not turn around and stare right now?!" I love her. Dinner was amazing and we had so much fun just talking and laughing. I had had such a bad day that day and had worked a double (unplanned) so I was exhausted and grateful that he put up with my cranky, tired self that night.

--Failing my comps
Yeah...you read that right. I failed my comprehensive exam to graduate from the counseling program. How badly? Oh by five points. Do you know how disappointing it is to come so close and miss by so slim of a margin?? I'm retaking it at the end of October and praying like crazy I pass this time around. If I don't, I have to petition to write a thesis and UC doesn't have to grant me that right. If I fail the comps and don't get to write a thesis, I can be kicked out of the program. Talk about stress....

--Double date at Newport
A couple of weeks ago, we went on a double date with Adge and Joe to Bar Louie down at Newport. Dinner was delicious and then we went for a romantic walk on the river. Of course, being the goofs we are, we ruined our own romantic moment by cracking up at a sign about sewage waste and then taking a goofy picture next to it. However, even with the silliniess, it was probably one of my favorite dates that we've been on. I'm so glad he gets along with my best friend and there was no better way to spend a Friday night than on the river. I loved it.

--5k and roller skating
On August 20th, I ran the Panther Prowl, which most of you probably remember as my very first 5k ever last summer. Let me tell you, it was INCREDIBLE! I hadn't really trained this summer and I thought for sure I was going to end up walking most of it. Well, I did walk some of it, but Denise kept pushing me harder and harder and before I knew it, I was crossing the finish line at 46 minutes! Not only had I cut six minutes off of last year's time, but I also set a personal record because it's the BEST 5k time I've ever had. What made it even more special was that Dan also ran it, though he ran ahead of me and finished in 30 minutes. It was his first 5k and I was soooo proud of him!

After the 5k, I went home and crashed for a couple of hours before getting up to take my youth girls roller skating. I thought for sure I would be the first one to fall, but surprisingly, I didn't fall at all. I had so much skating and hanging out with the girls and then hanging out by Caitlin's pool with the girls while eating pizza.

So what's been going on since the Saturday of the 5k? Not a whole lot. I've been spending a lot of time with Dan, which is always nice. I've come to care about him a lot and he can always make me smile on a night when I just don't feel like smiling. He is just absolutely amazing in every way. We had a rough patch this past weekend but we worked through it and now we're better than ever. Oh and he met my parents this past weekend as well. It went so well and now I'm looking forward to us moving forward and being able to focus on us, without the awkwardness of that early dating stage in front of us anymore.

I threw my sister a baby shower and well, I won't go into the drama that went down that night because it's a very complicated situation. After the shower, I went down to the river with Vince, who was in town visiting. We sat on the river for two and a half hours just talking and laughing and catching up. We fell apart this summer for various reasons so it was so nice to be able to just hang out, just the two of us and catch up. I'm already looking forward to my weekend in Athens at the end of September because I already miss him like crazy.

I started my internship this week and I'm already loving it. I can already tell that junior high is going to be my favorite age group to work with in the schools. I feel like I've learned more this week than I did in the ten weeks of my practicum at the elementary school. Being there feels so right and makes me excited about my future. It just confirms that school counseling is what I want to do with my future and I hate the idea of going back to work tomorrow to a job that stresses me out so much. I just keep telling myself that I only have a year left and that hopefully next year I will be in my own office, in a real school setting, doing what I love to do.

And there you have it. I think that's it for my massive updates for now. I was home sick yesterday and I still have a cough developing so I think I'm going to call it an early night and go to bed. Until next time...