Long time, no see.

Well, some doin’s have been a transpiring in Shilohville lately, and I feel the need to expel some of my brain sludge to make room for more, well, brain sludge. After four years, Joe has proposed to me and we are now engaged to be married. We are tentatively setting a date around the month of August, in 2011. The wedding and reception will be taking place in Anacortes complete with karaoke and various other wacky madness. We have a tight budget, but with our Army of Crafty Friends, I think we’ll be able to pull something together that will be quite brimming with awesomeness.

The proposal was an emotional affair. He proposed atop a large hill at Rosario Beach in Deception Pass State park, and I surprisingly cried, seeing that I am not much for happy tears. What I wasn’t at all prepared for was the surprise engagement party awaiting us at the local Anacortes bowling alley, complete with all of my local friends. Talk about cognitive dissonance. My brain basically melted, and I cried like a baby.

Shock and Awe

Joe Smooches

Showing the Bling

Designed by the man himself

Oh dear readers, be prepared for the deluge of wedding madness that will ensue.

Anacortes is Love

I just returned from a three-day vacation with Joe in Anacortes.  Needless to say, it was grand.  I feel very relaxed – I did not want to leave.  Joe got us a great room at the Anacortes Inn – the room had one of those in-room hot tubs, a king bed, and a giant television.  We brought the DVD player and our NES – the evenings in Anacortes are not exactly hopping with activity – and played the crap out of Super Mario 3.

There was an old A&W that is no longer an A&W – it decided to stay an awesome drive-in instead of keeping the A&W name and becoming a nasty franchise.  It is now called the Fidalgo Drive-In, and we ate there as soon as we got into town. I recommend the Tillamook Bacon Burger and Draft Rootbeer Float. There was a bowling alley right across the street called the San Juan Lanes, and we bowled a few games both Thursday and Saturday nights.  There is a cafe in the bowling alley with the best, most affordable prime rib I’ve ever had.  I know that sounds incredulous, but it was so good that Joe got some for take out to bring home with us.  All through Anacortes, when we would ask people where we should eat, they would tell us to go to the bowling alley and they weren’t kidding.

We spent a day at Rosario Beach up at Deception Pass – it was a beautiful day during which we BBQ’ed and I dominated at Risk.  I poked sea urchins, and Joe and I climbed rocks.  We also played catch, but as we predicted, we lost the ball in some brambles.

Joe and I spent a lot of time talking about what it would take for us to be able to move up to Anacortes – steady work being the chief issue.  If I could get a teaching job up there in the next five years, and Joe could sell a manuscript, we would most likely wave goodbye to Seattle and hide from the world.