St. Nick forgot about me for the 6th year in a row...

...BUT my friend gave me a key topper that looks like a poop. And Brooks. A poop shaped Brooks.

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B + Car Keys = Trouble

I love Brooks. 

I love him even when he locks the keys in the car. 

On this particular occurrence, we were visiting a new church for the first time since we moved to Chicagoland. We get to the car after the service and what do we spot sitting happily in a cup holder? None other than B's 5lb ring of keys. A key ring that would make any janitor green with envy. A key ring so big, its surprising how forgettable it is. 

While we waited for a locksmith to arrive (which took hours, by the way), we strolled around the unfamiliar neighborhood we were in. Around and around and around. We found a plant that looked like those spiky, rubber, pom pom earrings from middle school.

And a gang of penguins. Don't worry, we made sure not to make eye contact.

An aching purse shoulder and a pair of toasty sunburns later, the locksmith finally arrived. He pried the door open enough to hit the unlock button with a stick, charged us $150, and was gone. 

Good day. 

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Our First Valentine's Together

This year, Brooks and I were able to celebrate our very first Valentine's Day together in the same state! Well, our first Day-Before Valentine's since the boy had to work late on the actual holiday. Even so, since it was our first, I wanted it to be special yet comfortable so we could just enjoy each other's company and not worry about anything else. 

That day, I rushed home from work to bake Brooks a couple Nutella and jam filled heart-shaped pocket pies with Grace. (recipe) The blueberry and cherry jam filled pies didn't end up too pretty (they sort of exploded) but they were fresh! What man can complain about fresh baked goods? Am I right?! And Brooks didn't complain because...he is a man...most of the time. 

While my pies were baking/exploding, I was getting myself all gussied up. As a reward for losing 15 pounds since January, I bought myself an adorable striped Valentine's dress that Brooks helped pick out. I was so excited to wear it. What I wasn't excited about were the five layers of shape wear I had to squeeze into in order to look half ways decent. Okay so, five layers wasn't entirely necessary but I wanted to make sure I looked smokin'. ;)

Brooks picked me up and we headed to Honey Pie in Milwaukee for a cozy dinner. I had been there once before with Kara but I knew I wanted to go there with Brooks sometime. Its unannoyingly hipster and I love it. We quizzed each other with the Trivial Pursuit cards sitting on our table. We discovered that both of us kind of stink at trivia. Admit it, Brooks.

Now onto the eats! For starters, we shared an order of delicious soft pretzels with beer cheese. I'm usually not a fan of beer anything (I'm a real Wisconsinite, I swear!) but this was yum scrum! Totally worth the money...and the calories. For dinner, Brooks orderd the Klug sandwich with tomato soup and I had the Solid State sandwich. Mmm mmm!! A girl can't go wrong with bacon, melty Wisconsin cheese, and brioche.

After dinner, we drove around Bay View scoping out a cool place to enjoy our pies. At one point, we found ourselves near the Port of Milwaukee which, to say the least, is kind of sketchy. Especially at night when you're lost and your boyfriend is a wimp. We ended up at McKinley Park near the marina and parked facing the city skyline. The pocket pies turned out pretty tasty if I do say so myself! Along with the pies, I also gave Brooks a love letter and the rest of his present. Back when we first started dating, I had made him a bracelet that fell apart after a few months. I took it back to fix it but never got around to it until now. Obviously, I'm not very talented when it comes to working with leather cording because he doesn't wear the new one either for fear of it falling apart! Ugh.

For me, Brooks found this old red doll trunk at an antique shop he found all by himself. I love it! I had one just like it when I was little! I opened it up to find a sweet note and crazy good chocolate covered marshmallows. I decided to make the box Our Box and keep all our little mementos in it. Such a lovely little trunk.

Oh and I got these a few days later from a boy "just because". Sweet thing.

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Alterra at the Lake

Today, Brooks and I decided to spend the day wandering in Milwaukee for no particular reason. We knew we wanted to sit someplace comfy and pretend to work so we ended up at Alterra at the Lake.

Alterra at the Lake is beautiful. How often do you get to hang out in a 125 year old river flushing station while eating sammiches and fruit galettes? This place was packed and we were so thankful to get a little table by a window. Brooks and I were starving by this time so I had the Rosemary Turkey sandwich with Anthology blended black tea and Brooks had the Chicken Gyro with jalapeno couscous and a fable organic rooibus tea. Both of us were very pleased with our choices...despite Brooks' tea tasting a bit like medicine but hey, at least it cleared the sinuses!

It was so nice to just sit together and talk with no where to be and no schedule to follow. Being able to watch the waves of Lake Michigan and all the people walking their dogs in the January cold while we drank our tea in the cozy cafe was probably a bit too amusing. As a result, we eventually got on the topic of what kind of dog we'd like to get. I've had my heart set on a small doodle for years or another maltese mutt like Carly Boo but I think we landed on getting an Old English Sheepdog like Brooks' old Doogie. We're pretty excited...the only thing is, we need to get our lives in order enough to raise a pup first! Someday...

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This is the story about us.

We met on the Information Super Highway one September day. One of us was slightly more obsessed with the other because the other had a real job and didn't spend 24/7 staring at their instant messenger window. Even so, 3 months later, we awkwardly hugged for the first time at an airport in Milwaukee. Eight trips between Ohio and Wisconsin, one $600 phone bill, 2 broken suitcases, 3 funerals, 13 months, 1 week, 2 days, and 4 hours later we now live a house away from each other in the woods. Currently, we are sitting across each other at an Alterra coffee shop, googling dog breeds,  dominating a couple fruit galettes, and are closer than ever.

This blog is about our adventures. Keep in mind, it doesn't take much to entertain us. 

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bowling with the bee

Brooks and I went bowling tonight. He is a bowler. . . I am not. I'm so bad I think the big girl drinks I  inhaled actually helped me. Either way, the boy had fun and that makes me happy.

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Amy is on a diet.

As I have done numerous times each year for the past 18 years, I am going to start eating healthy, take control of my life, and get my weight back on track. I say "back on track" like its been on track before, hah. If you count being at a healthy weight when I was 4, then the above is a true statement. As an adult however, it has never been on track. Its moved in the right direction but never for long.

Today, this will change. We're going to ignore the fact that I just ate a birthday donut a coworker handed me and concentrate more on the apple sweet Brooks sliced up and sent me to work with....along with my leftover pizza.

Yum.

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It's happening!

For years, I've been told to start blogging again.

Gone are the days of my daily MySpace posts and OpenDiary rantings but apparently, people enjoyed them...What?!? Honestly, its quite embarrassing knowing the pathetic-ness of my young self is still floating around the internet so of course, it's only logical to now showcase the pathetic-ness of my old self with this shiney new blog.

You asked for it, kids.

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