The days keep ticking by and it is pushing mid August already. Where did the summer go?? I have been happy. Chuck and I keep busy and we have our everyday routines too.
      Last weekend Gina had a party at her place and we went there. Chuck was designated to grill for everyone. This weekend my parents will be in town briefly and we have a birthday party for Chuck's niece Faith. She's a cutie. Tonight we get to see Jen's baby and I'm really excited about that.
      Our garage got broke into AGAIN. We are not even sure they took any thing this time, but they cut off the entire lock hinge, since we bought a saucer padlock that can't be cut through. Chuck thinks they came back for his air compressor and generator, but he already took those to a safe place for storage. Anything left in the garage is useless to anyone else. I'm so pissed at this city in every way. I used to stick around here for my family and friends but I don't even see much of them anymore. I told Chuck we need to look into finding a house to rent in the small town of Tiffin. We would be right down the street from where I work in Coralville, Coralville has anything we need, like a grocery store, mall or movies. Chuck would save half the gas money he would only have a 20 minute drive to work instead of a 50 minute drive. And we would still be close enough to Cedar Rapids and our families that we would only be a half hour away. We could have a yard and get a dog. Even if we paid more in rent we could afford it because we would be saving in gas money. He agreed with me but did not seem to be in a hurry. I was ready to pack last night and put my notice in with my landlords. I only have to give them 3 months notice when we decide to move. Just what we needed more stuff to deal with in the middle of trying to figure out all of our wedding plans. That's life, right?
    Monday was a happy day. I had the day off of work. Coralie and Gina came with me and I went shopping for my wedding dress! The experience was smooth and went really well. I already had in mind what I wanted so that helped a lot. I only needed to try on 4 dresses, and the fourth dress I tried on was the one for me. It was funny too because it was the one I liked the least looking at on the hanger. It is a beautiful dress. Coralie and Gina were a great help and a lot of fun to have along.  My dress does not even need altered it fit me perfect, so I was able to bring it home the same day. If I lose weight between now and the wedding then it may need altered in March or so. Chuck wants to be surprised and he doesn't want to see the dress until I wear it on our wedding day. I thought that was really sweet. So I am NOT going to post pictures on here of it until then.
     I am getting annoyed already because people are not understanding the concept that Chuck and I want a SMALL wedding. Everyone is putting in there two cents and opinion. "I found this web site for wedding cakes." I'm not doing a wedding cake. "You should do this for your flower bouquet..." Flowers come with the wedding package and I don't want to deal with them. We weren't going to do a reception at all but suddenly our head count is anywhere between 20 to 30 guests who are saying they will come so my parents said I should find a restaurant and reserve a room and we can do a nice dinner for everyone and they will help foot the bill on that. Trouble is I don't know what any of the restaurants are like in Myrtle Beach. I will have to call a bunch of them, see if that's possible and have them mail me a sample menu. And the one I'm really struggling with is I'm supposed to do the leg work of calling airlines and getting group rates for flying and group hotel rates for guests but I don't know what any of the hotels are like, and everyone has a different time frame for flying as to how long they actually want to stay in Myrtle Beach. I did not want the stress of a large wedding and Chuck and I thought if we went to Myrtle Beach hardly anyone would show up. Suddenly we got more than we were expecting... This engagement planning process will be over soon enough and then Chuck and I can just relax and be married.
    I suppose that's about it for now...

Flowers from Chuck! (He never forgets me.)

     So I was going about my average week, and I got into a car accident on my way home from work last night...
      I was coming from Coralville to Cedar Rapids and I was north bound on I-380. I was driving around the speed limit, give or take 70 mph. I was 1 mile from the Swisher exit. I was in the left hand lane and some asshole in an SUV cut me off really close without even using a signal. This SUV was driving a lot below the speed limit and they would not move over into the right lane. I was starting to get very angry and road rage so I decided to get away from them and pass around them in the right hand lane. I'm not sure why, unless it was from all the anger but when I went to switch lanes I must have moved my wheel a little too sharp. It threw my car out of control, and then I over corrected. As quick as that the next thing I new my car was sifting into the grass median on I-380 between the north and south bound lanes. I thought the median would stop my car, but instead it threw my car back out onto I-380 (still going north bound) Thankfully the traffic behind me saw what was going on and was able to slow down so that noone hit me. My car was doing some doughnuts and spun right over the other side of the road into about a 30 foot ditch. I thought for sure that would stop my car, but my car just kept going, all the way to the bottom. I then thought for sure I was going to hit a large tree head on, and there was nothing I could do about it. Just inches before hitting the tree my car miraculous veered to the left, and then started creeping back up the hill where it stopped on it's own. My exact words the whole time were, "Shit! No, oh shit! Shit! Jesus help me! SHHHHHHIIIIT!!!!" I had my seatbelt on and my air bags never deployed.
     I collected myself and the first thing I did was shut off my car and put it in park. Then I found my cell phone that had went flying and I called Chuck. As I was telling Chuck to come get me I looked up and realized some people who had witnessed the accident had pulled over to make sure I was ok. I got out of my car to let them know I was fine, but I was really still in shock. They said they had called 911 and help was on the way. So some random guy who saw it all happen was super nice. He stayed with me until the police arrived and helped me calm down. Police arrived with paramedics and the paramedics kept asking if I needed to go the hospital. I kept telling them no I was fine and they kept questioning me. Finally I pointed to the hill and I said "I was able to walk up that hill fine." They laughed and said ok and left. It felt like FOREVER as I waited for Chuck to come. That calmed me down a lot. The police worked on the accident report and the tow truck came. The tow truck took one look at my car and said "We can never get it out from that angle." They asked Chuck if he would be able to move it. Chuck got in and my car started up just fine. He backed it up and started changing the angle my car was going up the hill. It took him several running starts but Chuck actually 4 wheeled my little Chevy caviler up that hill!! Everyone was in shock, including the police. The tow truck driver was able to leave we did not even need him at all. All Chuck could keep saying repeatedly was, "Un-fucking-believeable." I really proud of myself because I never cried once. I'm not sure if I was too much in shock or if things don't shake me up anymore the way they used to? Maybe a little bit of both.
     When every thing was assessed everyone was speechless. There was not a single scratch or bruise on my body, and I could have been killed when my car crossed back over onto I-380. Any larger vehicle and it would have rolled for sure. My little chevy caviler that everyone gives me crap about because it's so tiny, did not have a mark on it! I can't believe the bottom was not shredded by the ditch. I did not hit anything else, I was given no traffic violations and the officer said since there was no damage she did not even need to make a report so it won't go on my insurance! Lucky doesn't even begin to cover it. There is no logical reason why I am not hurt and my car is not totaled. Apparently, God is still looking out for me. I'm so thankful. I'm thankful I'm ok. I'm thankful I was sober when it happened. I'm thankful my car is fine. And I'm so very thankful for Chuck. I honestly don't know who I could have called if Chuck wasn't in my life. My brothers would have been drunk by then, Grandma Dee would have never found the Swisher exit, Grandpa and Grandma might or might not have been home, and my best friend now lives in Georgia. I would have been totally alone. Chuck gave me a huge hug and kiss. he held me for a long time and told me never to scare him like that again. Then he added, "The next time you decide to go 4 wheeling in your car, at least let me go with you for the ride." Chuck can always make me laugh!
     I called my boss last night and told him I would not be into work today because I needed to have the bottom of my car looked at to make 100% sure that nothing vital was damaged. He was really a jerk about it and asked, "Can't you wait until Friday?" Um, hello - I'm putting a minimum of 60 miles a day on my car, so in two more days I would have added over 120 miles to my car when something could have been really wrong with it. No! Not only that but I have been with my job a year in September and in that year I have only missed 2 and a half days. He had no right to give me shit. Chuck was actually the one to look my car over, but the boss doesn't have to know that. The brake lines are fine, the alignment is fine, nothing is cracked, nothing is leaking. Unbelievable. I don't even have any whip lash or sore or stiff muscles today. My muscles do feel really fatigued though, like after you run a marathon. I can only assume that is from the wreck. So I have been popping Midol because that is basically a muscle relaxer. The rest of my day off today Chuck and I hung out at my brother Byron's house drinking beers. Back into work tomorrow and I'm ready to get back to business.

After my car went into the median and crossed over I-380, this is the top of the ditch I started to go down.

I went all the way to the bottom and came with in inches of hitting that tree head on.

And finally my car came to a stop.

      4:30 AM comes ungodly early! That's all I have to say about that. I'm happy today is Friday. Work has been insane the past 3 weeks ever since our company finalized the buy out of another company. Our call volume has tripled and our new customers we got from the company we bought out are confused and frustrated. Of course it would not be a smooth process. Things should smooth out in awhile though. With it being summer time we also have tons of sales reps on vacations too, and we have to fill in and make their daily calls. Job security, right?
       Wedding planning has been going smooth. The more I plan the more I realize I don't have to worry about. I don't have to even think about table decor, food, cakes, napkin colors, invites, dj's, etc, etc. We are getting more and more deatils figured out though and that feels good. I reserved the spot on the beach with the minister and wedding package. Thurs April 29th at 3 pm. It is exciting to me how excited Chuck is about everything. A lot of grooms remain nuteral but Chuck has some really great ideas, and I'm glad he cares. We decided the two of us will drive to Myrtle Beach instead of flying. On our way there we decided to spend a few days in the mountains of West Virgina, where he lived in his late teens. We have been researching hotels and honeymoon suites. We decided NOT to register for gifts. We have made the decision to have a non traditional wedding party. 4 of our closest loved ones. We still need to ask them, we want his Dad, Coralie, Joni and Angie to stand up for us. No 'best man' or 'maid of honor' and even though there are more gals than guys, we don't care we love them and want them there and it is our day. We are breaking all the rules, lol! I'm not even going to make them where a bridesmaid dress. They can wear whatever they want!! I know exactly what I want my wedding dress to look like, simple really. Finding it will be another story. Chuck's Dad wants to buy us a keg of beer and we can have an 'engagement party' with it sometime in the fall. That sounds like a lot of fun to me!!
       So Chuck and I made the trip to Missouri last weekend. We had a really great time. In fact I wasn't sure I was going to convince Chuck to come home. I took him to Haha Tonka park by the spring and castle. Dad took us on a super long boat ride. We ate at a handful of places and had a night of steaks with my parents. We went to the strip, just for something to do. It was a great time with my parents. Dad officially told Chuck 'Welcome to the family.' and I thought that was super cool. Chuck kept saying we need to get Coralie to come down with us too sometime. That would be a lot of fun. Chuck also said out of everything we did, the boatride was his favorite. Everytime I looked over when we were in the boat he was grinning ear to ear. We did make the time to get together with an old girlfriend of mine and her husband from down there. We all went mini golfing together. I had a good time mini golfing, but I have to be honest, I was really hurt and offended with my friend. We were the best of friends for the 7 years that I lived down there, and neither her or her husband made any effort to talk with Chuck, my fiance and get to know him. He was just sort of there. If they care about me, then they should care about what I care about. They asked absolutely NOTHING about the wedding, us, our life, our engagement. Yet I had to revolve the world around her when she was going through her engagment and wedding process. I said good bye to them that evening and felt like if we never spoke again I would really be losing nothing at all. Apperently, there is nothing there to lose any more. People change, and life goes on. That's the bottom line.
       Tuesday I had still not gotten my ring and I kept calling about it. Finally I got a call from the jewelry store they had misfiled my ring and they found it. I was a little irritated because it made me wonder how long they actually had it. I was so excited though it over road any bad feelings. Chuck and I rushed to the jewlery store to pick it up and it is so beautiful! I'm still getting used to it on my finger. I can't believe my day finally came. I had lost hope for awhile. I couldn't have picked a better man to be at my side if I tried. After that we went out to eat at Leonardo's. It was payday for Chuck and he spoils me on paydays. I also got a text message from Jen on Tuesday. She had her baby- C section. A boy and they named him Maliki. When I told Chuck he insisted on getting a soft teddy bear for the baby. I thought that was super sweet, because he has only met Jen once. He said that's his thing when babies are born, he buys them a teddy bear. And we finally had a serious conversation about kids. We both said that we want to have kids. Chuck said he wants to have them soon after we get married, because he is concerend about his age. When we get married Chuck will be 35 and I will be 26. But we also agreed that we want to be a little better off financially first, and we do not want to raise a kid in an apartment if we don't have to. A kid should be able to play in a yard of their own... One thing at a time... But I was happy.
    Wed night I was invited by Coralie to go to a candle party of her co-workers with Gina and a few other people I know distantly. I went and had a great time, it's been awhile since I've been to any of those party things. The candles are super expensive so I decided to host a party in Aug, because by doing that I can get an $80 piece I want for $35 and tons of other discounts! Yay!! I also decided when Chuck and I spend our honeymoon in Myrtle Beach I am going to stock up on a whole box of tea lights and candle votives for our honeymoon suite. Chuck and I decided we are going to get one with an ocean view, balcony and whirl pool bath. We don't care how much it will cost us. It is our honeymoon after all.
     My Aunt Joyce is in town from Oklahoma spending time with my Grandma Dee. So she wanted to meet Chuck and invited us over for pizza last night. It was great seeing her and talking with her. Chuck is a trooper he does really well going along with all my family shin dings and get togethers.
     I think we are grilling out and having a bonfire at Chuck's Dad's tonight. Tomorrow we are getting up super early and leaving for the NASCAR race at the Iowa Speedway. I'm pshyced!! Cross your fingers for good weather. And after the whole summer I have finally choose my NASCAR driver to cheer on. Tony Stewart. A lot of people don't like him which makes him more appeling to me. Plus he wiped out Kyle Bush on the last lap of the Daytona 500, and Kyle had it coming, so Tony Stewert he is my driver to cheer on. Chuck is a fan of Jimmie Johnson. Jimmie has done really well the past few races too, he won the Brickyard race... Anyways this week is shot! Gotta get ready for one last day of work before I can play...

A Rose from Chuck.

Haha Tonka Park/ Spring in Missouri

Chuck at the Castle

Us

Chuck loved all the views.

Chuck driving me home

My ring. It was really hard to photograph, you have to have just the right lighting, zoom ,and focus. I did not have the time to deal with it. But this pic is really blurry and doesn't do it justice. Sometime I'll take a real pic of it. And yes, all that glitter is individual diamonds. There are a ton of diamonds on it!! :)

    One of the most important blogs of my life, and I'm going to attempt to make it short and sweet...
     A week ago Friday night Chuck and I were having a quiet night around home enjoying a few drinks and chatting, when he told me all of a sudden that he could not wait until a year on his birthday to propose to me and he asked, "How would you like to be Mrs. Vail?" Of course I said yes, and I cried a little. Mostly I was too shocked taking it all in. He wanted me to be able to pick out my own ring so on a week ago Sunday we went ring shopping. The task was a lot harder than I thought. After trying on maybe 30 rings I found one I loved! I was also really proud because they gave us a killer sale. It was a $2,500 ring and they gave it too us for $750. They also talked us into getting Chuck's ring and his was an $800 ring that we got for $250. There are benefits to a bad economy my friend. Both of our rings are white gold. Chuck's has four diamonds making a diagonal across. Mine has a 3/4 carat round cut diamond. (First I was looking at the princess cut, then I decided I liked the round cut better.) It has smaller diamonds on the side, and then the wedding band that goes with it has a whole row of small diamonds. I'll take pics...
    I called my parents and told them right away and they are estatic! I was really surprised how happy they are. The rest of my immediate family, I wanted to be able to show them the ring before I told them. So for the last week and a half I have had a hard time keeping my mouth shut. Especially on Facebook. (Grandpa and Grandma have a Facebook now, lol.) We were suppose to get the rings in last night. Chuck's ring came in, but not mine. Go figure. I cracked and Chuck and I had a late night out telling my Grandpa and Grandma, my Grandma Dee and my Aunt Jodi the news. Everyone was really happy for us. Tonight we are having my brothers and Joni over for hamburgers and we will tell them then.
     My mind has been swimming with excitement and details the past week and a half. We are going to have a really simple wedding. We are going to get married on a beach next to the ocean in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina! Anyone is welcome to come, but we know with the prices of plane tickets it will mostly just be our closest loved ones. We are looking at the date of April 29th, 2010. That falls on a Thursday, but I figured things would be less booked up, and anyone coming to see the wedding would be missing work for it anyway, so it should not matter what day of the week we get married on. We won't do a reception or anything. Chuck and I simply don't want the stresses of a large wedding. We want it to be a special day between the two of us, and the ocean was one of the most special things we could think of.
     I'll keep you posted as details come up. That sums it all up though, and I did really good keeping it short and simple. Tomorrow Chuck and I are taking off for Missouri to visit my parents for a quick weekend trip. We will get home on Sunday. I'm excited it's been almost a year since I've been back home to Missouri. I hope my ring comes in before we leave tomorrow too so I can show my parents, but it's hard to say.  TTYL.

       Chuck left for work as usual at 4:30 am today. Except today I couldn't fall back asleep after he told me good bye. It's about to storm, kinda cozy really, but I don't want to drive to work in torrental rain. My mind is racing a million miles a minute.
       I'm really happy today is payday, and I'm happy I have an extra payday this month. I'm getting creative at trying to stretch a buck and it seems like no matter how tight Chuck and I are for money, we always end up having more than enough for what we need and then some extra. For that I am thankful. Now we just have to get in the habit of saving so we can get out of this apartment and have a house of our own a year or two down the road.
     A few days ago I was looking at the carpet. I crickled up my nose and said, "I have got to vacuum! This carpet is bad it looks like we are on welfare!" Chuck corrected me and said, "Be careful we may be on welfare before it's all said and done." And I started cracking up laughing.
     Monday was crazy at work. My computer would not start when I got there. The help desk looked at it for 2 hours and finally figured out that it had over heated. When we leave work we are supposed to log off, but leave the computer running, this way it updates overnight. Well, mine over heated. They gave me a temp computer after 2 hours of doing nothing and by the end of the day they had a brand new computer ready for me. They no sooner fixed that problem and Food Distribute one of our major company software programs went down! It was a mess without it. We basically could not do anything. No edits to orders, no pricing or inventory issues, etc, etc.
     Tuesday the 7th, was four months for Chuck and I. I got home from work and he had wine for us and was cooking fillet minion steak, shrimp, baked potatoes and sweet corn. I thought that was so sweet. I almost cried. I really wasn't expecting that at all. It was a really great romantic night together. Aww. Chuck is the best. Every day I think about how lucky I am, and how much I love him.
       I've been frustrated with my weight lately. Not that I've gained weight, it just frustrates me. Chuck tells me over and over again how beautiful I am and that he loves my curves, etc etc. But still I would love to lose about 50 pounds. I really don't eat that bad. In the mornings I either eat a piece of toast and a half glass of milk, or cranberry juice. Lunches I usually walk for exercise and then eat some instant oatmeal, or something simple like that, and I used to not eat supper at all I would just make grilled cheese sandwiches and stuff. Now Chuck cooks for me, but it is always real food, fresh hamburgers or what not. We try to stay away from microwaved foods. I know I could walk more.
      But I had a profound revelation, I finally figured out where all of my calories are coming from... the beers that I drink. On any given weeknight I will drink about 5 beers... On a Friday night, that number increases to around 13 beers. On a typical Sat or Sunday though out my day, I probley suck in 8 or 9 beers. (If I'm trying to get drunk then the number increases a lot more.) I always drink light beer but there are still calories in that. I googled beer calorie charts and this is what I found... (I just posted the beers that I drink on here, it did not show some like Amber-Bock or Corona.)

Guess that's it for now. I'm going to jump in the shower and get my day/weekend started. Woohoo!

     Ok so it's been a little while since I have updated. Keeping busy and having fun with my everyday, all American life. Nothing out of the ordinary, and yet everyday is something fun and different. Right now I am winding down after a 3 day forth of July weekend and gearing back up for another week of work.
    Here is random stuff from the past few weeks... A few weekends ago Chuck made me breakfast, fixed the brakes on my car and changed my oil. We finished our day with a boat ride on his Dad's john boat down the Cedar River. I felt so thankful and lucky that day. I don't know how I ended up with such a great guy, Chuck is more than anything I ever could have imagined or asked for. That day was a huge highlight.
    In day to day life, Chuck cooks for me about 90% of the time. I get home from work and supper is ready. I love that! One night I met up with Kelsey at Panera and I really did not want to leave Chuck but I had not seen her for so long. He told me to have fun and added, at least you have friends. On Chuck's last paycheck he got a much needed 40 cent raise so he took me out to Applebee's that night to celebrate. We watch a lot of movies but on the other hand, it took us one week to watch all of There's something about Mary. We would watch a few scenes at a time, and then just one time together. That was funny it took us that long. We watched the movie August Rush last night and Chuck had tears in his eyes. Then he was trying to play it all cool and pretending to make fun of the movie. I thought that was really sweet. That was the 4th time I have seen the movie and the first time I made it through without crying.
    One night I decided to test Chuck out and so I casually said to him, "I looked at something bad on the internet today." He said, "What did you look at?" And I said, "Beach wedding dresses..." Instead of freaking out like most guys would he grinned really big and said, "That's my girl! Did you find any you liked?" I wasn't expecting that reaction so then I had to play it down a little and said, "I didn't let myself get to involved, just looking in general." Two nights later as we were falling asleep, Chuck whispered in my ear, "You can keep looking at dresses for the beach all you want, because it will happen." Aww!
     This past weekend was great we both had Friday off with pay because of the 4th of July and a 3 day weekend. Thursday night after work I discovered our garage had been broken into. They stole about $650 worth of Chuck's tools. I felt so bad for Chuck I wanted to cry. We filed a police report, but we are basically, S.O.L. the deductible on my renters insurance is $500 so there is really no point in filing an insurance claim. The more we thought about it through out the weekend, the more we honestly think it was a supposed friend of Chuck's that broke into the garage. We really have no evidence to prove anything but I don't think we will really have anything more to do with him either. So for Thursday night being a Friday night, it was crappy. We decided the only solution was to drink until the day was far behind us. And that's what we did. We went to Chuck's Dad and enjoyed a bonfire until we were obliverated and then we passed out in the Winnebago for the night. The weekend was great for having extra time to just rest and lounge around. Friday afternoon we went to the Union Station drank some beer and played some pool. Then we hopped over to Checker's for a shot and a picture. We took a drive past the damn and Chuck did a little 4 wheeling. Then we met up with Christina at El Rancho's for her birthday. I had fun. All of Christina's friends used to be single, and we all got a boyfriend at the same time. So it was Erica and her boyfriend, Samira and her boyfriend, Me and Chuck, Christina and Dustin, and Christina's Mom and her new man. After scarfing down some food at El Rancho we all headed over to Time Out. Chuck and I did not stay long we were already half crocked, a little bit poor and we decided a holiday weekend is a bad time to be driving around like that. We ran to Wal-Mart for a bottle of Malibu coconut rum and pineapple juice (That's been our latest kick.) and came home. I missed seeing more of my friends, but it saved a lot of money and kept us out of trouble. Saturday we did nothing significant except catch up on more rest. Yesterday we went to the beach and had a lot of fun. That was a huge highlight.
     So there you have it, in a nutshell. That sums everything up... And I have the Nirvana 4th of July song stuck in my head. Lol.

Flowers from Chuck

Spike-O chilling in his water dish. He likes to do that.

Snuggle time.

Out for Christina's Birthday

Samira and I

Dustin and Christina

More Snuggle time after the party.

This is what alcohol does to us. lol.

Chuck's Dog Saddie May at his Dad's house

Chuck's Dad's Dog, Jas

Zena, Chuck's Step Mom's Dog, under Chuck's feet

At Palo Beach

This sand thing is harder to do than it looks...

    This past weekend was a blast!!
     To kick it all off I got home from work on Wed night and Chuck surprised me by telling me that he was able to sell his 60" TV (we were just storing it in a closet of my apartment, since I already have a 50") for $1,000 to Mike. He had the cash up front and everything! We were so happy. Chuck to me out for dinner to celebrate and we decided to go to Texas Roadhouse. We had a lot of fun there. The money helped us out a lot, we had money for our weekend, we were able to pay off some bills and ahead on some bills and still have money to play with! Wed was a very good night.
     Thursday morning Chuck woke up at 4 am throwing up. He called in sick to work, but seemed to be fine after that. I got up at 5 to get ready for work and as I was in the shower it occurred to me that I get 6 paid sick days to use within a year. Use them or lose them. It is the end of June and I have only used a half a sick day, so suddenly I called in sick with a migraine. That is believable since I do get bad ones from time to time. That gave Thursday for Chuck and I to have the day 100% to ourselves. Everyone else thought we were at work, so we had no distractions. We also had a lot we needed to get done to get ready for camping and the race. Thursday was a really, really great day. We ended it with a long ride in Chuck's truck and a late night meal at Steak and Shake in Coralville. That was pretty cool.
     Friday morning we met up with Chuck's Dad and step mom - Joyce and their friends. We all took off early for our weekend camping and race experience. We no sooner got to our camp ground and got camp set up and it poured down rain!! The good news is Chuck's tent did not leak this time, because he had fixed the holes over the week. Joyce and Chuck's Dad have a winnebago and that made a good spot to hang out when it rained like that. The camper was also a fun place to spy on other campers from and make fun of them and make up stories about their lives. That's what we did for entertainment instead of TV. It was hilarious! Surfer boy and Blondie were our favorite victims to make fun of. Our camp ground was a muddy mess the rest of the weekend but we still had a blast. It was a really nice campground that had a pool and a game room. So Chuck and I went swimming a lot and played pool and ping pong ball. Most of our time camping was a never ending beer fest though, with the occasional grilled hamburger. It was great. The time we spent at the race track was great too! I could not believe how many people were there on Sunday!! It took us 2 and a half hours to get out of the parking lot! It was just a big blob of people in the bleachers. The cars were awesome! It was the open wheel cars and they go super fast! (220 mph) I told Chuck those race cars are like a kayak on wheels. He laughed at me. The nights got really drunk out, and the days blurred together over the weekend, but we had lots and lots and lots of fun. Monday morning we packed up our campsite and headed for home.
    Chuck and I spent the rest of Monday resting up before we headed back for work yesterday. I told Chuck our 5 day date was an absolute blast and thanked him. He corrected me and said we have been on a nonstop date ever since March 7th. I do think he's right.
     Yesterday I lucked out at work. I had a lot to catch up on after being gone for 5 days, but it was also relatively slow. (Tuesdays usually are.) That made a pain free transition back to reality. It stormed like crazy on my drive home from work. I was trying to beat 80 mph winds home. I thought the wind was really going to pick up my little car a few times. The sky was DARK! It was perfect tornado weather but it was really strange, there weren't even any tornado watches out that I know of. Traffic was a nightmare on the interstate just outside of CR, so much for beating home the storm, and several stop lights were out of power once I got into CR. That was NOT a fun driving experience. Chuck was really worried about me, because normally I make it home in 25 minutes, and last night it took me 50 minutes.
    KK, that's about it for now, I gotta get ready for work. Chuck took hundreds of pics that I put on my computer, I'll try and choose just a few for your viewing pleasure.

                                                <3 Hearts <3

This is what an 'Open Wheel' race car looks like. The cars actually went too fast for Chuck to take a picture of them in action racing!!

The race track is beautiful at night!

Just a fraction of the people at the Sunday race...

Just playing around.

Last night after it stormed, Chuck and I stepped out side for a smoke... And we noticed the most beautiful rainbow against a sunset! Aww.

    Just a quick blog here. Keeping, Busy! The irony is Chuck moved in with me because we wanted more time together, and ever since he moved in the two of us have been so busy we haven't had the one on one snuggle time we wanted. Chuck keeps apologizing about it and all I can do is laugh and say, "Don't worry, you are stuck with me for a long time, we will have plenty of time for each other." Mostly Chuck has been busy in the afternoons helping his family do different stuff here in CR.
      Normally Chuck used to take a nap in the afternoons. Therefore, that has Chuck falling asleep at 7 pm, because Chuck wakes up for work at 4 am. I'm patient about it because as long as I can remember my Dad has always had the same routine. He wakes up at 4 am and is asleep on the couch around 7. OMG, does that mean history repeats itself and I'm going to be like my parents? Chuck does have a lot of personality charcteristics like my Dad. And I am my Mother's daughter. Ironic. If Chuck can get back to taking his afternoon nap, he will be fine.
       A lot of our nights have been spoken for too. Like last night we were obligated to go to a birthday dinner for Nina. Gina cooked and it was important to Coralie that we go. Neither one of us wanted to, Nina is snobby and doesn't really talk to us anyway. But we went. There went last night. We do everything together though, so it's not so bad. One of these nights we will both just have to turn our phones off and lock the door for a whole night, it's that simple.
      Chuck cooks for me more nights than I cook for him. I'm spoiled. He is a really good cook and has some creative ideas. Between me working for a foodservice distribution center, and him working for a meat market we have access to a lot of good food for really cheap. It has been years since I have ate normal meals and not just microwaved crap. It feels really great.
       Slowly but surely we are getting his stuff sort through and situated in the apartment.
     Last weekend was so much fun! Chuck and I went camping. We invited tons of people but noone came out. It was a good reminder to both of us that all of our friends are gone, and we are thankful for each other or we would both be 100% alone. It ended up raining the whole time, and all we could do about it was laugh. We had a fire built with flames about 5 feet high. We had a battery operated radio going and when the rain killed it we sang our own songs. David Allen Coe is our favorite. And we had enough alcohol to kill a horse, of course. We also discovered Chuck's tent leaks. Therefore all of our blankets got wet. Not only that but I packed a dry change of clothes for both of us and the rain soaked through my duffle bag so we had nothing dry to change into. Trial by error. Next time I will put the clothes inside a plastic bag, inside the duffle bag. Maybe even keep it in my car? Chuck also got the tent patched up over the weekend. At least by camping in the rain we discovered where the leaks are right? Chuck was really proud of me he said I was a trooper, and could not believe how optimistic I was in the rain. Well you might as well have fun with the situation right? In all honesty I would rather be soaking wet and camp in the rain than camp in 100 degree tempters. The heat and I do not agree.
     This weekend is the Open wheel race at the Iowa Speedway. We are getting ready to camp and spend the whole weekend there. We will be camping there Friday, Sat, and Sunday night. So I will have four days off work. Yay! I have Grandma Dee all lined up to come over and feed Spike-O once a day. We will be camping with Chuck's Dad and Step-Mom, and some friends of theirs from the bar. We were able to get three camp sites side by side. There will be a lot of alcohol involved this weekend too. I'm really excited. This is supposed to be one of the best races. The open wheel races cars can go as fast as 230 mph! Sweet. July will be the NASCAR races there. I'm even more excited about that one!
     Guess thats about it for now. I gotta get ready for work.

     I'm so exhausted. I thought if I take a few minutes before I get ready for work to write a quick blog though, it might wake me up mentally. Also I need to soak in some coffee. BUSY is the word for the past few weeks.
     Chuck took his drunk driving class two weekends ago. He said he learned that he is a type 3 alcoholic, who is spiraling down to type 1 instead of progressing to type 4 and I am a type 1 alcoholic. Interesting I never would consider myself one, but you know how those classes are. He also learned that drinking only makes the birth control pill 70% effective. That freaked us both out a little, but we decided we will cross that bridge when we get there. And he learned that most of the people in his class who got popped with their OWI were pulled over for a license plate light being out. I never even knew we had lights on our license plates. We both looked our vehicles over in detail after that. He took the following Monday off work so that he could get stuff accomplished as far as figuring out how to get his license back. Turns out the solution was really easy, if he didn't pay June rent then he had the money to get his license back. So thus, Chuck got his license back and officially moved in with me a week ago Monday.
     Last week was crazy we hauled ass and made several trips back and forth from Riverside to CR with Chucks stuff. We got the last of Chuck's stuff out of his apartment on Sunday. For now we are storing most of it in the garage but we need to go through it all and sort it. Chuck loves and collects fish, so I have hundreds of Chuck's fish I am trying to incorporate with my decorating. Our place is going to be full, but I love being with Chuck and would not have it any other way. We will be able to fit his desk and computer in my computer room, plus a recliner he has. His surround sound we will hook up to my TV. We fit his 60" tv in my storage closet, his dresser fit perfect in the bedroom. etc, etc. Right now it looks like we will be here at least a year and a half before we get caught up financially and then we want to start looking at places around the Swisher/Shueyville area. For now we are just enjoying the ride. It's so wonderful having someone waiting for me to get home from work. Someone to fall asleep next to and wake up beside. I'm so very happy. I really love Chuck.
    In the midst of all that my Dad took his yearly fishing trip to Canada last week so while Dad was in Canada Mom was hanging out in CR. She spent a few nights with me and we really had a great time. She took Chuck and I out to dinner one night and I thought that was really sweet of her. In fact Mom seems to really like Chuck. Mom even liked Spike-O. I wasn't sure how my parents would react to Chuck moving in with me, and so quickly. (Not that I really care.) But my Mom was super happy for me. I think she can see how happy I am and she knows everything I've been through the past few years. My parents respect me as an adult and know I'm capable of making my own decisions and dealing with the outcome of them. That's the bottomline. Mom's cheering me on. Yay!
    My Grandpa and Grandma's 50th anniversary was Sat. (Also my parent's 29th anniversary.) They had a big dinner with my family at the Amana's it was really neat for everyone to get together. Sunday night Chuck had his Grandma and Mom and Coralie and Mike over here for a steak dinner. Chuck did all the work and told me to relax. That was great. He told me, "I wasn't going to invite them over and make you do all the work." He even did every last dish. What a man... MY man!
     The 7th was officially 3 months for Chuck and I. It's so crazy every thing that can happen in 3 months. I'm not complaing at all. Chuck came into my world at the perfect time. He says I saved him from his drinking binge. But he saved me in a lot of other ways. He has no idea. Thinking back to 3 months before March 7th, it just seems like a lot of emptiness on top of emptiness. And Chuck still keeps telling me that at our one year mark, March 7th next year, (Also is 35th birthday) that he is going to make it really special for us and ask me an important question. He already told me I should take time off work that week. That is only 9 months away! lol.
     Yesterday Chuck and I were both dragging as last week caught up with us. I met up with Jen for a little bit at Carlo's, but I was in a hurry to come back home to Chuck. Tonight Chuck and I are going over to his youngest sister Nina's for spaghetti with her kids. I think Coralie Mike and Gina will all be there too. woohoo.

K I gotta start getting ready for work. *Love and Kisses*

Chuck and I, All dressed up for Grandpa and Grandma's Anniversary party. I love the deer in the headlights look!

I haven't taken a selfer for a while. SO this one is for old time's sake...

My Mom's family. (The Wilson's)

      He's about 9 inches... He digs, he plays... He likes it hot... He fits in tight spaces... He craves attention... He knows how to work his tongue... And he's scaly...
     No, not that, you pervert!~ I'm referring to my new pet. Over the weekend I became the proud owner of a bearded dragon, Spike-O. Spike-O is actually Chuck's lizard. When Chuck went through his divorce a year ago, he had no where to go with Spike-O, so Spike-O stayed behind with Chuck's ex-wife. Chuck's ex got ahold of Chuck and gave him some long story that Spike-O was on his last leg and not eating, she was worried about him dyeing, blah blah blah. Basically she just wanted to be done with Spike-O. So Chuck and I went and picked Spike-O up from her on Friday. (I do have to give the lady props, she went out of her way to be overly kind to me.) We decided my apartment would be better for Spike-O than Chuck's because I am home more nights of the week than Chuck is, and Chuck will be moving into my apartment anyway, so might as well spare Spike-O from another unnesicary move. We got Spike-O all set up and he seems to be doing just fine. I was a little bit nervous about having a pet lizard at first, but the little guy is really growing on me. He's got personality. He tilts his head and looks at you when you talk to him, and he watches whats going on around him. He sees the trees blow out the window, he loves to watch tv. He digs in his sand. He knows Chuck and remembers Chuck and I think Spike-O will be a lot happier. Chuck is the only one who can actually take Spike-O out and play with him, and Spike-O hasn't been played with in over a year. Chuck did warn me that Spike-O will bite, but he seems calm around me. He will puff out his chin as a warning first too. I think Spike-O was just bored and depressed. All Chuck's ex was feeding him for a year was romaine lettuce. Wouldn't you be depressed if that was the only thing you ate for a year too?? She also had the wrong kind of light bulb in Spike-O's UV lamp, and the aquarium looked like it had barely been cleaned in a year and she wasn't giving him calcium with his food. The first thing Chuck and I did was clean his home and get him the correct lighting. We also fed him live crickets and he was really happy. I have also fed him berries, herb cilantro, green beans and collard green lettuce. Spike-O seems to be eating well now. He seems to be a happy and healthy 4 year old lizard to me and I am quite excited about my bearded dragon. Never would I have imagined myself with a pet like him. lol.
      Anyway, our Memorial Day weekend was really relaxing. We did not do much of anything and it was sort of nice for a change. I worked Sat morning and Chuck painted for his Grandma. Saturday night we relaxed at the park with Coralie, Gina and Mike. Drinking beers, telling stories and laughing about the good old days. We were all flat broke and bored out of our minds so we all ended up coming back to my apartment and watching the movie Beverly Hillbillies. Then we were so bored we decided to watch it again in French. That was even funnier!
     Sunday night we were invited to a friend of Coralie and Gina's - Todd and Michelle's backyard BBQ. That was super fun. We had a huge water balloon fight, we went through 500 water balloons to be exact. We went through countless cases of beer and they had about 6 trays of Jello-Shots. It made for a SUPER fun night!!
     Yesterday was snuggle day. We did nothing but sleep, snuggle, watch movies, snuggle and repeat. That was a good day too.
     Today was crazy at work with it being a holiday weekend, but I'm happy we are one day less to the work week and one day closer to the weekend! That's about it for now.

Spike-O. My little boy.

Before the Water fight.

Coralie claimed she hurt her finger... Mike is just a dork. lol.

This little girl was sooo cute. Chuck gave her a water gun and started having a squirt gun fight with her. She was giggling and having so much fun, and so was Chuck. He tells me how much he loves kids, and then he adds, "Don't get any bright ideas though..." lol.

Stick 'em up!

500 water balloons, 6 trays of jello shots, and countless beers later...
That's the good stuff in life.

Crocked, Wet and Cold!!