The List Continues

1. August 22 - Drury starts, 4 days til... DONE
2. August 26 - Mom's birthday, 8 days til...DONE
3. September 3 - Bethany gets married, 2 days til...  JUST 4 MORE DAYS
4. September 5 - Dad's birthday AND Labor Day, 3 days til...
5. September 8 - My birthday, 34 days til...
6. October 12 - Organizational Communication ends, 2 days til...
7. October 14-23 - Fall break, 1 day til...
8. October 24 - Organizational Change starts, 6 days til...
9. October 30 - Saints game in St. Louis, 1 day til...
10. October 31 - Halloween, 22 days til...
11. November 22-26 - Alabama for Thanksgiving break, 18 days til...
12. December 14 - Organizational Change ends, 1 day til...
13. December 15 - Public Relations ends...18 days til
14. December 19  January 2- Winter project begins...15 days til
15. January 17 - Spring semester starts...10 days til
16. January 13 January 27- Winter project ends... 49 days til
17. Mary 16-26 - Pennsylvania for spring break...11 days til...
18. April 6 - Good Friday off...1 day til
19. April 7 - Jim's birthday...1 day til
20. April 8 - Easter...29 days til
21. May 7-12 - Finals...3 days til
22. May 10 - Graduation rehearsal...1 day til
23. May 11 - School ends...1 day til
24. May 12 - My graduation...7 days til
25. May 19 - Robert's graduation...1 day til
26. May 20 - Our wedding!

Since the last time I posted this list my birthday came and went.  Org comm is coming to an end - only 16 days to go.  It's honestly gone by rather quickly.  I know, it's crazy.  Once org comm ends I'll have fall break and start a new class: organizational change.  Should be a party. ;)

I stayed pretty busy with school, babysitting, and socializing last week.  It's been really hard to balance my social life the past four months.  I crave interaction with humans, but it's something that makes my schedule even more jam-packed.  This weekend I did A LOT of socializing.  I went to Springfield early before class on Thursday and went to the mall and Starbucks with my dear friend Kelsey.  On Friday I drove to AR to visit my friend Elise.  We got pizza, watched a movie ("Something Borrowed" - much better than I had expected), and caught up.  The next morning we ate breakfast at Rick's Bakery (I got a sausage roll, cheese danish, and fresh-squeezed orange juice) and perused the farmers' market.  Robert and I enjoyed watching two Cardinal wins on tv this weekend as well. 

Highlights for this week will be: Picking apples at Plaster's Orchard and class today - My group is leading class facilitation.  Eating dinner at Windermere with the Durbins tomorrow.  Meeting with my dear friend Carey and class on Wednesday.  Babysitting and class on Thursday.  Babysitting and my high school homecoming parade and football game Friday.  Gilmore Girls alum Melissa McCarthy hosting Saturday Night Live on Saturday.  And finally, church and a Sunday school picnic at the lake on Sunday.  Whew!  No wonder I'm tired.

Dating Robert Clark Varner

Dating Robert Clark Varner has been one of the greatest blessings, and I look forward to being married to him and all the fun and good times that are sure to accompany it.  Our summer was crazy (Robert worked full time to buy me some bling, and I went to summer school - how could we possibly forget about that?), and now the school year has hit full-force.  Sometimes when we're sitting on the couch watching tv and studying for the umpteenth night in a row, my heart cries out for a good date with undivided attention.  And that, my friends, is exactly what I got this weekend.
I got to pick our date for Friday: Dinner with my mama (Homemade chicken strips, garlic & cheese mashed potatoes, asparagus), Gilmore Girls (3 whole episodes), watching the Cards WIN, thrifting at ATC Downtown Flea Market (a classy establishment), and making heart garland for the wed wed.
Robert got to pick Saturday's date: Laura Ingalls Wilder's house in Mansfield, MO (Robert and I were working out one day last week, and he swears the news anchor's name was Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Doubt it.  Anyway, this prompted me to reminisce about Laura Ingalls Wilder Day in elementary school.  He thought this was ridiculous.  Does anybody else remember doing that?  We'd dress up like pioneers, make butter.  You know, pioneer stuff.  Anyway, this inspired him to take me to her house.)  It was perfect!  We just so happened to pick Wilder Day!!!  That meant: 1/2 price tickets, a medley of songs mentioned in Laura's books that were actually played on Pa's fiddle yesterday, and exclusive viewing of the upstairs bedroom. 

So pumped!

A few of Laura's books have been translated into Hebrew - Robert's favorite part. haha

We went out to dinner - Cieleto Lindo.  I would not recommend it...at all.  Then I surprised him by taking us to see The Lion King in 3D.  We purchased the tickets but had about 45 minutes to kill so we went into shops downtown.  We went to Andy's after that.  I got the Boot Daddy - Oreo, caramel, hot fudge concrete.  The Professional Bull Riders (PBR) were in town which inspired Andy's to create the Boot Daddy.  I'm not a fan of bull riding, but I am a fan of the boot daddy.

Anniversaries and Birthdays

Last Thursday Robert took me out to eat to celebrate my 21 birthday.  He drove me to class and ran errands for me while I sat in class.  He dropped off our rings to have them engraved.  Since my engagement ring is essentially three bands that are interwoven, I'm not getting a separate wedding band.  I bought Robert's wedding band the day we got my ring insured.  Anyway, Robert picked the inscription - chesid.  It's Hebrew, and of course we'll be using the actual Hebrew symbols.  The "c" is silent, and there's a gutteral sound at the beginning.  Anyway, it means covenant loyalty or lovingkindness.  The major bummer though is that it can take up to two weeks to get the rings back.  Seven days down.  Hopefully it'll be less than seven days before we get them back.  I know it might sound weird, but I'm kind of self-conscious that people think we broke up since I'm not wearing my ring.  Plus, my finger looks so plain now.  So after class, Robert took me to a surprise restaurant for dinner.  We ended up going to The Aviary.  It was delicious, and I would highly recommend it to anyone in the area.  It's in downtown Springfield.  Of course, we failed to take pictures, but the inside is absolutely adorable.  There is a gigantic fake tree in the middle of the room that reaches to the ceiling, antique bird cages, a fireplace, beautiful artwork, and you can even watch the cooks make your dinner.  The restaurant specializes in crepes, but it does have typical main dishes as well - steak, shrimp, etc.  Robert and I had only ever had dessert crepes before, so we decided to branch out and order savory crepes.  I order the Venetian - asparagus, spinach, tomatoes, and mushrooms with mascarpone cheese on the side and three cheese mashed potatoes for my side dish.  I could pick from mashed potatoes, rice pilaf, salad, or fruit.  Robert got the salmon crepe and mashed potatoes as well.  We split an Aux Nuella crepe (chocolate mousse, Nutella, whipped cream, chocolate shavings) for dessert.  Our server was great, and we loved the atmosphere.  Right after we ordered, approximately thirty ladies who were 70+ years old showed up for dessert.  I'm guessing that isn't typical, but for a second I wondered if we were crashing their party.  After we ate we enjoyed a lovely stroll downtown.
Coincidentally, our 1 1/2 year anniversary was Tuesday so we got to do some more celebrating.  Robert had a mandatory fire drill at 9:00pm so we knew we couldn't go to Springfield or do anything super big. So we decided to make our own dinner - glazed pork chops grilled on the barbie, grilled asparagus, grilled mixed vegetables (zucchini, onions, green bell pepper, Mexi-corn) {are you noticing a theme yet? GRILLED} and pasta salad (spaghetti noodles, chopped up turkey, onion, feta cheese, parmesan cheese, and Italian dressing).  I made sweet tea too.  Since Robert is a grill master I try to take advantage of it by having him cook us dinner as much as possible.  :)  We packed up our food and took it to Playter Park.  It had been about 100 in the day, but by the time we ate it was about 80, the sun was setting, and there was a bit of a breeze so it was perfect.  After we ate, we strolled around the neighborhood (Lakewood Hills) and admired the houses we can't afford.  It's fun, really.  We'll say things like, "Ooo!  That one has a big yard.  That'd be perfect for kids," "I love the brick/rock combo!" "I want a yard with a weeping willow tree," "That looks like the house I grew up in."  I like dreaming with Robert.

Birthdays Galore

Since I last wrote, we've celebrated approximately ten family birthdays: Dad's, Robert's dad's, Amanda's, mine (although it isn't for a few more days), Robert's cousin Ian, Robert's Grandpa, Robert's uncle's, and my mom's birthday.  It's been CRAZY but super fun!  We combined Labor Day with birthday celebrations for Dad, Amanda, and me.  Robert barbecued steak and chicken, Jim made homemade ice cream, we ate outside in the perfect weather, played croquet, and shared fond memories from years past.  Side note: One of my presents included our FIRST wedding registry present: Our rolling pen.  Thanks, Mom and Dad!
Robert and I went to KC for Bethany's wedding this weekend.  I didn't snag any pictures of the ceremony because I wanted to actually soak in the moment without being obsessed about taking pictures, but here's one a lady offered to take of Robert and me at the reception:

I'm all about coordinating my ensemble with Robert's apparel.

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed having an extra day off from school yesterday.  Since I never have class on Fridays and Wednesdays, having Monday off gave me six days off in a row.

1. August 22 - Drury starts, 4 days til... DONE
2. August 26 - Mom's birthday, 8 days til...DONE
3. September 3 - Bethany gets married, 2 days til...  JUST 4 MORE DAYS
4. September 5 - Dad's birthday AND Labor Day, 3 days til...
5. September 8 - My birthday, 34 days til...
6. October 12 - Organizational Communication ends, 2 days til...
7. October 14-23 - Fall break, 1 day til...
8. October 24 - Organizational Change starts, 6 days til...
9. October 30 - Saints game in St. Louis, 1 day til...
10. October 31 - Halloween, 22 days til...
11. November 22-26 - Alabama for Thanksgiving break, 18 days til...
12. December 14 - Organizational Change ends, 1 day til...
13. December 15 - Public Relations ends...18 days til
14. December 19  January 2- Winter project begins...15 days til
15. January 17 - Spring semester starts...10 days til
16. January 13 January 27- Winter project ends... 49 days til
17. Mary 16-26 - Pennsylvania for spring break...11 days til...
18. April 6 - Good Friday off...1 day til
19. April 7 - Jim's birthday...1 day til
20. April 8 - Easter...29 days til
21. May 7-12 - Finals...3 days til
22. May 10 - Graduation rehearsal...1 day til
23. May 11 - School ends...1 day til
24. May 12 - My graduation...7 days til
25. May 19 - Robert's graduation...1 day til
26. May 20 - Our wedding!