25 questions... the relationship version

well I suppose that in my book, answering 25 questions is better than trying to come up with 25 things about us on my own, so here you have it... the anti-"25 things".  

1. What are your middle names?

Nicole and Edward

2. How long have you been together?

since April/May-ish of 2007

3. How long did you know eachother before you started dating?

around 4 months

4. Who asked whom out?

maurice asked me out... he had it bad for me

5. Whose siblings do you see the most?

probably mine, because they live closest. but we still see Ashlie quite a bit.

6. Do you have any children together?

nope... one day

7. What about pets?

nope... one day

8. What is hardest on you as a couple?

definitely waiting to see what our next move is gonna be... literally

9. Are you from the same town?

yes... the general san antonio area, at least

10. Did you go to any of the same schools?

no

11. Who is the most sensitive?

definitely me

12. Where do you eat out most as a couple?

we love trying new places, but whataburger usually wins if we can't think of anyplace else.

13. Where is the farthest you've traveled together?

new york! and pretty soon.. riviera maya, mexico

14. Who has the craziest exes?

HA... I shouldn't answer this, but I'm going to.  him.

15. Who has the worst temper?

maurice... but only in traffic

16. Who does the cooking?

we both like to cook

17. Who is more social?

that kind of depends, but generally me, I think

18. Who is the neat-freak?

MAURICE

19. Who is more stubborn?

that could be both of us... but probably me :)

20. Who hogs the bed?

no comment

21. Who wakes up earlier?

Maurice, but I'm getting better

22. Where was your first date?

Stonewerks, I believe

23. Who has the bigger family?

probably Maurice

24. Do you get flowers often?

often enough 

25. How long did it take to get serious?

not very long!

raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

I may not be Maria from the Sound of Music, but in much the same way, I would like to share with you some of my very favorite things in the world... or at least on the internet.  

So while brown paper packages tied up with strings are all well and good, here are a few of my favorite things:

- Lemon Tree Paperie.  One of my absolute favorites.  It may not be quite as marvelous as Kate's Paperie in New York, but you'll find lots of quirky little necessities that you won't find at Kate's.  Take the time to check out the personalized notepads with clipboards, cause they're just so darn cute, and they make great gifts!

- DSW. Because shoes are the best.  What I love about DSW is the sheer affordability of their shoes, as well as the pitter patter you feel in your heart when you walk into one of their stores and behold rows upon rows of cheap designer shoes.  I personally think their logo should read: "DSW... because every girl should have a fantastic pair of yellow shoes."

- The SuzyJack 2009 Calendar.  Because it's really cute.

- Cool laptop sleeves.  Because laptops are expensive and scratches suck.  

- Great cookbooks.  Every girl should have a cookbook that, in the event of one of those inevitable bad days, has pages and pages of recipes to get you through it.

my grievances with the wedding industry

let me just say this.  i know that weddings are expensive.  i was prepared for that.  it is the AMOUNT of expensive-ness for which i was unprepared.  i have, on several occasions, had to refrain from laughing in people's faces when we came to the portion of the appointment when they tell you how much they plan to charge you for providing their services.

now let me also say... there are certain wedding services in which i understand the necessity for a higher price.  one would expect to pay a lot for food, for instance.  food costs money.  and anyone who has been to the grocery store or eaten at a restaurant knows that you should be prepared to pay a little more for food.  wedding dresses, are another fine example.  they're awesome, and should be priced according to the amount of their awesomeness.  i had no problem with the price of my wedding dress, as it is the most awesome wedding dress ever.  you'll see.

that being said... there are certain wedding services in which those providing them, obviously have some sort of plan to force the general public to begin taking out 30 year fixed-rate mortgages in order to pay for them.  allow me to highlight a few which i found to be the most obnoxiously over-priced.  

flowers.  they LITERALLY grow right out of the ground.  the only portion of the flower industry which i might understand charging for, would be the time it takes to grab a pair of flower scissors, or whatever it is they use, and snip them off the ground.  if you really plan on charging me so much for them, why don't you just give ME a pair of scissors and point me in the direction of the nearest field of peonies and i'll do it myself.  survey says? overpriced.

for my next example, i'd like to talk about cakes.  if i were running the cake industry, here's how i would determine how much a wedding cake should cost.  i would drive to my local grocery store, buy 3 or 4, maybe 5 of those $15 cakes, and then go home, take them out of their boxes, and stack them on top of each other. voila... a wedding cake.   so according to the standard set by the grocery stores of america, a wedding cake should cost... at the most... 75 bucks.  for those of you who are right now wondering to yourselves "how much more expensive than that are they?"... here is the answer. a lot.

so if three or so months from now, you find yourself sitting at our wedding reception... i hope to God that you are thinking to yourself "this is the best (censored) wedding cake i've ever had".  it certainly ought to be.