10 new things!

i am much belated but january is almost over and i couldn't let my awesome things pledge fall completely by the wayside. so here we go - 10 (short) awesome things from the past 10 days!

#18 - 3 day weekends: although i didn't have the full day off for martin luther king day, i did go home really early and alex came out to hang out. it was such a blast to see him and have some extra time off of work!

#19 - seeing the grass again: last week we got some rain and warmer temperatures, which combined to melt the 12+ inches of snow that had been sitting on the ground for...a long time. i think leonidas was even more excited than i was about the grass - all kinds of new smells AND he didn't have to wear his coat to go the bathroom, haha.

#20- restaurant date deals: i'm sure most of you have seen ads for the2 for $20 deal at chili's or the 3 courses for $25 at fridays, and after taking advantage of several of these deals with alex and my family, i have to say they are awesome. for couples on a budget, restaurant date deals are the way to go.

#21 - seeing relatives from far away: last week my uncle flew in from AZ to visit my grandparents, and it was really fun to see him! he's very sharp and interesting, but has all the quirks you'd expect as my grandfather's son. he's also super competitive when it comes to wii sports and i crushed him at canoeing. i'll admit, i was a little sore the next day but it was worth it!

#22 - when grandma makes a joke: my grandma is this incredibly sweet 84 year old lady and over the past few years, she and i have grown very close. unfortunately, she suffers from some dimentia and is very hard of hearing, so big family gatherings can be challenging for her, BUT every so often, she'll catch my grandpa doing something ridiculous and she'll crack a joke. her jokes are always awesome :)

#23 - weird old people ideas: with my uncle in town, we spent LOTS of time together as a family, elderly included, and twice this weekend i caught my grandfather doing something ridiculous. first, we were out to dinner and i look over to see his winter hat tucked into the front of his pants. why you'd chose to put a hat your pants rather than in the pocket of your coat is beyond me. he removed it at my less-than-gentle request, haha. then, the next day at sunday brunch, we're out to eat again and my grandma asks him to hold her purse. rather than setting it on the empty chair next to him, he started to unbuckle his belt and feed it through her purse straps! why this man cannot find anything but his pants to hold on to things is beyond me.

#24 - bowling: recently alex and i went out on a bowling date! neither of us are very good bowlers (rarely getting over 100), but we still have a lot of fun getting a pizza, a pitcher of beer, and making total fools out of ourselves. since we're both terrible, there's not a ton of serious competition between us, but i must point out that i beat alex 119 - 118 in our second game. it was an awesome tenth frame :)

#25 - photography blogs: we are in the midst of picking a wedding photographer and it is a tough decision! every photographer has a cool blog with lots of fun pictures and i always get excited thinking about what pictures from our day will look like! although i could never find that creativity in myself, i definitely appreciate it in other people!

#26 - getting taken out to lunch for work: yesterday one of our vendors for work was in town and they came by to take me out to lunch! after talking to them exclusively on the phone, it was funny to see them in person and find out that my picture in my head was way off, haha. anyways, it was a delicious lunch and a fun perk of being in the working world!

#27 - solo cups with scratch off name panel: our office has the most awesome solo cups. they have a panel-like thing on the front and when you peel off the label, you can scratch your name (or whatever else you want) into the black space! what an awesome idea for keeping cups straight at parties and whatnot! i wish i had thought of that...