I was doing pretty good there with the blogging but then *poof* it was gone...

Sue me, I've been busy. HA!

But I have been busy. Very. Despite the fact that we are entirely broke, there has been a fair amount of fun going on - mostly stemming from the fact that two of our very best friends just recently announced their engagement.

Huzzah!

I swear, last weekend N. and I must have poured for hours over flowers and dresses and menus and OMG all things wedding, etc. Dennis didn't mind or even notice really because he and C., the groom-to-be, were busy playing Grand Theft Auto or something. (Nope, not a video game person. At. All.) But that was all good because neither one of them were terribly interested in the Girlie™ which was exploding accross the room as N. and I did our thing.

*Squee!!* Wedding Stuffs®!

In addition to all that happy madness, Dennis and I celebrated our three-year aniversary on the 24th so yay for us! Well, we didn't actually celebrate it until tonight since my sweetie has not been home for a few days. He has been off at school, preparing to take his 100 Ton Masters test so that he can become a captain, purchase us a house and buy me a beautiful ring.

He says he plans to make an honest woman out of me at some point...if it's ok with my dad. LOL

(Heh. I said "LOL". I do that in speaking sometimes too. Such is the Intarweb inspired Brave New World that we live in now-a-days.)

But we DID celebrate tonight in high style at our most favorite eating establishment, Beach City Grill. Mmmmmmmm, YUMMY! Honestly, Larry (the owner, who was waiting tables this evening - YAY! He is so fun!) makes the best most flavorful dishes ever. EVER! We even had the pleasure of enjoying some of his famous Cajun Sweet Potato Fries with feta dip, homemade katsup and the always giggle-inspiring "Panty Ripper" hot sauce in addition to our main courses. Tee hee!

So all in all, it has been busy and happy (and delicious) and more busy and yet even more happy. Life is good.

Ah, Valentine's Day...♥

Another lovely one with Dennis. Funny, how I've grown to take it so for granted that my Valentine's Day will always be special, even if all we do is stay in bed all morning, talking and *ahem* stuff.

We've been together now for almost three years. In fact, if will BE three years exactly in ten days on February 24th. I always forget the date (and so does he so I really don't feel too badly about that). Every time we talk about how long we have been together - usually on holidays such as this - neither one of us can remember the exact date "We" began. We both remember the moment it was official though...

I was down in the dumps and in need of a kind gesture or word or something...when he came to me bearing a gift (my green hookah) and stole my heart. We'd been flirtatious for a while already but...there really was no official commitment yet. But that day and that simple gift sealed it. And I've not been disappointed. The generosity and kindness Dennis has shown me over the last three years amazes me and I am so happy and grateful and tickled that he is in my life - every single day, not just Valentine's Day.

I can honestly say that I will love him forever.

(And that is a damn long time by the way and I am not one to make such grandiose and marvelous, fantastical statements on a regular basis!)

Our day was really nice. It started off sweet and steamy in the boudoir and meandered off in the direction of ordinary (laundry) and delicious (chocolates). We then set off to have breakfast at our favorite breakfast-type place: The Omelette & Waffle Shop. Yum. I had my usual, their cheddar and jalapeno waffle with a side of scrambled eggs. Heavenly.

And then, after we ate we set off on our way to our dance class. It was Foxtrot today, a very fun dance. We always have fun at our class though, regardless of the particular style. My sweetie is very talented and a super good lead!

And now I am back at home, waiting for him to get off work (folks do need to earn a dollar dontchaknow) but he ought to be home very soon and we will continue our day until it is time for me to fall asleep in his arms, just like I hope to every night for the rest of my life.

I truly am a very lucky girl. ♥

Island adventure!

I've been meaning to post about our most recent Catalina trip so since I have a minute here while my sweetie is doing the dishes, here ya go:

Last weekend, Dennis and I didn't have anything planned for Sunday so I suggested that we take a day trip to the island and see those Botanical Gardens we didn't make it to the last time we were in Avalon.

Remember that trip? The Great Drunken Disaster of 2008?

So anyways, I spent Saturday at work and then afterwards we went to a lovely birthday party for my nephew. My brother and his wife throw the best parties. Honestly, I can only hope to aspire to someday throwing parties as well as they do. I have no idea how they manage to pull of the shindigs they do, all the while wrangling children and mingling with guests. But they do, and it looks effortless. Amazing.

But back to Catalina...

On Sunday we had planned to hop on the 10:30 boat out of The Landing to Avalon which we would have been able to do without a problem, if there had in fact been a 10:30 boat! Turns out it was a 10:00 boat and by the time we got there at 10:10, it had already left. But no problem, we just got handed plenty of time to enjoy breakfast at the deli Dennis is always raving about. And he was right! Breakfast was delicious!

Fast forward a couple of hours...

The boat ride was wonderful. We saw a bunch of dolphins and even a couple of whales. Neat! Dennis got me some hot chocolate (since coffee is the Nectar of Satan™, according to my bladder lately) and we arrived on the island before we knew it.

We consulted our map to determine the way to the Gardens and set off. I'd walked it before in my younger days and did not recall the road being so long. Long it was though, miles even! Still, it was a lovely hike and there were nice things to look at along the way like The Nature Center at Avalon Canyon where we got to take a little rest and learn a little bit about The Catalina Island Conservancy's conservation efforts and native flora and fauna.

So after a long walk, we finally reached the Gardens, only to find out that they only take cash for admissions and alas, we had no cash! Only a debit card. D'oh! But the trolly bus guy who arrived not long after we did was kind enough to take us on a ride down to front street where we could use an ATM and procure our admission fee. He then took us back up to the Garden so we could get back to the business of visiting it, at long last.

It was beautiful. Even more so than I remembered when I'd first visited it previously. Of course, the day was colored by love.

We took a number of pictures, mostly of us in various places because hello! Vain like that!

After spending a terriffic afternoon walking about, we decided to get some dinner before boarding the boat back home. After careful consideration of the few places open for business (it is Winter, you know. Totally off-season!) we decided upon Topless Tacos where I think I had the best shrimp tacos EVER.

We then made our way back to the dock and boarded our boat back home. We even got to sit up in the Captain's Lounge as no one had booked it which was The Awesome since neither one of us was all that keen on watching to Superbowl and that was what was being watched on all of the other televisions on board.

We watched CSI: New York, I had more hot chocolate (damn evil bladder! Grrr!) and we got back to Long Beach in a flash. We then hopped on a bus and made our way back to our car over at The Queen Mary (free parking over there, yay!).

All in all, it was a lovely day with my sweetie. One of future thousands though, I am quite sure. ♥