The Daily Honky Tonk
193rd Edition
Sunday, February 27, 2011
4:32 PM
Yep, you guessed it Kori, I haven’t been writing because I’ve been dating a girl. Her name is Whitney Boesch and as of a week and a half ago we are engaged!!!!!!!!!!!!
She is busy with church responsibilities so I thought I would do a little writing.
Contents:
Engagement Story
Cooking
Engagement Story
So, Whitney and I have talked about getting married for a while. So, when we were both finally certain about getting engaged it was time for me to go find a ring and make things official. Whitney allowed me to pick it out myself. I did a bit of research and after three weeks I finally had the ring.
I ordered the ring online and FedEx said they delivered it to my apartment on Valentine’s Morning. When I left school to check at my apartment, it wasn’t there. I started panicking. Did it get stolen? I called the company and they sent a new one. However, that evening a neighbor at a nearby complex delivered the box to its correct location. Thank goodness.
Now, I did not plan to propose on Valentine’s Day (and the fact that I found the ring finally near Valentine’s day kind of bugged me) as I think that it would be way too corny and cliche. So I set up a date for a nice dinner on Saturday (I did this when I thought I wasn’t going to have a ring). I wanted a nice dinner to be an affirmation that things were still going well since I didn’t think I would have the ring for another week. When I got the ring later that afternoon I suggested that after classes on Wednesday Whitney come over and I would make her her favorite meal- Lasagna.
So, Whitney did think I was going to propose on Valentine’s Day. And then she believed that I was using Wednesday to throw her off from Saturday (which ended up being our celebration dinner). Which in the end, allowed me to keep the element of surprise that I wanted.
After I got out of class on Wednesday I went to Caleb’s apartment and made the lasagna, breadsticks, and salad while his roommates helped build a magnificent blanket fort in which to have a candlelit dinner. (Don’t worry, we built it with couches stood on end with a mattress laying across so that it was tall and sturdy enough not to get knocked down-funny, nobody actually considers that detail when I tell the story). I got home just in time to change into a nice shirt and freshen up a little. When Whitney arrived at my apartment, I told her we were actually going somewhere else to eat. I blindfolded her with the only thing that I had convenient, a pair of pajama pants I got for Christmas. I carefully led her down to my car and took her to Caleb’s apartment. I helped her into the blanket fort and then took off the “blindfold”.
We proceeded to have a nice candlelit dinner. After eating, I pulled out my guitar and played her a song which I had written for her, at which point she started to cry, not because my song was incredible, though I think it’s good, but because she realized I was proposing. So, after the song I moved the guitar out of the way and went from sitting to one knee- which isn’t as big a change as going from standing to being on one knee by the way. And proposed and she said “Yes!!”.
We celebrated, called families, drank virgin pina coladas and then went to the library so she could take a religion test before midnight.
And I am joyous!!! Now if we can just work out a date.
Cooking
While growing up I knew at least one thing about leaving home- my parent’s children were not going to be helpless bums in college. It was absolutely unacceptable to lack the basic skills for cleaning, laundry, and following a recipe. There was to be no complaining about these tasks when we did them as children else we would get a reminder of the coming of future times in which we would have to do it on our own when we not embarrass our mother by being helpless. For this I am very grateful.
However, knowing how to cook at home, for a group larger than one, with a house full of ingredients and cooking resources is a lot different than being in college. While I knew how to cook, I did not know how to meal plan for a week. And while my parents had explained the principles- plan your meal around what is on sale, eat a variety of foods, and don’t diet on just cereal- actually making everything happen was harder than I realized.
Some of things that I had to adjust to were times required to cook. Its a lot easier to eat a bowl of cereal in five minutes and then go play or get back to homework than it is to take an extra hour to cook. Also, having fresh fruits and vegetables on hand seemed pointless when I found them going bad before I could use them (and without the confidence of knowing exactly when they would). I also didn’t like the fact that cooking for one was never as satisfactory as letting others enjoy the food with you. I never felt like I was worth the time to cook for- things have since changed.
Sometime near the end of summer I decided that cooking was going to be a larger priority. If I wanted to know how to cook well, if I wanted to be able to meal plan, and if I wanted to be efficient at cooking it was going to take some extra practice. I was also worried about the extra expense of veggies, fruits, and meats I wasn’t buying. After taking a deep breath, I realized that if I just let go and was less thrifty for a time I would learn the skills necessary by having the experience. With more shopping and cooking experience I would eventually gain the skills I wanted. The short term cost would be expensive- the long term cost was an investment. Sure enough. It has been. I’m a better cook and I understand how to shop and budget for food a lot better than I did before- which leads me to this conclusion.
I love cooking. I enjoy it so much. Mostly I enjoy looking over recipes and using the ideas to guide experimenting with what I have. It’s a new form of art and exploration for me and Whitney and I benefit from eating better meals more often and having leftovers to pack and share for lunch. This saves money, time, and allows me to eat well :)
Anyway, that’s all for now. I hope my DHT finds you all well in whatever circumstance you find yourself at the moment. I’ll let you know more about the wedding as we figure out more details.
The Editor,
Mark
