Darren's Birthday

It was Wednesday, so I didn't get to see him. However, I did get to this past Saturday. He came up to visit me for a bit. I was so happy for him to be here. It's been a month since I last saw him so it was great to see him. We started the day together by watching Juno. I love the movie and he's seen it several times, and it was really nice to actually watch a movie in the same room together. After that, we decided to walk to Gigi's cupcakes, which has really good cupcakes (and in case you don't know, I have a cupcake fetish). Boy, were they delicious, and they love to put on the frosting. Once we got them, we went back to North Campus which is the prettiest part of campus, and sat on a bench by one of the fountains. It was a nice moment. The only regret is that I wish that we got a picture right then and there. But we will get it when he comes to visit next time, which will be our two year anniversary. After being in North Campus, we went to Red Lobster for lunch. Amazing as always. Those biscuits are to die for. For realz. During lunch, he told me that his parents do like me and have no problem with us getting married in the future. However, near the end, I realized that we only had an hour left before he had to go back home. That's when I started feeling sad. I hate the thought of him leaving, and by continuing to think about it, I made it worse. After we left, I started crying. I really cannot stand goodbyes with him. The moment he does, I feel all my happiness with him. I never cried in front of him before, but he was incredibly sweet and understanding. He held me the entire time from then until he left. He asked me to stay strong for him. I've been trying, and most days I'm really good at it, but those rare moments happen when I cannot hold it in any longer. Sadly, it had to happen when he was here. But at least I saw that he cared about me. I feel like it strengthened our relationship and brought us closer. And since it was his birthday, I made him a blanket. He loves it. He's slept with it ever since I gave it to him, along with my dream catcher necklace. I really cannot believe our two year anniversary is in less than a month, but I know it will be an amazing day.

Movie Date Night

These kinds of nights are tons of fun. How does it work out when you're living two hours away from each other? It's quite simple, really. What we do is pick a movie together that we want to watch. Usually, it's a movie he has and I try to find it on YouTube. And then we'll watch it together while on the phone together. We did this Saturday and Sunday nights and I wish we would have started this years ago. It's really nice, and it is as if we're cuddling into each others' arms watching it.

The first movie we did this with is Lilo and Stitch.

It's his favorite Disney movie and I find it to be absolutely adorable. It was a nice night with a bunch of laughs. Last night we watched The Pacifier.

Another Disney movie (see the connection here?). However, I don't think it'll be all Disney movies we'll watch. We do have other movies that we both love and want to introduce to the other. The purpose of the movie dates is to bring us together while being hundreds of miles apart. It adds more things to the list of things we have in common. The more that brings us together now, the stronger our relationship will be when he leaves. We need all the strength we can get, while at the same time, enjoying time with each other even though we're miles away.

Disney World Wedding

So we have changed our minds once again about the wedding, but I think this one is the most magical idea we've come up with. Yes, I am talking about having our wedding at Disney World. What could be better? I grew up with Disney as a kid, and I had some of the best memories at the park. It is true what they say: it's practically impossible to be unhappy at Disney. So what better place to celebrate one of the most important days in your life?
We are keeping orange and aqua as our colors with hints of purple and white. For the ceremony site, we are going to Epcot Morocco. We both love that it's exotic and would transport our guests to a whole new world (pun intended). For the reception, we are going under the sea with the Living Seas Parlor, also in Epcot.
I know there must be some speculation on how we're going to afford this, and I can say that it is possible to have a Disney wedding on a budget. First off, we're going to have a lunch reception at noon. Having a lunch or breakfast reception is much cheaper than dinner. Also, it allows our guests to see the rest of the park after we finished. With the guests, we can get them discounts on rooms and tickets, possibly more if we book them through AAA (and since we'll be residents of Florida, we can get more discounts). Speaking of guests, we're not planning on having that many people there. To get what we want, we need at least twenty people (including us) there. With decorations, we will make most of them. Seeing as we're probably going to be living in Orlando, we can easily transport centerpieces and decorations to Disney. We're also going to do the stationery (invitations, save-the-dates, place cards, menus, etc). Darren is working on that part. Perhaps the best way to save money is for us going in the off season. That means not going around any holidays or during the summer. It may take some planning to choose a right time that most of the people we want there to come, but we will figure it out.
We're very excited to make this happen. Hopefully this will be the last big change we make about our wedding. What we're hoping for is to have a memorable time and that our guests never forget it.

Concrete Day

So now we have a good idea of when Darren will leave. The earliest is December 1. So I have about four months with him. While it sounds great right now, it also means that he won't be home until around 2014. I'll be getting ready to start my third semester of physical therapy school. Right now, that seems so far away, which makes it seem him coming come will be forever. I know I have time with him right now and I plan on enjoying him as much as possible, but I do think about him coming back and us going to Orlando together for school and living there. I want that to happen as soon as possible. It could be worse, and it can get worse. He could be sent somewhere thousands of miles away where the mail system sucks and he can't email. I really don't want that. I'll be happy if he ends up somewhere with a reliable mail service. Email would be a nice perk but I'm not relying on that.
The good news is that Darren and I are about 50 days away from our two year anniversary. I can't believe we have been together that long. It really doesn't feel like it's been two years. Hopefully it'll be the same way for when he's gone. I do plan on keeping myself busy with school and activities as I've previously mentioned. Right now, things have settled down. I'm in a steady schedule with classes and work and different organizations I'm in. I'm going to make these next two years worthwhile.
As usual, I don't really have so much to say about things. Still have no idea where and when he's going, and I haven't seen him since I left for school. But, I will get to see him for his birthday later this month, and boy do I have something in store for him. I will not say it because he reads this and I don't want to spoil it.