Bliss

So I haven't written in a month. It has been very busy. The whole summer has actually flown by. I got to spend way more time in Iowa with Alex than expected. It was fantastic. And he spent 10 days with Me between the end of camp and him leaving for home. Obviously it was fantastic. Here is what happened......figured I'd write a good one before I got to the post-Alex misery. lol

The first weekend we spent with my family in Iowa. He did his thing on the last night with camp people. I was kinda annoyed with him to be honest over some miscommunications and a few people who were...less than kind to me....out at camp. The night ended up with me picking him up from camp at 10 pm and going with him to a local bar for karaoke and drinks. I did not drink, he had a few, and I stood there talking to few people sine it was all camp people and me. Several people proceeded to ignore me, which was a bit uncomfortable, but others were nice. I was pretty quiet as a result and we only stayed for 2 hours.

The rest of the weekend we went fishing at the barn with my parents, my younger sister and her boyfriend, and my older sister and her family. It was a really good time, much like the one at the beginning of the summer. On the sunday we returned to the barn and took family pictures, some of which can be seen on facebook. We all actually took some really good ones and I think everyone was pleased. Afterwards we went to Coldstone....all in our matching black shirts. It was kinda amusing because someone actually asked Alex and I why we were all wearing black. I thought about telling them we were in a cult, but told the truth instead. go me i spose.

Alex and I eventually made it back to Menomonie with Morris. The drive went a lot better than expected. Not much traffic, good weather, and Morris settled in pretty quickly (he hates car rides). The next week and a few days went by really fast. To be honest, we did not do much of anything. But it was amazing. We slept in, lazed about, cuddled all day to movies, saw 2 movies in the theatre, and cooked dinner together every night. We went shopping a few days and only allowed ourselves to eat out twice. It may sound boring to some, but it was perfect for us. We are much more content cuddling than doing anything else. It is kinda interesting because we both notice other couples when we are out and about in our respective countries, and wish we could be together doing things like every other couple. We miss out on all the activities other couples get to do.....and then when he is here we would much rather hang out alone and just be together than go do things. Don't get me wrong - we very much enjoy activities together, but doing nothing is so much more appealing when our time is limited.

The only other thing of note that we actually chose to go out and do was a renaissance festival that was about 1.5 hrs away, in Minnesota. We attempted to go to bed early the night before so we could get up at the crack of dawn and make it there just as it opened for the day, but we ended up being so excited that we couldn't sleep....and we laid in bed for hours talking and singing songs from movies and boy bands...yes you read that right. My neighbors probably hate me cuz we did that several days in a row after that. Not that we sang loud, but my bed is against the wall of my neighbors bedroom and there was lots of laughing soooo we potentially kept them up. oops :P

The festival ended up being so much fun! Not that I expected anything less. Some people think that kind of thing is odd but we both love it. It was a permanent place that does events all year round. It was made of 3 villages with permanent structures...including several stages, a pirate ship, and a castle! I have never been to one where so many people that do not work there are dressed up! It was way fun cuz you could not tell alot of the "cast" from the visitors! And a lot of people attempted fake accents, that were horrid and we secretly giggled at. We did meet a few actual foreigners that enjoyed speaking to Alex, got to see a big tortoise pull a cart, a guy juggle flaming things while a flaming spinner thing was on his head AND he was walking on a burning tightrope, watched all kinds of joists and fencing, played some games (by that I mean Alex shot a crossbow and threw both axes and throwing stars!), pet animals, walked through the cutest and most romantic "enchanted forest" full of fairy houses (it even had this little grove with a waterfall and people dressed up like fairies playing instruments and singing on the rocks....it was beautiful), and did lots of shopping. There was things to look at everywhere and everyone was very nice. Alex bought some stuff for himself and a few of his friends....plus he bought me a flower (that ironically lasted until the morning after he left) AND a really cool pulled metal ring that I absolutely love. I also got to try mead for the first time. Alex told me to get the plain kinds cuz it would be better. It was pretty good, not something I could drink more than one glass of tho. Alex said in England it is thicker, more like a honey consistency, and has a higher alcohol content. According to him, its something you can't drink much of, but that after one glass you are definitely feeling drunk. Can't say one of the tiny glasses we had made me intoxicated, but it was fun to try. Very very sweet. Kinda like drinking honey, even tho the one we has was not very viscus.

Luckily I was able to give all of my shifts away while he was in Menomonie but 2. Of course, those were two days in a row, and I was naturally displeased that I had to go in at all due to the fact that it was at the end of his time here. But, because Alex is amazing, he did nice things for me while I was gone. The first night I worked I came home to a kiss, a hot bath waiting for me (complete with soothing music and candles EVERYWHERE), an italian dinner, and a clean apartment. Plus, he gave me a back rub before bed. It was amazing. The table was all decorated and we had wine. The food was yummy and Alex could not have done anything nicer. The second night he upped the food and made me the best mashed potatoes I have ever had (cheesy garlic ones), asparagus, and delicious grilled spicy chicken. We watched a movie that night and I got a back rub again. It was all so very very nice of him.

Overall, the time together was perfect, too short, but perfect. We had a great time and I ate up every moment of it.