Carpe Diem

I feel as if I spend a large chunk of my time anticipating and preparing for experiences.  Once the experience takes place I cannot figure out why it all just flew by like a blur and how I made it possible to spend more time anticipating rather than experiencing. 

                Christmas this past year, for example, started off with two to three weeks of nailing down the details and getting ready for guests. Kyle and I spent Christmas in Texas and decided to invite some of our close friends over for a relaxed holiday. The actual holiday was marvelous. We had several people over and it was just a day full of laughter, food and memories.  Christmas went so well that even though we did not spend it with actual family, it still felt like we were home and sharing the experience with loved ones.  Let’s talk about the time ratio between anticipation and events.  Kyle and I spent about two weeks preparing for this gathering; the actual gathering took a whopping total of 36 hours.  Two weeks compared to thirty-six hours??  That’sabsolutely ridiculous.  I wish instead of spending all my time waiting anxiously for this wonderful party, I used that time to actual spend more time with those friends. 

                Christmas quickly came and went, which soon meant that Kyle’s mom, Pat, was going to bein town soon.  Kyle’s mom decided to spend some time with use over her winter break. She came a couple days after Christmas and stayed a few days after the New Year.  She brought the perfect feel of guest and mother while she visited us. She was the perfect gracious guest but at the same time she did her part making sure Kyle was living a happy successful life in Austin.  I was able to take off a whole week to spend time with Pat* and enjoy Austin together. Once again the amount of time I spent anticipating this visit completely outweighed the experience it’s self. The week went by soooo fast, I blinked and I was already hugging Kyle’s mom at the airport and telling her good-bye.  It was such an incredibly relaxing, enjoyable week and I am sad it flew by.  Why do all the wonderful experiences have to disappear so quickly?  Not that everything else in between is horrific, but I wish so badly I could have savored every minute during that week. 

(*I'm slowly trying to call Kyle's parents by their first names...here goes attempt number 1!)

                No worries though, after Pat left, my dad decided he would come and visit the following week.  Now this is when things begin to get real interesting.  My dad actually did not give Kyle and I much time to anticipate his arrival…he literally called me about a week and some change before his plane landed.  We Kissane’s waste no time.Kyle asked me a day or two before my dad arrived if he could have lunch with my dad.  Immediately I grew suspicious of this lunch date.  What I mean by suspicious was that I knew Kyle was going to ask my dad for my hand in marriage.  GREAT…something new for me to anticipate….a PROPOSAL. Putting that aside, my dad and I had a great time together in Austin.  We stayed at Kyle’s apartment and explored a lot of Austin. Some of the things we did were: State capitol, 5 mile hike on Lady BirdLake bike/run trail, Salt Lick Barbeque and much more.  I had a blast and I hope he is able to bring Joan out here someday soon, I’m pretty sure she would love this city as well!   

                Apparently 2013 is the year of visitors for Kyle and me. Shortly after my dad left Kyle’s cousin, Donnie, visited on a business trip.  I only had the opportunity to spend one day with Donnie, but I am extremely happy I had the chance.  The three of us spent the day playing disc golf.  There was a lot of disc throwing,storytelling and fun to be had!  I had such a blast with those boys.  We then spent the evening at a newly opened pizza brewpub.  This place had some delicious pizza.  We all got to try there mac ‘n’ cheese pizza.  It was the perfect blend of heart attack and deliciousness!  Yummmm!!!  Donnie left somewhat early that night though because he had a very early flight the next day.  I am so happy though that I got to spend some sort of time with Donnie.  This was another one of those moments where I was planning and prepping for Donnie’s visit with Kyle and then after less than 24 hours he is gone!  Where did the time go??  Why can’t the good times just keep on going?  Ugh. 

                February2, 2013 quickly approaches.  Leading up to this day I spent many a weeks anticipating Kyle’s proposal to me.  Lindsay, my roomie, can definitely vouch that I was going a little crazy for a solid three weeks.  I would pluck my brows, shower, put on makeup and paint my nails just in case any pictures needs to happen with an engagement ring on my finger and a new fiancé on my arm. I was even getting so antsy about it to the point that I decided being agood girlfriend and just letting things happen on their own time was totally over rated.  The night Donnie left I decided to jump down Kyle’s throat and mention to him that I wasn’t getting any younger.  Hmmmm I sort of regret doing that now and realize that being the better girlfriend is the way to go! 

Anyways, back to February 2. This was the day that Kyle had to plan a date for us because he had lost a bet and those were the terms.  Well, at 6:30 am I woke up to a terrible sounding phone alarm. I roll back to sleep only to find that Kyle actually woke up and turned every single thing on in his apartment: the shower, the coffee maker, the lights and the television.  You would think he could at least shut the bedroom door if he was planning on being loud. I drag myself out of bed, tell him to knock it off and I head straight back to the bed.  Kyle quickly follows behind and lies down with me.  Heproceeds to tell me that he’d like to start our day.  He planned the date to be a date of choices.  My first choice will be what I would like for breakfast, eggs and bacon or biscuits and gravy.  After I make my decision I ask him if I should shower while he makes breakfast. He says no.  NO!?!?!?  He says no to the girl who has been showeringfor the last 3 weeks anticipating a proposal!!!!!  Is he nuts?????  Without questioning his response I hop out of the bed.  Kyle drops to a knee right as my two feet hit the floor.  OH MY…HE’S PROPOSING!  He starts out by telling me that I now have to make a 2^nd choice of the day.  I am soo shocked I practically miss all the lovey dovey words he is saying to me.  I make it a point to show my disbelief and after realizing how serious he is I respond with a romantic, “yea, okay, I will.” I run to the bathroom afterwards just to check out my sexy look and make sure I looked somewhat decent.  HA!  I think February 2^nd should also be recorded as the first day I became a proud owner of giant bags under my eyes!!!!!  Let’s not even talk about my morning hair-do….woof. 

                Back to the romantic parts of it all….While Kyle was making breakfast we did a champagne toast and he gave me a beautiful menu on card stock.  The menu had about 30 different activities and restaurants we could check out in Austin. Kyle said I got to pick whatever I wanted on that menu and then we would try to get it all in for the day.  He also explained that he wanted to propose early in the day so that we could spend the entire day celebrating our happy news!  I can proudly say that I was, am and will always be the luckiest girl on earth with Kyle as my man!!  Boy do I love that guy!  Here is a quick recap of what we ended up doing that day:

·        Called and texted a lot of loved ones J

·        Went hiking in the greenbelt

·        Checked out the overlook on Pennybacker Bridge

·        Lunched at Frank of a Chicago Dog (Duh, had to honor our home)

·        Enjoyed some beers at Independence Brewery with some good friends

·        Dinner at Rudy’s Barbeque

·        Mini golf at byob Peter Pan with some good friends

·        Fell fast asleep from all the excitement

Needless to say,it was a fantastic day.  Kyle could not have done it any better!  Not to mention how beautiful the ring is.  Kyle got a custom made cladaugh ring made for me.  He used the wedding and engagement rings from his grandparents to make mine, which makes it all the more special to us.  I could not be happier! 

A week later Kyle’s childhood friend, Dan, came to visit. He was here for a quick weekend getaway trip.  I offered up my sweet Designated Drivers kills to the gents for their Saturday outing  I am not sure how many places we hit up on Saturday but we started at 11:30 am and went to a ton of bars.  The boys were amazing at treating the whole day like a marathon and finishing the night at 1 am like champs!  While they're having a jolly ol’ time I took it upon myself to have dinner with good friends I had not seen in a long while. Kristi, Sally and Etzna were the best bar hopping relief a girl could ask for J  All in all though it was great getting to hang out with Dan but at the same time get a little time to see some of my girlfriends. 

Last weekendwas Lindsay’s birthday (Sunday).  A group of us enjoyed some yummy Mexican food at a new little restaurant.  Afterwards, Linds, myself and Kyle all went to a Honky Tonk called Broken Spoke. Broken Spoke is a famous country bar/dance hall in Austin.  Unfortunately, Lindsay came with the two people who are the most uncomfortable when it comes to two-steppin.  Regardless of the lack of dancing, it was still really fun people watching and listening to a good band, the DeRailers(not sure if I spelled that correct).  Other than celebrating Lindsay’s birthday, Kyle and I did a whole lot of nothing.  I spent the majority of Sunday sleeping and it felt amazing.  I cannot remember the last time that Kyle and I literally spent the majority of the weekend doing absolutely nothing.  It felt sooo relaxing!  

One thing that Ihave learned from all these major experiences so far this year is to focus more on the actual experience and spend less time anticipating what’s to come.  A part of me hopes that if I do it this way Iwill be able to savor the good times more. I also hope that if I stop getting so anxious about what’s to come that will free up more time for me to begin creating even more amazing experiences and memories.  So here’s to enjoying the present and the journey of wedding planning !!!! 

Mads

P.S. Recipe of the week!!!  Yippee!!!

Sausage Biscuit Bites

2 (10 count) cans flaky biscuits (Grands Jr)
1 lb sausage (Tennessee Pride)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400.

Mix uncooked sausage and cheese gently until well blended. Shape into 40 balls of equal size.

Remove biscuits from cans and separate each biscuit into two layers, making 40 total biscuit layers. Press one layer of biscuit into cup of lightly greased mini-cupcake pan. Repeat with remaining layers.

Place sausage-cheese ball in each biscuit cup. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until biscuits are browned and sausage balls are bubbly.