*cue the wedding march!*

Last night, the chef and I decided that we didn't want to wait until I am done with school to get married. My license is expiring next month on my birthday anyways. Why pay for it again? Just get married before and change my name and renew it at the same time! HAHAHA! Just kidding! We love each other, yes, we have our differences, but we really do love each other. We are a team, we discuss everything, sometimes beat it to death until it looks like roadkill at the indy 500. We are quirky (dont laugh chef, you know you are!), we have our own little sense of humor. We can almost always tell what the other is thinking by a look. I love the man. We are going to get married in 2 weeks. We will be going shopping for his ring and my simple band that I will be able to wear to school and work. Monday, we are going to get the marriage license. My good friend, K, described it as "whirlwind". I love it. We had to find someone who is ordained because neither of us can see us getting married in a courtroom. I had an acquaintance who is a minister/pastor/ (d, all of the above?) and she has a church. She agreed to the short notice and said it would take about 15-20 minutes. Thats all? The chef, he likes her already. K has been helping me decide what to do about everything bc I have no idea how to plan a small wedding on the fly. I guess that is how our life is, just winging it! Anyways, I have a ton on my mind and not sure how to write vows, I need to make a list of companies I need to inform of my new name, blah blah blah. WOW. Ok. Good night.

One Year!!!

So, yesterday was mine and the chef's one year anniversary. I have had an amazing time, mostly. There have been hard times, like holidays, and really great times, our birthdays....my christmas surprise...good food...love & support, just to name a few. I still remember when we met. I was waitressing at a restuarant close to his restaurant. He had just moved to Omaha and he had been here for about a week. He came in...or walked up? with a bunch of people from the restaurant he worked at. They all were sitting in my section which was the patio. I was trying to clean up so I could go home from a long night. (I had a boyfriend at the time and it wasnt worth it...) I didn't mind waiting on their table, mainly because they tip extremely well because its usually mostly servers. And they wouldnt give me a hard time for smoking on the job or cleaning up around them. Except, chef was sitting in my walkway so I was basically climbing over him. I'm sure I looked a mess, with my t-shirt advertising the restuarant and a few lewd things and suspenders with buttons that I attached. He drank black and tans (I was always afraid I would ruin the separation on these.) I was friendly with the table and since the chef was new, I explained a few things to him. They stayed for awhile and left. I saw him a bit after that when he would come into the restuarant, he mainly sat at the bar and drank black and tans and ate catfish nuggets. I was sad he never sat in my section again, but was friendly to him.

Eventually, my boyfriend at the time and I broke up. We were never meant to be, and I would still chat with the chef. One night, he said to me "If you ever want to hang out, let me know" I shrugged it off but thought about it quite a bit after that. I waited for him to come back in, it seemed like months....it was only maybe a week. By this time, everyone at work was waiting and watching for him to come in. He finally showed up when I was working and I went up and talked to him again and he again said "If you ever wanna hang out, let me know." I grew balls and said "Kinda hard for me to let you know since I only see you while I am working and have no way of getting ahold of you" I had a point! This still makes me smile to this day! We exchanged numbers and left it at that. I happened to be reading He's Just Not That Into You and I went home and read a part of the book that says if this happens, He's just not that into you. I was sad. So I decided to leave it alone and only see him at work. We had exchanged numbers on a Saturday night and he texted me on Monday, not sure if I was working. Wednesday, we had our first date, less than a week later, we were a couple. Now, a year later, we are engaged, living together, and sharing more than a conversation in a dark restaurant (for me, between customers). I am grateful that I grew balls that day, I was missing out on an amazing man!!

**If you are reading this, I want you to know, I love you. And I am grateful for every (bad & good) day we have together. You keep me balanced, hold me when I am sad and make me laugh. You have always been a constant support to me in whatever I want to do and I couldn't ask for a better man. Thank you! :)

Father's Day 2010

Today is Father's Day 2010, and I am a daughter who has a father, who has turned his back on me. For those of you new to my blog, I am a recovering alcoholic with over 3 years of sobriety. I had a hard time finding my way when I was younger. I am 25 (soon to be 26), recently engaged to a Chef. I started drinking when I was 14. I thought it was fun. I drank throughout high school and after graduation. I lived with my (mormon) grandparents right after school let out until Feb. of 2003. I was asked to move out around Christmas in 2002 because I had recently found out I was pregnant. I moved back in with my dad. My daughter was born July 25th 2003. In November of 2003, my dad asked me to move out. I was only 19 and had a 4 month old in tow. I was in school for Criminal Justice, that only lasted a quarter. I dropped out, I was still drinking, although I had stopped while I was pregnant. In November 2005, I was being evicted from my apartment of 2 years and I was going to be homeless. My mother approached me, offering to let my daughter live with her so my daughter wouldnt have to be homeless with me. I packed my daughter's belongings into my mother's car and said good-bye. My mom lives an hour away. I had no job and had the daunting task of packing the rest of our belongings and trying to figure out what to do. I put everything in storage. I continued drinking. I was staying with a friend of mine, not working, just partying. Then, I got 2 jobs, shortly after, I injured myself at one job and had to quit the other. I was placed on leave had to move again. I was renting a room in a house with a house of strangers. We drank, a lot. I got evicted from there, I stayed with my friend again for 2 weeks. She told me I needed to find something. I was just getting sober, about 3 weeks. I moved into a 3/4 way house and lived there for 5 months before moving in with my boyfriend at the time. That lasted about a month before I had to find my own place because he went back to rehab and our roommate was doing meth in his room. I moved into my apartment, I have been here for 3 years. I have seen my dad once since I have been sober. I am an outsider. A lot of times, I feel like a bad parent. I am going to school to get my degree in Culinary Arts: Baking/Pastry. I have been on the Dean's List for 2 quarters in a row. My father doesnt know this. Easter, 2008, he told me he has given up on me. I havent spoken to him since. I guess, I received a call from my step mom saying there was a death in the family, but that is all. He used to be my hero. I used to look up to my dad for making mine and my brother's lives better. We are so estranged that I dont think he will even attend my wedding, let alone walk me down the aisle. I am his only daughter. I know that I have made my own mistakes with him, I own up to those. I can only do the next best thing to mend the fences. I dont get phone calls on my birthday from any family members. When I was a girl, my dad always told me he would love me unconditionally. I know unconditional love this day, and it isnt from my father. I get unconditional love from my aunt and uncle, my fiance, my sponsor and my few friends that have stuck by me through the years. I know what conditional love is, and its sad to say that it comes from the people who told me they would love me forever. People talk about a parent's love for their child, that a mother never stops loving a child. I know this because that is the love I have for my own daughter. My mother, I think she stopped loving me a long time ago. She loves my daughter, but I doubt she can honestly say she loves me. Any correspondance I recieve from her is signed with her legal name, not "mom". I know. Its hard to understand. I dont expect sympathy, however if you have the chance to be with you father today, give him an extra hug, from me. If you only get to talk to him, tell him how much he really means to you, if he is your hero, let him know. I know my dad wont be around forever, but it seems like he is already gone.

All holidays are hard for me, not just because of this but because of the demands of my fiance's job. We will have our anniversary on Tuesday and Father's Day is the last holiday of our first year of "terrible" holidays. We are really going to make an effort to make every holiday special to us in our own way from now on. I cant say that I will always be upbeat, but I will try.

***Please note: I am not asking for any sort of sympathy or judgement. I know this may not be how you would handle things, but it is my life and I have sought out opinions of trusted friends and family member(s) throughout my journey in life. This is what is best right now and I am working on righting my wrongs. Only God or my Creator can judge me, please do not comment if this isnt who you are. Also, I am sorry if I offend you

Taste of Omaha

Well, first week back at school :( its a bummer, but it keeps me occupied and busy and I really DO enjoy learning. Yesterday was the start of Taste of Omaha. I parked the car (Betsy) by the chef's restaurant and walked through the park and took some pictures of stuff. I enjoy taking pictures, it relaxes me. I wish I had thought to bring our bread that we dont eat (the "butts") to feed to the geese. maybe they would have been more photogenic. HA! Anyways, we had gotten my Wii at a rent-to-own place and paid it off so as a promotional thing, we got to "rent" something for free for 30 days. We got a new camera. Its 10 megapixels. Exciting for me, the chef is happy since that leave my old camera unattended. So he can take it to work and take pictures with it instead of his phone.

I took this picture kinda far away and just cropped it. I very nearly got a perfect heart!

This little guy was hiding behind the 2 swans. Too cute!

Ok, thats all for now, I am supposed to be in class right now, but Betsy decided she wanted to act up this morning and get a flat. I might post a picture of what was actually in our tire. Thats what happens when the chef talks about trading her in or selling her in her presence! (last time this happened our brakes went out and cost us a lot more than just $21!)
OH! And I walked around the Taste of Omaha for awhile, a lot of restaurants were there, but I was too hot to eat any hot food in the heat. It was a good time, hopefully the chef will want to go with me some...year...

Summer?

These last 2 weeks have kinda flown by. I finished up last quarter of school with an A in Baking Basics and Spanish for Culinary Professionals. And a B in Information Systems and Literacy. Yay. I hated Information. It was stupid. I should have tested out. But the test out was 4 HOURS long of my own time. I didnt have that time at the time. lol. So now, I am starting the new quarter tomorrow and I am taking English (for idiots) twice a week for 5 weeks, Pastries for 10 weeks and Human Relations for 10 weeks. Im not sure how I will do in Human Relations. I am not very good with people.. hence why I would rather bake than be a waitress or a teacher...haha. I had a nice little break from school, too short of a break if you ask me. I saw my aunt from TX before school was out for 2 weeks. I saw my step sister, her husband, and their daughter (for the first time) while I was at the La Vista Days Parade. I actually sat with them. I was planning on leaving after an hour or so and stayed for most of the (long) parade. I was sunburned. Now I am peeling! yay! Then I had orientation for my new job at Whole Foods. I think I am really going to like it. If I ever get the hang of being on my feet again. The chef and I went to the Reniassance Festival. It was a lot smaller now they have it at Scary Acres. It was HUGE when I went to it at Iowa Western Community College. We went on the last day so that might've had something to do with it? The chef is back to 6 days, not sure how long but we didn't do much of anything yesterday. We keep saying we are going to go to the Aksarben Farmer's Market, never do. He has complained that I never ask to go take pictures, I did once and he begged off. We were invited to Fun Plex (waterpark) by a tattoo place that we both go to for their 10th annivarsary party and we didnt go to that either. We got his bike and went grocery shopping (not on the bike! it still doesnt have a passenger seat). Now I have all my books and I am (not) ready for school to start again. I am just tired, I guess. Maybe someday I will sleep in...hahahaha