Why are some people so WEIRD and RUDE?

Ryan and I have just about had our fill of apartment living. We are puzzled and in awe over the fact that we always seem to attract weird neighbors. Every apartment I've had, I've had some kind of issue with a neighbor. No fights or arguing, nothing like that. Just WEIRD people who have no awareness of good conduct. When I lived in my first apartment by the seacoast, I thought I was in heaven. A beautiful area I had always loved, close to the ocean, in a historic old New England town. Perfect.
Yeah, no.
My landlady was nice enough, but seemed to think it was ok for her teenage kids, THEIR kids, and various baby mamas/daddies to run the place like a frat house (and, I have my suspicions, a spot for sketchy people to pick up drugs). My landlady was never there, even though it was her house. I had to call the cops on the kids because some guy was clearly hitting a girl in the house--and this eventually continued out in the middle of the street. I ended up DESPISING living there and couldn't wait to get out.
When I did, I moved to a bigger city but a nicer apartment. Much better. I'd say that was my best apartment experience so far. However, what is it with people in apartments blasting music at near-deafening levels? I don't get it! How could you be that moronic? I had problems with that with both neighbors on either side of me. And above me. I like music just as much as the next person, but I don't feel the need to share my music with an entire building in the middle of the night.
Our new, bigger apartment in the same complex--which we've been living in for over a year now--has had similar issues. Our next door neighbor--a weird, creepy, day-walker like specimen--played video games until about 4 in the morning AT FULL BLAST. I felt like I was in a war zone. And then Ryan would knock on his door and ask him to turn it down, and the guy had been fast asleep throughout the whole thing! How can you sleep in that? Please, enlighten me, I'd love to know. SO I can survive the next sociopath neighbor.
Then the lady below us is OBSESSED with all things Celtic. Now, I am Scottish, and my family and I take pride in that and enjoy the cultural aspects of our heritage....but this is a bit too much. Just last night, I felt like I was on a pirate ship, while a thick, brogue-y voice sounded out the same pub tune OVER AND OVER. I mean, the same little song, over and over, all night long!!!! For hours and hours! We went downstairs and knocked on her door---of course, no answer. But her dog sure knew we were there. Barking away, the music blasting, and she was still asleep. We knew she was asleep because we walked by the building outside earlier to see where it was coming from, and sure enough, she was there in her apartment, fast asleep, with the unmistakable sound shooting out of her window. What an idiot!!!
So, I got worried that she might actually not be...alive. For lack of a better word. But Ryan thinks shes ok. And the music stopped this morning. She and I will be exchanging words. I'm exhausted, I have a huge headache. And I don't ever want to hear that God-foresaken song again.

From reading this, you might take me as a stuck up wench--but I'm not. I have never been rude or unreasonable with any of these people. I have always been polite and only confronted them when the situation warranted it. But this apartment life is getting old real fast. Hopefully by the time we get back from our honeymoon we'll be on our way to home ownership---and a new set of challenges---WITHOUT the ignorant, too close for comfort neighbors. We're scouting out a house whose only neighbor is a cornfield. Sounds good to me.

We Belong Together!

I just wanted to say that I know I belong with Ryan--how do I know? Well, we're the only two people who understand, and find it perfectly normal, to make up annoying jingles about our pet rabbit and sing them all day. Or change the words to well-known songs to include him. For example, NKOTB song "Right Stuff" turns into "Oh-oh-ooo-oh, Ar-ma-ni-oh!" Lame...I know. I'm not apologizing though.

We are insane, I know. But we love our bun-bun and can't help that he inspires our musical intuition. Here is a picture of our bunny baby...and a bag with my initials...yes, they are EEL. And soon they will be EEK!!!

Writing Collaboration with Crystal!

Last weekend, Crystal from Invitation to Understanding and I decided we were going to collaborate on a writing project a la The Postal Service's album "Give Up." Except with writing and no music. Maybe we'll need a soundtrack too? Who knows...

Anyway, we spent the evening writing the first few paragraphs of a short story together...but we don't really know if it's a short story or something bigger yet. When I write creatively, I always use a piece of art as a springboard-sort of like Tracy Chevalier (love her!) with Girl with a Pearl Earring and some of her other books. For example, I based my senior honors thesis in college on John Singer Sargent's "Madame X" and found the prospect of visual art connecting with written expression, and vise versa, so absolutely thrilling! So since then, a lot of what I write is directly inspired by works of art.

"Madame X," -John Singer Sargent

Since last weekend, we've been emailing each other a new paragraph to add to the weaving thread of our story. So far, it's so fun. It's especially exciting not to simply write your own thoughts and actions and descriptions for the life of a character, but to see how another person directs the story as well. I am just about to email my latest bit to Crystal--can't wait to see what she cooks up for our characters next time.

So Crystal, be watching your email! And anyone else reading this---try this out with another creatively-minded pal---you may be surprised just how awesome it is.

"Brouillard, Avenue de l'Observatoire" -
Brassai (and our current inspiration)

A New Vocation

A few weeks ago, I was offered a teaching position as a 7th grade Language Arts teacher. I am so thrilled, scared, grateful, amazed to be given this opportunity. For pretty much all of my life, I've wanted to be a teacher. There were times where I thought I might want to do something different, but I always came back to the prospect of teaching. I am feeling a lot of emotions pertaining to the fact that I am FINALLY, really, really, going to be a teacher. I am nervous because I have more experience designing units for, and interacting with, high schoolers-I completed my student teaching at a nearby high school. I am about to cross unknown terrain, and being in the leadership position of a teacher, and everything that it entails, is honestly daunting. But wow, it feels great. I have to embrace the unknown. How awesome to be given the opportunity to guide kids in their education, and to hopefully ignite a genuine love for learning.
A professor of mine said it best: "Teaching is not a job. It is a lifestyle."
I say that for the best of them, it's a calling. I hope that is what I will find it to be for me.

In The Depths of Summer

(We love, really love, the out-of-doors).

Finally, we are getting some consistently good summer weather here in New England. Today was one of the first days in awhile Ryan and I got to spend some time just enjoying the fresh air and free time with each other. Although it probably wasn't the best idea to bring my camera along in the kayak, here are some pics from the day. The pics were taken on the lake at Ryan's dad's house.

This was the kind of day that you breathe in and think, life is magical. You know what I'm saying?

We Love Savannah Gumbo!

Recently, I've really started to enjoy cooking. As I've said in previous posts, I really like reading and using the recipes in Taste of Home. I've been making two new recipes a week steadily for the past month and a half or so. Last Sunday, I decided to crack open my Paula Dean cookbook (which had previously been used maybe, 2 times total!) and I ended up making Savannah gumbo with shrimp, sausage, and chicken. Needless to say, it was quite spectacular, according to Ryan. I had to agree it was pretty good myself. I am even more excited about the possibility of getting some new, upgraded small kitchen appliances and tools in the future.

Above are some pictures of the final results!

Wedding errands, Walmart finds, and Bridal Jewelry

Today, R. and I tried to get some more wedding stuff done. We're getting down to the little details now, which surprisingly, is proving to be more challenging than the big stuff. Anyway, R.'s dad got fitted for his tux today, and I decided to walk across the street from the shop to visit Payless to look for shoes. Well, I lucked out and found a pair I like; I'll be getting them dyed to match my dress.
We also picked up some bubbles (100 to a package) at Walmart for 20 bucks! I was both surprised and impressed with the recent improvements made at our local Walmart, one of which was a new wedding and party supply aisle. I love party decorations, favors, cake decorating supplies, etc. anyway, and was extra excited to see these bubbles (which I had wanted to get for awhile) at such a low price. We grabbed a package of 100 and an extra one of 48 just in case we end up needing more. They also carry unity candles, guest books, cake toppers, invitation kits, favors, and more. We'll probably be picking up some of those wedding disposable cameras once they have more in stock, as well.
Later on this afternoon, I was searching for wedding jewelry online. I'm thinking that I want a necklace that will look nice with the square, strapless neckline of my dress. Something kind of vintage is definitely my style...I've found a lot of great things online, but something like this makes me a bit nervous to not see it in person before I buy. Although, we did have great luck with ordering our invitations off David's Bridal. Anyone have any experience buying their bridal jewelry online? What kind of luck did you have?