Happy Birthday, Don!

Don's 20th was yesterday, and we went out for dinner with his family to Goha Restaurant, which is an Ethiopian place that none of us had tried. I had Ethiopian once before when I traveled to San Diego with my debate team, and really enjoyed it. I have been so excited to come home in the summers and see how much Nashville's culinary scene has exploded. It is really a great city with tons of great food!

Meal from Goha, photo borrowed from Urbanspoon user Brian C.

Ethiopian food is really cool because it typically all comes served on this yummy, spongey, flat bread called injera. You tear the bread and use it to pinch up your food with your fingers- no utensils! Don and I both ordered the vegetable combos since we're vegetarians and enjoyed it so much that I didn't take a picture. It included lentils prepared in different ways, a cabbage and carrot dish, a green bean and carrot dish which was my favorite, and collard greens. It was all super delicious and even though we ate until we were way beyond full, there was still tons leftover.

Don and I in the restaurant.

Then we went back to Don's parents' house for cake and present! Unfortunately, the gift I had been planning to give him for weeks still had not arrived in the mail, so I gave him a consolation gift so he'd have something to open. His iPhone 5 case has been broken for a long time now, so I got him a new black case with shiny silver detail. I think it's super distinguished!

His gift came in the mail today, so I wanted to give it to him ASAP! Tonight I met him after he got off work, and took him out for Birthday Round 2 at Macaroni Grill. Two big dinners in one week is a lot, but I wanted it to feel special and I love drawing on their tables! I made him turn around while I put both his presents in the trunk of his car before we left, but I only brought one gift into the restaurant. I got him Jack White's Lazaretto Ultra LP- a record. If you know anything about music, this record is a huge deal and kind of hard to get your hands on. It has two finishes, plays on three different speeds, has two secret tracks, has one side that plays from the inside out, has a song that sounds different depending on where you drop the needle, and has a FREAKING HOLOGRAPH of an angel when you play side 1. Basically, it is the shit and Don loved it.

Album art from Lazaretto's cover. Stolen from Wikipedia.

Unfortunately, Don does not have a record player. I pretended not to know this all through dinner and acted crushed that I had "ruined" his gift by purchasing a record he couldn't listen to. Little did he know, there was a second present waiting in his trunk- a new Jensen record player! Don was super surprised and excited. I haven't seen him as excited over any of my other gifts before, tehe. I got him a simple player with built-in speakers that was light enough for him to move back and forth from college.

Showing off his presents.

We went home and listened to the whole album. It was just as amazing as I expected, and we will definitely be collecting records from here on out!

Any suggestions for albums we should start our collection with? I know that next on my list is both of the Civil Wars albums!

Shit People Say During Our Engagement

My running list of shit people say during our two-year engagement. Prepare for filthy words and much ranting. 

Ah. The smiling couple. See how happy they look? NOT FOR LONG, SUCKERS!

1. "But you're waiting SO long to get married. Two years is a LONG time." 
How astute of you, dipshit, that's the point. We specifically planned our wedding for after Don graduates with his bachelor's and I graduate with my master's. We specifically planned our wedding to fall in between the transition where we'll be moving from our college towns to a new state for Don to start law school. We are doing the responsible thing here, and we're proud of that. When we start our life together, we'll be two very educated people and we'll marry knowing that we did the right thing and got our educations first.

2. "Then why'd you get engaged SO early?" 
Because we're in love, asshole. Is that clear enough for you?

3. "Is that a diamond?" 
No. It's the product of yet another one of our fiscally and ethically responsible choices- and on top of that, my stone is rarer than yours, more colorless than yours, and more flawless than yours, so screw off.

4. "How was he able to buy that ring?"
With money.

5. "I guess your parents will be paying for the wedding." 
Actually, I am budgeting for and paying for the majority of our wedding with savings from the two jobs I am working in addition to my full college course load. My parents have offered to help with certain things on the budget, and we are very grateful to them for that gift.

6. "I guess Don will be needing to find a career/job soon." 
You guess wrong, Don is just fine where he is. In fact, I am prepared to be the sole earner for three or four years while Don does graduate school, so you can go ahead and stuff your patriarchal notions about society right back up your ass where they belong.

7. "You're too young to get engaged/married."
Thanks, we value your advice so much (not really. Screw off.)

8. "Two years is plenty of time to change your mind."
Yeah, ok. After four years of dating, going long-distance for one of those years, moving to a different state, experiencing a grandparent being mentally decimated by Alzheimer's, euthanizing a terminally ill pet, and dealing with the stress of college plus managing at least two high school or collegiate debate teams at any given time, I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen.

9. "The divorce statistics don't look good for you." 
Seriously? We're debaters. We research everything. I'm pretty sure we're a lot more well-versed in divorce statistics than you. We're not stupid, we understand the statistics. Unfortunately for your nosy self, you are not privy to our private conversations as a couple that pertain to how we plan to make our marriage last. But regardless, this is a really horrible thing for you to say to someone. Stop being an asshole.

10. "You're throwing your life away so early/You have so much ahead of you!"
My personal favorite. I don't personally view pledging myself to the love of my life as a death sentence. Every cool thing I have yet to experience (travelling to another country, roadtrip across the Southwest, skydiving, learning to surf, coaching a team to Nationals) will be so much better with Don by my side. I really don't understand this mentality that all the fun things go away after you're married. Yes, things change, but in the end, I have my lover, best friend and favorite partner-in-crime to travel through this life with. What could be better? <3