#(we've been dating since wednesday lol)

[everythingwasnormalhere]

today i had the best night of my life and also the most bunny coded moments ever

[adventuresasmrsfindley]

Helllloooooo! Feels like forever since I updated.

We had a really nice Thanksgiving! We spent it with my family at my parents house and it was a day full of yummy food and laughs and games.

On Friday we headed to Iowa to spend the weekend with my MIL. I wasn't super looking forward to it but it ended up being fun. She made lasagna for dinner on Friday night (my fav!!!) and then we watched Home Alone 2. I slept like absolute garbage which is why I really don't like going there. Saturday Cole went hunting so Knox, my MIL and I were lazy all morning and it was great. We watched a Hallmark Christmas movie and stayed in our jams until lunch time. Knox took a nap which is unheard of these days but we've been going non stop. Cole and I got to sneak away to Des Moines and have a little date after he got done hunting and that was really nice! We did some Christmas shopping and had dinner. It started snowing while we were there so the hour drive back in the dark was notttt great but we made it safe it and sound.

We woke up this morning and had breakfast and then headed back home. I got us all unpacked and started laundry while the boys played in the snow and built a snowman. Now we are just relaxing! I think I'm going to start a new book. I have tomorrow off work and I'm so glad. We've barely been home since Wednesday. Knox is off school too so we are going to have a lazy day together! The only thing we need to accomplish is the grocery store but that's fine because we will get TB for lunch while we're out 😂👏🏻

Oh, also. We took separate cars to my MILs because Cole went straight to the farm to hunt so we were taking different routes. About an hour into our drives Cole calls to let me know he stopped at a gas station and his truck wouldn't start back up. 🙃 We were trying to figure out what to do because I was pretty far from him and he was pretty far from home and a tow that far would have cost a ton and it was just a mess lol. He was confident it was his starter because I guess it's been going out for a while. I was pulled off the highway getting us a snack and I was like oh there's an auto part store right here. Call and see if they have your starter and I'll head your way. They did have one, but by the time I got it bought his truck had started so he was able to go on his way. That was another $300 though. When it rains it freaking pours lol

[atomiccosmic]

....yeah and then idk. idk. wednesday night came....

i'm not even as into the fwb as i was hoping to be. and i don't think he's EVER really been into me that much, like i think he likes me well enough as a human and i am attractive enough to him but i don't think that he's all that into me lmao. (truthfully...ditto) i think if he was, he'd try a little harder. and i've lost interest as well

before i went after him, i'd been talking to someone else for a while. we'd set up a date, and then a few days before, he said that he had gone on what he'd thought had been a casual date only for him to like her enough to pursue her instead. he offered to still hang out, though, and i declined cos i was not there to make friends...like i respected that he told me, though. it sucked, and i was pretty bummed because of all the men i've been speaking to in the last..9 odd months of being on dating apps, he was THE ONLY ONE to actually talk to me like a human, like he was interested. he'd say good morning, he'd ask me how my day was, he'd ask me interested questions. chatting was really easy and normal, he didn't have any weird quirks i had to work around (E), he wasn't rude, and he consistently texted me like every day..it was nice. and he had such a cute face ;__; he lives an hour away or so, so, not ideal but not bad

anyway. he decided to go out with this person he met. it's whatever, we're on dating apps, that's what happens. we decide to hold on to each other's numbers

a few weeks later, i spot E on apps w his insta handle and i pounced (he had briefly appeared on there months before and had disappeared. i'd been curious about him) and he responded well and we went out for 3 weeks or so. DURING this time, D (from before) texted me saying hey it didn't work out w this person, would you still be interested. i had to say, no sorry, i'm going out with someone now ...i'll hold onto your number !

....so then it doesn't work out with E, and I text D: hey, guess what lol

and he says, hi, actually i've gotten back together with my ex...ha ha. he suggests we still meet up for coffee as it's getting a little goofy between us at this point. i agree initially, but felt sort of bad for his gf considering we'd almost gone out and i would have felt worse having seen him and knowing he was taken, so i declined. but once again didn't delete him from my contacts

i arrange this fwb situation w E (despite that not really..having much steam behind it lol) and last week i gET A FUCKN TEXT from D saying haha hey....GUESS WHAT.

he was once again single. he went into it a little more to explain cos damn, yeah. he also said he wanted to take a little time to himself but like....did i want to get a coffee if i was free? and i was like yeah man you need to take that time but i am also free, hallelujah

so now we've been chatting amicably like the last two months didn't even happen *sound of club hitting on an empty skull*

...i'm trying to not get my hopes up here. we've never even met in person. i've barely gotten used to having any sort of self confidence, given my assorted hangups/baggages, and idk i'm still always waiting for ppl to not be into me. there's also always that possibility of him randomly finding someone else as we're chatting, since he seems capable of that, and UGH i don't want to get used to the idea of him AGAIN only for it to be potentially swooped out from under me if 1) someone else gets him or 2) he's (or I'm) not into it when we meet in person....

[patrickztump]

How about 14, 17, and the car commercial one (forgot the number already lol)?

sorry this took so long! i was working to make sure my dates were halfway right for the short story lmao

14. 3 songs you have with cities in the name. save me, san francisco – train amsterdam – imagine dragons la devotee – panic! at the disco

17. Make a story with 6 song titles. okay i was prepping for the odds of this one happening, so please do not judge the quality of my short story lol

“dad, where is heaven, iowa?” she asked, flipping pages in the photo album from summer of ‘95. it had been years since i last heard those words uttered aloud, and over a decade since those photos saw the light of day. with the move, packing had stirred up old memories with treasures of the past being pulled from the dark corners of the attic.

“it’s where i fell in love with your mother,” i replied, looking over her shoulder, “that photo was taken the night we met.” abby is almost 20, her mother has been gone for nearly 15 of those years, she’s just a memory of long ago to her. “i was traveling for work in the mid ‘90s, and would always stop at this greasy spoon outside haven, but it was more like heaven every time i dropped in and saw your mother working the tables.”

i saw chelsea every third wednesday for two years, we bonded over our loves for adventure and photography, and passion for animals. work moved me closer to haven, next thing i known i’m eating baskets of greasy fries with chocolate shakes several times a week, just to see her.

we began dating in ‘98, engaged by ‘99, married in june of 2000. we traveled the country for two years, photographing the journey along the way, before settling down on the outskirts of richmond, virginia. summer of 2003 our family expanded to more than just us, abigail became the center of our world that warm july afternoon.

that winter, chelsea received news that one of her childhood best friends had suddenly passed away, only 33 years old and left a son and daughter behind. deeply affected, she looked me in the eyes and said, “james, promise me, that if i die young, you will show abby the world. teach her about love, get her a dog, paint with her, and tell her about me.” i promised, but made her promise the same thing right back.

like everyone, i thought, “that will never be us,” and for five years it wasn’t – until it was. november 9th, 2008 chelsea was the victim of a hit and run. our world crumbled around us as we were left to find our way through the dark, as the light of our lives had been extinguished far too soon.

through the ups and downs, highs and lows of the last 14 years, abby and i have kept the promise her mother and i made that cold night in 2003. we've traveled to 34 states and three countries, covered the walls of our home in photographs and paintings, and welcomed a scruffy dog – wilson , after chelsea’s maiden name – five years ago.

“hm, heaven, iowa.” she muttered, before passing me the album for packing. closing the book, i was transported back to that greasy spoon in june of 1995, where i first fell in love with a spunky, redheaded waitress, “yeah, heaven…”

i wanted to use "miss you all the time" somewhere in this, but couldn't figure out where to actually place it so just used "wilson" as a quick filler. a similar variation of this story came to mind when i saw an inthetags game a few weeks back, but i couldn't word it correctly then (and barely got through it now lol).

35. A song you have that you have because you heard it on a commercial and liked it. thunderclouds – lsd (though not for a car commercial, but rather an apple commercial i believe)