This past weekend from Erin's shoes

As perfect of a weekend that we had... we didn't take any photos!
Here is one from Erin's birthday weekend.

This past weekend was definitely one to remember. After blogging about it, then talking with Erin about it, she said she agreed with lots of things, but saw other things from a different perspective. So, I gave her the opportunity to share that with me... and I even suggested that she write her own blog post about it. And she agreed!

So tonight, I have a guest blogger, which I'm pretty excited about. Erin e-mailed me her post this afternoon and I probably read it about five times throughout the day. It continues to remind me how lucky I am to have such an amazing person in my life.

Enjoy!

"I have a problem with living in the past. Or even the future for that matter. I am constantly trying to better myself as a person, and really work on improving some of my not-so-great character flaws. And this is one of them. I really want to learn to fully live in the present, and enjoy each moment exactly for what it is and be able to recognize all of it's beauty and uniqueness. Easier said than done though. But I truly think that this- living in the present- is a stepping stone to leading a full life, and living without regrets. Looking back on this past weekend, however, makes this very difficult. Right now, I wish more than anything that it was last Wednesday night, and tomorrow I was going to Bay City to visit Andrew. And I had not yet lived this wonderful weekend. Right now I am mourning the passing of this weekend, which I will never be able to live again. And this makes me so sad.

"I tried to think of one word to describe this weekend. 'Perfect' is the obvious one, but I'd like to be a little more descriptive. 'Cozy' gets pretty close, but doesn't quite cover every aspect of the weekend. And then I remembered a German word that I came across on Anna Leutheuser's Facebook page (just admitted to my facebook stalking- that's embarrassing), and is now actually the title of HER blog. The word is "Gemütlichkeit". It's closest English translation is coziness, however it connotes much more than that. It's meaning also carries with it the notion of belonging, social acceptance, cheerfulness & the absence of anything hectic. This word can probably describe almost any of our weekends together, but I think it is especially fitting for this particular one.

"Maybe it's the arrival of Fall that makes that word so fitting. Fall is by far my favorite season, and I am in love with everything about it- the change of the leaves, that feeling in the air, the drinks, the foods, the angle and intensity of the sun, the blue of the sky that only happens in the Fall, and the coziness that comes hand-in-hand with this time of year... I could go on and on.

"It seems like this weekend, in my mind at least, was the epitome of Fall. Maybe that is why I loved it so much. It began with a Pumpkin Spice Beer (anyone who shares my obsession with anything pumpkin would understand why this is significant) out on the patio on Thursday evening, followed by Grand Traverse Late Harvest Riesling, followed by making out by the river while a group of Wine Walkers most likely watched. It was such a wonderful, gorgeous evening and I tried to soak in every minute of it (especially the making out by the river part). The night ended with a "slightly inebriated" Maggie yelling that she was going to "punch Lyle in the throat". Doesn't get much better than that...

"Friday was windy and overcast and chilly and REALLY felt like Fall. I spent the day trying very hard to be extremely productive, but in reality checked the clock every five minutes, counting down the minutes until five o'clock when Andrew would be home from work. For dinner, I made one of my favorite soups that my mom makes, which I have to admit, came out better than I expected it to. It was perfect for a chilly Friday evening.

"Andrew's love for me was truly reflected in his surprise Friday night date. He took me to paint pottery, which in Carly's words was "the cutest thing ever". I know that painting pottery on a Friday night probably isn't Andrew's first choice of things to do, but I had mentioned a while back that I thought it would be a lot of fun, something he apparently tucked away in his memory. The place we went to advertised Friday night "date night" and encouraged bringing a bottle of wine to enjoy while you paint, which of course we did, and it made it that much better. Andrew painted a mug (with stripes which weren't perfectly straight, but there is perfection in imperfection, I say). I painted a plate. And mine WAS perfect. (Kidding, but not really...). Andrew and I have really never done anything like that together before, so it was fun to see each others' creativity and artistic abilities (or maybe lack thereof ;) ) come out. To be fair, I am my mother's daughter, and she is an incredible artist. Also, I am musically retarded, so Andrew has me there. After painting, Andrew took me to the candy store so I could have my chocolate-covered gummy bears. Again, so much love.

"Saturday morning was even chillier than Friday and felt So. Much. Like. Fall. I know I keep saying that, but I LOVE FALL. I had to do a quick and easy track workout. Andrew mostly watched, but did run a few with me. Definitely wasn't the highlight of my weekend, but I liked being able to beat- no, smoke- Andrew in 200s ;). I hate taking up our precious weekend time together so I can run a workout, but it did make me feel like I earned being lazy all of Saturday afternoon, which is basically what we did. We napped and drank wine and had cheese and crackers while we watched Avatar. Oh- and there was that one other thing- our "adventure". Which to be honest I didn't even want to do at the time- I felt drowsy from my nap and didn't want to go outside in the cold, even if it was just up and around the block. But I am SO GLAD Andrew made us do this- it was fate.

"On Saturday night we snuggled on the couch and drank 'Witches' Brew' wine (aka spiced red wine that is supposed to be drunken warm). It tasted like Fall in the form of a glass of warm red wine. Which meant I LOVED it because I LOVE FALL. Have I mentioned that yet? In my opinion, it was the perfect way to spend a Saturday night. It was cozy and wonderful and there was nowhere I would rather be and nothing I would rather be doing.

"Sunday was spent making pancakes for breakfast, enjoying the day and each others' company, and (on my part at least) dreading four o' clock when we had to say goodbye. It truly does get harder every time we have to say goodbye. I feel like I say that a lot, but I can honestly say that it does. I could not have asked for anything more from this weekend together. And it wasn't WHAT we did, but I think just the fact that we were TOGETHER. We could have watched college football all weekend and it would have still been perfect in my mind. "Long" distance relationships are hard- some days a little harder than others- but absence really does make the heart grow fonder. And even though I hate being back in Hillsdale right now, I have to thank this stupid place for one HUGE thing- bringing me to Andrew. Because without Hillsdale, weekends like this past one would have never happened."