was the last time I wrote an installment of “A Prequel to the Farmer’s Almanac” and it has been way too long. So without further ado…


Meeting the Stewards
Pledging started just one week after our first kiss. We continued to hang out with our busy schedules and even went to each other’s grubs. Pledging was coming to a close which meant Fall Break was coming soon. I was planning on going home but I wanted a certain someone to go with me. I remember talking to Cheryl about it. She just kept telling me to be brave, that Blake liked me and that he would want to go home with me. I finally built up enough courage to ask him to come home with me one night while chatting on AOL Instant Messenger. (What a chicken!) I know it was a lame way to ask, but I don’t particularly like rejection. Who does? I’m pretty sure I said something like, “What are your plans for the break… I’d like for you to come home with me… You don’t have to if you don’t want to… Are you sure?... Don’t feel like you have to… You want to?... Okay, sounds good…”

Pledging ended and we went to Fort Worth for the weekend. Blake met my entire family that weekend. He did a great job trying to learn everyone’s names and being patient with my crazy family. I also had a very embarrassing moment that weekend. If you want to hear about it, too bad. I’m not posting it on here mostly because it’s crude. :-) I don’t know how Blake felt about my family after that weekend, but I know they loved him. My mom told me later that she knew I really cared for him because I wanted everyone to meet him. She was right.

You’re going to the Philippines?
We got back from Fort Worth and everything continued to progress with our relationship. Things were good. Thanksgiving came and went. We went to both of our club’s Christmas Socials. The night of Blake’s social he told me some interesting news. He’d been playing the drums for Stephen Speaks and they’d become very popular in the Philippines. He said some radio station had contacted them to come and play a series of concerts at the beginning of the year. Blake then informed me that he was going to go, but he didn’t know if he’d be coming back to school the next semester. I was going crazy. It finally had happened. I’d found a boy that I really loved and he might not be coming back to school. I was crushed. He ended up going to the Philippines and coming back to school. Crisis averted. I even made him a little book with letters and pictures to open every day. I still love that book. I don’t like reading what I wrote, mostly because it’s the same thing over and over. I think he liked it, though. Him being gone that next semester really solidified my feelings for him. I knew I couldn’t live without him.

Meeting the Farmers
(Backtracking a bit) I knew I had to see Blake at some point over the Christmas break. Two weeks was just too long. I started talking up a trip to Nashville to a few of my girlfriends. They have friends that lived in Nashville too, so maybe we could all go together. The trip got finalized and we planned on driving to Nashville and spending 5 days in Music City. Blake told me lots of stuff about his family and most of it did not make me comfortable about meeting them. He told me his parents were really artsy and not much like my parents at all. He also told me he thought that Emily, his older sister wouldn’t like me much. He’d picked on her growing up and she still didn’t really care for him. He didn’t say much about Grant, mostly that he was really tall. The first time I met the Farmers, it probably wasn’t and ideal situation. Linda Giddens (Jeff’s mom) so graciously invited his parents and mine (they were vacationing in Nashville after the holidays) to their house for dinner. I’d been in a car all day and Blake’s dad drove straight to the Giddens' house from his uncle’s funeral in Atlanta. There were several of our friends at the dinner too, so there was an adult’s table and a kid’s table. My friends and I spent the night at Jeff’s house that night and I later found out that Blake wasn’t too happy about it. We didn’t really spend much time with Blake’s family that weekend and it was probably a good thing. I think I was WAY too nervous to actually impress them with my witty conversation skills… Something they’ve grown to love and appreciate! I don’t know what Blake’s family thought about me after that weekend. Maybe I don’t want to. All I knew is that they’d better like me, because I wasn’t going anywhere. (Just so you know… Blake’s family and I love each other now! They are wonderful to me and treat me like a daughter. I also love to say that Emily likes me more than she likes Blake. I’m pretty sure it’s true.)

Next...
Chapter 6 – The Engagement

He's spoiled rotten. We've know it for a while, but I think Maverick is starting to catch on.

There’s not much going on around the Farmer household these days. We had a great Christmas and New Years and I have absolutely no pictures to document our fun times. We even spent a weekend in Bowling Green with Blake’s mom’s family and I have no pictures from that trip either. I haven’t fallen off the picture collage bandwagon, I’ve just slowed down a bit. I have some absolutely adorable pictures of Crosby Fox Malone that I’ll post sometime with week. I got to see and hold him for the first time yesterday… he’s so teeny and adorable.

I guess the biggest news around here is that I made a couple of New Year’s Resolutions that I don’t plan on breaking. I don’t usually make any because I know I’ll break them, but this year it’s going to be different. I have two weddings in May (one on the 16^th and one on the 23^rd) and I don’t want to feel like a stuffed sausage at either of them. I’ve been really unhappy with my body these past few months so I decided it’s time to do something about it.

Resolution #1 – One Sweet A Week. This is HUGE for me because I LOVE dessert and I LOVE to bake. I’ve even caused Blake to develop a sweet tooth. It was especially hard because last Friday was my birthday and Channing bought me a delicious cookie cake and we had leftovers. I ate one piece Friday night and had one Sunday (new week)for breakfast. So I had my sweet for the week early this week. Oh well… it was worth it!

Resolution #2 – One Dr. Pepper a Week. This might even be more difficult than ‘One Sweet a Week’ but it’s going okay so far. Luckily Lipscomb is a Pepsi campus (no DP or Coke) so I’m not tempted at work, but going out to eat it when it’s hard. I’ve just go to break myself of my desire to have DP with certain meals… okay, all meals. I’m drinking a lot more water these days. Although I guess it’s easy to drink more water than I used to, because I used to not drink any water at all. Seriously. I’d go through a whole day and realize at bed time that I was incredibly thirsty because I hadn’t had any water all day. I’m feeling less puffy without all the carbonation, that is for sure.

Resolution #3 – Exercise Three Times a Week. This may sound lame to some of you exercise fanatics, but I had to be realistic with myself. I hate exercising. Hopefully I’ll stop hating it soon but until then I’m only making myself work out 3 times a week. I do feel better when I’m exercising so hopefully that will encourage me to exercise more.

Finally… Resolution #4 – No Snacks. I could eat all day every day if there were food available. I used to snack during the day at work and when I’d get home but I’ve realized I don’t need that food. I’m not cutting back on my portions at meal time (because I don’t eat like a pig) so I thought this would be a realistic goal too.

All of these resolutions also help when you are trying to save money. Buying sweets, snacks, Dr. Peppers, and baking sweets tends to add up quicker than I’ve realized in the past. Blake and I also set a budget for our groceries and eating out. We take out the money for the month and what is left over at the end of the month I get to keep as an extra allowance! How great is that! It was even Blake’s idea. I told him to be prepared because we’ll be eating beans and rice until I get back from New York in April! (Just kidding, but it does sound tempting!)