from the buckle of the bible belt

so i thought things might get back to normal yesterday. finally, dad is able to mostly care for himself (except driving) so i'm at least living at my house now (for the first time in 24 days). the car is back from the doctors, and i got my hair did, about 2 months overdue (i can tell it must have been worse than i thought given the number of "wow, your hair looks so great today" comments i've received today). lovely.

i now measure the cost of EVERYTHING compared to its equivalent wedding cost.
tank of gas=1.5 wedding guest fed
chinese takeout=3 slices of wedding cake
car repair=2.3 chocolate fountains or 1.8 wedding dresses
can of diet coke=2 stamps (enough for 1 invitation)
hair cut and color (read:sanity)=deposit for d.j.
murray's overdue rabies vaccine=1 bridesmaids bouquet

the encouraging news is that if erik and i can continue this slightly above broke college student lifestyle for 4 years, we'll be in excellent financial shape for the rest of our lives. keep your fingers crossed he'll find a job.

yesterday a few nurses came back from lunch (mind you they've probably never left a 12 mile radius of the health department in their entire lives) and commented that "they're back!" excitedly. other veterans dashed out to see the spectacle outside of the grocery store with which we share a parking lot. girl scouts i thought, maybe even those people who stand outside to sell toys so that you can donate them to toys for tots. i shrugged, back to work, after all, i had poor decision makers to reform.

a few hours later as i made my way out to the car and noticed what can only be described as old time southern gospel (click to listen) blaring from speakers outside of bi-lo. i was befuddled. on my way out of the parking lot i drove the long way out to discover a middle aged man and wife (yep, her hair looks just like you'd imagine) singing with a full sound system and asking passers by if they knew jesus. a small crowd had parked their buggies and were enjoying the free concert followed by a brief invitation to join them for wednesday night service and covered dish dinner.

i laughed to myself. only here.

unfalling from the edge of the earth

before i start, yes, i know the video below is staged. still funny i think. and bravo to the young actress for getting her start on youtube.

sorry i've been m.i.a. for a while. dad had emergency eye surgery a few weeks ago, and i basically gave up life as i know it for a few weeks to care for him. detached retinas are very serious. here's hoping pops is better very soon.

in case you haven't heard (kristinfriend), there is a salmonella outbreak. peanut butter, bad, very bad. working in public health, i get to be at the forefront for serious terrorist threats like this. i'd tell you to google it for more information, but all you'll find is advertisements for lawyers trying to get their 30% off your misfortune. where they there for 30% of the diarrhea? ok. just checking.

in the true spirit of project optimism, here is a short visual lesson, from a new favorite website.

and a short note, erica and joe had their baby, addison mae was born on valentine's day. ready? all together now... "aww".

I promise, promise, promise not to be that girl

hehe

if i was pregnant...

this would be the test that i would use. because im a sucker for marketing. in case you havent seen this commercial, pay particular attention around :18 seconds.



pure brilliance.

same old story of boy meets girl

For those of you who have been under a rock for the past week, guess what? I'm engaged! That's right, its official. Erik asked me to marry him. It was a total surprise. We'd talked marriage for a little while now, but I didn't expect a formal proposal or a ring for many, many months. So where to begin with this whole story...

In 1984 the Esch family, moved from their home in Minnesota to Ft. Lauderdale, FL. There, in middle school, Erik met a boy named Luke Adams who would become his life-long friend. As fate would have it, Luke moved to Charlotte, NC just before his senior year of high school. At his new school, Luke met an uber cool girl named Heather (that’s me). They quickly became very close friends. While no romantic relationship transpired, they kept in close contact while they went to different colleges. All the while, Erik and Luke also kept in touch, visiting each other regularly, it was only a matter of time until Erik and Heather's paths crossed. In early 2001, Erik and his friend Jenny (Ally) Kristofiak came to visit Luke at his first apartment. Of course, Luke invited me to town to show his friends around. Many drunken antics occurred. I observed Erik to be a very nice boy, but nothing particularly earth shaking.

Over the next few years, Luke and I visited Erik several times in Florida. In November, 2004, Luke and I traveled to south Florida for the Clemson/Miami football game. Luke and I stayed with Erik and his family. It wasn't but a few short hours into the trip that I decided that Erik was quite possibly the most adorable and sweet boy I'd ever met. Ludicrous amounts of flirting commenced. Even Luke and Jenny (at this point Kristofiak) noticed that Erik and I were sitting a little close, laughing kinda loud and generally paying a little more than causal attention to each other. Luke commented to me once on the way back to the car after seeing a movie "what? are you guys soul mates or something?" I told Luke I was in love. On the flight home, I told Luke I was going to marry Erik. He laughed and gave me the same "you're crazy" look I've seen many, many times.

The next two years I spent loving Erik from afar. I regularly sent him Christmas cards and stalked him through Luke and Jenny. I refered to him as "my sweet baboo". Word got out of my secret obsession, but Erik was always politely indifferent.

That was until late summer, 2006. Luke changed his cell phone number. One warm summer Friday afternoon, Erik called me to get Luke's new digits. After I finished jumping up and down and squealing with delight, I engaged Erik in a cool and casual conversation and eventually gave him the information for which he originally called. Erik asked if I was on myspace. Of course I was! And many times I already had searched for him. When I got home that night, I diligently searched every feasible combination of his relatively unique name. Finally, I gave in and called him (trying to be coy) and told him I couldn't find him. He gave me his new email address. And POOF! I had a new friend on myspace. Several days of witty-banter back and forth online, gave way to 6 hours a night on the phone. My heart fluttered with each email and text message. We still had no definition of a relationship. My nerves were getting the best of me. I over analyzed every conversation, consulted with Luke and Jenny for hidden meaning and suffered severe sleep deprivation. Until finally, Erik admitted that he didn't know what was going on with "us" but that he looked forward to talking to me everyday. I melted. A few weeks later I got a phone call from Erik asking me to do a favor for him. "Of course! Anything!" I said laying sweaty in my bed after coming back from the gym. He asked if I could come pick him up from the airport. AGHH!!! He flew up to surprise me! (Just 2 short weeks before his already planned trip up to visit Luke for his birthday. The weekend of a family reunion no less. He meant business. We were both head over heals for each other. The whirlwind romance continues. We spend as much time together as possible, since Erik still lives in Florida. Erik plans to move to North Carolina in May of this year.

Erik came to visit over the Christmas holiday. His flight on the night of the 22nd was delayed several hours. The morning of the 23rd we got up early to get ready for Christmas with my mom's family. When we came downstairs, I flipped on the Christmas tree lights and Erik asked "What’s that on your Christmas tree?" I couldn’t see what he was talking about. So he asked again and I was completely oblivious to the beautiful ring sitting right there tucked in a box on a limb right in front of my face. After about the third time I asked him "what?", he pointed at the box. I squealed! He got on one knee. I said yes. He shook like a leaf. It was magic. Then we sat on the couch and watched Saturday morning cartoons while I called family and close friends. My family was ecstatic! We left the next day for Minnesota to visit his family who was also very happy for both of us.

So here we are. Erik and I hope to get married in the fall of 2007 and looking forward to sharing a casual afternoon with the people we love.

by popular demand

finally, a picture of us together. full holiday recap to follow.

i said yes

I think this about sums it up. Details to follow.

i couldn't resist

Happy Hoffidays!

really, you think?

You are a Social Liberal (70% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (25% permissive) You are best described as a: Democrat Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

repent for the end is near

i would just like to remind everyone that just a week ago it was nearly 80 degrees. and then, today, there is this silliness.
AND they say tonight, its going to get worse.
yes, the picture is crooked. i had a hard time navigating the steering wheel and the camera while wearing gloves.

eye candy

isnt he cute?
sorry we still have no pictures of us together. we promise to do better at christmas. i went to florida to visit him the weekend before thanksgiving. unfortunately, i spent 70% of the weekend puking my brains out. we didnt get to do any of the fun things we had planned, but i finally saw the movie cars. he took very good care of me, and even bought me a purse to replace the one on which i puked. aww.

thanks to everyone for filling out my johari window. if you haven't yet, see the post below.

you wanted a new post

ok, yes, i've been a slacker. dont i get any time off for thanksgiving? i mean, really. you might notice that even though i didnt make a new post, i did create a flickr account (seen to right). you can view some pictures from the price family thanksgiving up in the mountains at my mom's place. we had a good time.

for those who dont know yet, i'm taking a year off of my master's program because i got accepted to the southeastern public health leadership institute. its a really awesome program funded by the cdc (thats centers for disease control and prevention) and hosted by chapel hill. the first session is all next week (dec. 11-14), so i might be scarce. now i just have to convince my student loan company that this rigorous program is worth them allowing me to keep my loans in deferment for the year, well, and frankly i dont have the $400 a month right now, thanks for playing.

i know its not my most compelling post, but it is interactive! here's a fun way to burn a minute or two. fill out my johari window. you can be anonymous if you want. go ahead, tell me what you really think.

im off to the asheville for a conference today and monday at the grove park inn. peace out.

thats just the way it is

yesterday on the long drive back from raleigh, i stopped to fill up the gas tank. attached to the b.p. station was this little jewel. it completely encapsulates american culture. for those who can't make a decision and for those who just want it all. i give you. KEN-TACO-HUT. thats right. its kfc, taco bell and pizza hut all in one place. AND a gas station.

duh

it seems that i've sacrificed all my creative juices to online quizzes these days.

What type of person do you attract? Your Result: You attract geeks! Your stunning intellect and love of sci-fi and video games allures the geeks like nothing else. Maybe it is the sparkle in your eye that makes them want to text you, who knows. Geeks make good partners, but tend to be arguementative. If you are a TRUE geek magnet, you will know if that was spelled correctly, and actually care. If it is a bad-boy/bad-girl you are seeking, you are barking up the wrong tree, unless they are just 'bad' behind a PS2 console.
You attract Yuppies!
You attract models!
You attract artsy people!
You attract rednecks!
You attract unstable people!
What type of person do you attract? Quizzes for MySpace

UPDATE: 11/7/06 12.22pm
It seems that Amanda was having a hard time seeing the link. Try here.

And to answer your questions. No, I didnt notice the misspelling either, but I never claimed that to be a strong point, and yes, Erik is a self-admitted geek. And I, a self-admitted geek lover (even before Erik). I'm not particularly into video games, but have a secret love for all things Star Trek.

still crazy after all these years

some things are always funny.

the chins are ALWAYS funny.
special thanks to kristin friend and jenny friend for a fabulous weekend!

creepy isn't it

i love those silly online survey/games just as much as anyone. but sometimes they sort of freak me out a little. anyone who knows me will be able to pick out exactly what i'm talking about. take a look.

Your Superhero Profile

Your Superhero Name is The Golden Maximus Your Superpower is Mind Reading Your Weakness is Confrontation Your Weapon is A Fairy Wand Your Mode of Transportation is A Clown Car

What's your Superhero Name?

just a few flakes

between the boy, football season and programming time at stonewall (hanging out with my beloved juvenile deliquents) things have been pretty busy. a short brush with bronchitis had me down for a few days, but now i'm back to juggling life. here are a few pictures i snapped with my camera phone over the past few days.

the 25 most exciting seconds in college football and the largest jumbo-tron in a college stadium. god its nice to be a tiger fan!

erik and i are learning to compromise.

sometimes i forget this is here. my co-worker carol snapped this shot one day after i realized i didnt have a single picture of it.

one last point. here is a fun blog i found recently. its great for people like me who like short bursts of wit throughout the day. enjoy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PROJECT OPTIMISM!

yay! its been one year (and 10 days) since my very first post here on p.o. and i just noticed, this is my 100th post! amazing isn't it? this here little website (that sounds better if you read it with a slightly southern accent) has chronicled the past year in my life. and its been a real doozie for sure. a year ago, i didnt have a camera phone, i hated my job, i had major separation anxiety from miriam, i was depressed and single. i created project optimism initially to spread some optimistic energy around to some friends and hoped that what i knew in my head, would eventually trickle downstream into my heart. fake it till you make it, i always say. you never know when things will change. just like the weather. monday night it was 32 degrees and raining at home, today, sunny skies and 81 degrees. (this type of climatic change reeks havoc on my sinuses) just goes to show if there is anything that isn't going your way just right this minute, give it a little time. things will change. the inverse lesson is also just as important. if you're loving life right this minute, cherish it. make memories and be thankful, never taking for granted what you have. for it too, can change in an instant. it is this constant roller coaster that gets us out of bed every morning. that gives us hope for the future and appreciation for the now.

quote for the day: "i'm not in denial, i'm just selective about the reality i choose to accept"

better late than never

ok, in my newfound slackness, here are some pictures from a short, but fabulous road trip to florida. dad and his buds went down early for their testosterone fest deep sea fishing trip. luke and i stayed with my life partner miriam (who, although was pulling for the wrong team, looked smokin' hott at the game). we drank a lot of beer. clemson won the football game. i think that about sums it up.

back my semi-popular demand

i know, i know. i've read all (both) of your comments and emails. my adoring fans (all two of you). kristina and miriam, i know that both of you deserve more. and i hate that i have let you down. please accept my humblest apologies. so what's been going on the past errr... month or so?

yes, as if you didnt know, there is a man in my life. and no, its not murray, my dad or luke. you know, the usual suspects. for years i've fluctuated between bitter, yet empowered, independent woman and weeping, depressed, lonely spinster. especially after my life partner moved away to pursue her dream of law school (like i could let my selfish love for her stand in her way), i struggled with the depths of loneliness unlike anything i've ever known. i went off in angry tirades at many happily married friends who said obnoxious things like "it will happen when you least expect it". even still makes my skin crawl.

well, things are a little different now. about 2 months ago erik called me for luke's new phone number. you see, i've known erik for years, a childhood friend of luke, our paths crossed every few years or so. about 2 years ago luke and i went to miami for a football game and i developed a full out crush on the boy. while we got a long well just hanging out, he was otherwise completely disinterested. oh well. since august 11, things have snowballed beyond either of our belief. 7 hours a night on the phone of endless laughter arguing over who is the biggest geek, which star trek series is supreme and how to deal with people who take themselves too seriously led us both to believe that perhaps we've met our match. i had a long time ago given up on anything "magic" or even romantic. conceding that someone who wanted the same things in life and was willing merely to put up with me would have to be enough. i figured no one would ever find me beautiful, or laugh at my nacho cheese joke, much less, both. i was even sort of looking forward to my "i'm-30-and-still-single-so-fuck-you birthday party". i'm not calling off the birthday party just yet, but i'm going to hang on to the deposit for the band and tent rental for now. just until we see where things are heading. and i promise, i'm not moving to west palm beach. no way, my hair can't handle the humidity here, can you imagine the fro i'd have in florida?

speaking of birthdays. the cutest/craziest puppy in the whole world turned 4 last sunday and luke turns 28 today. my, my, my, they grow up so fast.