Two years of making it official

It's been two years since Vivian and I became an "official" dating couple, so we decided to have a couple pretty special date nights over the weekend. On Saturday, we went to the Chanticleer theater in Council Bluffs to see a couple friends of ours performing in "Love, Sex, and the IRS." Omaha Jitterbug board member Andy Meredith played a sneaky bachelor who listed his male roommate Leslie as his wife, and our bible study friend Jolene played Kate, his would-be fiance who is caught in a love triangle with Leslie. It was a very funny production, and it certainly helped to see a couple of our own friends caught up in the plot.

Monday, January 26, was our Sushi Anniversary, marking two years since Vivian turned to me in the car and asked, "So, do you want to make it official?" after having a sushi dinner at Sakura Bana. This time around we ate at Blue Sushi, a fairly classy sushi restaurant in West Omaha, and we both picked out a variety of Japanese treats to enjoy, including some delicious squid salad. Afterward, we wandered by the 20 Grand theater, where the Clint Eastwood film Gran Torino was still playing. My dad and several other people had recommended the movie, so we thought it was a safe bet, and we weren't disappointed.

I have to say, the last two years have been nothing short of miraculous. I still probably drive most of my single friends nuts when I act gushy and lovey-dovey with Vivian in public, but we keep growing closer in ways I can't describe, and I've found that I love her more and more with every passing day. The more I get to know her, the more I know God had us both in mind when He created us some 30-or-so years ago. I love you, Vivian! Here's to two blessed years and many, many more.

The Cheese Party

Over the weekend, Vivian and I got to host our long-anticipated Cheese Party at our apartment. Around a dozen people dropped by with samples of unusual cheesy comestibles, and we all got to vote on our favorites. Vivian did some great work researching the "proper" way to eat cheese, with served it up with individual knives for every cheese and slices of a baguette to cleanse the palette between samples. Other friends brought bottles of wine, which we got to enjoy together liberally as Vivian whipped up some five-cheese lasagna for dinner. I put together a list of insanely difficult cheese trivia questions, and we handed out prizes for the guest who got the most questions right. We also had a prize for guessing the number of cheese cubes in a glass vase and a cheese ball cap went to Venche for bringing the most popular cheese.

We stayed up late watching an especially cheesy Mystery Science Theater 3000 movie: The Horror of Party Beach. A handful of us stuck around afterward to play with Apple's photo booth connected to our flat-screen TV, producing over a thousand snapshots of silliness that lasted until two in the morning.

On Sunday, Vivian and I dropped by our friend Sarah's place to help her move into her new apartment. There was pizza for everyone afterward, and we got to hear Ben screeching out a couple notes on Sarah's viola while we was running to pick it up from Godfather's. We got the Wii hooked up afterward, giving us a chance to goof around with Wario Ware: Smooth Moves and a couple rounds of Bungee Buddies before heading home.

Free Redbox DVDs at HyVee

For anybody who lives in Omaha, here's a treat for you: go to the HyVee at 96th and Q anything before January 15 and get a free DVD rental. Just use the promo code
"hyvee15" after you pick out your movie, and you can rent it for $0.00. Vivian and I were able to watch Journey to the Center of the Earth last night, and this time it was the correct version with Brendan Fraser, and not some MST3K-worthy rip-off.

Jillian's Farewell

This past weekend, Vivian and I bid farewell to our friend and fellow swing-dancer Jillian. We've met her only recently through swing dancing, but she has also worked at the French Cafe in the Old Market for a couple years and remembers when I took Vivian there for our first date. Now she's moving to New York City to go to culinary school, so a bunch of us gathered together over the weekend to say goodbye.

On Saturday, Vivian and I braved icy roads to spent the afternoon at Jillian's house in Council Bluffs. We spent most of the afternoon and evening eating delicious hors d'oeuvres and playing an extensive sound of Apples to Apples. We got back together on Sunday afternoon at Ted & Wally's for some mid-winter ice cream. More of our friends dropped in to play Fluxx together while the sun went down. Sarah Little brought a pack of Nano Fictionary cards that looked like fun, but we really needed an audience larger than the three of us at the end of the table to play the game properly. We spent dinner together at the Panera on 78th and Dodge, which was convenient since Vivian has to pick up donation bread there every Sunday. That gave us a few more hours to goof around, eat soup and sandwiches.

Good luck in "New Yawk," Jillian! We'll miss you back here in Nebraska.