Trip

So as most of you know, I am going to Pakistan to visit my family who I haven't seen in about 7 years. I leave Sunday and I really am looking forward to it! you can read all about my trip on my travel blog at travelholic7.blogspot.com

Anthony won't be coming with me. It will be the first time we spend more than two nights apart since we met! It's gonna SUCK! :(

There are several reasons he wont be joining me. 1. we are not married so it wouldn't be culturally right for him to travel with me. 2. he will be in school. 3. he doesnt have a passport. (GET ONE NOW!)

Doesn't make it any better though. We have been running around trying to make sure that we've got everything on our lists that i need. yesterday we went to best buy. I bought him a lap top for his birthday and then a laptop for my dad in pakistan. Too bad they dont work on commission there, they would have made a lot off my sale. :-P

Today we will try to find some appropriate clothing for me.. sigh ah cultural difference :/

MEGA DATE NIGHT

Anthony and I have made a promise to do date night once a week no matter what. Being near the end of the month we get strapped on cash. But then I had a brilliant idea! MEGA DATE NIGHT!

So there is a Dollar Theater near us. We still call it this even though there is only one showing a day that is $1, most of the time is $1.50, on weekends $2. But on Tuesdays its only 75 cents!

So Anthony and I took this opportunity to go see THREE movies back to back that we wanted to see for a while now.

We saw the
1. Backup Plan (cute and slightly funny)
2. Kick Ass (a lot funnier than i predicted and a LOT more gory)
3. Date Night (my fave of three really funny and a must see.)

all for a whopping $4.50

then we added a soda that was refilable for $4.75 (yes the coke cost more than THREE movies for TWO people)

Stopped at a cvs before hand and spend $3.50 on snacks

Our mega date night cost us $12.75. lets see you beat that! :)

Some may call us cheap, I call it being economical.

Gardetto's

THEN NOW

So I'm sitting here munching on my bag of Gardetto's Garlic Rye chips thinking how it's funny how much our tastes change over time. I mean there was a time when I'd buy Gardetto's and eat everything BUT the rye chips. They were brown, and hard and I thought they tasted funny. But now they are my favorite part of this high sodium highly addicting snack. So much so in fact that I buy bags of just the rye chips and nothing else.

So I'd like to take this opportunity to reminisce about other things that I used to despise but now can't get enough of.

2. (since Gardetto's is obviously number 1) SUSHI!

I'm really of the opinion, now, that if you don't like sushi you just haven't tried it yet. Admittedly, the thought of putting raw fish into your mouth doesn't sound very appealing. I was of the same mind set when I was younger, "what do you mean the fish isn't cooked...gross." But then I actually tried it! And from that day on I was hooked. Now it's my go to get together suggestion. Lucky for me, Anthony likes it just as much. We actually even went sushi bar hopping for new year's. We have tried so many places but have settled with Ra located a mere 5mins walking distance from us. They have happy hour sushi till 7 every day of the week where the sushi is half off!

3. reading

Now probably just like every grade schooler I HATED reading. This is due to the simple fact that we were FORCED to read CRAPPY books that no one cared about. Yes I get that The Great Escape is a book every is supposed to read but not everyone cares to. Surprisingly it was a required book that changed my mind about reading. Enders Game my sophomore year made me love reading again. Now I even have a nook and I can take an infinite number of books with me wherever I go. Im never without a book and I can't imagine it being any other way.

4. technology

In third grade, my school was selected to be a pilot group for a typing program. We were one of the first schools to actually have a computer lab. Again I think it was just because it was forced on me, I didnt like it. I didnt see why I had to learn how to type, why couldn't I just use my pretty colored pens? Then digital cameras, what was the point in taking a picture if you couldn't have a hard copy?! No I wanted none of it. But here I am 21 and wont go anywhere without my iphone, a video camera that fits in my purse (i have a flip its awesome), my nook and my macbook isnt far from me at all times. I also couldnt live without DVR! I am a techno-freak. I need the newest thing right now! anything to make my life easier.:)

5.the color green

I dont know if it was UNT or I got hit upside the head but I love everything Green! and no not all colors of green so dont think that I go around sporting anything puke green. Its more kelly or spring green. bed spread, ipod case, 1/2 the clothes in my closet (ok that prolly is UNT yay for free shirts) green green green. :)

6. nerdy boys

In high school I wanted nothing to do with nerdy boys. They weren't manly enough for me. No, I wanted a military guy. And I had my fair share too. From Army, to Navy, to Air Force, I had like a little collection lol. But as I grew older and wiser, realized that I myself am more of a nerd then I let on to be. And that a nerd boy was just what I needed. Look at Anthony, he is pure nerd. From his glasses to his goofy hair and his xbox addiction. but our personalities match spot on. He is definitely the Rye Chips to my Gardetto's bag. I just can't seem to get enough.

7. even numbers

Oh wait, I still don't like even numbers. and therefore couldn't end it at 6. So here is number 7. My lucky number. :) (mom and dad were each one of 7, was born at 7777 forest ln at around 7 am) so there you go. thanks for reading.

Game Night

Now that I'm half a couple, happily I might add, it's harder to justify just going out and having a good time. Not that Anthony won't let me. Or that I have to ask permission. But it's more like I don't wanna go out and have a good time without him lol. but it's hard to hang out with single girls cuz they always wondering why youre dragging along your other half.

so we have been on the search for couple friends.

Recently one of my old friends got engaged. so i thought it'd be kinda cool to do things with them. kinda start to build a relationship with another couple that all sitcoms show you is common.

so we went to a movie last week and this week we went over to their place for game night.

couple bottles of wine, six pack of beer and games. yes sounds so grown up. lol but We really arnt into the whole bar and/or club scene.

We played Pictionary and Cranium. and WE WHOOPED their asses. TWICE. now Brandon and I have had a little competition between us for a couple years now. and we've played several games against eachother and he still cant admit to defeat! last night I did get him to say out loud that i was better than him but this time he wont stand for it. but we all know that anthony and i can kick their asses any day.

They kept saying how in tune we were and how we'd grow out of it. but i just dont see that happening. Anthony and i have a way of keeping close together because we're such good friends. and we wont let the romance die.

So thats just one more affirmation of how great Anthony and I are together.

Plano Plano...EAST EAST

Commencement, definition: the beginning.

Up until today, I always thought it was funny that graduation was called the beginning. When you're graduating you are just glad its over. 13 long years of school and you're done with high school. The fact that it's the beginning is kinda draining to think about.

But sitting there today with two graduations under my belt, the proud sister in me couldn't help but think how fitting commencement really was. My little brother has no idea how much he life is just beginning.

I am so very proud of him. I wish him the best of luck next year at UTD. Make us proud. :)

Anthony unfortunately had to go to school and couldn't make the graduation. Which was ok because Javed could only find 8 tickets and needed 9 if Anthony was going to go. Sacha, mom's bf, was going to forfeit his ticket but since Anthony's prof wouldn't let him go we had the pleasure of listening to Sacha complain about how long the ceremony was.

There were over 1300 graduates. But it was an important occasion and I just wish for once we could go out without hearing him complain.

Not to mention Dad was just about late because of a call he had to take for work then spent the first 3 letters on the phone. Oh well I suppose at least he was there and he saw his son cross the stage phone free.

My uncle flew into town from Atlanta just for the occasion.

so yay for Javed. you can say goodbye forever to plano plano.... east east.

The Batmobile

So in an effort to get our lives on track and be able to start a family, my fiance has started to go back to school. Yes, at 28 Anthony is a freshman.

Today was his first very loong day back at school.

After we were done doing the very boring, mundane life duties for the day we headed over to my dad's house for his birthday dinner.

He's 51 today.

The only real request made by Anthony so far is that the getaway car be the Batmobile. now i dont know if he asked that of me because he knows its impossible, or as a joke, but i took it seriously. I mean how cool would it be to drive away in the friggin Batmobile.

So I start a google search to see how much it would cost to rent a mock up for a day....

While there are an abundance of Batmobiles to rent in England and even a couple in California. There is only one batmobile in Dallas. Its owned by Russ Martin. good luck trying to rent that. but in an effort to make him happy i actually emailed the guy. no response as of yet. all of ya'll should email him and try to convince him :)

So as an alternative, we considered renting an Astin Martin and go out Bond style. There are a couple of places in Dallas and Plano that will let you rent luxury cars. What they dont tell you on the billboards is that they are 1500 for a couple of hours!

for a car

that you'll drive for a couple of mins.

No thanks.

So the search continues. If you find a batmobile let me know. until then...

Im batman!

Graduation Party

So I have one full blood brother, Javed. He, regardless of what his face hairs lead you to believe, is 3.5 years younger than me. He is finally done with high school and walks across the stage this Tuesday.

Man do I feel old.

Until recently, he has been my baby brother (my father remarried about 2 years ago and now I am the oldest of 5 the youngest one being 2 months old). It's just so strange to think about him as a grown up high school grad.

Today was his graduation party. My parents thought that he should have a party and be celebrated because its a big deal graduating from high school.

So of course I drag Anthony along under the pretense of free food.

Maggianos has this big banquet rooms so Mom rented one of those out and invited 50 of their close personal friends that my brother may only have met a handful of times. Ah show off parties.

Parents are allowed to gloat I suppose.

The party was complete with embarassing pics of Javed growing up. Unfortunately that meant there were a lot of embarassing pics of me growing up as well. So many people were astonished to find out that I was older...lol Hope it stays that way. I think eventually I'd love to be the younger sister of the 40 year old fart.

My dad made sure that Anthony met all his friends and paraded us around. Now i love showing off my ring just as much as the next girl, but it seems like the moment you get engaged thats all you do. I hope my new engagement didn't encroach on Javed's big day too much.

Even if it did, at the end of the day he leaves with close to $500 bucks, so Im sure he doesnt mind.

Cat-tastophy

So when you move in with someone... you end up having to fight for the things you really want to keep. We kept his lazy boys and got rid of my antique 70's chairs, kept my bright red kitchen stuff and left his pots for his old roomates to use.

You know you love someone when you go through your closet and get rid of HALF of all you clothes and SHOES just to make room for them ( dont worry I'll buy replacement shoes :-P)

there are some things however that are just non negotiable. ie, his x-box, which i secretly love having (closet gamer...shh dont tell anyone) my large display bookshelf and of course our pets.

now here comes the big issue. I have a cat Hershey (aww isnt she cute) and he has a hamster, Tali (named after a video game character *rolls eyes*)

yes, one of the pets falls under the others food chain... but i'm certain it can work. It has been , with a few minor incidents when Hershey knocked over the cage. It has now been moved to a secure location where theres no room to push it over.

having a cat has proved to be interesting. Since Anthony has moved in, there have been times where she just goes off on the carpet. chewing scratching ripping it up...there goes my deposit. but he just cant take any more of the nails coming out and destroying everything ... ok i get it we want nice things. but heres the thing i am absolutely positively 100% AGAINST de-clawing.

will not do it.

so we went out today and got silicone caps to put over her nails. when i fist heard of these i just imagined that they would be clear or black and not noticable.. boy was i wrong. they only come in the brightest colors imaginable... at least over at petsmart. so we opted for pink... see pic above.

now getting them on was a feat. first you have to clip the nails. and i dont know if any of you have cats...but they REALLY hate getting their claws trimmed. so Anthonys got a death grip on her trying to keep her from thrashing about long enough for me to cut all her claws down. THEN you have to put the nails on one at a time adding glue carefully to each one and then putting them on one by one..

Then... keep the cat still for 5 mins... REALLY are you kidding me with this?

and the entire time Hershey is kicking and screaming and moaning like we are murdering her or something.

this takes over half and hour. and at the end of it Anthony is covered in cat hair and scratches and Hershey has pink nails that she cant remove lol. we feed her a tasty treat to keep her occupied while they finish drying.

anyway long story short... battle won. we keep the cat and she keeps her claws.

Details up to now

As i mentioned before, We got engaged back in April. I just had an urge to start a blog now.
but if you think i just sat around doing nothin for the past two months... you are VERY mistaken.

I may not be much of a girly girl. i hang out with guys dont really care about doing my hair, chick flicks are NOT a must see. I used to hate it when my cousins would force me into playing.."what will my life be like" but one thing that I have always been SUPER girly on other than shoe shopping (my name is sara and im a shoe-a-holic) has been planning my wedding. I have had my wedding pretty much planned since I was 5.

My problem? making sure I make all the planning last until next June lol.

The biggest thing for me was the place. I always wanted a grand wedding. Complete with all the bells and whistles. So we checked out some really nice places around here in the Dallas area. We looked at the gardens at Lee Park but they wanted my entire budget just for the catering, this really nice hotel in turtle creek...that completely destroyed my color scheme.. and the old red museum in downtown dallas that looks like a castle. we both fell in love with it (yes Anthony is actually taking an active roll in the planning of our wedding. :) )

What ended up being the cheapest place was the most beautiful. Anthony claims that hes a pretty pretty princess and that i'm not. but has agreed for our wedding day I get to be a pretty pretty princess. If I only get one day you better bet your money that im gonna do it right and go all out. and what better for a princess than a castle for her wedding. http://oldreg.org

I've also found an amazing photographer. See I view photography as an art. I dont want just anyone who can point and shoot. This is the one point Anthony and I just dont see eye to eye on. I want...and finally got, an artist. and to get an artist it costs more...but its an expendature i'm willing to pay. http://lynnmichelleblog.com/

All of the wedding infromation can be found on our website. anthonyandsara.ourwedding.com

So much has already been done, so much more is left to do. but i cant wait. im loving every single min of it. and i can't wait to finally be mrs sara metz. .....ah life will be so much easier when i have an EASY last name lol

The Proposal

April 15, 2010...which just so happens to be my mom's birthday, Anthony takes me to our frozen yogurt place called Berrilious that's in McKinney(healthier for you then ice cream and sooo yummmy!...ps if you know a good place near the shops at legacy let us know!)

we go inside, get yogurt Chocolate for Anthony swirl with the works for me. As we are leaving Anthony "drops" his keys. I turn and look at him and he is down on one knee just like in the movies and asks me to marry him.

he knows i'll say yes

so i make him wait...like 30 secs lol before i yell "YES!"

I picked out the ring before hand. lol I knew he'd ask me. But the timing still surprised me.

He asked my dad for my hand before he asked me. Isn't that cute? Of course my dad says that he didn't need his permission lol but of course he did. Especially with a dad like mine tradtions and respect needs to be showed. So props to Anthony for following through with that outdated archaic ritual. It made me feel good :).

My parents love him. They think he's so great for me. Which is a HUGE plus. and besides the fact that his parents wished I was Christian and can't understand how someone can live without a religion in their life, have taken to me very well. They are really nice people and I dont' mind at all that in a little over a year I will be able to call them family.

Overall... life is good :)

Meeting Mr Right:)

SO! yay for weddings and marriage. The man of my dreams came crashing down from nowhere and swept me off my feet.

Anthony and I met online of all places. I alway told myself that I'd NEVER do online dating that it was just for desparate old people who didn't know anything about dating. Lo and Behold after my 6 year long relationship with someone who was completly wrong for me I timidly decided to put up a profile on a FREE website (no I'm not going to pay for people to like me) and thought what the heck...worked for my parents (who divorced after 20 years of marriage) maybe it'll work for me.

Well first I went on bad date after bad date with retards who didn't know anything. I told myself I was right... online dating? not for me. After coming home from what I'd resolved to be the LAST date with someone I'd met online, EVER, Anthony messaged me. I started talking to him and that very night I ended up going to his house for beer and rockband. I figured at the very least free beer and one of my fave video games would make it bearable.

By the time I left his place that night we had both agreed that we weren't eachothers type and that since we were so awesome, we'd just be friends. But we started hanging out doing like nothing every day.

EVERY DAY!

And we weren't sick of eachother. We sort of fell into this whole dating thing. And somehow after 7 months of easy romance ... we were engaged. Fast? maybe. With the full knowledge that I'm about to sound cheesy I cant help but quote when harry met sally "when you know you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you want the rest of your lifet to start as soon as possible"

So there you have it. How i met my future hubby in a nutshell.