In July 2008, I wrote the following:

True love is an idea. A dynamic idea that changes over time and as one’s perception is influenced by those one encounters.

And I think that once one’s accepted this, falling in love or meeting someone doesn’t seem as impossible or as distant. I meet a person. I don’t seek perfection. It’s more of finding someone I can trust, want to trust, and want to be trusted by. It’s someone I want loyal to me and I want to be loyal to. It’s a mutual understanding that hey, we’re not perfect, but we get along, and we want to live and grow old together. Mutual tolerance of flaws and differences, while at the same time, learning and growing together, one not allowing the other to remain stagnant.

I still believe it to be true.

And while we did not specifically celebrate Valentine’s Day with a romantically planned evening [we laid floor tile and had Chinese New Year dinner with my family], I think my sentiment on the day is the same that I have for Thanksgiving: It doesn’t matter what the designated day is; you should express love and good thoughts to family, friends, and lovers as often as you’re comfortable with.

Here are two sets of photos that make me smile when I’ve been staring at the computer screen for way too long at work. They were taken at a friend’s birthday party just last weekend. There was a photo booth with a remote set up, so you could take as many pictures as you wanted. We opted for a few shots before the party got crowded and a few shots as we were on our way out.

I even went so far as to print these on the newly purchased printer. The quality was acceptable, but I’ll have to figure out how to make use of photo paper that’s 8.5″ x 11″. Most frames max out at 8″ x 10″! We’ll probably end up buying some 4″ x 6″ photo paper to reduce the cutting necessary.

An update on the 101 in 1001 – #2 Go on a week long camping trip.

“RV” in the title of this entry does not refer to the boyfriend nor does it refer to the vehicle in which we traveled for the past week. “RV” in the title refers to the boyfriend’s father who happens to also have the same initials! Apparently, if I can get through a trip with RV, I’m certain I can get through most anything with the boy.

Being woken up at the crack of dawn on a few hours of sleep by a whistle similar to the one he used to call his cat, then ordered around to do this and that, I was already in tears on day one of the trip. All actions taken by the boy or I would require approval by the Board. We were not allowed to hold onto the keys without a thorough explanation because he wanted to know what we were up to or thought we would lose them. Thankfully, we were able to get away from the campsite to do our own thing. Otherwise, I might have called it quits early on.

I jokingly told the boyfriend that he owed me big time for tricking me into coming along for the ride. The boyfriend said to me, “Now you know what I dealt with growing up with the guy.” The man is a character, and it’s no surprise that his sons are creating an animated parody about the man, exaggerating his many quirks. He likes to travel with his entire house, which is why he has an RV. That thing has everything, and he keeps trying to add more.

In summary, despite the initial frustration and upsets, I had a good time. Once we had the DirecTV [Yes, there was satellite television in the RV!] hooked up for RV, he was out of our hair for the rest of the trip because he was busy following the Yankees. I’m still not sure if this counts as camping for a week, but I did stay in an RV for the week at a campground. How and when in the world did an RV/RV campsite get all fancy on us?!

It’s RV’s birthday today! We’ve already begun celebrating, and there are lots of other festivities to be had.

I planned a surprise [aka "sheer terror"] party for him a few days ago, which ended up working out. I had to sneak my set of the keys over to a friend first, so that he could let everyone in. I went out to dinner with RV, while the handful got into place. His apartment is small, so I had to limit the number of surprisers. Everyone was so quiet when we got to the apartment that I wasn’t sure if they were actually there! It was awesome. There was ice cream cake and wine, and we all had a good time. I was able to invite one of RV’s older friends, which was a nice surprise for him.

On the actual birthday [today], a casual wine happy hour with friends. We were able to reserve a wine bar nearby, so I am looking forward to that. And in a week, I’m taking him up to Fort Bragg for fishing/crabbing. When Keane and I were up there a few weeks back, the bartender we talked to gave me a card of a local charter that went out. RV’s been wanting to go crabbing for awhile, and the fishing/crabbing is on my 101 in 1001 list, so there’s no better time than now.

RV’s been such a significant part of my life in the last year; I really wanted to make his 25th memorable. Hopefully the wine happy hour and fishing/crabbing trip will be fun!

“I still need a little bit of alone time. I’m trying to satisfy what you need too most other times. Am I not doing well enough, honestly?”

“Well, you are too, so I don’t mind giving you what you want.”

I never thought of myself as the needy type, but I suppose when given the opportunity, I’ll take it. This is especially true for the rough times in the month when everything seems to crumble out of place. RV has been nothing less than accommodating and wonderful. He spoils me with the amount of time and attention he gives. I reciprocate. It’s a weird feeling, going from a long distance relationship of three years, to nothing, and then to seeing someone almost daily.

I kinda like it.

I’m clinging to RV like static these days. Must make the effort on NOT being like that. Working a billion hours will help. He’s also going to be taking classes again soon, so our time together will be limited. I’m wondering if the clingyness is due to: 1) insecurity or 2) enjoying all time spent together. Might be both.

Will discuss further if it becomes an issue.

In other news, I just came back from a trip up to visit his father for the holidays. It was a 2.5 hour drive away to middle-of-nowhere California. An interesting man with a very quirky personality. I can see now what characteristics that RV gets from both of his parents.

Not long after RV dropped the L-word on me, I was throwing it back at him. Sometimes it felt like the right moment to say it. I was probably using it more than he was. Things are going well. At the same time, I’m beginning to sense some hesitation within myself. I’m not quite sure how this is all turning out. I see him so often that I’m beginning to feel a little antsy. I think he sees it too. As much as we love spending time together, it just becomes that – coexisting, rather than experiencing something fresh and new. On the one hand, being able to be that comfortable with each other is very nice. But still, I like to keep things exciting. I know that things will be different when I’m working my butt off again and will have less time to spend with him, so for now, I’m enjoying all the time we can spend together.

We are spending this evening apart. We’ll see each other later tomorrow when we head to the De Young Museum.

Photos are from the day after Christmas. We watched the sunset over Los Angeles from Griffith Park.

So far, the only disagreements that RV and I have are because of our different sleeping habits. This morning when we got up, I turned to him and said, “I dreamt of some other guy just now, and I was visiting his family. I think it was supposed to be you, but you were being a jerk in your sleep last night, so I replaced you with some random nameless guy.”

I tend to be a light sleeper and can wake up anytime in the night and even in the morning. Once RV’s out for the night, he’s out. It’s funny though because he’ll get up to grab water for me or help me with opening up the windows because I get too warm, but he is not conscious at all. I’ll comment on snoring, and he’ll flip over, so he stops. But he doesn’t even know he’s awake.

In all other aspects, we’re getting along just fine. We’re just grumpy and sleepy in the morning.

An update on the 101 in 1001 list:

092 – Visit Hearst Castle.
This Christmas and the few days before and after, I will be spending time with RV and his family in LA. He brought it up last month, and now that it’s December, the planning must commence. We’re driving down on a day to be determined, and we may stop along the way to check out Hearst Castle. So that’s one potential cross-off from the list! Ticket prices are a bit expensive, and you have to take several tours to cover everything. I think since we’re going to go all low-budget, we’ll just take the night tour that covers a few more areas.

I’ve informed RV of a few of the items on the list, so he may join me in accomplishing them. I know that Amanda’s commented before on helping out with some of the items too, so YAY!

We don’t really celebrate Christmas in our family, at least not in the “traditional sense” one might have seen on television or in movies. There’s no gathering under the tree on Christmas morning together. In fact, most years it’s just Donna and me, figuring out what’s open and not open. I think last year we went to see a movie. We do get together with family one of the days for a big Christmas party that resembles every other family gathering, such as Thanksgiving. There’s plenty of food and games [Mah Jong, the Wii]… Sometimes we even throw in the occasional White Elephant exchange.

It’ll be interesting to meet some of RV’s extended family and join in on their celebrations.

He dropped the L-word, and I didn’t say it back. I thought it. I just didn’t respond the way a NORMAL person would. Instead, I said, “No, you don’t.”

What’s wrong with me?

It wasn’t like I didn’t know he was going to say it. He’d been hinting at it for awhile, but mentioned that he thought it’d be scary so quickly in to say it, even though he felt it. It’s only been two months.

When you haven’t been in a relationship in awhile, to hear it and to say it… it just feels different. I don’t think it’s sunk in yet.