Music and memories

{ Disclaimer: some or all of this post is sappy. }

The Romgi and I went to high school together, did you know? The start of this most recent school year marks 12 years that we’ve known each other. Our relationship has been complicated – from friends to “dating” to frenemies to dating and finally to marriage. And you know what one of the constants has been through it all? Third Eye Blind.

I know it sounds ridiculous to make a big deal out of a band. But I can’t describe what powerful memories their music brings back. On our way back from Salt Lake tonight, after the kids fell asleep to sleepy music, I put in 3eb’s self-titled album and we listened to the last few (quieter) tracks. When we were in high school – and later, after the Romgi came back from his mission – we used to go on drives at night on the backroads up to Lake Berryessa. We talked about everything or nothing. Those drives helped us become best friends. There was always music playing, often 3eb, and when I hear the last few songs on the album I feel relaxed and content, like I did after a long drive with the Romgi. Usually the cd was almost over by the time we got close to town again, and it almost feels cathartic (apologies if I’ve used that word incorrectly) to hear those songs. It makes me remember how great our talks were, how comfortable we were together. My memory of our drives is feeling like we were in harmony with each other.

Tonight I still felt that way when we put in our beat-up old Third Eye Blind cd. So much has changed since our drives together – and I wonder how to get some of that feeling back into our everyday lives? I almost wish I could combine then and now. Things have turned out so much better than I could have imagined, but it does seem like I’ve been so caught up in raising the Bwun and jr and keeping the house clean (or trying to, at least) and being perfect (won’t happen anytime soon), plus the Romgi in law school…we don’t spend much time with just each other anymore. I miss those talks.

How do you keep a feeling of couple-ness? What are ways you’ve found to preserve all the wonderful things you had at the start of your relationship? I wouldn’t trade our current life for anything, because we have even more wonderful things now. But it would be so nice to enjoy the Romgi’s company without worrying about what mess the Bwun has just made (see below) or getting up to change yet another of jr’s diapers. Do you have advice on being spouses instead of just parents?

(Please don’t think that I dislike being a parent. It’s incredible. I like being the Romgi’s wife too, though.)

New topic: my amazing mom spent hours cleaning my kitchen yesterday while I took a nap. I could get used to that kind of service! After all the dishes were clean, the Bwun decided the change to a tidy (-ish) kitchen was just too much…this morning he dumped a box of cereal on the floor. Thank you, son.

Cereal (and other small messes) on the floor. Also, you can see our little butane stove. One of these days we'll live somewhere with a real stove...but until then, we get by with this.

See how the sink is almost empty? Tomorrow I hope to be able to show you a completely clean (-ish) kitchen!

I've Been Tagged

Roni tagged me for this bit of blogging fun. I am supposed to write 8 random things about myself, eh? Well, here it goes:

1. When I was little (probably around 8 or 9) I remember reading in a book that if you dig down far enough, then you can find fossils almost anywhere in the world (can you see where this is going?). So, I went out into the backyard with a shovel and started digging. I never found any fossils, but I did find an old action figure about a foot down. By the time I was done, the hole was about 5 feet deep and three feet across. Oddly enough, I don’t remember getting in trouble for it.

2. I really like riding my bike to work every day. It makes me feel like I have accomplished something.

3. My favorite movie is Jurassic Park, I probably saw it 15 or 16 times in the theater. It helped that we used to have a 50 cent theater in town, and that Jurassic Park was in the theater for about a year.

4. Sometimes my boss intentionally buys too much food for staff meetings, just so that the people who don’t go to the meetings can having some of the extra food.

5. I have a secret ambition; I want to be the coach of an Academic Decathlon team. It was one of my favorite things I did in high school, and it is one of the things that I feel prepared me the most for college.

6. This one time, my brother and I were outside throwing rocks at each other (we had been kicked outside of the house for being too rowdy). It was really dark outside, and we couldn’t really see where we were throwing anything. The next morning, we found out that we had smashed our neighbor’s car window with one of the rocks. That was the only time I remember getting grounded.

7. I ate dog while I was on my mission in Korea. It wasn’t all that bad, and tastes a lot like beef.

8. I don’t like a lot of vibrato in people’s singing voices. It creeps me out, and I think a lot of people force it, and it makes them sound worse than they would NOT using vibrato.

There you go. Eight random things. I know I am supposed to tag people, but I really don’t know who to tag. I could say something ambiguous, like the people who I’m tagging “know who you are,” but… I don’t even know who you are. If you read this, and had fun reading it, then go ahead and do it!