Posts Tagged 'Personal'

Our Engagement Story

On Saturday night, my life changed. At just after 7:00pm on July 3, 2010, I asked Brittany Lynn Kidman to marry me. (Spoiler warning: she said yes.) It came as a surprise to her, and, to be honest, as a surprise to me too. More on that later. I'm sure by now, you've probably read her side of her story, but like all good tales (and even annoying, confusing tales like The Sound and the Fury) you miss a lot of details without hearing the other side. This is my story.

The Original Plan

For months, I have been planning how I would propose marriage to Brittany. It was going to be on the last day of exams at the end of this upcoming fall semester. When the campus was quiet, I would walk her though the President's Park, stopping in the rotunda. At that point, she would probably figure out what was going on, and I would drop on a knee and ask. We would then proceed to the restaurant, where there would be champagne already on the table. At that point, the unicorns would come and serve our food, and a chariot powered by dreams would sweep us away into sunset. Needless to say, the plan still needed a lot of work, and, in retrospect, wasn't that good to start.

Brand New Habits

It's been well over a month since I started my new regimen of taking care of myself. Over a month of finally working out on a regular basis. Over a month of watching what I eat and drink, making smarter choices about what I consume. Have I been perfect? No. (As it turns out, "Grape Juice Beverage" by Minute Maid is one of the most addicting substances on earth.) But have I already learned a lot? Yes.

If you had mentioned to me at Christmas that by spring break I would have settled into a regular exercise routine, I would have laughed. At the end of January, I would accused you of reading my thoughts and I would have promptly put on a tin-foil hat. Today, a little over 30 days since then, I have deliberately walked over 56 miles, done over 600 pushups, over 1800 situps, and lifted over 6 tons of steel. And throughout the course of all this, something amazing happened. I didn't lose weight (that I know of) or build muscle (that I can see), but I completely changed a habit that was years in the making.

The first few weeks of exercise were tough. I had to force myself to get up and walk. The concept of getting on our hair-covered floor to do pushups disgusted me. But I slogged through them. The first few weeks of my diet were tough. I haven't wanted caffeine so badly in my life. I had to take up chewing gum to convince my stomach that it wasn't hungry at all hours. But now, none of that's a problem. I look at the Coke machine in the basement and don't even think about stopping. I see the tub of delicious peanuts under our TV, but they have long since ceased to call out to me. I get upset when homework takes me into the late evening, because my legs are begging me to go to the gym. It's hard to be a lazy bum when your desire to be sedentary is gone.

It took a month. One month. In that month I have completely turned around two major facets of my life. Who knew it could be so simple?

Just in the Nick of Time

Here we sit, the last minutes of the first month of a new year ticking into oblivion.

And here I sit, working on the my first blog entry of said new year. Talk about procrastination.

"New" Year's Resolutions

Although it's probably a bit late to make resolutions for the ~~year~~ 11 months ahead, the entire month of January seemed to be a blur of non-productivity, and therefore, I'm working the resolutions in where I can. And that time is now.

As my roommates already know, I am going to make this year the year that I start taking care of myself again. My first three semesters at school saw my diet decline from healthy foods and milk to cheeseburgers and EVERYTHING THAT EXISTS IN THE ROOM. (Sorry guys…) The month of January saw my introduction of phase I of Operation Stop Being a Fat-ass, where I have worked to stop eating the stuff in our room. Every now and then I still slide back into garbage-disposal mode, but Daniel is always there to remind me of my goal. I really owe him a lot. Thanks.

Phase II, which I started the other day, is to fix my habit of drinking about 27.3 metric tons of sugar per meal (ed. note: there is a margin of error of approximately ±2.3%). So, to correct this, I am stopping drinking all sodas and sweet tea. It's really hard, but necessary. Also, I am slowly starting a "workout" routine. As of yesterday, I now go on brisk walks around campus. They're really tiring; I'm really out of shape.

Phases III through whenever I stop numbering them will extend these reforms to actually modify what I eat at meals, expand my exercising, and hopefully, make me less of a lazy bum. Only time will tell, but for now, I have forever inscribed this resolution in the stone tablets of the internet.

I have no other resolutions: I think what I've set on my plate is plenty.

Website Updates

Despite the dire lack of blog entries, things have not been completely quiet on the website front. The ePortfolio is slowly being fleshed out with actual content (all presented in such a way that all people, including the blind, will be able to read my documents.) I also have some new ideas for the site, as well as some old ideas to continue working on (such as hopefully getting my Salkehatchie-related pet project functional.) Stylesheets for mobile and print have been refined a bit. There's a lot going on, but a lot more that still needs to happen. I hope to have the time.

In conclusion, it's been a whirlwind month. My plan is to manage my time, manage my self, and manage my goals in a manner that allows me to actually do the things I love and the things I need to do, rather than just existing day to day. Wish me luck!

Generosity

After returning from fall break, I am amazed by the generosity people have towards others.

First, a little background. I had been wanting to bring my car to school, because walking everywhere has severely limited me in some cases (that 3 mile walk to the church to get an Easter basket last spring nearly killed me). The only problem is, the car has been sitting dead on the driveway for years. With the help of my grandfather and a couple of phone calls to my uncle, we replaced the alternator and fixed the windshield wipers, the two most crucial repairs needed.

To get me all set to head back to school, my parents graciously paid for routine maintenance repairs on the car. All in all, I think every drop of fluid in the car may have been replaced, and with good reason, for they had probably nearly crystalized with all the time spent unused. My family was really looking out for me.

Catching Up

Admittedly, a solid 2-week posting break is not quite what you expected when you began reading this blog. By the same token, it wasn't what I expected either. There have been many nights where I have sat down at my keyboard, knowing the topic of my post, and no words made themselves available. In lieu of new postings, I have instead given you the gift of me having a good night's sleep. I hope you enjoyed me enjoying them.

Here's some of what I meant to write, in convenient, bite-sized bits.

Nature = Scary

The scene: Brittany and I walking my dog through a park in my neighborhood.

The story: Brittany and I had stopped to sit on a bench conveniently located in the park. The dog, being a dog, curled up at my feet. After a couple of minutes, Jessie jumped to her feet, tripped over her leash, fell on her face, and jumped to her feet again. Following her panicked gaze, we saw a rather large cat, presumably a bobcat. Again. About once a year, this feline insists on walking into the park, freaking out my dog, and ruining a peaceful moment.

Photo Shoot

Brittany jumping on my back — Brittany and I

The scene: That same park, several days later, sans one bobcat.

The story: Thanks to the forgetfulness of Joshua (by the way, you left some stuff at my house), Brittany and I had our own private ~~slave~~ photographer for the day. Making the most of this opportunity, we had Joshua take presumably hundreds of millions of photos of us, ranging from the romantic to the painful (she punched me!). All in all, a whopping 30 photos were not ruined by the composition-ruining magnitude of my head's size. A good afternoon was had by all, except for the photographer.

A Romantic 4th of July

The scene: Later that same day (July 4th), at "The Ponds"

The story: To celebrate the birthday of the nation, I took Brittany on a picnic at The Ponds community just outside of Summerville. I prepared a picnic, gave my lady some lovely flowers, and got us a seat near the Summerville Community Orchestra. The evening was wonderful, with music inspired by Nazi-occupied Austria, giant hairy spiders, and fireworks. Oh, and Joshua was on our date too.

Unfinished Thoughts

The Personal Website of William Flake