Just say yes already…Part 5

It is important to note now that the first time Tyler and I met I was arranging a trip to Minneapolis. My friends and I invited everyone and anyone we knew to come with. Tyler and his best friend Andy both said they too would be interested in coming. The closer it got the more people flaked on me. Amy went to Florida instead, not that I blame her. Who goes to Minnesota in the winter when it is the only state colder than Wisconsin? Julia went to renew her visa in Germany and so on. So basically it left Tyler, Andy and I. Andy dropped out and then there were two.

The first picture ever taken of us in 2010

I called Tyler and told him he didn't have to commit as I could take the bus down. He clearly never knew me very well ‘cos he later told me he was worried that if he didn't go (he had offered to drive) that I wouldn't get to go. A boere maak a plan, but anyway.

Riding in the car for 7 hours with someone you don’t know all that well is intimidating. Will he like my music, what if we have nothing to talk about, you know all those thoughts. Just kidding! This is me we are talking about I blasted the ABC state song about 20 minutes into the journey, sang don’t stop believing loudly and off key (it’s the only key I have) and only stopped talking to sleep (which I am good at in a car.)

About half way through that trip he began to tell me that one day we would date, and eventually get married ‘cos we were perfect for each other. I told him…that he was creepy, thankfully he was just kidding. That’s thing with him, I realized immediately that we had a lot in common and he made me laugh. But he actually seemed to know a thing or two and in our now almost 3 years of knowing each other he has been right about 2 things…us and my ring.

So the reason I bring this up is after he explained about the scary moment he had to ask my dad, about the moments he started at the ring wondering if I would like it and if it would ever fit on my finger and the scariest moment of waiting for the answer that would change our lives forever he turned to me and said…I told you so. And just that one time, I let him know he had won.

Tyler and I in Minnesota

Yes the way we met was a bit unconventional, I think my parents thought I was nuts for driving 7 hours in a car to take a trip with someone I had just met two weeks ago and had only talked to once, however I was in for an adventure and she was cute so why not?!? I mean she is barely taller than a midget and if she really got out of hand I was sure I could protect myself ;) That said the night I met Robyn I told my friend after she had left for the night that there was, “something different about that girl.” At that time I couldn't tell what, but she had definitely caught my attention and I spent a lot of the next few days thinking about her, I guess that doesn't make hopping in the car with someone you just met any less of a crazy idea, but my curiosity got the best of me because by the time a two weeks had past I absolutely needed to learn more about this girl… Turns out it was the best risk I had ever taken. 

Just say yes already…Part 4

I look at him and my brain goes into overdrive there are questions to be asked before this question can be answered (still haven’t looked at the ring.)

“Did you ask my dad?”
“Yes”

“What did he say?”
“He said yes.”

“When did you speak to him?”
“The other day.”

“Did you ask my mom?”
“Yes”

“What did she say?”
“It’s about time.”

“When did you speak to her?”
“The other day?”

“Did you even look at the ring?”
“No, not yet. Whoa!”

“So it that a yes? Can you answer the question?”
I notice at this point he is shaking like a leaf, and since he is balanced on one knee I am pretty sure he is going to fall over if I don’t answer soon.

*Pause for dramatic effect*

“Yes…did you really think I was going to say no?”
“I hoped not.”

Then, “Did you pick the ring yourself?”
“Yes.”
“Good choice”

So after the longest 15 minutes of my life building up to the whole “pre-question show” I then was faced with the longest 5 minutes of my life where she asked question after question and did everything except for answer the question that I asked first… Although given the way our relationship began and has gone it is only fitting that I had to wait. 

Just say yes already…Part 3

This is my way of forcing you all to read every word.

So after a long day of car shopping we went back to Tyler’s apartment (his bachelor pad, we haven’t moved in yet, follow along.) Me, always being cold asked him if I could borrow some socks.

There I am lying on the couch, not even gracefully, wearing a pair of (old) man socks looking like a gangster. Tyler had told me had a surprise for me which he had made. He was originally going to show me on the night of the Ambassador awards but I had wanted to celebrate with my fellow sweet 16 so he postponed this. He starts setting it all up and there are cords and computers and t.v. cables and all and all. And I’m just watching, waiting. Finally I crack what I thought was a funny joke. Which is also (usually) a personal joke between the two of us. I say, “you aren't going to propose now are you?”

When all our friends were getting engaged he kept kidding around that he was going to take me somewhere romantic and then bend down on one knee and…tie his shoes lace. Tell my parents he needed to ask them something and then, ask them how they were. Silly things like that. So I was totally kidding and made the joke.

He momentarily froze, which should have been a clue to me, but I was in gangster mode and gangsters don’t think that quickly. He came back with, “and what would be wrong if I was?”

To which I descriptively responded, “I don’t know, I’m all like lying on the couch in like socks and stuff.”

He then asked, “So I can never propose if you are wearing socks only flip flops?”

I just laughed and he started the video.

It opened with “the Story of Robyn and Tyler.”

Then there were pictures of us, sounds clips of him talking about how we met, how he felt about me and how special I was to him. At this point I was like wow; Ninja boy knows how to work an awesome computer program.

Hearing him say sweet things is not totally uncommon as at every award’s dinner, induction, birthday, belly dance show, valentine’s day etc. he always gives me a card with the sweetest things written inside. He had told me he wanted to do something for the Madison dinner because it was so special but something other than a card. So clearly the penny still hadn't dropped ‘cos apparently he is good at making covers that are believable…unlike me.

The second the last slide (below) pops up and I’m thinking that sounds like it’s going down proposal lane. Since we had already decided to move in together, what else could it be? Unless he is asking for a baby? Oh goodness please don’t be asking for a baby! (This is how my mind thinks.)

Then the last slide pops up (below) and I realize he was also in on my joke. So I turn to him to let him know how funny he isn't. Then I notice he is on bending on one knee, ring in hand. I’m so confused and shocked I don’t even notice the ring. I go, “is this real life? What are you doing?” (Meaning what are you doing on the floor, slowly my brain is regaining ability to think and I’m adding two and two together.) He asks officially, “will you marry me?” (not will you make me the happiest man in world romcom line, he is a realist and he realizes being married to me with have its ups and downs.)

Wow reading this version of the story makes is sound much more funny than it actually felt, perhaps I missed the whole bit because I was probably the most nervous guy in the world at that very moment, but that was probably the most stressful 15 minutes or so of my life building up to that. It wasn't ideally the time that I wanted to do it, but as she said the night of her big award ceremony didn't go quite as drawn up so I called an audible. (Apparently this is a football term, it means something like changing the play in a game…I don’t know…men always seem to need to use sports terms to describe everything.)That said the fact that it even occurred to her at all that I would be asking for a baby makes me laugh, why in the world would I ask for a baby before even being married?!?

Just say yes already…Part 2

Yes, I know I am frustrating. This is called suspense...

I suppose I should tell you why we were looking at a car. After many hours of searching alternatives Dave, Amanda and I figured out that next semester (Fall 2013, which is in August/September) our schedules clash-big Time. Every free moment I have from school, when I would be able to work the kids are in school, and every moment the kids need me, I am in school. I can’t change classes or school since I am so close to being done. The kids can’t change schools since their school is amazing and that would be totally unfair to them. So we began to realize the inevitable after four years, they would need a new nanny and I would begin to remember what a time before I felt like mommy extra felt like. Scary!

I agreed to stay over the Summer since that still works out for both sides. However Tyler moved into a new place at the start of Summer, so we decided since I would have to move out anyway, why not do it in the Summer before my mommy came anyway. Hence the need for a car.

Update: I love our new place and will post pictures after I clean it up enough for my mom’s visit. Living with Tyler has been an interesting adventure, which I will posted about later on for sure. Dave and Amanda have found a new au pair who will arrive in the last week of August. She seems really nice and I think she will be a good fit! She is from Mexico.

I don’t have much to say here, what she posted is pretty much the whole story… that said I cannot wait for the post on why it’s interesting to live with me… 

Just say yes already…Part 1

For those of you that have long anticipated this and had to comb through Facebook posts trying to find the ‘the story’…here it is…

Tyler and I had spent a wonderful day car shopping. And by wonderful I mean terrible. I have never gone through the circus act that is car shopping. Thankfully Tyler knows it well. It’s basically a cat and mouse game. The short version of the story is the lady who was helping us was pretty clueless and just trying to push any car we looked at on us. She suggested a Kia Sol, which Tyler commented was “an ugly looking car”, to which she responded “that’s what I drive”.  To of course there is no response unless you really want to offend some people.

The Kia Sol

After the back and forth game Tyler decided it was time to push the ball into their court and leave. After all we weren’t desperate for the car that day (or even month). So as the story goes they called us back with a much better offer and after a little more negotiating Tyler and the Manager (I think our original lady realized that she wasn’t going to  get through Tyler’s years of car buying experience) settled on a great deal and the car now belongs to us.

And this is my baby...Pookie (haha)

Car buying in America is one of the most annoying experiences known to man, that said I must be a gluten for punishment because I have done it more than enough times. I have seen all the games they play and have had every card thrown at me. That makes it a less fun game for the car sales person as often times it results in me getting annoyed and walking out. That said this sales rep was particularly annoying and refused to quit playing games so we went directly to the general manager of the shop and he was much better to work with and realized quickly I didn’t want to mess around and we came to a deal much faster. 

School Events

I was recently (in May) told that I was chosen to be the State Ambassador for MATC (Milwaukee Area Technical College.) There are 16 technical colleges throughout Wisconsin and each year each college chooses one student that represents the college. Each college has a different role that they hope their Ambassador will play.

After finding out about the award I also found out that we had an Ambassador dinner to attend as well as 1 and a half days of workshops in Madison. I was so excited, a little nervous since I didn't know what to expect but totally ready for the challenge.

Tyler drove me to Madison; I had to be there at 8am to have breakfast with all the Ambassadors. Why is it that NO ONE understands that I am not a morning person?! Sitting around a table with faces that I had never seen before was a little intimidating. Every Ambassador has a student life coordinator that was part of the group that made the final decision on who becomes the Ambassador. There coordinators all joined us at the event. So I am looking around the room and I have no idea who is an Ambassador and who is a coordinator. It is to be noted that since we attend technical colleges there is a wide variety in student ages, so it is impossible to assume all the younger people are Ambassadors.  Great I found an opening line. After much asking around I started figuring out who my peers were. Naturally I gravitated to the one other foreign girl in the mix. She was from Laos.

After breakfast we started with an ice breaker. We had to think of something we liked that began with the first letter of our names, then introduce ourselves with “Hi, my name is blank and I like blank.” So of course mine was “Hi, my name is Robyn and I like Rainbows.” Once we did that around the circle, then we started.  The first person said their name, the next person said their name and the previous person’s name…and so on…so if memory serves me correct by the end we had - 

Adam likes Apples, Alyssa likes Accessories, Robyn likes Rainbows, Robyn (another one) likes Ruby Slippers, Sheng like Summer, Mihai likes Money, John likes Justice, Grace likes Grapes, Tarissa like turtles, Louise likes Lions, Heidi likes Hiking, Erin likes Exercise, Adrian likes Athletics, Kelly likes Kit-Kats, Corabeth likes Candy Canes, Tony (does not) like Tacos … Shooo I’m getting good at this!

We spent the day bonding over various other activities like the one blinded folded person in each group of four, trying to make a puzzle (the same puzzle) while the other group members give (which of course turns to shout) order to them on how to build the puzzle. Confusing! The blind folded guy in our group said he always knew when it was our group talking to him as opposed to the other groups talking to their person ‘cos he could hear my accent. HAHA I guess it does kind of rock!

After spending the entire day together we separated to change for the night’s event. It was really cool to see everyone in their jeans and shirts and then see them change into smart outfits for the evening awards ceremony.

 

The group of Ambassadors

The group of Ambassadors

We all received an award and a scholarship from Robert W. Baird. The award is really heavy! We actually had to practice picking it up beforehand so no one dropped it on the night! We also had to speak about how the technical college system has affected our lives. I will put the youtube link below so that you can see me get all emotional about missing my family… (I was not the only one that got emotional though.) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLT1XXJRqzo

The half day was filled with market strategy meetings Communications and Events Director for MATC. She has now adopted me and I visit her whenever I’m at the downtown campus. Meeting her actually also lead to another special meeting…

Tyler and I

Supported by MATC faculty
Vicki Martin, Archie Graham and Trevor Kubatzke

I think Robyn summed up this event pretty well, obviously I wasn't there for the workshop portions but my duty was to drive her there in the morning (one hour drive), scramble back to get some work done, then drive back to Madison again that night for the awards dinner. After three hours of driving I made it back for the dinner and awards ceremony which was very neat to see, Robyn is 100% dead on when she said that she wasn’t the only one to get emotional, I felt like for a very positive event there was certainly a ton of tears shed. All of that being said it was a very fun event and it was very nice to meet some of the people at Robyn’s school and share the moment with her. There certainly were no star ambassador awards in my schooling history.

Hanging with the ‘tones

Love it!

Tamryn mentioned one day that she had heard the Parlotones were coming to Milwaukee. Prompting me to google and search every website possible in order to find out if it was true. It…WAS!!!

Tamryn and I
I found this interesting too...Tamryn who is from Toti and I found out our sisters go to the SAME SCHOOL! Crazy huh?

We booked tickets and started counting down the days. The day finally arrived, and as always we were prepared! After the opening act, Dinner and a suit (who were really good!) we got to meet the boys of Dinner and a Suit. We took some pictures then got ready for some home grown joy!

Tamryn, Dinner and a Suit and I

We pulled out our SA flags (yes, we brought those along,) just to show who the REAL fans were. We also noticed a group of people just as crazy as us with SA apparel on. Once we started speaking to them I realized the one girl is a South African au pair I had met previously, and the others were her friends and ‘tannies’ from around the area. So not only did we get to experience some wonderful music that took me back to lazy days in SA, listening to East Coast Radio, while eating mangoes in the sunshine (all my best SA memories conviently mashed together) but we made more SA friends!

Awesome!

SA friends, Glenn from Parltones, Tamryn and I

After the show the Parlotones guys hung out meeting fans and taking pictures with everyone. It must be hard for them to go from household names in South Africa to a band that has a tiny following and plays in clubs to 30 people or so. They seem to be really trying to get their name out and break into the US market.

So maybe one day I will be having a lazy day, listening to Kissfm, while eating - I don’t know like cheese curds or beer soup in the freezing cold that is Wisconsin for 9 months out of the year, and maybe I will hear a proudly SA band jamming. 

Glenn Hodgson

Kahn Morbee

Kahn and I

Neil and I

Paul and I

My favourite picture from the night HAHA