Teacher Stephanie graduates her class of 2008
Last weekend, Stephanie officially graduated her first class of California preschoolers here in Palo Alto. It was my first time seeing her school, meeting her fellow teachers and of course seeing all of the crazy kids that she deals with every day of the week.
Let me simply say that I have a whole new respect for her and for what she does each day while teaching at that preschool. The kids are awesome and hilarious, but it takes a special type of person to teach them every single day. Isn’t she awesome?
Of course I couldn’t miss out on getting some video of the sweet graduation action. Check out the video below or over here on YouTube when you get a chance and be sure to leave a comment and tell Stephanie congratulations!
Stephanie’s roomie gets hitched, are we next?!?
Now as far as I know, I haven’t popped the question yet to Stephanie, but according to the results of the bouquet and garter belt toss at her old college roomie’s wedding reception last weekend, it shouldn’t be long. Yep, Stephanie caught the bouquet AND I caught the garter belt. What are the odds of that, right? 
Of course I got the entire thing on video, along with some other things that caught my eye and if you’d like to check out how everything went down feel free to click here to check out it out on YouTube or watch it below now. More posts and pics coming in the next couple of posts - talk to you all soon!
Texas stole my girlfriend!
I can’t believe that the one thing that’s bigger than me in this world, the state of Texas, has stolen my girlfriend. It’s sad, really. From what I hear, she’s having a grand ol’ time in Houston with her dad and step mom, but I am really starting to miss her over here in Palo Alto. Luckily time’s going by pretty fast - Stephanie come back home to the cottage!
Oh, and bring me an armadillo…please.
Heading to Cali Series: Getting rid of Steph’s car
Wow, does it feel good to actually break the news to the world about Stephanie and I heading out to Palo Alto, California. I have held back until now for a few different reasons, but now it’s officially time to let everyone know that WE ARE MOVING TO CALIFORNIA!
Whew…there, I finally said it and in about a week I’ll be living it as we pack up and drive on out west to our new cottage out in the warm and beautifully sunny streets of the computer nerd capital of the world. I’m sure that I’ll fit in just fine, but there is plenty of nervousness going on even though this is something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time now. I know that it will work out perfectly with Stephanie and I fitting in like we belonged there from the beginning. I guess it’s like I always say: ‘If you don’t get nervous about it, then it’s probably not even worth doing.’
So, as we move along the super accelerated schedule of moving out there we have a a type of ‘mental list’ of things that we need to take care of before we get out there. One of the first things we decided to take care of was what we are going to do with our cars. Stephanie drives a 2007 Civic si and I was driving a 2007 GMC Envoy Denali and we have decided that we need to not only get down to one car(with one cheaper payment), but we also needed to get into something a little more gas efficient.
But, before we get too far ahead of ourselves, the first thing we had to do was get rid of Stephanie’s ride. We were told to go get her car appraised at Carmax so that we could see what it was worth. It was my first Carmax experience, so of course I decided to make a video about it and you can check it out below or over here on YouTube. This is the first of many more Moving to Cali Series videos that we’ll be making, so come on along for the ride!
Anyone in the market for an ‘07 Civic?
Today I have offered to take Stephanie’s car(a 2007 Honda Civic si) to CarMax so that we can see how much cheese we can get out of it. I’m not super excited to have to deal with a used car dealer, but I have gotten a few suggestions that have said that if you’re going to sell a used car, CarMax is the best all around bet. According to our the trusted source on the used car market, Kelly Blue Book, the car’s trade-in value is a little over $16,000 which is a little more than she has left to pay for it at this point.
I’m not super-experienced at negotiating some car deals like my pops, Mr. Clarence G. Hupfer, but I think that I can hopefully get a good deal out of them….I hope. I’ll update later on how the dirty deal goes down, wish me luck!
Sweet Memories…
It’s always fun to take a little trip down memory lane isn’t it? Tonight I was looking through some old videos and I stumbled across a video I made way back last summer on my way to hang out with Ryan on one of our first “dates”. It’s so funny to think about the beginnings of our relationship and all of the crazyness that has preceded those early times. In this particular video I was actually on my way to be picked up in a chicken limo ( yes a chicken limo) that would then take me to a poison concert (Yea Bret Michaels!!). I can’t believe that I almost made up an excuse not to go… What was I thinking?!?! Haha This night has got to be one of my favorite memories with Ryan. It’s obvious that we were simply destined to be together.. I mean come on.. I was already making videos in my car before I even knew him… coincidence?? I think not!
Check out the video below or over here on youtube.
Getting prepared for victory
It’s game time! This is what all of our games come down to: the playoffs. This is where we separate the men from the boys, this is where the rest of the season is decided, this is the big time! Hopefully we play well and win, but if not - hopefully we’ll have a pizza party sometime soon to say goodbye. Hey, it’s a win-win.
Stephanie’s Thoughts: The time has come… After a season full of ups and downs, victories and losses, and a load of fun and inspirational times, the Special Olympics basketball tournament has begun. Today we will make the trek out to Shelbyville to take on our opponents in hopes of sweet victory. An encouraging practice last week will lead our team onto the court today with a great deal of excitement and confidence. It’s quite an exciting day, but let’s be honest, win or lose the only thing that truly matters is that the players have a great time playing and are encouraged and praised for their hard efforts. This being my first year of coaching Special Olympics, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but I can honestly say that it has been one of the most uplifting experiences in my life. Every single one of our players holds a special place in my heart and I look forward to watching them accomplish their goals and aspirations both within athletics and their lives.
It’s the little things that mean so much
As I was getting lost in a complete computer nerd zone while typing away on my laptop last weekend, Stephanie surprised me with a homemade display of her love for yours truly(as shown above). It shows not only her love for me, but her love for the warm weather of Spring as well. It was actually over 60 degrees for the first time in months, but Indiana quickly reminded us that we’re not out of Winter yet with an awesomely bad ice storm today. Yay for living in the Midwest.
VIDEO: Meet the grandparents
Yesterday I posted about Stephanie and I heading to her grandparent’s house in Danville, IN and how meeting the family members of your significant other is a huge step in a relationship and is not only a great way to better understand the person you are with, but it is also a great gauge on where he/she came from and how he/she became the amazing person that they are today.
As I said, I truly enjoy meeting all of Stephanie’s family and believe me, her grandparents were no exception. In fact, we had such a great time I think that I went into their house calling them her grandparents and I left calling them mawmaw and pawpaw. Not to mention that I was STUFFED with some of the best home made food that I’ve ever had(don’t tell my grandma that I said that).
Be sure to check out a few of the pics over here on Facebook and if you can’t see the embedded video below, click here to view it directly on YouTube.
He asked… She said yes!
One thing that really excites me is getting that special phone call from a friend of mine upon which i answer and she squeals, “I’m engaged”. After the initial screaming and giggling for a good couple of minutes we settle down and end up in a lengthy conversation involving intricate details of the entire proposal scene involving the events leading up to the proposal, her initial reaction, and the happiness shared by the two after her sweet answer of yes. For those few moments my friend tells me all about the very moment that every girl dreams about in her life, and she describes it in such detail so that I feel as if I were right beside her when it happened. It’s like a girly movie that all of us girls can get together and talk about as we laugh, cry, and converse about the past events that have led up to this very moment of the couple’s relationship. Cue the boys… “gag”! I had the opportunity to enjoy this very thing with my dear friend/roomie in college, Holly. Holly and her boyfriend Ryan were engaged on February 16, in Chicago, IL. Although according to Ryan, things didn’t go quite as planned, as you can see here in their engagment story, that the end result was of course fantastic and they are planning to exchange their vows this summer in June.
The engagment period, it’s such a crazy time in a couple’s relationship. Months and months of excessive planning and preparation for 8 hours of wedding. Although it seems like a bunch of trouble for nothing, I’m sure that it’s all worth it for the memory and significance of that special day. Knowing Holly I’m guessing that this will be one beautiful wedding - she is quite the graphic designer and has many tricks up her sleeve when it comes to art/photography/web design/you name it. In fact, check out their website here. Prepare to be impressed.
Back to the engagement, it’s amazing how relationships work. The awkward phase at the beginning, the time of confusion when you’re left to figure each other out during the getting to really know you phase, and the sweet bliss of finally being in love, real love, the kind that you say “yes I want to marry you and spend the rest of my life with you” love. The kind of love when you know that you would do absolutely anything for your partner no matter how hard it may be, or the kind of love that says we believe we can stick this out even though things won’t always be perfect, and of course the kind of love that says there is no other person in this world that I would rather cherish and love for the rest of my life other than you. That’s the kind of love that we all seem to be searching for. The most ironic thing is that you never really seem to find it because this love actually seems to find you when you least expect it. Dare I say that this very thing has in fact happened to myself and my boyfriend Ryan? Without any reservations I can in fact say yes, it has… but don’t get all crazy on us yet… geez it’s only been 7 months:)
I just want to take the opportunity of this post to congratulate Holly and Ryan on their special Engagement and the excitement that will follow them in these next few months, and eventually years as they grow as a couple together in their journey through life as husband and wife. I love you guys and look forward to seeing you two become the new Mr. and Mrs. Ryan Gauper.
Also, be sure to check out their sweet ‘Gettin’ Hitched’ online wedding journal when you get a chance…I told you that Holly has skills.