Basketball.

In a momentary lapse of reason, I asked Yubo to teach me how to play basketball. And, of course, he was all too eager to take me up on that request.

With the aid of our tax return, we got ourselves geared up (with workout clothes, basketball shoes, and a basketball), and headed down to a 24-Hour Fitness Super Sport, where there is a nice court. Actually, where there is a nice everything.

This past Saturday, Yubo showed me how to bounce the ball (I actually really don't like saying 'dribble'... it sounds like drooling), and the very basics of shooting. While he played one on one with our friend Andrew, I walked back and forth across the other half of the court bouncing the ball. As more people filtered in, I decided I was good on that, and left Yubo and Andrew to play while I hopped onto an elliptical for 20 minutes. It was a good starter workout for me.

On Sunday, we went back. Yikes! Two nights in a row! Where did my mind go??

We went through some crazy difficult dribbling drills (I can't say ball bouncing drills because that's just awkward and wrong), passing, and more shooting stuff. My forearms really don't like me. I was about to get on a bike to let Yubo practice on his own (rather than be stuck slowly taking me through such basic stuff), but he was kind enough to let me call it a night since it was already 10:30pm. He also agreed that helping me ensures that he really has his basics down before getting back into games with other people.

That night, we decided to upgrade his membership and get me a membership again.

The really good thing that comes out of this is we've been spending that much more time together, and that's what I enjoy and look forward to each time.

Yesterday, we took a break because Yubo was feeling more sore than he thought he would. Although he was debating whether or not to power through it, I also asked for the night off so I could finish working on the retreat booklet for our upcoming church retreat. Tonight, we won't go because it's his on-call shift. But we should get back into it tomorrow, and we're going to try to make it as much an everyday thing as we can.

Doctor Who.

To Yubo's slightly feigned dismay, my fandom has only gotten worse as I eagerly await Season 7 (not that I'd be able to watch it as it airs).

ThinkGeek.com and Teefury.com have certainly added fuel to the fire, stocking wonderful Doctor Who paraphenelia and T-shirts.

But I didn't really want to talk about that. I wanted to talk about the joy of sharing my beloved Doctor with other people that I love. Like Yubo's parents.

Yubo told me that, in a phone conversation, his dad said that introducing them to the new Doctor Who series was the worst thing we could have ever done.... or something to that effect. Where is the joy in that, you ask? The joy is in knowing that they are losing sleep, just as I did, as they marathon through as many episodes as they can each night.

We had them watch the first episode of Season 1 near the end of our vacation in March. So probably something like March 28... whatever night it was before we left Arizona, I believe. As of last night, they were starting Season 5. Not too bad. The good thing about last night was, when I called them, they were finishing the first episode of Season 5, but were so confused about the sudden jolt to Matt Smith. So I was able to direct them to the special episodes that wrapped up David Tennant's 10th Doctor that weren't listed with the rest of the series. Had I not called them, they would have missed it, so I'm really glad I called. Didn't get to ask them if they caught all the Saxon references, though. They got to see most of the Bad Wolf references because Yubo gave them the heads up on those.

Yubo will actually promote the show more than I do to our friends. I'm just the one that takes notes in church meetings with a sonic screwdriver pen.

A new layer to my fandom comes with the Doctor Who Fan Orchestra. Whoever might be reading this, if you have not heard them and you are a DW fan, YouTube it.

I was so sad that I missed out on Rose's Theme, but I actually applied for this latest project, the Dalek Suite. So excited! I've been practicing best I can. It's been a struggle to find a good time to record my part since I have upstairs neighbors that never leave and walk like elephants, and cats that decide to fight at the worst times. But I'm sure I can get my part recorded before the deadline.... it's just that I wanted to have it all done already. :/  But! it's still an amazing thing to be a part of.

2 Years.

In three days, we will be coming up on our second 2-year anniversary. Despite the drama that gave us a second anniversary, I like to joke about it. It gives us both a second chance in case we forget.

Anyway, by the grace of God, we completed our second year of marriage mostly intact. The struggles have definitely been significant, but the recoveries steal the show.

I am very proud of us and how far we've come. I know two years isn't generally such a milestone, and it's not like our marriage has been that rocky, but I still think it's something to be proud of.

Things definitely are changing, and hopefully for the better.

I'm sure I mentioned this already, but I will be finishing my AAS transfer degree at the completion of this quarter. Finishing up with audio production and beginning guitar. So far, it's been a really fun quarter, and I'm looking forward to how I can apply these things that I'm learning (definitely not what was happening with my business classes).

Speaking of business, though, I've saved my spot on Etsy with a shop where I hope to sell my yarnworks and doodles. Taking it seriously enough to have applied for a business license, and registered a domain name. I won't advertise the actual shop yet since it's still a bit far from being up and running. But I'm excited about it. Not quite sure what this will mean for my Mary Kay. I'll still be a consultant because I love the products, but don't know if I'll actually take it to full time as I originally intended after school.

The other thing that gets in the way of that is my parents' offer of one of the 99-cent stores. According to my mom, the main reason my dad insists on moving us back down to Cali is so that we can take a store, enabling him to step away and focus on other things (like another business venture, or retirement).

The struggle here is that Yubo thinks it's a really good idea for us to take a store. Unfortunately, I really don't want to. Of course, I will if I have to, as long as Yubo doesn't leave me stranded with it. There has been a lot of back and forth discussion about whether or not Yubo still wants to start his own plumbing thing, and if he does, what that means for me and the store that I don't want.

An old-ish idea has sprung up amongst all of this. As I continue to get more and more involved with church, I'm about 80-90% sure that I want to become a worship director. I really wanted to go to seminary, but silly me, I didn't realize seminary is a graduate school. So I would have to get a bachelor's in something before even being able to get a certificate from seminary. I don't know if I can take that much more school, to be quite honest. I suppose it really depends on if I can make the rest of the way to a bachelor's anything like these past two quarters, where I've enjoyed the classes and enjoyed what I was learning.

But I think Yubo is now at 100% that we're moving back down to Cali, and probably next spring or summer, since this summer is too soon, and we don't want to move during fall or winter. However, we can't say anything solid until I'm done with school. And Yubo still has to get his license.

That's about where we're at.

In the mean time, we're going to take some friends over to Leavenworth. Already wanted to go for our anniversary, but all they have are 2-bedroom units, so we decided to bring along my best WA gf Alex, and her husband Tyler. They both work ridiculously hard, so they deserve a break too, even if it's just a weekend.