Museum Date 4-12-12

 Yes! I finally reached the current month- the downside? It’s almost over.  No worries, I’ll be doing individual posts. By that, I mean no more month recaps. Earlier this month Cody participated in a bouldering competition! It wasn’t organized very well.  As a spectator, I could see a lot of cheating going on; you can imagine how Cody felt, so we left it early. But that gave us more time to get started on our garden.  We only planted one plant, an Indigo Apple Tomato.

Crocker Art Museum, New Addition.

A few weeks later, I went on a lovely museum date with my Cody at Crocker Art Museum.  We had a charming night perusing many amazing exhibits. There were a lot of people there, mostly students. Before I get into the art, I want to talk about the feeling of walking through a room full of people while holding hands with your loved one- you feel alone. Not in a lonely way, but in the kind where your rusty brain gears are trying to make sense of different points of views. There’s no right way to interpret art, everybody sees something different and not everyone will agree it’s art but the act of looking is all that is required to spark something inside of you.  By the end of the evening, it felt like my brain was in pain from trying to think.  It feels like my brain has been constipated and seeing all that art stirred some cognitive indigestion. But at the same time it was so much fun! It’s interesting to feel emotions brought upon by paintings on the walls. Many times, I wasn’t even sure I knew what I was feeling- for sure confusion- but that’s the point, that my brain was trying to figure something out.   By the end of the night, it felt like I hadn’t been there with Cody. We were together and we did talk to each other about the paintings and other things, but it was mostly an individual experience. He kind of felt the same way, so he understood what I meant.

I wish I had written down the names of the artists and their works. Some that I remember and was able to google were:

Judy Chicago

Earth Birth 1983

The Fall 1993

Irving Norman

My World and Yours (And The Gods Created The World In their Own Image) 1954

Gottfried Helnwein

Troy Dalton

The Birth of Cain

March 2012

Petroglyphs

Katie and Kate

 Cody and I, along with Katie, Kate, and Matt, took a trip to Bishop, CA for their spring break. It’s a great place for bouldering and rock climbing, plus it also has hot springs!  We spent 5 whole days climbing and camping!  It was so much fun. Cody and Matt got to do some serious bouldering while the girls just played around the rocks.  My favorite spots were the Happy Boulders and The Dreamers. We also went to The Buttermilks, but didn’t stay long there.  And getting to the bottom of…..I forgot the name of the gorge, but it’s where we climbed, was long but even more difficult to 

hike back up.  

I was cranky and upset; not at anything in particular, I guess I was just tired.  I didn’t want Cody to see me like that, but he’s very understanding and I tried to emphasize that he didn’t do anything wrong.   At the end of that long hiking day, I was more cheerful and when we had to do more hiking the next day, I wasn’t cranky.  Changing moods and having feelings is part of being human and I’m glad that I didn’t scare Cody too much, because the truth is that I had a lot of fun hiking and climbing and exploring and just being generally active.  We also went searching for some petroglyphs in the area and were very impressed by what we found. On the way home, we also stopped at Mono Lake to look at the Tufas.

 

                                                        Cody and I also explored the town of Bishop, which is really small, but touristy. In the evenings, we visited some hot springs and it was sooo warm!  It was my first time swimming in them and images of the movie Volcano came to my mind; specifically, the scene where a bunch of horny college kids get into a hot spring that rapidly heats up, ending with them boiling to death.  But nothing of the sort happened to us and it was very romantic, in fact, with the evening twilight and the bats flying around us.  Electricity poles ran alongside and in the dark of the night, you could see small arches of electricity racing along the lines amidst a blanket of gleaming stars.

My very first snow angel!

On the drive to and from, we drove through the mountains so there was snow and I got play in white fluffy snow!  It wasn’t hard, like I remembered from when I was a kid. We had mini snowball fights and made snowmen and snow angels. 

Snow family.

I was a little worried at the start of the trip that after spending so many days together, we would grow a bit bored of each other; I think Cody was concerned about this too.  But by the end of the trip, we both felt like we had grown closer by getting to know each other better.  We got to see the good and the bad sides of each other and we still weren't sick of each other- always a good sign, right?  Not only did we grow closer, but our relationship grew stronger too.

February 2012

I want to be caught up with the present already, but I’m almost there, so I’ll try to write shorter recaps. I don’t remember much of what happened in February; our school schedules didn’t leave much free time. But there were two events that I do remember; one, of course, was Valentine’s Day. Our first V-Day and we spend it doing….NOTHING! Because I had class all day, I didn’t even see him until almost 10pm and we were both tired. But a few days before, he brought me pretty orchids and we spent the day together.  So even though we didn't do anything on valentine’s day, we did celebrate it.  Beside, shouldn't every day be Valentine’s day?  It sure does feel that way to me.  I’m in love every single day and everything looks shinier, fluffier, brighter, greener, prettier- all because of him.

  Gaby                                                                                                                Esau

Ok, enough with the mushy stuff.  The second thing I remember from February is my tea party!  I had a casual tea party to celebrate my unbirthday so I invited a few friends and what do you know, it was their unbirthday too!  So we all drank tea, talked about psychology, and blew out the candles to our unbirthday cake.  Not many guys came, but it was nice that Cody got to meet some of my friends. And a BIG thanks to Gaby and Cody for decorating even though you can't see it in the pictures.  Also, kudos to Gaby for a delicious and pretty cake. I want to have another tea party some day. Maybe you could join us next time.

                           Karina

Cody                                                                                                                     Alana

January 2012

     Unfortunately, I did not spend New Years Eve with Cody.  He was down in San Diego visiting his family and I couldn’t go due to work.  But I did see him New Years evening, after he got back from SD.  He brought me flowers!  Those were my first flowers that I’ve ever gotten from a guy that was not family! 

     The previous month, Cody took me rock climbing at Pipeworks with his climbing friends.  Afterward, we all ate Thai food in downtown, where we started talking about pets.  It turned out that Katie had so many cats, that she was giving two away.  I jumped on the opportunity, so on January 2^nd, Cody and I went to pick up the cats. 

   I named them Nala and Khajit. They were (are) so cute! But mischievous! One time when I came home late from work and nobody was home, they tore open their food bag. 

                                









But it’s hard to stay mad at them; they do so many funny and cute things. I love them so much!

December 2011

           To catch up to the present faster, I will make 1 post for each past month, starting with December.  December brought with it lots of things for us to do together.  But first, we had to get through finals. He took me to Coffee Garden where we were really productive.  I really like studying with him there. AND they’ve got games for your study breaks! It  has cool paintings on the wall if you mind needs to wander from time to time.  After finals, that’s when the fun began.

First, I met his friends.  One of them, Katie, who is really sweet and down to earth, was graduating so she had a dinner to celebrate at Pyramid Brewery in downtown Sac.  It was also her birthday dinner.  I was very nervous to meet her and the others because these were Cody’s friends whom he spends a lot of time with, especially in Philosophy Club.  Have I mentioned that Cody is in the Philosophy Club at Sac State?  Well, I just did.  GO PHILOSORAPTORS! Anyway, they turned out to be super nice and chill people and I had a really nice time at dinner with them.  After dinner, we played a few games but most were old editions like from the 80’s, which had weird references to old people bedroom etiquette. Cody and I left the party early because we were tired, but on our way back to the car, we had to walk through Cesar Chavez Park where there is a small platform.  

We each took a turn getting on top of it and gave our World Peace speeches. We also pretended we were running for presidency and what we would do if elected.  We took turns doing this while the other pretended to be the hot reporter. Of course, any allegations of presidential candidates sleeping with the press were denied in true political fashion.

 After finals, we took a day trip to UC Berkeley Botanical Garden. I love gardens! And it was nice, though very emotional, being there again.  But I tried to focus on the present and being there with Cody. I feel like I can face anything with Cody. Though everything was familiar, it also felt new because this was the first time sharing it with him. We had lunch in the parking lot over looking the bay and we shared some baklava. Do you guys know how delicious that thing is!!!??  It was my first time trying it and I thought it was out of this world. Afterward, we visited Viqui and her boyfriend, David, in Oakland. Mike joined us there a bit later and we all played Apples to Apples. (This reminds me of another time that we played apples to apples with another of Cody’s friends, Chase and Adrienne, where Mike had to do something that supposedly never happened and Cody put make up on.)

And then, Christmas! Well, Christmas was Christmas, but it was cheerier this past year for me.  Cody came over on Christmas Eve to spend it with my family and we opened presents at midnight.  I forgot what I gave him >_<   But he gave me a baklava recipe WITH the ingredients! He also gave me a binder of recipes we had previously picked out to cook together. I spent Christmas morning with him and his family where we opened gifts a few at a time to draw out the festivities.  That is where I got my baklava gift and a very nice jewelry box plus some very pretty earrings!!!  Soon after, we made our first dish together from our recipe binder.  

 

Poems

Cody sends me special texts or emails every once in a while.  I print them out and put them on my wall, so I can always be reminded of how lucky I am.  Here are just some of them:

I’ve Fallen For You

I cannot get you our of my head, nor will I ever want to.

Your touch on my arm, your words reflecting thought, and your smile.

Nayely, I want to be with you. To grow with you. To have fun with you.

Of course, not every step forward will be easy, but all small steps are more than wort the mile.

And after hearing this song again quite recently, it reminded me of my goals:

“Find out who you are and see it. Find out what you are and free it. Find out what you love and need it. Find out what you can’t and beat it.”

It also made me happy to think about a certain possibility; that we can fulfill these goals together.  Te adoro Nahdxyeli Valdez.

Text from Cody

I like that you have a physics mirror.  I like that you’ve read Dinotopia, and I like that you gently touch my hand under the dinner table.

I like your entomology stick-on tattoo, and I like that you paint your nails. I like what you do with your hair, and I like that we fit in one chair.

I like that have an insect collection, and I like your room.  I like your family, I like your voice, and I very much like your smile.

I like that I think all of this at first light this morning, and I especially like that I have so much more to learn about, and with you.  I hope your day is going well so far, Nayely.

10 Reasons Why I love you

1. I love you for your willingness and eagerness to try new things together, like how you want to see more of CA and to cook new things and to read new and exciting books.

2. I love you for how your smile warms me to life.

3. I love you for how expressive you can be, and for how you use your hands when you think and talk and explain things.

4. I love you for how much your family and your close friends mean to you, and for how selfless you often are. You are a warrior for the happiness and well-being of others.

5. I love you so much for how you care about how others are treated, including the plight of animals, the homeless, and the downtrodden. When a possible solution or aid is mentioned, you light up like a Christmas tree, and I can see just how much you would love to help.

6. I love the sight of your beautiful, naked back lying in front of me in the morning, reminding me of just how gorgeous the rest of your body is.

7. I love how you can so excite me intellectually (like when we talk about how our society might work better or when we dip into neuroscience talk or when you explain torque to me or when we ponder over why our bodies do the things they do) as well as physically, which you so easily do in oh so many fantastic ways.

8. I love you when you speak Spanish to me, and how patient you are with me about it. I can still hear your lovely voice saying "tierno" for the first time, and how it made everything inside of me turn to jelly.

9. I love you when you speak English to me, because you're understanding and are willing to wait until I become better at speaking Spanish.

10. I love you so much for how creative you are with your crafts and art.

11. I love you for how you can make my day so easily just by words in your text messages or emails. You can make my heart skip a beat and my knees quake without even being near you and without even hearing your voice (and when I do hear your voice I often melt, another reason why I love you...)

12. (Because there are way more than 10 reasons for my feelings of adoration....) I absolutely love how we fit, in every way. We finish each other's sentences, we have similar thoughts in moments of silence, we fit so nicely in each other's arms, we share many of the same goals, we sleep back-to-back, and we get excited together when we both realize that we're not so weird for liking what we like, because the other person likes it, too.

13. I love you for how you can turn something usually disliked with a passion (shopping) into an adventure where I get kisses and hugs and where I feel happy and loved.

14.  I love you so very much because your idea of "education" isn't simply equated with getting a degree. You seem to want to make learning a life-long experience, whether it be from school or from books or from personal experiences with others or on your own.

15. I love you because, from the first week we were together, I haven't doubted my love for you, and I have no reason to doubt my love for you. I know that this, the very thing I'm feeling now, cannot be surpassed by any other feeling. You fill me with love and joy and confidence and you make me smile and you wish for both of our happiness and the way you hug me is indescribable and the feeling I have when I fall asleep by your side, and your side only, is something that I hope to be able to put to words one day. 

Con amor,

-Cody

The Breakup

    Can you believe a few weeks had gone by blissfully when all of a sudden I broke up with Cody?!  What can I say? I was scared.  He has dreams that I hope he fulfills; one of them is to join Peace Corps and go to Africa.  That means he’ll have to leave at some point.  And before I got my heart broken, I thought it was better to break up at the moment.  So I did.   

    But nobody knows what’s going to happen in the future.  All you know is that whatever happens, you hope to have the love and support of those you care about. You’ll have to face whatever the future brings because what other choice is there, right? After thinking about it for a while, I realized that I had just given in to my fears and that is the worse reason to break up with the one you love.  And weather Cody goes of to Africa or not, I want him to still be in my life.  I will love him no matter where he goes, it’d be cool if I could go too, but if not, I’m willing to wait for him. When people love each other, they work through things.  48 hours later, we were back together and there have been no other bumps in the road since then. We'll see what the future brings, but really, I LOVE this guy.

Puss In Boots

Our first real date after Tower Cafe a week later. It was suppose to be just a movie, but boy, it turned out to be crazy. We saw, of course, Puss in Boots, which by the way I LOVED!  

We felt a bit hungry and the night was early, so we went to get Thai food in downtown, but it was closed. We decided to keep walking a find someplace that was opened- we ended up walking 7 blocks.  But we finally did eat at Tapa the World, a Spanish restaurant. There was a guy playing acoustic guitar, adding to the romantic ambiance.  I was feeling daring and ordered some sangria, except I got the really big one. Neither Cody or I liked it very much, but I felt so guilt about wasting the money on something I wasn’t going to drink. So I asked Cody if he dared me to drink the whole thing.  He didn’t I could do it, so he agreed. If I won, he had to do whatever I wanted. muahahahaha, guess who finished the whole thing.  His punishment: go to a gay club. Which conveniently for us, there were 4 right down the block. It was a first for both of us.  

And to emphasize my mean streak, once we were inside, I left him alone for a bit while I hid and asked a random guy to go hit on him.  Hehehehehe, luckily for Cody, that guy was there with his girlfriend too so he didn’t take it the joke too far.  Poor Cody. Other than that, there was nothing to do at the club except dance (which neither of us do) and drink (which I had already had too much with the sangria). I wasted so much money that night. That’s when I decided, no more drinking on dates with Cody. I want him to know the real me, not the tipsy me. Plus, I make poor decisions like going to gay clubs without my girlfriends. We walked back to the car in the cold rain through downtown Sac where I had an argument with an orange tree. Overall, we had a good time.

The Kiss

Our first kiss felt like a first kiss. We were hanging out at his house; it was our second meeting, two days later. We were talking about our likes/dislikes, and I was asking him about what all the posters on his walls meant, where he got this or that picture taken, etc.  He told me about the yellow frog on his wall and what he did with Save The Frogs. Then he gave me a STF wristband.  

He told me what it was like to visit Costa Rica and he showed me a few things he brought back with him, including a bracelet which was still new. I asked him why he hadn’t worn it yet. I don’t remember what he said to that but I went ahead and tied it onto his wrist.  He hasn’t taken it off since. 

(It's a bit faded now.)

During the whole time that we were talking, I kept getting lost in his eyes and wishing he would kiss me. Of course, I didn’t say anything, but I was nervous.  We were sitting on his bed with our legs crossed, our knees slightly touching, my  heart racing, when he asked if he could kiss me.  In my mind I was screaming, “omg! YES! That’s exactly what I want!” Instead I only smiled and nodded yes. He leaned in halfway and I leaned in the other half.  It was a soft, gentle kiss.

He asked me about being his girlfriend and dumb me, I said I would think about it. I had recently come out of a relationship and didn’t want to rush into another one, but I really wanted to say yes. I saw the look of disappointment in his eyes and at that moment all I wanted to do was take care of him, make sure he was never unhappy again.  It was true that I didn’t want to rush into another relationship and that I wanted to see other guys, but what’s the point of seeing other people when what you really want to do is be with the first guy. My mind and heart were already set on him. So the day after, I told him, “Yes, I’ll be your girlfriend.”

The following day, after work, I felt like I  just wanted to get away and wasn’t ready to go home, so Cody and I went to get a few drinks at Streets of London in Downtown. It only took one lemon drop and I was telling a random lady in the bathroom that I thought I was in love with someone I had only known 4 days. Random bathroom lady congratulated me and told me a story about her friend in a similar situation. I was tipsy, but we shared a moment in the bathroom.  I went back to sit with Cody and smiled at him while holding his hand. Afterwards, we stood on the sidewalk and kissed and danced. I told him a little about posadas in Mexico because we were standing next to window with Mexican art and posadas decorations.  It was late at night, we were standing in a desolate street, and I felt so happy with him.  When he dropped me off at home, I told him I loved him. It was true and continues to be true.

The Beginning

        I should have started this the day I met Cody. But who could have known that I would grow to love Cody so much that I would think about him night and day and yearn for the safety of his arms. Who could have known that I would learn to believe in a happy life. Certainly, not me. But five months into our relationship, I know this is the man I want to spend the rest of my life with.  Heck, I knew 4 days after meeting him.


We met...
          ...on November 11th, 2011. I was excited to meet the mysterious Cody after hearing from one of my best friends, Viqui, what he was like.  I had never met him, nor did I know what he looked liked.  All I knew was that he was into saving frogs and liked outdoorsy things.  Viqui also said he had gone to Belize with his best friend, Mike.  That's how we were set up, by each other's best friends; of course, who else could have known us well enough. After exchanging contact info through them, I made the first move:"Hi Cody, you don't know me and actually, I don't know you either, but that could change if you still want to meet.  This is Nayely and I look forward to meeting you."  Or something along those lines. He responded and we set a date for 11-11-11 at Tower Cafe in Sacramento.  I had never been despite living here most of my life, so at the very least, it would be a new place to check out.

But it turned out to be so much more than that...
          We talked about a lot of things that day. Vegetarianism, gardens, life goals, Monterrey aquarium, childhood pets, trees, brains, agriculture, traveling, societal values, etc. But the thing that I remember the most was the passion with which he talked about it.  It drew me closer and closer to him and he had me on the edge of my seat.  I hardly ate a bite of the veggie burger I had ordered; I was so nervous.  But at the same time, I also felt so at ease talking with him.  It was as if I had known him for years and was just comfortably talking about my past, present and future ideas I didn't even remembered I had.  Plus his eyes were (are) divine.  I remember looking into them the whole time and feeling like I was the only person in the building with him. An olive green that captured me in serenity and reflected a genuine soul. I can get lost in his eyes for hours and feel safe and at home in them.
         The second thing I remember the most and that I will never forget: the waitress was flirting with him! "Uh uh, this is my date. Find yourself another customer to flirt with." That was what I wanted to say to her, but I know she was just being friendly and doing her job.  I laugh now and sometimes still give Cody a hard time about it, but he knows I'm just kidding (kinda). Sadly, the first date had to end at some point, but we made plans to see each other another time. He took me home and we hugged goodbye.  That evening and for the rest of the night, I couldn't stop talking about him.